Liverpool's crushing defeats to Sunderland and Lyon are undoubtedly devastating blows to the club's trophy ambitions. Clearly, the recurring problems that have plagued Liverpool under Rafa Benitez are wreaking havoc once again. As such, if the club is to recover and salvage something from this campaign, it is imperative that important changes are made NOW. Click to continue reading...

Weirdly, I'm kind of excited for England vs Belarus. Neither team has anything to play for, but with Rooney and Gerrard out injured (or as The Fiver put it yesterday: "Wayne Rooney has pulled out of the game against Belarus at Wembley with a severe case of having his wages paid by Manchester United.

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If you want to save yourself time you might as well just cast your mind back to the first round tie away to Doncaster – five more goals, away from home, and despite the occasional early scare the gulf in class eventually told. Deja-vu all over again. It's not the Tottenham I grew up with I tell ye.

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Youngster set to leave north London.

Portsmouth Vs Tottenham Tickets Still Available!

Deportivo La Coruna manager Miguel Angel Lotina has been quoted in the Spanish press as declaring an interest in Tottenham Hotspur forward Giovani Dos Santos.

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The morning after the day before and the finger pointing of blame has begun following the shambolic collapse against West Bromwich Albion. The brunt, no pun intended, of the vitriol seems to be aimed fairly and squarely on the shoulders of manager Gareth Southgate, but for me the players who took to the field yesterday let themselves, the club and the fans badly down.

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Lanús 1 - Banfield 2

No me pidan mesura porque no la voy a tener, no soy periodista deportivo, soy un hincha que escribe una columna y punto, así que no tengo porqué ser mesurado.

Lanús perdió el clásico y lo peor de todo no es eso sino que lo perdió bien, porque los pingüinos nos ganaron bien, con sus armas (esperar atrás siempre y salir de contra, cortar con faltas todo el tiempo, simular y quedarse a vivir en el piso) pero justificadas.

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David Beckham was Castrol's ambassador in the last World Cup .Cristiano Ronaldo is the chosen one for World Cup 2010 .However Portugal have their backs to the wall and are staring at a possible elimination from the proceedings.Castrol will be seriously thinking of plan B.
Plan B might have been Messi - but just now that's not looking like such a great idea either.

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There will many disappointed Gooners out there tonight. Disappointed because we haven't made any signings today or since Thomas Vermaelen arrived at the club. I can understand your frustrations. I would have loved Arsene Wenger to make a couple of signings too. But he hasn't. And I'm not that disappointed to honest. Click to continue reading...

So much for Fortress Anfield! Even at this early stage, Liverpool's crushing home defeat to Aston Villa is a devastating blow to the club's title ambitions. The problem? Rafa Benitez's one-dimensional tactics and lack of an effective plan B. It's clear that if Liverpool are to recover and mount a serious title, important changes need to be made NOW. Click to continue reading...

Aberdeen 1-3 Celtic (15:08:09)
- click on photos to enlarge image -
There are two main industries in Aberdeen; oil and lap dancing. Basically, one half of Aberdeen take oil out of the ground and the other half rub it all over their bodies. Boom boom, welcome to the Granite City where Cynical Dave and I would pitch up for three days of football and beer. Click to continue reading...

Back in my smoking days, I could easily put away a pack during a Mexico World Cup fixture (I only needed one match). I wasn't even watching this one, and I could tell it was at least a two-packer.
Okay, so most of you know that I had to travel today, so I didn't get to watch the game, or about 95% of it. Click to continue reading...

Is this their year? If they can keep their starting XI healthy, it sure looks like it could be. However, they've already lost Alonso to Madrid and his replacement, Aquilani, is injured for the next month or two. Their senior central defenders are all doubtful for the start of the season as are, most importatntly, Gerrard and Torres. Click to continue reading...

Nikki B is a player who usually sparks a mass debate between Gooners.
He has his critics, mainly a section of the Gooner faithful that decided booing him was the best option last season. I didn't agree with it but it seems that the booing gave him a proper kick up the arse.
I think in a strange way it changed him for the better. Click to continue reading...

Ayer en un extraño partido Tigres perdió contra Cruz Azul 1-1. Que tan importante sería el evento que no se decidió en penales o tiempos extras, al final fue un "volado" lo que decidió al vencedor.

Deportivo el asunto, antes no fue a la rayuela.

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El jugador argentino a última hora decidió no venir, veamos la nota que dice el sitio oficial del Club:

Gastón Fernández llegará el lunes a Monterrey para incorporarse a los Tigres de la UANL, pero Rodrigo Braña se quedará en Argentina, luego de no aceptar el compromiso que se le había planteado y ser convencido por el Club Estudiantes de La Plata de no venir a México.

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Since last summer I've firmly believed that Ade would be sold on this summer. I wrote a post back in April explaining my reasons why I thought he was off...

For those of you who cant remember here's the link;Â http://avenell.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/ade-out-the-back-door/

When Ade first signed for Arsenal, Wenger knew what he was buying.

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El primer fichaje del Barça ya está aquí, el brasileño Maxwell ha sido elegido para cubrir el lateral de la banda izquierda.
Siempre he tenido buenas referencias de este chico, no solo de su estáncia en el Inter de Milán si no de su paso por el Ajax.
Tiene el perfil del lateral ofensivo brasileño, muy parecido al carísimo Filipe Luis, aunque mucho más barato. Click to continue reading...

Lyon is now reporting that Real Madrid have agreed a deal for French striker Karim Benzema. Earlier today there were reports indicating that Benzema was closing in on a move to Old Trafford, but the Spanish club have pulled the wool over United's eyes.

