The thought of writing this post after the opening day game against DC United never entered my head. That was a slightly improved version of the meltdown season of 2008 defensive breakdowns, not much stability in the middle and an attack that put two in the back of the net, but looked frustrating doing it.

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Liverpool legend John Aldridge claims that his old side have not been aggressive enough this season, and believes that this is the cause for their recent run of one win in nine games.
The Scouse-born Irishman is of the opinion that the Merseysiders have been sloppy in defence, and has pointed a finger at the back four's handling of set-plays. Click to continue reading...

The vast majority of Liverpool fans are still right behind Rafa Benitez and rightly so.
There is enough instability at the club with the owners and the debts, and the last thing we need is to be looking for a new manager.
One win in nine games isn't great but you don't turn into a bad manager overnight. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool youngster Daniel Ayala has extended his contract with the Anfield club.
The 18-year-old defender, who made his debut for the first team on the opening day of this season at Spurs, has signed a new deal which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2012.
Spaniard Ayala has made three first-team appearances this term. Click to continue reading...

It is starting to look as if West Ham striker Dean Ashton could be forced to retire from the game at just 25-years-old.

The former Norwich forward broke his left ankle while training with the England squad in 2006 and has been unable to recover from the injury.

Hammer boss Gianfranco Zola had this to say on his situation: "When something like this happens, it is very much personal.

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Guingamp make the short journey to Nantes tonight to face a team flying high in the league so far this season.

Guingamp currently sit 2nd from bottom in the L2 season, a win tonight can see them move out of the relegation zone. FC Nantes currently sit in 4th place in the in the L2 table, a win for them could see them move up to 2nd.

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It was the Friday before the start of the Premier League season and I was on a plane home.� The two gentlemen next to me starting talking and the conversation soon moved to football.� One of them was lamenting Southampton's relegation into League One, he then said to his friend, "So it's four years without a trophy now then?

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The Fire came into the second leg down 2-1 in aggregate goals facing an opponent that they've faced a huge number of times in the playoffs over the years, lately with good results. I could go on about the challenges that the Revs faced this year, but frankly it's not worth the time. This Fire team came into the playoffs in mediocre form, with rumors of trouble in the locker room and using a patchwork lineup. Click to continue reading...

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola was over the moon after Zavon Hines' last-gasp strike earned his Hammers their first win since the opening day of the season. England Under-21 striker Hines was the toast of Upton Park after he netted the winner in the fourth minute of injury time.

Zola said:

"This could be the turning point for us.

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1) I've updated the home/away records for each MLS team in each season through 2009:
Check them out here.
2) If Omar Gonzalez wins the Rookie of the Year award, he'll be the youngest winner ever. He was 20.72 years of age as of July 1st. The current record-holder is Carlos Bocanegra in 2000, at 21. Click to continue reading...

During the summer of 2006 the press predicted the downfall of Manchester United after our two best players had seemingly fallen out during the World Cup.

Apparently there was no way they could both continue at the club and we were doomed.

When on the opening day of the season we beat Fulham 5-1 with Rooney and Ronaldo both scoring and helping each other score, there were lots of disappointed people!

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The Wizards have handed out their year end awards, and it's now time for me to hand out my end of the year awards to Wizards players. I'm going to hand out the same awards I did last year, I'm also adding a Performance of the Year award to the best single game performance by a player this season.
Rookie of the Year
Matt Besler
Not really a surprise, it was either going to be Besler or Graham Zusi getting this years award, and I don't think that Zusi got enough time this year to be considered for the award. Click to continue reading...

Guingamp travel to Laval on Friday night in an attempt to revive their season and pull themselves clear of relegation.

EAG and now just one place and one point above the drop zone and a defeat tomorrow night could see them drop into the relegation zone for the first time this season.

Laval have only managed one win in their last five games, that was a 2-0 win away at Havre AC.

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Juan Carlos Osorio didn't help matters in New York. (Getty Images)

Not much was good in 2009 for the New York Red Bulls. Fresh off a trip to the MLS Cup in 2008 many thought this could be a break out season for the club. Instead the season got started with a bang in a bad way by losing to an expansion club on opening day 3-0 in Seattle.

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Recently Arsenal FC Blog sat down with Arsenal captain and future Barcelona star (let's admit it, it's easier that way) Cesc Fabregas to talk about the pressure of playing several years without any trophies, Manchester City and on Arsenal chances in the Premier League and Europe this season.

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There's a interview with Gareth Barry in today's Observer by Paul Hayward ahead of the Fulham game, in which he discusses - amongst other things - his summer move. Hayward is clearly a fan, and there is an interesting paragraph that details a recent observation of Barry:

In a recent City home game I began listing the variety of Barry's passes and charting his influence on team-mates in an expensive, attack-minded side.

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Guingamp will face FC Metz tonight in what is their first of three games in eight days.

Metz sit just two places and two points above Guingamp in the L2 table so a victory tonight could see the 'red and blacks' leapfrog their opponents.

Guingamp have been poor away from home this season, after a win and a draw in the opening two away games they have failed to win in the last three away from home.

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Liverpool legend Phil Thompson believes the club's opening day Premier League defeat against Tottenham underlined the club's lack of depth and quality, and that has evidently manifested itself over the last few weeks against Aston Villa, Chelsea and Sunderland.
Thompson told Skysports.com: "I'll start by saying I don't think Liverpool's season is hanging on the Lyon game but there's no doubt it is massive - and one they must win. Click to continue reading...

