Help me, I'm having nightmares. More, after the jump:

Cold as ice

I'm not even sure this match is as important as what's transpiring around the orbit of England's Once Brave (Twice-Removed) John Terry- henceforth known as EOBTRJT. Jack cooked up some brilliance on the matter, as always, which I recommend you all read at once.

This might be a touch simplistic and naive, but...

Shouldn't DVDs on 'how to tackle' be handed out to the youth teams of Premiership clubs, rather than the guys getting six figures a week to go in at some poor man's ankles?

But the higher ups at the FA in England have deemed it a necessary act.

With increasing confusion in the Premier League over which tackles should or should not be punished, an attempt to teach players what is acceptable is being made in home video form. "How to tackle" DVDs will be sent to clubs next week because if there's one thing professional footballers will pay attention to, it's instructional videos.

It wasn't pretty. Hell, it was downright hideous. But it's a win, one that puts us in the fifth-round draw. Hey, that's good enough for this guy.

A united front

I guess we should have expected this. All the hype, all the controversy it simply overstated what was bound to be on display at Loftus Road on Saturday.

Thank God, It's over, that definitely was the reaction of every Barca fan once they heard the final whistle. I don't remember that in recent history we coming out with such a reaction towards the end of any match. That was the way we performed in this match, may be that's how they performed.

Thank God, It's over, that definitely was the reaction of every Barca fan once they heard the final whistle. I don't remember that in recent history we coming out with such a reaction towards the end of any match. That was the way we performed in this match, may be that's how they performed.

Mexico's World Cup qualifying victory clearly shook the US Women's National Team to their core. On Tuesday night, the US settled the score, reminding Mexico, and the world, that there is still an enormous gap in class between the two sides. Were at not for some shoddy finishing and a whole lot of five-alarm defending, the score line could easily have been doubled as the US controlled the match from the opening whistle and were rarely troubled throughout the 90 minutes.

Real dissension in the ranks?

The Real Madrid fans are in a barracking mood, just like the fans giving stick to Arsene Wenger. The Barca game blew up in their face because Mou decided to stick 11 men behind the ball and with the exception of an 11th minute of enterprise, played like he was afraid to lose which is exactly what happened.

Dateline 22 January 2012, this date will go down in history, it is the date the fans at the Emirates turned on Arsene Wenger.

The fans booed the team off at half-time and were rewarded when youngster Nico Yennaris replaced the hapless and hopeless Djourou who becomes a bigger liability every time he puts on an Arsenal shirt.

Match report Video -

It's interesting that even this morning the focus appears to be on a controversial substitution when the bigger issue is the fact we've just lost our third league game in a row, taking our total of defeats in the league this season to eight.

When Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's number went up in the 74th minute many of the 60,000 at the stadium made it quite clear what they thought of the decision.

The last scheduled SPANISH CUP ( Copa del Rey ) 1º leg quarter-final match was played tonight in a regional derby between Liga Football Clubs VALENCIA CF - LEVANTE. An entertaining match which gave some great goals , plays & intensity that finished 4 - 1. Valencia - Levante Valencia started more plugged-in than the visitors with rapid counter-attacks that gave their fruit in the 24th min

We're a bit in the doldrums here at Arsenal Arsenal. At the moment we're still numb from the defeat on Sunday and finding it hard to be upbeat and forward thinking. Our twin posts today are in celebration of the return of Thierry Henry. Hopefully our bloggers will come out from behind the sofa and remember the positives of this season so far, but don't let that stop you commenting on where we go from here.

When you break it down, what we love about sports are the memories they create.

You build stockpiles of those treasured days and nights. We all have our "Miracle On Ice" moments, even if all can't rise to that level of cherish and intensity.

We fondly remember that special game at your high school.

Our recreational league has been coed since it's inception. We formed coed divisions simply because of numbers. When our league formed in 2002, we had ~350 players or so from U6 up through U12 just enough to form small two year divisions of coed teams (U6/U8/U10/U12). A few years later players were split by gender only if they made our new travel teams (U10 and above).

