Bad news. Our list of the fallen is now about as long as Peter Crouch's leg. The BBC so kindly tells us that we're missing Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, David James, Theo Walcott, Emile Heskey, David Beckham, Aaron Lennon, Carlton Cole, John Terry, Frank Lampard, and Glen Johnson.

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So the new season is upon us.
The one day in the season where everyone is equal. Hopes and dreams remain intact as the sun shines down onto the perfect green turf below. Optimism reigns supreme.
There is expectation now more than ever before. A serious assault on the top four is a possibility - albeit an outside one, but there are high hopes. Click to continue reading...

Tossers.
This morning's bombings of two hotels in downtown Jakarta shattered the hopes and dreams of 70,000 fans who had been looking forward to a chance of seeing Manchester United's stars strut their stuff in the flesh.
One of the hotels targeted was the Ritz Carlton which was where the visiting players were due to have stayed for their short stay. Click to continue reading...

Inside Left has been busy putting together a wee list of our hopes and dreams for the season yet to come. Â In no particular order, here are some of the things we'd like to see happen in the next season.

1. Our teams to progress a bit further in Europe than last season.

Last season was utter mince for our sides in Europe.

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Bragging rights originating from the Eternal Derby will not masquerade Hajduk Split's lack of conviction at the ‘business end' of the campaign as the aftertaste of the 33-match saga is one inundated with disenchantment and an equally-concentrated dose of envy. This frustration was inevitable because the history of the Croatian First Division informs us on the occasions Hajduk fail to secure the championship, it is relinquished across to the blue-faction of Dinamo Zagreb, who revelled in a fourth-consecutive title charge that was sweetened all-the-more with a tenth domestic cup honour. Click to continue reading...

One of the amazing things about football is its ability to drag your emotions from one extreme to another in a second and despite any number of let downs by their side, the hopes and dreams of a supporter will always remain strong and they will keep coming back for more.
Those hopes and dreams have been dashed and resurrected this week at two clubs whose fortunes have been poles apart over the past few decades, but could yet find themselves on a level playing field in the coming years. Click to continue reading...

One of the amazing things about football is its ability to drag your emotions from one extreme to another in a second and despite any number of let downs by their side, the hopes and dreams of a supporter will always remain strong and they will keep coming back for more.
Those hopes and dreams have been dashed and resurrected this week at two clubs whose fortunes have been poles apart over the past few decades, but could yet find themselves on a level playing field in the coming years. Click to continue reading...

Referees - the bane of a football fan's life.

Your hopes and dreams can be shattered by one shrill peep of the man-in-black's (or red or green or whatever colour they choose to wear these days) shiny whistle.

They are also, of course, an easy target for fans, players and managers who divert the attention onto the ref rather than their own team's inadequacies.

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Barack Obama smarting from West Ham's weekend loss against Spurs and a 75% failure rate in the Final Four maybe a bit of a lightweight when it comes to picking sports teams that actually win but in throwing his weight behind the US bid for the 2018 World Cup, he knows a good thing, especially in capturing the hearts and minds of the world.

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As many had hoped, and we predicted, US President Barack Obama has gotten behind the USSF's bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
From the New York Times:

"As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together," the president wrote in a letter that was hand-delivered recently to Joseph S.

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The United States' bid to host the 2018 World Cup received an assist from none other than President Barack Obama, who wrote a letter to FIFA in support of the nation's bid to host the game's most prestigious event.

"As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together," Obama wrote, according to excerpts released by the U.

Click to continue reading...

 Â

The United States' bid to host the 2018 World Cup received an assist from none other than President Barack Obama, who wrote a letter to FIFA in support of the nation's bid to host the game's most prestigious event.

"As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together," Obama wrote, according to excerpts released by the U.

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Is U.S. President Barack Obama trying to get the World Cup to America?
According to the New York Times, he just might be.
Not the 2010 World Cup, of course. But how about the 2018 or 2022 Cup?
In a letter hand-delivered to FIFA President Sepp Blatter, (Blatter's so important that Obama has to have his letter hand-delivered) the US President said, "As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta (his youth in Indonesia), and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together. Click to continue reading...

Did you know Obama played soccer when he was kid?...
You might heard that he was Basketball fan but, United States President has a big passion for Soccer, known in the world, as football...
In the recent New York Times soccer columnist George Vecsey article, Obama talked about his child days when he played soccer on dirt street in Jakarta. Click to continue reading...

At its heart, football belongs to the working man. It's our sport.

As a kid, all you needed to fall in love with the game was a ball: kick it around the back yard; kick it against a wall; kick it around with your mates. Simple. Brilliant. Beautiful.

As you grow up, playing in teams helps to develop social skills and builds character.

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(I'm out adventuring across the Eastern seaboard, attending some auctions and vacationing generally, so I wasn't going to be blogging but what the heck)
It's hard as hell to gin up much sympathy for DCU fans. Anybody with as many stars above their crest as they have aren't going generate a whole bunch of tears amongst their fellows around the league, particularly those of us who have not-so-warm-and-fuzzy memories of taking regular yearly butt kickings from Bruce Arena and his Merry Band for what seemed like decades. Click to continue reading...

With the PFA Player of the Year award (and many others) only a few months away, many members of the media - myself included - have started searching for a suitable winner. The two names that I've heard the most this season have been Steven Gerrard and Nemanja Vidic. It's no surprise that Gerrard finds his name towards the top of the list once again, as Liverpool have pinned their hopes and dreams on their inspirational leader. Click to continue reading...