Leading up to Sunday's African Cup of Nations final between Zambia and the Ivory Coast, Gerald Imray wrote of the contrasting styles of coaches Fracois Zahoui (Ivory Coast) and Herve Renard (Zambia).
Francois Zahoui at one point doubted if he was good enough to be coach of the star-studded Ivory Coast team.

Ducky's Note: Die-hard Manc Prashanth speaks fan-to-fan to the Arsenal fans. We repeat, this is a post by a Manc. So, you know, #justsaying *runs and ducks behind door. Pun may or may not have been intended*.

No, I don't want to tell you that its okay to lose, or its okay to boo your manager when he makes a substitution (gamble) trying to win the game.

I generally have a very low opinion of the pampered, overpaid ladyboys of modern top-flight football, but if there is one player I despise more than any other, it is Manchester United's disloyal cheating thug, Wayne Rooney. Rooney has proved time and time again that he has no concept of sportsmanship, class, humility or fair play, and he showed this again on Sunday in the FA Cup third round

There was a single moment of 2011 that has managed to stay in the back of my mind for months. It is a moment that few would care to remember but I believe it is one of importance. Early in the season there was an ill-fated tackle from a scrambling Brian Mullan that ended the season of Seatlle's Steve Zakuani.

Villa-Villa-Villa, Villa Maravilla! Road to recovery begins for Spain's kid is a post from: Just Football

David Villa is not the most controversial of footballers. If you're the type of fan that likes his players a little rough around the edges, or the type for whom players only register when they do something out of the ordinary the Barcelona striker may rarely even register.

How does one go from a miracle to synthetic grass? This sums up the problem faced by the Lyon squad just a few days after an heroic and historical game that took everyone by surprise.

For that's the big question mark tonight : in what condition will the heroes of Zagreb be in Lorient : back down to earth (or rather to the synthetic pitch with artificial grass of le Moustoir stadium), or still floating somewhere with their minds still in Zagreb, with a heavy hangover after days of partying night and day?

Real Madrid goalkeeper, Iker Casillas will actually have a street in his home town, Mostoles (a suburb of Madrid) named after him! The city's Mayor Esteban Parro, proposed the idea and he is now waiting for the City Council to approve the change of name of the "Avenida de los Deportes" to the "Iker Casillas Avenue.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and captain Robin van Persie have both emphasized that the Gunners' tremendous form to recover from a poor start to the season is a complete team effort.

Van Persie's prolific goal-scoring form has led many to frequently allude to Arsenal as a 'one-man' team and raise questions over the strength of the remainder of the squad.

On-loan AC Milan midfielder Alberto Aquilani believes that it is highly unlikely that he will return to parent club Liverpool, given the simplicity involved in his release clause.

Italian champions Milan secured a loan deal for Aquilani this summer after Juventus, who had loaned him from the Reds last season, could not reach an agreement regarding the permanent signing of the player.

The new Arsenal: focus, enthusiasm, togetherness, and a mixture of raw talent and calm experience

The interlull is almost over. Although it has been a boring period from a footballing point of view at least we did not have to endure again the spectacle of recent interlulls: in-fighting of fellow Arsenal fans.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish praises 'ambassador' Luis Suárez

• Manager calls Suárez's 'unassuming' and 'fantastic' • Dalglish denies racism is a problem in English football Kenny Dalglish has always had a dry sense of humour but the Liverpool manager was deadly serious on Friday when he described Luis Suárez as a "great ambassador" for the club.

Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge has played down the importance of featuring in England's Euro 2012 squad by insisting that he is simply happy to perform for the Blues every single week.

Sturridge, who has been in terrific form in recent matches, admits that it took some time for him to adapt to the Blues' playing style but now that he is thriving, it is only natural to stay focused on further success at the club.

Why Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes are my Champ and Chump of the Week

Champ of the Week: Frank LampardHaving been omitted from the starting line up recently, Lampard acted very professionally and bided his time until recalled by Andre Villas-Boas against Valencia. His goal was a timely reminder of his ability but his humility tells us more about his strong character.