Mr Arsenal himself would be proud of this team

One last job was required of Arsenal on the last day of 2011 and the job was duly delivered. 3 points was what we wanted to see Arsenal end the year on a high and it was a performance that deserved exactly that. The win moves us to fourth in the league, just 3 points behind Tottenham and 9 points behind both Manchester clubs.

"It has been difficult because I have not given him the chance to play and the intensity of the challenges some players take short, others take long. But it takes you time," said manager Arsene Wenger ahead of the meeting with Wolves. "The adaptation period for him is over now so he has to [...]

Manchester City continue their winning run after last weekend's victory over Arsenal by gaining another important victory, this time against Stoke City at Etihad Stadium.

The result brought the Eastlands closer in getting the half season champion as they would need one more victory to seal that temporary morale boosting achievement.

For those of you who are soccer fanatics and love to bet on soccer games, the only real chance you will get during the festive season to watch any soccer will come early in the morning (especially if you are on the West coast!) watching the English Premier League. Although the league does not feature the two unrivaled stars of soccer – Ronaldo and Messi – is it still worth watching?

Leading up to the Clasico this past weekend between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Paul Kennedy of Soccer America reported on what Jose Mourinho left his players with as their 10 secrets of success heading into this massive rivalry of world football super powers.
What will it take for Real Madrid to beat Barcelona in their much-awaited Clasico on Saturday at the Bernabeu Stadium?

NOTE: I know several of you have stated that you really don't care when I write about that other sport I referee. If that's the case for you, you can safely skip this series of entries. This blog still has the same purpose as always (self-evaluation and venting when necessary), but it won't be focused on footy for a while, as for me this is the soccer off-season.

There has been one story that has cheered me up today about our beloved blues and that's confirmation that Sam Hutchison has earned himself a new contract to the end of next season. Not bad for someone who had to retire with injury a while ago!.
I posted on my blog before that Hutchison is an inspiration and this news confirms the case.

Out of the blue Chelsea defender Sam Hutchinson has signed a new one-and-a-half year contract at Stamford Bridge despite retiring more than a year ago. The 22-year-old hung up his boots in August 2010 due to a knee injury. He had played four times for the Blues and had been singled out by Jose [...

By Alan Duffy

After just four first team appearances for Chelsea, with three of those coming from the bench, Sam Hutchinson decided to retire from football in 2010 after suffering a serious knee injury. This was a tragic tale of a youngster, highy-rated by his former manager Jose Mourinho, who had to give up his dream.

After several disappointing results, finally Chelsea's fans have something to cheer about after their team picked up a pretty convincing 3-0 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league.

The Blues' summer singing, Juan Mata, became the team's main influence in the game as he bagged two assist and a goal which helped regaining some confidence for Andre Villas-Boas' side after three straight defeats.

A nondescript autumnal evening in a mousy part of north London. Monday night football, a game on the dullest day of a week that's barely got started. The ground's not quite full, acres of blue until 5 minutes or so before kick-off. A game we should win, and did, by a couple of goals at home against a mid-table side.

With both teams already qualified, tomorrow night's clash at San Siro between AC Milan and FC Barcelona is all about claiming the top spot in Group H. With 10 points Barca is at the top of the group ahead of AC Milan by two points. Usually two draws from now should see us stay at top, but the problem for Barca is the thei last Group match will take place days ahead of the first Clasico.

SPANISH CUP (Copa del Rey) action tonight with the 1ºst leg tie match between HOSPITALET (2ºB Division) & City neighbour FC BARCELONA with a final result of 0 - 1. Quite frankly - my opinion - it was a boring & strange match were Barcelona should have won by a greater margin. The match lacked atmosphere & intensity.

In the world's leading football (soccer) leagues pinpoint accuracy, speed and intensity can make the difference between a top flight place in the standings or relentless pressure to avoid league and cup disappointment. With the stakes so high, players look for a ball that gives them unrivalled touch and feel to ensure it goes exactly [.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Kickoff for Sunday's game is now set for 5pm.

