Three weeks ago I wrote, Inter do to Chelsea, what the Blues do to us! I could easily repeat the headline for this game as well. That would be pointless though, what's the use of repeating the obvious.

I do have a few other observations and it's better to run through them. Before I do that, let me preface this article with the fact that I'm truly delighted Chelsea have been dumped out of the Champions League and this article is not an attempt to defend a Russian billionaire's plaything.

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When you mention feared German strikers, the next player to come out of anyone's mouth after Gerd Müller would have to be Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. During the early part of the 1980's Rummenigge was one of the best players in the world. He was being spoken in the breath as players like Rossi, Platini, Zico, Falcão, and Maradona. Click to continue reading...

When you mention feared German strikers, the next player to come out of anyone's mouth after Gerd Müller would have to be Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. During the early part of the 1980's Rummenigge was one of the best players in the world. He was being spoken in the breath as players like Rossi, Platini, Zico, Falcão, and Maradona. Click to continue reading...

From the left...Platini, uh....help?

Photo credit: bluerondo on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

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Tras una incidencia en el servidor del retroblog, volvemos a la carga con un artículo de los que publicamos al inicio de nuestra andadura. Si alguno de nuestros lectores asiduos lo ha leído ya; podrá repasar nuestra particular visión de partidos y jugadores que hicieron historia!

Nos remontamos al 8 de Julio de 1982 y nos situamos en una calurosísima Sevilla.

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Continuamos con el serial de la participación de la selección española en las Copas del Mundo y llegamos al Mundial de México de 1986. A nivel mundial siempre será el Mundial de Maradona, a nivel nacional el de Emilio Butragueño.

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Continuamos con el serial de la participación de la selección española en las Copas del Mundo y llegamos al Mundial de México de 1986. A nivel mundial siempre será el Mundial de Maradona, a nivel nacional el de Emilio Butragueño.

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Con la participación de España en su propio Mundial, continuamos con el serial que comenzamos la semana pasada en Retrofootball.

España organizaba por primera vez el evento más grande del mundo en lo que a fútbol se refiere. Todo el país estaba volcado con nuestra selección.

El Mundial se disputó del 13 de Junio al 11 de Julio de 1982 y lo disputaron 24 selecciones.

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Con la participación de España en su propio Mundial, continuamos con el serial que comenzamos la semana pasada en Retrofootball.

España organizaba por primera vez el evento más grande del mundo en lo que a fútbol se refiere. Todo el país estaba volcado con nuestra selección.

El Mundial se disputó del 13 de Junio al 11 de Julio de 1982 y lo disputaron 24 selecciones.

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Con el "Mundial de Argentina 1978" comenzamos en Retrofootball un serial sobre la participación de la selección española en las Copas del Mundo. Esto nos debe servir para entrar en calor de cara a la cita del próximo año; y recordar parte de la historia de nuestro fútbol para no repetirla.

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Con el "Mundial de Argentina 1978" comenzamos en Retrofootball un serial sobre la participación de la selección española en las Copas del Mundo. Esto nos debe servir para entrar en calor de cara a la cita del próximo año; y recordar parte de la historia de nuestro fútbol para no repetirla.

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Lionel Messi si è aggiudicato il premio Fifa come miglior giocatore dell'anno. E' lui il più bravo di tutti per i tecnici chiamati a votare. E', soprattutto, la conclusione di un anno memorabile per il calciatore del Barcellona: sei titoli con il club (l'ultimo, il Mondiale per Club, sabato scorso), il Pallone d'Oro, la qualificazione agli ottavi di champions, il primo posto nella Liga. Click to continue reading...

The Christmas (Number) One! - The Chelsea Football FanCast #99
Has the boys Christmas cheer been dampened as Chelsea take the penalty, again and again to salvage a point against a battling West Ham up for the London Derby?
On the Chelsea FanCast Christmas special, whilst all around them panic at only one win in six games, the FanCast team look at the 1-1 draw against the ‘Appy ‘Ammers as a hard and well earned point which extends our lead at the top of the table to four points. Click to continue reading...

Ancora manca tanto tempo ma già siamo in grado di fornirvi le prime chicche al riguardo. Nel corso di una bellissima cerimonia, che ha avuto luogo oggi a Kiev, nella capitale ucraina, sono stati presentati il logo e lo slogan ufficiale di UEFA EURO 2012.
La manifestazione calcistica, in programma tra due anni in Polonia e Ucraina ha già il suo Logo (che potete osservare nella foto). Click to continue reading...