The longstanding FC Dallas man for all seasons and play by play announcer passed away on Monday evening. The public face of FCD he was a much beloved figure amongst fans showing an unsurpassed humility and love for the game and club. From all accounts he was the sort of unspoiled figure one dreams off in an age of diminishing loyalties.

Spain's got every right to feel a bit ull of itself these days, considering their trophy haul over the past few years at several levels. However, too much arrogance will send the football gods crashing down in a violent fury of humility and retribution.

Meet Inigo Martinez of the Spanish u21 armada.

By Alan Duffy

One of a whole gaggle of new players to join Arsenal on transfer deadline day, Israeli captain Yossi Benayoun has taken little time in celebrating his loan move from west to north London.

On hearing that he will have the No. 30 jersey at the Emirates, rather than the No.

Well I guess the first thing is to mention the news that Luka Modric's been declared unavailable for tonight's trip to Old Trafford, as his head isn't in the right place. According to ‘Arry via the wireless yesterday evening. Quite why no-one hasn't told the wee Croatian that it'll probably be attached to the spindly bit of flesh between his shoulders where he left it, one can only speculate.

Showing off is generally considered a distasteful trait in life. Right from when we are toddlers, we are schooled not to show of our bright new shoes, because Timmy doesn't have one see? If you have nice shoes, you wear them to school and act as if nothing happened. It's slightly different in sports though, because a lot of the point of a game itself is the other person NOT winning.

Showing off is generally considered a distasteful trait in life. Right from when we are toddlers, we are schooled not to show of our bright new shoes, because Timmy doesn't have one see? If you have nice shoes, you wear them to school and act as if nothing happened. It's slightly different in sports though, because a lot of the point of a game itself is the other person NOT winning.

Alexis Sanchez is Mr Modesty 2011 plus Alan Brazil, Gareth Barry and David Pleat in daft quotes of the summer

MR MODESTY OF THE SUMMER New Barcelona signing Alexis Sanchez: "I have the ambition to become the best player in the world... My biggest secret is perhaps my humility.

Yesterday I crashed the wedding of a footballer. What footballer you ask? Who cares what I did was an outstanding example of humility. I'm a traditionalist. Wedding's are a sacred act to have and to hold, to be faithful it's a promise not to be broken. But this footballer broke it. He [...] Related posts:

1. Female Linesman Sian Massey Knocked Over By Footballer
2. What Type of Footballer are You?

From the Evansville Courier Press, July 31, 2011
With preseason for so many high school and collegiate soccer teams — as well as all fall sports — right around the corner, this is a great time for coaching staffs to really stress what facets will become important parts of the culture of their team.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed featured player Nicklas Bendtner was left in London to sort out ongoing talks with other clubs regarding a possible move. The Denmark manager Morten Olsen has also today spoke on the matter and what he thinks will be best for Denmark's number 11. Olsen also talked about the possibility of Nicklas moving to Germany in the Bundesliga.

Greetings friends. You find me reinvigorated this week, having spent much of the last week on a remote, sun kissed Channel Island, watching the sun set over the English Channel from cliff tops and supping upon beer that costs £2 a pint. But most crucially, for four whole days I had no access to my phone, the internet, newspapers or television.

Terrance Stamp, as Billy BuddIn the opening pages of Billy Budd, Herman Melville comments on the unique charm of a type of man he called the "Handsome Sailor":

A superb figure, tossed up as by the horns of Taurus against the thunderous sky, cheerily hallooing to the strenuous file along the spar.

If Cesc Fabregas leaves Arsenal this summer then you should put a tenner on Samir Nasri taking over as captain.

Let's deal with the ‘if' first.

There is no guarantee that Cesc will depart, but there are strong hints coming out of the club (and from people connected with the club) that this time he really is going.

The young Jack Wilshere may have taken the Premiership by surprise this season, but he is by no means resting on his laurels and knows that he will have to improve if he wants to keep his place in the England and Arsenal teams next season. Wilshere said: "There are still big players missing [...]