ESPN2 is broadcasting New York Red Bulls v LA Galaxy at 3pm, which pushes the kickoff of Sunday's Union v Houston game, which is also on ESPN2, up to 5pm. Why the start times aren't the other way around, given the fact that the Eagles are playing the Cowboys at the Linc at 8pm, the Giants are playing Miami at 1pm and the Jets have a bye, is beyond me.

Video highlights and reaction

I can't say a great deal about last night as I haven't seen anything bar the goals but when you look at the team we had out, and the strength of the Bolton side, that was a very decent win. All the goals came in the second half, Frimpong was well and truly robbed by former Arsenal man Fabrice Muamba who went on to open the scoring, but two goals in a couple of minutes ended up sealing the game for Arsenal.

Jay Spearing has vowed to win his place back in the Liverpool side and insists he is ready to face Stoke in the Carling Cup if selected.
The miniature dynamo has seen his chances in midfield restricted this term, as Kenny Dalglish recruited a number of players who could play in that position over the summer.

Romelu Lukaku is featured in an interview and has spoken of life at Chelsea in these first couple of months since he signed for us and has admitted he is impressed by the intensity of the Premier League.
He said:

"I'm especially impressed by the intensity of the Premier League, and Chelsea are very effective.

Arsène Wenger says Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has a good chance of playing at next year's Euro 2012 tournament. Speaking to the press ahead of Sunday's clash with Sunderland, he said, "He has done extremely well. He needs some time to adapt to the intensity of the game but he has the quality already of top player [.

Sir Alex Ferguson calls for end to chants about Munich and Hillsborough

• Fans should respect rivals' histories, says Ferguson • 'Liverpool v Manchester United is biggest game of the season' Sir Alex Ferguson has called on Manchester United and Liverpool supporters to put an end to the chanting that has marred previous fixtures as he prepares for a match he maintains is still bigger than the Manchester derby.

For Juventus supporters, it is hard not to be inspired by Antonio Conte. The passion and intensity shown by the Old Lady's new commander is infectious, for the players on the pitch as well as the fans in the seats. He has done well in his first five games, but I fear there just might be icebergs ahead and the captain needs to be ready to chart a new course if needs be.

The news that Sal Zizzo is planning to open a food cart spread like wildfire last week, and everyone wanted to talk about it after the training session on Monday. Among the other topics of conversation were Houston's long awaited return to the Rose City and what special significance that has to Mike Chabala and Lovel Palmer.

The new adidas adiZero F50 miCoach - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Is it a football boot? Is it a football boot with a brain? Or is it just adidas finally putting a microchip in their adiZero F50s?

Yes, no and of course. The new adidas adiZero F50 miCoach (165g, retails price starts at £200, out in November), thanks to a built-in microchip and tracking software available for your smartphone as well as an online portal, promises to enable both professional and amateur footballers to analyse their personal speed, distance and work rate.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Kansas City Watch

Chris Vito reports that the Union will be using a MLS pool goalkeeper as a backup to Zac MacMath for the Kansas City game.

The Kansas City Star expects Sporting to defeat the Union, saying, while they "might plan on playing the 'bunker' game on the road," the Union haven't shown "the strength to withstand anyone.

Let me take you back to November 4th 2010. Napoli played Liverpool at Anfield. Napoli were 1-0 ahead thanks to an Ezequiel Lavezzi goal after 28 minutes and remained ahead with 15 minutes to play. Napoli fell apart to lose 3-1. The Partenopei could not cope with the Premier League sides ability to increasing the intensity as they sought to level and eventually win the game.

The Philly Soccer Page " Match Report: Union 4-4 Revolution
New England Manager Steve Nicol put it best: "Both teams were as bad defensively as each other."

Le Toux helps Union rally for tie | Philadelphia Daily News | 09/08/2011

NO ONE has questioned his drive and intensity.