SoccerBlogs

In a summer full of astronomical transfer fees, clubs are beginning to look further down the pecking order to unearth some economical and hidden gems. Here are the five players still  out there that would be bargains for whoever signs them:

The former world's greatest player may be fat and out of shape these days, but with his talent it remains a mystery why no one wants to take a risk on the Brazilian.

I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime, but Newcastle United has been relegated to the Coca Cola Championship. Just like the downfall of Leeds not too long ago, Premier League clubs are licking their lips at the prospect of another firesale. Some top class players will be leaving St. James' Park over the course of the next few months, and here we'll take a look at the best of the best Newcastle has to offer.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has become the latest Barcelona star to egotistically pronounce the treble winning club's's dominance over their global rivals. Following Sweden's bitter loss to Denmark this weekend, where the spotlight was stolen away from him thanks to Nicklas Bendtner's scintillating performance for the Danes, Ibrahimovic has taken his frustrations out on former club Inter Milan.

With the first quarter of football almost over in most leagues around Europe, now is a good time to measure the current progress of some of the giant clubs on the continent. Actually, analyzing the success or failure of clubs in general won't be nearly as exciting as identifying a more specific object of analysis.

Premier League fans in the United States will once again get the chance to see Burnley take on their new Premiership opposition. This week it comes in the form of Sunderland at Turf Moor.

When the schedule was initially released before the season started, I doubt that many people were circling this date on their calendars.

A great majority of the football world has grown used to laughing off Arsene Wenger's dramatic remarks over major incidents in recent years. This is precisely why the Arsenal manager was largely ignored when he labeled the accusations over Gunners striker Eduardo's recent "dive" against Celtic as a "witch-hunt".

This coming season promises to be the most exciting in years. Of course, every coming season promises to be the most exciting in years. This is one of the many truisms of English Football. Last season we gaped open mouthed as Manchester City clumsily wooed Global Franchise Entities with the promise of dreams and Ferrero Rocher.

On the 20th of June 2006 in Cologne, Germany, I was sat high behind the goal in the RheinEnergieStadion (then called simply 'The FIFA World Cup Stadium') when in the fourth minute, a figure crumpled to the ground. It was hard to see who it was from my unique vantage point, but the man sitting to my left immediately turned round and said 'any money it's Owen'.

Despite a composed 1-0 win for the LA Galaxy at home to the New England Revolution this weekend, soccer fans around the world (or at least in the US) are still in shock over the rift between two Galaxy stars who missed this weekend's game. While superstar David Beckham is yet to return to the Galaxy this season, his estranged teammate Landon Donovan was rested following a busy period representing his country.

Here's an analogy for you to mull over:

An entrepreneur comes up with a product. It can be any product: a website, a toaster, a killer mutant robot, you name it, but he designs and develops it. He makes it successful. It's him who brings this product to the attention of the world... and it's a truly great product.

With the Premier League over for another season. Here are some of the things I noticed from the 08/09 campaign:

Hull City were everyone's favorite to go straight back down this season. They seemed like a sweet little feel good story, content to have their moment in the big leagues before quickly sinking back to lower level obscurity where they could be patronized by football and non-football people alike for sounding like a thoroughly dull and uninspiring place to live.

Does anyone else get the feeling that things have been going too well for too long? The English Premier League has gone from European underachievers to world dominators in only a few years. Foreign investment and an influx of the world's best talent has made the Premiership the undisputed champion of Europe and of the world.

It's time - yet again - for a whole team to get some recognition. All season long we haven't been seeing teams capitalize on opportunities presented to them. That all changed on Monday when the proverbial golden egg fell into Newcastle's lap, and they actually took advantage of it! With a late match on Monday night at home against fellow relegation candidates Middlesbrough, Newcastle was forced to sit tight and watch while the rest of the Premier League battled for position on the table.

Football FanCast columnist Mike Harvey feels that technology in football is not the answer.

Officiating in football is headline news these days. The past few weeks left a sour taste in the mouths of many fans. FIFA is at a crossroads and how they choose to handle this problem will affect the game for years.

Here in America, ESPN is truly the "Worldwide Leader In Sports." Millions of people wake up with Sportscenter in the morning, and go to bed with it on in the evening. Anyone in America that follows sports seemingly gets their information from ESPN.

The only problem? ESPN has literally no respect for soccer.

Ten things I noticed from this week's Champions League semifinals:

1. Much Ado About Nothing – Much to the woe of slobbering, over enthusiastic journalists everywhere, the Barcelona myth was partially debunked on Tuesday. It's not that they were awful by any stretch of the imagination, but when faced with an equally good team who didn't stand aside and let them play through them they looked more than a little stumped.

It's always this way, isn't it? You wait forever for one bus and then four or five come along at once. After a fairly drab season by Premier League standards, it's all gone frigging loopy as the fight for European and domestic dominance reaches its final stretch. A month ago we (well mainly I, but I'm sure you, too) were bemoaning the lack of really exciting games from the 08-09 Premier League season.

The PFA Player of the Year nominees are now out, and what a farce they are. It's not that five Manchester United players have been nominated for the main award that I find farcicle. Nor that Steven Gerrard is the only representative from the 19 other clubs. Nor that Aaron 'I can run very fast but I get a little stumped when I have to do something with this ball thingy' Lennon is in with a shot of winning Young Player of the Year.

All season long the relegation battle has made pundits around the world look foolish. With no true contenders in sight - or maybe far too many contenders - the relegation battle has been anyone's guess. On the Premiership Talk Podcast, Taylor and I have thrown many guesses out there, and in an interview Football Corner's Cathal Breathnach even suggested Portsmouth could be facing the drop.

Following Liverpool's 4-0 victory over Blackburn, Rafa Benitez couldn't contain his obsession with Manchester United. As he has done so often this season, Rafa had something to say about United.

Like all of the other times, Benitez today said that the "pressure is on United." I'm not sure about you, but I'm convinced that the Spaniard is obsessed with Manchester United.

While some of us Premier League fans must be jubilant with celebrations right now, others are still sure to be hurting, as the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals is already in the books. Rather than reviewing the Champions League results, however, this article focuses on moving on to this weekend's Premier League fixtures for the "Big Four", and how their Champions League outings will end up affecting their Premier League outings this weekend.

What is it with all of these stupid confusing names when it comes to different league names and tournaments? I'm talking about some of Europe's domestic leagues and two UEFA club competitions. Why do they have to have these fancy names like Premiership and Europa League? They should just stick with a name that is simple and that tells you what the competition is.

Ok, ok, ok, ok, I tell a lie.

The award for the most fictional Saturday press report this week goes to.... and I have just realised its Friday.

Fuck, double shit and bollocks.

Anyway, the Independent think that we are going to buy Danielle De Rossi for 30 million quid, there is no doubt that De Rossi is a very good player but there is doubs as to whether he would move from the club that brought him up from the little kiddie ranks and move from the place he was always lived.