Mateja Kezman, who had one season with Chelsea, has described the AFC Cup as 'rubbish' after his South China team lost 4-2 away to Persipura. The comments came in an interview he gave with the South China Morning Post but as you have to register or pay to read the whole story, and I can't be arsed, the Jakarta Globe summarises it here.

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Some years back, Rafa vented out his now famous "Mr. Ferguson rant" (gotta love the way he says 'Meesterh Feirghusohn'): which pretty much sounded like a pre-emptive or perhaps a reactive strike at Alex Ferguson's famous mind games to rattle Liverpool. The critics came out in droves after Rafa's now-famous rant and many of them concluded that Meesterh Feirghusohn's mind games might have already taken effect in Liverpool.

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Some years back, Rafa vented out his now famous "Mr. Ferguson rant" (gotta love the way he says 'Meesterh Feirghusohn'): which pretty much sounded like a pre-emptive or perhaps a reactive strike at Alex Ferguson's famous mind games to rattle Liverpool. The critics came out in droves after Rafa's now-famous rant and many of them concluded that Meesterh Feirghusohn's mind games might have already taken effect in Liverpool.

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Some years back, Rafa vented out his now famous "Mr. Ferguson rant" (gotta love the way he says 'Meesterh Feirghusohn'): which pretty much sounded like a pre-emptive or perhaps a reactive strike at Alex Ferguson's famous mind games to rattle Liverpool. The critics came out in droves after Rafa's now-famous rant and many of them concluded that Meesterh Feirghusohn's mind games might have already taken effect in Liverpool.

From the Evansville Courier Press, April 24, 2011
The United States Soccer Federation has a firm handle on the future of soccer in our country, and it is by focusing on player development in the 5-year old to 12-year old age groups.
USSF officials, led by Youth Technical Director and former national team captain Claudio Reyna, unveiled a new curriculum for coaches of players ages 5-12 this week at the Nike International Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.

Humility is an important trait for anyone to possess, especially if you are a leader of men.
Coaches need to have a little of humility as an example for their players as how to show respect to themselves, each other and the game.
Paul Gardner writes of a show of humility in defeat by three American coaches, including Los Angeles Galaxy manager Bruce Arena - who is not known for being humble.

I had always felt that the mark of a great coach was his ability to behave professionally, both in victory and defeat. A level of humility- as well as respect for the game, their team and themselves- are key attributes of anyone who is in a position to be a leader of men.

Where I usually debate the rants of Paul Gardner, as well as quickly come to the defense of Sir Alex Ferguson, I am on the opposite side of the fence from my usually support (or lack of, in Gardner's case) in Ferguson's behavior this past week.

Most bizarre dreams last night. Samir Nasri was living with the lesbian couple who live across the road from me and he invented a machine which could fire footballs at cars and knock the driver out of them as they were driving along.

I asked him what purpose this machine served. "It's for the dark future he said.

It appears that Arsene Wenger is still furious about the refereeing in Barcelona if his quotes in the Guardian are anything to go by.

Here are some of his comments:

"Arsenal football club has been punished. When you have a football game of that stature, you cannot come out with decisions like that and show a lot of arrogance on top of that.

Hell hath no fury like Wenger. Take it away, boss:

"Arsenal football club has been punished. When you have a football game of that stature, you cannot come out with decisions like that and show a lot of arrogance on top of that. We can all understand that we can make wrong decisions but, after that, it becomes dictatorship.

Adeus, Fenômeno is a post from: Just Football

Up to now, Just Football has been struggling to put 'O Fenomeno' Ronaldo's retirement into words truly befitting of the great man. Making his JF debut, Rodrigo Beilfuss does just that:

Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima is no longer a footballer.

Bob Levey - Getty Images

Geoff Cameron and his Houston Dynamo mates had too few of these feel-good moments around Robertson Stadium last year.

View full size photo »

PHOENIX, Ariz – I always enjoy working with the Houston Dynamo.

A stalwart of the anti-apartheid sport boycott movement, Isiah Stein, has passed away in the UK. After serving time in prison with Nelson Mandela in the mid-1960s, Stein left South Africa for Britain where he worked tirelessly with the exiled South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC).