Palermo Swedish striker Agon Mehmeti was one of Palermo's marquee signings in this window. The striker has been hailed as both the new Cavani and Ibrahimovic before signing from Malmo. Mehmeti was quick to quash such hyperbole insisting he isn't Ibrahimovic and emphasised that his versatility by suggesting he could play anywhere along the front line.

If you've paid any attention to the Bayern Munich news bits over the past years, you'll know that they've got some characters running the show. Thus their public persona isn't exactly seen as the cuddly teddy bear, smiled-at-least-once-in-their-lives types. So to hear that they gave Borussia Dortmund, a direct competitor, a loan which saved them from bankruptcy in 2003 is just.

By Eric Beard

Today, along with his wife Lindsay, Bob Bradley joined the thousands of mourners in Cairo's Sphinx Square to express his sympathy to the victims and families affected by the clash between rival fans of Al-Ahly and Al-Masry in the Egyptian city of Port Said.

So here we go, without doubt the biggest game since our last eye-catching fixture for which three points were at stake. While the win over a pretty inept Everton had all and sundry proclaiming this lilywhite vintage the greatest thing since Danny Blanchflower sliced a loaf, the draw with uber-negative Wolves had Hansen imploring all Spurs-supporting MoTD viewers to find their nearest cliff-top and hurl themselves in anguish – so whatever the outcome against table-topping City the reaction will presumably border on the apocalyptic.

To kickoff 2012, my first (and only) blog entry centered on a plea for the New England Revolution to be "blog worthy" in 2012. A hope that it would "show the fanbase how big the Revolution dream is, and steps you are taking to achieve it."

Given a week of activity, I'm concerned the team still cannot explain the vision of the team's future the way I'd like, but its actions actually give me hope.

Dave's note: Abbott will be joining the Sounder at Heart crew with a nearly weekly column. His FanPosts opened our eyes to the idea of adding someone with a different voice who could provide regular columns about roster construction, lineup management and other stuff.

There was a match the other day. After the first twenty minutes it mostly wasn't a very interesting match. Unless perhaps you're the sort who finds joy in dull performances and endless reminders that it isn't 2009 any more and that this Liverpool side isn't big on pulling out points that seemed long gone when injury time started.

By Chris Wright

Forgive the hyperbole, but Sun Hei defender Festus Baise scored !!!THE GREATEST FUDGING OWN GOAL OF ALL FUDGING TIME!!! against Citizen AA in the Hong Kong Premier League this weekend.

Don't believe us? Heard it all before? Take a look at this little beauty.

There was an interesting article this morning on Soccernet about Robin Van Persie being in the "injury red zone". Hyperbole aside, it raises the point that Arsenal have had the luxury of playing Van Persie in every league match so far (starting 12 of 13) but will have to manage his workload a little more conservatively or risk a decrease in performance or potential injury.

Liverpool legend John Barnes is my favourite footballer of all time. No other player has given me as much joy and excitement over the years, and he always has compelling views on football. However, I have to disagree with Barnesy's recent assessment of Stewart Downing's impact for Liverpool.

After the West Brom victory last week, I posted an article arguing that the quality of Liverpool's second half performance had been wildly exaggerated. The gross hyperbole coming from fans, pundits and ex-players after the game was laughable, and just served to deflect attention away from the real issues, which were exposed again today by an outstanding Swansea team who, quite frankly, gave Liverpool a footballing lesson on their own ground.

Former Liverpool defender Gary Gillespie has refuted suggestions that there will negativity around Anfield as a result of the controversies currently enveloping star-striker Luis Suarez.
In recent weeks, the Uruguayan has been hit by a triple-whammy of accusations, with Manchester United's Patrice Evra alleging racial abuse, and both Sir Alex Ferguson and West Brom's Paul Scharner accused him of diving.

Innovator, moderniser, father-figure, leader... and a bit of a bully too: Oliver Holt on Fergie's 25 years at United

A few days before the start of the 1997-98 season, I drove to The Cliff, Manchester United's old training ground, to ­interview Roy Keane. Keane had just been appointed United skipper but his reputation for aggressive unpredictability was already well ­established.

By David Chalmers, writing from Scotland

Being based in the UK, it takes minimal effort to know what most media outlets focus on. The onus of every newspaper, magazine, website and television production is to devote most of their time to the Barclays Premier League.