The bizarre alternate scenario of Germany stepping-in and co-hosting Euro 2012 with Poland can finally be laid to rest. UEFA's Executive Committee has been meeting this week (more below on their other deliberations), and came to the following conclusion on Ukraine's readiness to host the tournament:

After careful consideration of the documents and guarantees submitted to UEFA by the Ukrainian Government and the cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Lviv during the last couple of months, the infrastructure report prepared by the UEFA administration and after consultation with the host associations, the UEFA Executive Committee took the following decisions concerning the selection of host cities for UEFA EURO 2012â„¢:

• to confirm Kyiv as the venue of the final match of UEFA EURO 2012™
• to confirm Donetsk and Lviv, and to appoint Kharkiv as host cities for group matches of UEFA EURO 2012™

UEFA did not give Ukraine an entirely clean bill of health; mitigating their criticism by noting the poor economic climate, they still emphasised Ukraine had "work to do" and that "UEFA will continue to closely monitor the state of infrastructure and operational preparations.

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Con la participación de España en su propio Mundial, continuamos con el serial que comenzamos la semana pasada en Retrofootball.

España organizaba por primera vez el evento más grande del mundo en lo que a fútbol se refiere. Todo el país estaba volcado con nuestra selección.

El Mundial se disputó del 13 de Junio al 11 de Julio de 1982 y lo disputaron 24 selecciones.

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The footballing world was outraged when France forward Thierry Henry used his hand to set up William Gallas' goal against the Republic of Ireland in their World Cup play-off. Gallas' extra time goal in the second leg resulted in Ireland's elimination, while Henry was well and truly branded with the cheat tag.

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In a decision sure to prompt anger in many European countries, European football's governing body UEFA has confirmed that not only will the play-offs for the 2012 European Championships be seeded — but the seeded teams will then be guaranteed home advantage in the second leg.
The Irish Examiner has learned that FAI chief executive John Delaney has already written to UEFA to express his concern about the plan. Click to continue reading...

Con el "Mundial de Argentina 1978" comenzamos en Retrofootball un serial sobre la participación de la selección española en las Copas del Mundo. Esto nos debe servir para entrar en calor de cara a la cita del próximo año; y recordar parte de la historia de nuestro fútbol para no repetirla.

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Right, well football's back and we can finally put the Interlull behind us. Obviously there was plenty about Thierry, Ireland and France and what have you at Arsene's press conference yesterday but I think enough has been said on here about it.

The only thing I will comment on is his call for technology to be used to help referees.

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Por Rocheteau
Tanto hablar, tanto hablar, y resulta que la respuesta estaba en uefa.com. Por casualidad, tropecé con la crónica del partido según lo cuenta la casa suiza del fútbol. He aquí el relato.
Irlanda va venciendo 1-0. La pieza periodística es tirando a clásica, sin ritmo. Click to continue reading...

I was reluctant at first to write about this, and everyone from my non-soccer life was soliciting opinions on Henry's handball against Ireland, but I do have one or two things to say.
I first want to echo Brian Phillips remark yesterday: "Don't call it a "controversial goal." It was a visibly illegitimate goal. Click to continue reading...

Keith Hackett stating the obvious.

"I have said to managers in the past that this is an area of great difficulty for referees and it can come down to the viewing angle of the referee."

I think it is time to give him the goods on the human eye. The game has gotten a lot quicker and the art of deception even more perfect.

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Birmingham was hard done by Peter Walton's decision to award a PK after the French striker went down in the box from a tackle by Lee Carsley. Problem was Carsley never touched him. Steven Gerrard subbing for the injured Riera converted the penalty and Liverpool scraped a draw.

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En Retrofootball queremos hacer un artículo diferente. Esta semana reflexionamos sobre las competiciones europeas que consideramos tenían más emoción hace unos años.

Con la Ley Bosman y la necesidad de generar ingresos, la UEFA ha ido cambiando el panorama de las Competiciones Europeas los últimos 10 años.

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Yup, you guessed it... Michel Platini, better known as the Antichrist, is once again in the media criticizing Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. It is truly amazing how Platini has turned into a one-man crusade against Arsenal and his fellow countryman. We here at Arsenal Station have not long forgotten his psychologically-disturbed rant last season during which he exhibited the full extent of his obsession and disgust with Arsene Wenger.

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Kelly committed the foul.
Hangeland got the red card
Platini's wonderful system of having extra referees behind each goal post blew a major fuse in Roma's 1 -1 draw with Fulham a couple of days back.Stephen Kelly's foul on Riise occurred 10 yards from where the additional assistant referee, Johan Verbist, was stationed to one side of the Putney End goal.

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It never fails. Every interlull brings the inevitable 'Cesc-to-Spain' stories. Cesc to Barcelona, Cesc to Madrid, Cesc to Malaga, etc... Now, apparently, following their loss to Sevilla, Madrid once again are making noise. Arsenal have reportedly received bids of up to £60m for Fabregas over the last two seasons and each time the player and the club rejected them.

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The biggest threat to football's credibility in modern times Following Michele Platini's goal against Fulham last month, OTP can now lift the lid on another Brazilian player pretending to be a French superstar. Meet Makelele - or Leandro dos Santos de Jesus to his parents - of Brazilian outfit Coritiba. Click to continue reading...

Listen!
I wrote this a few days ago and forgot to post it - apologies...Fulham match report to follow.
Considering how some other websites *cough* Myles Palmer *cough* insist on finding the negatives even in victory, I think it's best to look at the last three games as a success. Click to continue reading...

Hello and welcome to episode 21 of the world famous Soccerlens Podcast. Join ex-footballer Adrian Clarke and esteemed sports journalist Iain Spragg as they chew over all things football.

This week Clarkey and Spraggy produce a lively verbal kickabout that includes European football debate, a case for the FA's defence, a peek inside the mind of Sol Campbell, a frank assessment of Platini's latest brainchild, previews of the biggest games across Europe, answers to YOUR questions and a special bonus feature on what it's really like inside Sepp Blatter's FIFA HQ.

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All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle...

The Telegraph's top 15 football websites. And we're #1. Though there were a few glaring omissions, I consider this a victory for all of us. As a collective force we can't be stopped.

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Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak has started a war of words with UEFA president Michel Platini, criticizing the Frenchman for his apparent love for the "status quo."

al Mubarak's comments were sparked by UEFA's plan to set financial fair-play rules, meaning that clubs will only be able to spend on transfers as much as they make through television revenue, ticket sales, and commercial endeavours.

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Platini's masterplan to eliminate referee associated problems has been inaugurated.The Europa League kicked with two extra match officials, one behind each goal.
They are termed "additional assistant referees" - the short form of which is AARs - which is kind of difficult to say without giving offence.

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Una vez agotada la jornada de champions, voy a tratar de sintetizar mis percepciones sobre los equipos españoles y su participación en la jornada de ayer. Lamento haber colgado este post a unas horas tan intempestivas, pero la jornada futbolística y los medios de comunicación me han tenido ocupado, por ese problema de mi incapacidad de ser ubicuo. Click to continue reading...

All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle...

Real Valladolid invited a performing bear to training. [Off The Post]

Premier League players are now buying bullet proof cars because their lives are just like a Michael Mann film.

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UEFA's Executive Committee meets next week to consider recommendations that could change the face of European club football. "Financial fair play", as UEFA calls it, is the key item on the agenda, as the recommendations of the Professional Football Strategy Council (PFSC) made last month are up for approval (the PFSC was created in 2007, and consists of UEFA's vice-presidents and representatives of clubs, leagues and the players).

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There's no football.Time to take stock and indulge the missis, make of that whatever you like but it usually involves Morrison's these days. I was going to follow the cricket or the tennis but it seems we are being thrashed by the Australians in the first and there is not one English player in the top 100 in the second so perhaps I won't bother. Click to continue reading...

Futbol muhabbetlerinin en saçma ve en çok sorulan sorusu Arjantin-Brezilya maçı nedeniyle tekrardan akıllara düştü. Maradona mı Pele mi? Bana çok saçma ve içinde haksızlık barındıran bir soru öbeği olarak gelmiştir her zaman! Bana göre bu soru Pele mi Cruyff mu ya da Maradona mı Cruyff mu şeklinde olmalıydı. Click to continue reading...

Afternoon all,

have any of you ever watched Groundhog Day? You see, for me today kind of feels like yesterday, and the day before that, and maybe even the day before that. Is is the lack of football? Not sure. Is is the ongoing Eduardo divey thingy? Possibly. Is it the ongoing kerfuffle about the Wenger chant?

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