This is Real Madrid's third huge signing of the summer, with deals for Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo already in the books.

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Y miedo porque USA se fue dolido de la confederaciones, tuvieron el triunfo en sus manos y se lo arrebataron, miedo porque esta misma selección (que no jugara la copa oro) llegara al estadio azteca no buscando quien se las hizo, sino quien se las va a pagar, y es que no jugaron mal, ni se equivocaron en algún momento del partido, simplemente es que enfrente estaba Brasil.

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I couldn't update regularly in last couple of days. But it looks like there was not much of development about Barca in Transfer Market. But the biggest news in Transfer Market as today is a reported 50 million bid for Valencia striker Villa. Valencia is reported to be asking for more but there is a high chance of Barca beating Real madrid to his signature. Click to continue reading...

I'm sure there was a fair few MCC members scowling yesterday but ultimately yesterday was just a cricket carnival.
Even the most cynical of England fans would doff their caps to the Indian fans, fanatical doesn't even begin to cover it. As the Australian will attest our "Barmy Army" are no slouches either so it made for an amazingly vibrant evening. Click to continue reading...

With less than a year to go before the World Cup kicks off in South Africa, seven nations are joining the hosts for a sneak preview tournament, the FIFA Confederations Cup. The roster is highlighted by reigning World Champions Italy, top-ranked and European champs Spain and perennial power Brazil. In addition to watching how those powers stack up, the event will be a test for the well-scrutinized South African organizing committee. Click to continue reading...

There's no turning back now. Talk of a plan B can be forgotten.

In exactly a year's time, the opening match of the 2010 World Cup will be played at the 94,000 Soccer City stadium on the outskirts of Soweto in Johannesburg.

Cape Town's stadium on May 26...

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We're one year away, folks!
One year until the opening of the world's biggest sporting event - the 2010 World Cup!
I'm excited! And so are the South African organizers, who are confident everything in South Africa will be ready on time.
Danny Jordaan, head of the South African Organizing Committee, even promised visiting fans will be embraced, not mugged, when they show up! Click to continue reading...

How important is the 2010 World Cup in South Africa not only for the host nation but for the entire continent of Africa?
In a word: Important.
While much of the importance is derived from financial concerns, there's also the question of image.
Many international observers have a skewed view of Africa that comes from the news media and reports of war and famine. Click to continue reading...

Nearly five weeks have passed since the end of the season, and no confirmed prospects of change have been announced by the club. Publicly, it appears as if the club has gone into hibernation, and whilst some supporters have taken to prodding the stands to check for signs of life, privately we are assured the wheels have been turning.

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[07:45] JSpitzberg: guy at work all proud to call ronaldo "cron"
[07:45] JSpitzberg: "see, i'm reading you!"
[07:45] Neal J Thurman: HA
[07:45] Neal J Thurman: so long as he also called him no better than the 4th best player on the pitch yesterday
[07:48] JSpitzberg: fair placement
[07:48] JSpitzberg: manu got it all wrong
[07:48] Neal J Thurman: agreed
[07:48] Neal J Thurman: and finally paid for lack of a midfield
[07:48] JSpitzberg: or at least, they didn't have a plan b when the long balls over the top didn't pressure the 2nd string D
[10:10] Neal J Thurman: so, if you were SAF, what would your shopping list look like for the Summer? Click to continue reading...

So where next for Man United? As Alex Ferguson graciously observed, they were outclassed and outplayed by the better side on the night. It was interesting to see him bring his players onto the pitch to watch Barcelona cavort and celebrate, and hammer home what they missed out on.

For the first eight minutes, United looked great.

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Reading the online Courier Mail today it seems my thoughts on the FFA and Brisbane Roar may be close to the money.

'Roar directors admit they are concerned about supporter backlash following the club's decision to almost double the price of season tickets.
As reported in The Courier-Mail on Thursday, a season ticket holder in the Orange Army section of seating at Suncorp Stadium will have to pay $345 for 14 matches compared with $176 for 10 games last season.

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It was called a victory for football. With the free-flowing, attack minded Barca defeating the dour hard-nosed boys from West London, with their stifling, aggressive and negative tactics.

But it wasn't total football that won Barca the game last Wednesday night, it was one moment of brilliance from Iniesta in the last minute - Barca's only shot on target.

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Indonesia Super League
Persik v Persitara 0-0
Slish splash I was taking a bath. This game was delayed by an hour to allow the monsoonal downpour to stop but no time was given for the pitch to drain which meant this was more like a Sunday kick around with your mates rather than a professional league encounter. Click to continue reading...

I was sitting there at half time last week not quite sure whether to believe. We had stuck a foot in, nothing had fallen their way, Gomes was brilliant, we had ridden our luck and put our two chances away. What could go wrong?
Now this was not some shrewd analysis and tactical genius on my part. Click to continue reading...

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse for Newcastle, Boro and Sunderland, they did – and it looks like there is worse still to come.

Thumped a collective 7-0 over the weekend, only the ineptness of West Brom and Hull can stop all three clubs tumbling down to the Championship next season.

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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.

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With all this fuss and bother over arranging simple football matches in Jakarta at the moment now there is a possibility that the prestige friendly between an Indonesia All Stars and Manchester United may be relocated with Samarinda in Kalimantan being suggested as a plan B.
I don't claim to have any inside channel to Old Trafford but it ain't rocket science to suggest that there is no way United will consent to travelling to Samarinda. Click to continue reading...