"Soccer attracts more hackneyed hyperbole than most sports. We talk about "tragedy" when we mean "disappointment" and "disaster" when we mean "defeat". When real tragedy and disaster occur, we tend to be stuck for the rights words." Those words, written by David Lacey of the Guardian a quarter of a century ago, ring as true today as they did when they were written in the aftermath of the Bradford fire of 1985.

By Chris Wright

"Another wee dram Colonel?"

You'll be glad to know that Paul Gascoigne is not dead...yet, and that he's also been reminiscing with Piers Morgan (for the ruddy-faced bounder's tear-milking Life Stories television show) about the time he visited Libya, snooted enough fluff to down a Stegosaurus and then took the fruits of Colonel Gaddafi's loins out on the lash around gay Tripoli:

"I went to Libya when I played for Middlesbrough and took Gaddafi's two sons out and got them absolutely lamped.

Tim Howard was called upon again. Here, Jai Alai in Miami...

A little quick redress on Saturday's 1-0 USA win over visiting Honduras in Florida. Jurgen Klinsmann's first win as manager as well.

The Rooster deserves a Snickers commercial

The Rooster sticking around.

In a season that has seen more than its share of less than stellar performances while discussion about his future has pushed to the fore, the reaction to Jamie Carragher's composed performance at Goodison on Saturday was swift and unanimous. The club's official website, never ones to shy away from hyperbole, gauged the prevailing mood and turned things up to eleven when they skipped obvious choices Lucas Leiva and Jose Enrique in favour of promoting a Carragher every-touch compilation.

English clubs in Europe – present but not transcendent | Kevin McCarra

Despite being Champions League regulars, top clubs from the Premier League have struggled to blend heft and finesse to make iconic teams England's clubs have been achieving prominence rather than excellence in the Champions League.

Denz of RSL SoapBox, SB Nation's Real Salt Lake blog, and I exchanged three questions a piece ahead of tonight's Union-RSL match at Rio Tinto. Read my responses to Denz's questions by clicking on the linked text here.

tBG: What has sent RSL into such a freefall (though that may be hyperbole)?

Man United 8 Arsenal 2
A terrible, terrible performance brought a terrible, terrible result. Make no mistake, this was the nadir of Arsene Wenger's time in charge.
For an hour we were outclassed but somehow were in the game at 3-1 down. Then we removed our holding midfielder and put an attacking player on to try and get a result, and conceded five goals in half an hour.

Mourinho out of time in Madrid? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Jose Mourinho has many gifts. For organisation, for having team buy into a philosophy, for quick quips and irritation. It's perhaps fitting that a master of hyperbole has been pilloried by the more rampant sensationalists in the British media concerning his antics during and after the Spanish Supercup.

The transfer window slams shut in 8 days, and in my view, one of the priorities has to be getting Joe Cole off the payroll. The former Chelsea player (I'll never consider him to be an Liverpool player) has been a gigantic flop from day one, and the club has haemorrhaged an astonishing amount of money for practically no creative return.

In the age of the microwave culture, with the spectre of media hyperbole dangling grimly in front of us like King Kong's nutsack, every week is an enormous week for a club like Arsenal. Every result has permanent ramifications; every fluctuation of fortune is intransient and every whisper of discontent has the tabloids reaching into their clipart files for the broken cannon graphic.

Young Lions Lowdown England at the Under-17 World Cup 2011 is a post from: Just Football

by Christopher Powlay

With the free for all that ensued the defeat of Stuart Pearce's men in the Under-21 European Championships, it was easy to miss the press releases regarding a group of younger players who had already outdone their England U21 counterparts in a Euro championship.

Wow, amazing what Twitter will get itself worked up about. Seems as though Zane Lowe was honest about his opinions about an act on the BBC's Glastonbury coverage, in this case Beyonce. He said he didn't see her set so didn't comment. What's wrong with that?
Throughout the coverage I was wondering just what you'd have to do to get anything other than the gushing, sycophantic stream of hyperbole ("Just.

My business is prone to hyperbole. It's like the troublemaker you once ran with in high school; you try to stay away from him, but he's your pal, and he still gets you in trouble every now and then.

