Football is a funny game. When you predict like a master pundit (read-Carlton Palmer) every thing goes topsy turvy and it actually ends up even more interesting. The past week was no exception and it had everything, I mean everything. For a guy like me the premier league is the only source of joy in what can be called an uneventful life (Yes, what can you do when you are an engineer with a long and winding road ahead).

By Chris Wright

It snowed a fair old bit in and around Northwest Italy last night, so much so in fact that the Serie A tie between Parma and Juventus bit the big white bullet and was duly called off. However, the same cannot be said for Livorno's Serie B game against Varese, which went ahead despite the stadium being engulfed in a blizzard for the majority of the evening.

So we're back to yet another Cup game. Not the Coupe de la Ligue, that was last week. Not the Coupe de France either, that was the week before. No, wait, that's the Coupe de France again, but the next round. I'm getting confused... The good thing is that Lisandro isn't. He repeated this week that he WANTS to get a trophy with OL this year, and a French Cup, whichever it is, is a good and (normally) not too difficult way to get one.

Back for another podcast of madness with the Milan derby done and dusted. Podcast topics include, Milan, Inter, Palermo and,... the flying donkeys. The boys spend the first five on the Milan derby but quickly progress to mid-week Coppa Italia and finally close it out with talk on match day 19. All this and predicted wins for Chievo and Cesena.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

With the SuperDraft behind us, thoughts now turn to the nitty-gritty of the 2012 Union season. Naturally, questions arise. Over a two-part series we pose ten questions to our Union beat reporter, Eli Pearlman-Storch, beginning in part 1 with a focus on formation, roster depth and leadership roles within the starting XI.

Liverpool drew their 7th home game of the season against Stoke earlier today, and whilst the club is still in touch with the the champions league places, history seems to suggest a top four finish is now very unlikely. It would be madness to write Liverpool off at this stage, and that's not my intention at all, but historical performance can sometimes be a persuasive indicator of how things may

Goal: Mock the Weekend: Paul Scholes returning & Wayne Rooney's badge-kissing sums up the madness of Manchester United

The veteran's return was just one bizarre and brilliant moment of a mad derby game, during which his controversial team-mate locked lips around the club's badge without shame

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2012-01-09 08:40:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Here is what the Premier League clubs are wishing for in 2012: Arsenal: Gunner fans are wishing that scoring machine Robin van Persie continues his torrid streak. Aston Villa: That Alex McLeish has a method to his "managerial tactic" madness. ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.

Liverpool fans are understandably miserable over the prospect of losing Luis Suarez for 8 games in the new year, but I actually think the Uruguayan's ban could be positive for the club, and could conceivably transform Liverpool's season.Hear me out! I know it sounds like madness to suggest that losing the club's best player could be a good thing, but you only have to look at how the team

Prior to last Wednesday's game at Wigan, Liverpool players were proudly prancing around in Luis Suarez T-Shirts in an (arguably) misguided show of support. It was uncomfortable to watch, but Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson believes there may have been method behind Kenny Dalglish's madness.

We picked up bad mojo somewhere. Maybe it was something I ate, I don't know. Whatever the supernatural cause, our month of weirdness rolls right along with a Jermaine Jones to-do quickly brewing over in Germany. Soccer America's Paul Kennedy gives the succinct yet full info and feel for the situation sparked by the Schalke man's midweek DFB-Pokal madness here.

Not too bad a game at the Bridge today. Good fare I say.

Bench? Please.

Yeah, that was fucking awesome. Anyone else in need of a new set of vocal chords after that final 30 or so minutes? I sound like Emma Stone right now, and that's not sweet. Not at all.

By Alan Duffy

Enoch Balotelli remember the name, Actually, to be honest, it's not an easily forgettable one, is it? Well, the 19-year-old Italian has followed his more famous brother over to England in an attempt to get himself a contract with Stoke City.