After Liverpool's opening day defeat to Spurs, Rafa Benitez shocked the football world with a tasteless, highly offensive gag at the expense of referee Phil Dowd. Football fans, players and managers around the world were outraged by Benitez's heinous conduct, which according to the FA, plunged football into a ‘state of almost irreparable disrepute'. Click to continue reading...

The Liverpool manager, Rafael Benítez, has been cleared of two charges brought by the Football Association following comments he made regarding the referee Phil Dowd after Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on the opening day of the season.
Benítez had criticised Dowd for failing to give Liverpool a penalty after Andriy Voronin was levered off the ball in the Tottenham penalty area. Click to continue reading...

Rafa Benitez and Sir Alex Ferguson face the wrath of an Football Association who do not see the funny side of the managers of Liverpool and Manchester United.
While many might have chuckled at Sir Alex questioning Alan Wiley's fitness, no one is laughing at the FA's headquarters.
And, while the spectacles joke of the Liverpool boss has badly backfired, the FA Commission are more likely to say "he should have gone to SpecSavers" when they hand out the punishment. Click to continue reading...

Reading through the submissions these past two weeks, stories of waiting for years for a club to arrive in your hometown a decade too late, seeing your club switch stadiums only for the supporter culture to die off, wondering what Don Garber has up his sleeve regarding the league's growth in the next five to ten to twenty years; you get the impression that, ultimately, the future of MLS is out of our control. Click to continue reading...

As we enter into another International break, many Hammers fans will quietly be asking themselves that exact same question. Inspired by Nick Frost's (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Spaced) twitter feed over the weekend, I quickly realized what a passionate yet disheartened bunch the Hammers supporters are this year.

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It is a measure of our start this season that heading into this game - whilst a tough fixture - it is with a sense of expectation for the victory, rather than merely hoping to come away with the win.
Both sides (along with Tottenham and Everton) were installed as favourites at the start of the season for the Europa League places and to potentially challenge the top four. Click to continue reading...

Wolves fans are gutted. Prior to this weekend's fixtures, Portsmouth had lost their first seven matches. While losing runs can't go on forever, every club in the country was licking it's lips at the prospect of playing the South Coast side. But on a glorious Saturday afternoon, in front of a packed Molineux,� Wolves fans witnessed utter horror as their team became the first club to give up points to Europe's worst team.

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Running around a bit today, so here's a feel-good story. I hadn't read this comment in full when I posted my story about De Ro scoring the golden goal; amazing how resonant it was north of the border. Here's Duane Rollins in his own words:
That game hooked me. I was writing for a B. Click to continue reading...

Well, as we know things are not great. In fact, they are worse than bad. Our team is languishing in 11th position. The side has only scored three goals in six matches in the Serie A, two of them coming against Siena on the opening day. Need I mention our humiliating loss to Inter and [...] Click to continue reading...

Look away Hammers fans. Five points from a possible 21 and without a win since opening day at Wolverhampton Wanderers.� West Ham United have not started a Premier League season this badly since 2002-03 – and unfortunately they were relegated at the end of that one. Where's the Zola magic gone?

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Fulham 0 Arsenal 1 (Van Persie 52)
(Premiership)

Strange how a scrappy undeserved win always brings about more plaudits than a delightful thumping, isn't it?

For as long as we've had the reputation for destroying opposition only to fall meekly to physical sides (an opinion that is so outdated it is ridiculous), we've heard the line that we can't win ugly.

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Big Story

What with all the big news stories out there—FIFA U20 World Cup action, Notts County's shifty owners—I thought I'd ease you into your late Sunday news-gathering expedition with an irreverent look at what happens when a team many were counting on to fill in the role as the Big Four minnow destroyer du jour loses 3-1 to lil' ol' Wigan.

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If the Premier League season is a party, consider us (very) fashionably late. But now that we're six games in, the standings are starting to take shape: who would bet against the top four being the same come May? Not yours truly, that's for sure.
After a series of 1-0 wins, Manchester City proved they're for real by tonking Arsenal and giving neighbors United a run for their money. Click to continue reading...

Yesterday was a delayed opening day for my kids. We started at a new club that I had heard good things about, as far away as when I lived in Virginia.
So far we had one day notice on the coaches meeting, and less than two weeks before the season started. When I inquired, about this I was scolded. Click to continue reading...

So the big question from Serie A this week is, what does Milan manager Leonardo do about Ronaldinho? Built up over the summer by Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi as the answer to why Milan never replaced Madrid-bound Ricky Kaká, Ronaldinho looked great on the opening day, but awful in his sides loss at inter-city rivals [. Click to continue reading...

The matches to watch after you realize that you've been celebrating Oktoberfest non-stop since the last one ended. And that your liver hates you.

Saturday

West Ham v Liverpool at Upton Park Perhaps the best Premier League match on a day of meh fixtures.

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It feels like the season has really begun now, the international break is well behind us, the Champions League & the Europa League are in full swing, and the big clashes are starting to come thick and fast.

Here are my predictions for this weekend's Premier League fixtures - make sure you add yours to the mix and check out the podcast crew's predictions for this weekend's big matches across Europe as well.

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