Seriously, it's just part of the human condition, I think. We all enjoy the thought that we might be living an important moment of history.

Which kind of final are we going to get this season? For every 1999 or 2002 final that people still talk about there seems to be an equal number of forgettable finals (think 2003) that produce more hyperbole than high-calibre football.

This season's final has been branded a 'dream match' by many pundits and on the surface it is easy to see why.

Sky's the limit 1. Occupy yourself until 3.45pm Any earlier than that and you might find yourself overwhelmed by a nasty bout of Skyhypingitis. Coverage starts at 3pm, kick-off is 4pm. We sense an hour of mind-numbing hyperbole. 2. Make your choice and stick to it Channel-hopping is destined to end in tears under these [.

I'm moving at match speed today; I have to get on the road to Houston to catch the spiraling Rapids and the soaring Dynamo on the University of Houston campus. It's mostly a chance to see Will Bruin perform the Dancing Bear in person. It's all the rage – or maybe you've heard.

En route, I'm sure I'll stop here.

It's not hyperbole to suggest that yesterday saw yet another Dalglish tactical masterstroke, this time with a half-time change.
The early goal meant Liverpool were comfortable, but Newcastle's response pegged the home side back as the interval approached, mainly through Jonas and Enrique's work down the left.

Contrary to the impression you may have acquired from the hyperbole feast that masqueraded as media coverage of this game, Wednesday was not the first time a football game got a bit nasty. In fact, compared to some of the glorious madness that has decorated El Clasico in the past we could argue that Mourinho gave the fixture a much-needed boost.

Park Ji-Sung might represent something of an enigma as a footballer; but very few actually have a bad word to say about him. And Park, while he isn't going to be short-listed for any individual awards any time soon, is as much a one-in-a-million player as his prize-winning counterparts. Ability is one thing in this game having the correct temperament and discipline to apply that to the game of football in another.

The title of this little clip reads Magno Vieira worst miss of all time & brilliant goal Fleetwood Town. Typically, there's a dollop of hyperbole whenever something is dubbed "the world miss ever" (or, invariably, "evah"). Hint of truth about this one, sadly, for Magno Vieira, he of Fleetwood Town in the 5th tier of the English footballing pyramid.

Welcome to another episode of Nos Audietis. Today Jeremiah has an interview with Seattle Sounders midfielder Brad Evans and we take a look back at last weekend's San Jose Earthquakes game and a look ahead to this weekend's match against the Chicago Fire. Shockingly we also talk about Alvaro Fernandez, specifically whether or not a literally dead Erik Friberg would be more likely to get minutes.

Apologies for no post yesterday, but I was honestly struggling to find anything new or interesting to say that hasn't already been said a thousand times before. It's been a hard few weeks, even months for Arsenal fans. I think we all needed some time to cool down. It didn't really work too well for me as I usually go on twitter, get riled up, tweet something, and then drive myself crazy and probably drive a few others crazy with the responses I give.

Japan is facing one of the worst crises the world has ever seen. I don't think that's hyperbole. They need the help of the world, specifically yours, specifically mine. I was proud to see Major League Soccer announce today that MLS W.O.R.K.S. is partnering up with the American and Canadian Red Cross to give support for the disaster relief efforts following the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan last week.

Kickoff from Generali Arena at 20:05 GMT, 3:05 EST.

Ways to Watch:

Match live on Five in the UK, GolTV in the US, and 3e in Ireland (thanks to Patrick).

MyP2P.eu
Atdhenet.tv
From Sport

Liverpool:

Team sheet when it's released.

Rooney's chubby middle finger to science and the so called ‘laws of gravity' were the main talking points of the weekend just gone. A goal so good that even after the slow-motion had revealed that it was the grizzled striker's shin bone doing most of the work, it was still lauded as the bestest ever by pretty much any United fan with the inclination to declare such things.

I headed out to the first media availability of the preseason for new Galaxy signing Pablo Angel today in Carson.

Reporter Phil Collin will have more in Wednesday's newspaper, by the way.

JPA had the usual predictable things to say (happy to be here, blah, blah), but it's clear that Coach Bruce Arena is the main reason he's with the Galaxy:

"He was the reason I am in MLS and I'm happy to be reunited with him," Angel said, adding that the franchise is considered the best in the league.