So the January transfer madness is almost upon us and tonight we are told by a Spanish paper that Arsenal have contacted AC Milan and offered 30M Euros for the incredibly decent Alexandre Pato if this happened, it would easily be the greatest transfer in the Wenger era.

The duck, as Pato is affectionately known as in Brazil, is one hell of a talented striker and just the kind of speedy, clinical type we have needed at the club since Henry left.

By Chris Wright

A 3-0 win over Banfield at La Bombanera yesterday saw Boca Juniors secure their 24th Argentinian League title and their first for three years, with the three points giving them an unassailable eleven-point lead at the top of the Apertura championship with only two games left to play cue the madness.

Evening falls over Sutton, and with it comes the final match of the Second Round of this year's FA Cup. Gander Green Lane has been here before, of course, in 1989 when the team in amber and chocolate knocked Coventry City out of the competition the last time that a non-league club knocked one from the top division out of the FA Cup and also in 1970, when a scarcely-credible 14,000 people packed in here to see Sutton United lose 6-0 against Leeds United in the Third Round of the competition.

I can explain. This morning, I went to the official UEFA website to look at their stream for the draw, but my desire to view this tasteful spectacle was dashed against the flying rocks from James Cameron's political science fiction blockbuster Avatar (That was an enjoyable figure of speech, regardless of relevance.

More Balotelli madness plus Pepe Reina gets lost in translation

There's never a dull moment in the life of the newly-blonde Mario Balotelli, and Manchester City's last training session before facing Liverpool was no exception. The Italian striker had to stop in distress.

By Alan Duffy

Old shirt? New shirt? What's the difference?

"Why always me?" well, Mario, maybe it's because you're a bit of an eejit!

In Italy's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Uruguay, the City star came on as a second-half substitute wearing the Azzurri's old shirt, rather than the swanky brand new one which had been unveiled in the run-up to this game.

How Mario Balotelli beat the racists to become an all-Italian hero

MirrorFootball has teamed up with some of the blogosphere's best new writers to bring you even more great football reads every single day. Today it's our new Serie A blogger, footballitaliano.co.uk's Mina Rzouki, with her take on the week's big issues in Italy.

Fabio is wasting a chance to really measure England against the best

Fabio Capello is in serious danger of wasting a glorious opportunity against Spain. It is madness to blood too many youngsters against the reigning world and European champions because the players will be pulled apart.

Wayne Rooney put on an accomplished display in central midfield as Manchester United overcame Otelul Galati 2-0 to go top of Group C and one step closer to qualification. An early goal by Antonio Valencia followed by an own goal by Cristian Sarghi were decisive with the games main talking point being Wayne Rooney neat [.

To preface, I'm not wholly satisfied with the catharsis I've employed since Saturday. Seems my best efforts to cleanse the memories of what transpired have failed and I'm extremely fucking bitter. I'm usually glass-half-full, but I'd be lying if I said there was anything worth drinking at the moment.

Manchester City defender Micah Richards still has nightmares about Wayne Rooney's stupendous overhead kick winner at Old Trafford last season and has vowed to ensure it never happens again. In a tight and edgy top-of-the-table clash, Wayne Rooney scored the Premier League Goal of The Season 12 minutes from time when he executed a perfect [.

A depressing Derby...for one man...

TSG's Eric Giardini recounts the horrors of Sunday's Roma-Lazio Derby

Heading into Sunday afternoon's Derby della Capitale I had every intention of writing an unbiased review of one of the most hotly contested derbies in world soccer.

Easily one of the most underrated aspects of football is the prematch press conference photography. Before the Champions League? It's magic. Dozens of photogs clamoring for the best facial expressions, angles and moments of maniacal madness.

Andres Villas Boas appears as though he's running through the cycle of emotions posed by an acting class teacher, while Massimiliano Allegri is looking to explode someone's brain with his own.

After the shock of being banned for all 3 of England's group matches at Euro 2012 Manchester United star Wayne Rooney will be looking to blow-off some steam against eternal rivals Liverpool. Pissed off, angry, hurt, victimized and vengeful. These were just some of the emotions England striker Wayne Rooney would have felt having learnt [.

This week, EPL Talk is conducting a trivia contest in conjunction with the John Doyle interview from earlier this week. If you are interested in winning a copy of the book The World is a Ball: The Joy, Madness and ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article

In what could be the most epic or disastrous move in the history of American soccer road-trips, the American Outlaws have chartered a large, 737-type plane to ferry its most hardcore and cash-flush members from the United States to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.
I love my Yanks and a good awayday as much as the next guy but I'm not sure that I could personally take a 10-14 hour international flight full of booze, rampant patriotism, people applying for their Mile High Club membership in the toilets and the same 5 songs being sung over & over again in a small contained space.

Part 2....Players Celebrating Goals (OTT)
It has been said by many a man that scoring a goal is better than sex. Whether this is actually true I personally am not too sure, but I think that the feeling of scoring a goal is pretty much unparalleled in world sport. And for years, everyone knew that footballers felt this way.

John Doyle's book The World is a Ball: The Joy, Madness, and the Meaning of Soccer is an account of one man's travels around the world following soccer. The journey begins in 2002 and takes readers through European qualifying and ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article

Good morning from the wesht of Ireland again.

To the people who emailed me yesterday asking why there was no Arshavin content in the blog despite the title, well, I just meant it was a little short. As you might imagine there is a similar dearth of material today, just like yesterday, and today's blog could be Time Bandit sized.

Why it wasn't good enough from Rooney or Capello

All that money, Fabio, and where are we? Scraping draws against the likes of Montenegro and ­Switzerland to limp into the Euro 2012 Finals. All that money, Wayne, and where were you? Back in the dressing room after one of the most stupid and rash red cards of your career.

Rooney Not Helping England - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Last night Wayne Rooney's astonishing moment of stupidity ensures that Manchester United star is set to miss the start of Euro 2012 next year. It remains to be seen whether he is handed more than a single match ban by UEFA for his act of madness.

I know it's been a while since we've had a new Lumberyard post up, but we've been fairly busy with travel and a host of matches lately, and it's kind of fallen by the wayside. Regardless, The Lumberyard's back, and with it are a couple of things to talk about this week to tide you over until our Portland Timbers take the field again.

Omar Gonzalez says he's open to suiting up for El Tri. This makes me sad. Not because he'd go the other way (he has dual citizenship) but because Klinsmann's hesitancy to call up the big man is what's driven him to contemplate such madness.
Or maybe it's not madness, just gamesmanship.

We begin our playoff madness with DC United this week. United had wild card nemesis New York's kryptonite entering the week: games played. With two in hand over New York and two games to play in four days this week, DC made up one of those in a Thursday tussle at Philly and then played Columbus on Sunday.

David Luiz played 90-plus minutes and the penalty given away wasn't even his fault!

A match against our West London neighborhoods, of course, was never going to be an easy one. But this was just madness.

When AVB announced that he was resting several players and giving some of the kids ago, I will admit that I did have a horrible flashback to our last couple of Carling Cup exits: playing the kids, everyone seeming to pick up injuries, playing with less than eleven men, extra time, etc etc.

• Schalke fans gave Manuel Neuer a warm and cozy welcome. (Dirty Tackle)
• Tommy George spent a weekend of football in Berlin... (In Bed With Maradona)
• ...where Patrick Ebert learned to control his madness. (Deutsche Welle)
• Dortmund woke up in a harsh post-Championship reality.

The Bundesliga was on its' worst behavior ever. According to the referees, who dished out a league record 5 straight red cards. Tim Wiese kicked off proceedings with a foul outside the box, following one of his kamikaze excursions. He equalled Oliver Kahn's 3 career total red cards in the Bundesliga and is only two away from Jens Lehmann's five red cards.