EA Sports' FIFA franchise strives for realism, to approximate the experience of being a footballer or managing a club. When you see the gaudy, arcade style interface of FIFA 10 for the Wii, you realize this will be a very different game.

Creating for the Wii constrains developers.

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Rafael Benitez has strongly defended his managerial style as questions are being asked about him following Liverpool's current run of one win out of nine.
He said in Champions Magazine: "You cannot win trophies if you are cautious. I have won titles not because I am cautious, but because I have a clear idea of what to do. Click to continue reading...

The look of the player on the pitch, a skilled & fiery workhorse, captures the fan's imagination, but what follows?

Few goals, lots of whining, a desire to quit.

If this was said about Carlos Tevez in relation to Manchester United you might take pause to consider if he was done wrong and has a grevience.

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KV crosses the reader-contributor divide to give us his take on the subtleties of Arsenal's 4-3-3 system.
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From time immemorial variation has led to the survival of species. Slight variations have caused species to evolve through the years, making them more adept to the environment.

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Lucas has vowed to put his Anfield agony behind him to drive England nuts in Doha on Saturday.
The Liverpool man is intent on a Brazil win to help rubber stamp his own World Cup hopes and prove his team can emerge as champions next summer.
Midfielder Lucas said: "This match is a friendly - but in name only. Click to continue reading...

GBS helped lead the Crew to a second straight Supporter's Shield trophy. (Getty Images)

We all expected big things in 2009 for the Columbus Crew. Anytime you win a MLS Cup and retain the bulk of a lineup that got you that title you expect to repeat or come extremely close to do so. As we saw last week the Crew fell short of that this year as they lost to Real Salt Lake at home in the semi-finals of the eastern conference.

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It's a bit early to be making broad statements about the title challengers, but broad statements promote debate, and I'm all about the debating. This season will be a 2 horse race between Chelsea and Arsenal for the premier league.

Man Utd simply lack any flair what so ever, Liverpool sadly have blown it by not having enough players who can play football, and Manchester City don't seem to have the right manager just yet.

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Cesc Fabregas is remaining cautious in refusing to get carried away by Arsenal's current free-scoring form.
The Gunners moved into second spot in the Barclays Premier League with a clinical 4-1 win over Wolves on Saturday to take their league tally to 36 goals in 11 games.
He said: "We do worry about the goals coming to an end. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal midfielder and captain Cesc Fabregas has voiced his concerns over the Gunners' recent defensive displays, suggesting that there could be problems when their in form attack stops finding the back of the net.

"We do worry about the goals coming to an end. We talk about what will happen if they stop.

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Forget Haye v Valuev, this is the big one Chelsea v Manchester United. This year's favourites take on the Premier League champions. But while Chelsea and Drogba are in top form, United's injury problems mount.

And it is Didier Drogba who pundits alike are talking about. He is in the best form of his life, and if there was a better time to face United for the Ivory Coast forward, it would have to be now as he will be up against a rather depleted looking back line.

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what do you want from me?

Well; in the press anyway. What he can say he will say and for the most part we're going to be looking worse for it. However, the way that Darren played in our system was all well and good; but lacked a certain 101 cutting edge that we now have with our striking collective.

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Ahead of our match against Chelsea, RoM and The Chelsea Blog teamed up for a discussion to put you in the mood for Sunday.

Scott the Red: The question has been raised a few times in the media who would you prefer out of Drogba, Rooney and Torres? Why?

The Chelsea Blog: The first thought that came into my head was Drogba.

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Eduardo's back heel onto Arshavin, who runs and takes the ball and finds the pass to Diaby, who sets himself up and scores.

That my friends was the goal of the night and the fourth for Arsenal against AZ Alkmaar. The football recently played by Arsenal is nothing short of phenomenal, offensively of course.

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Friday has arrived, only one day to get through until we play again.

I am just glad November 5th is now over for another year – I don't like Fireworks!!

Sadly though, nowadays November 5th seems to go on for about a week, so I anticipate more tonight and over the weekend
Few odd bits of gossip around late yesterday evening and early today.

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Mahtomedi 2 0 Hermantown

The boys 1A final featured two teams that were not expected to make it to the final. Mahtomedi section 4A champs came in to this game with a record of 16-3-3 having knocked off the #1 seeded team and #1 ranked team in the state, Totino-Grace by a score of 1-0 in a shootout.

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Mahtomedi 2 0 Hermantown

The boys 1A final featured two teams that were not expected to make it to the final. Mahtomedi section 4A champs came in to this game with a record of 16-3-3 having knocked off the #1 seeded team and #1 ranked team in the state, Totino-Grace by a score of 1-0 in a shootout.

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Mahtomedi 2 0 Hermantown

The boys 1A final featured two teams that were not expected to make it to the final. Mahtomedi section 4A champs came in to this game with a record of 16-3-3 having knocked off the #1 seeded team and #1 ranked team in the state, Totino-Grace, by a score of 1-0 in a shootout.

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The football just keeps coming with Champions League action tomorrow night. There'll be a press conference and team news today so we can preview the game properly tomorrow.

A win would assure qualification for the knock-out stage of the competition so there'll be no rest for the main men. Robin van Persie will lead the line again and after two goals against Sp*rs the manager seems to think 25 goals for the season is an achievable target for him.

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Frank Lampard today hailed Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba as the best in the world!.
Lampard said:
"Nico has been fantastic all season. Along with Didier they are a great partnership," Lampard said. "He (Anelka) has tremendous pace and balance, particularly when he runs at defenders. Click to continue reading...

"Put the chequebook away we're just fine!"

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Mark Hughes has warned Manchester City fans against expecting many new arrivals in the January transfer window.

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Is it just me or are Real Madrid really missing the presence of their tanned, Portuguese, man-o-sex Ronaldo? Sure their overly excited old fellas are scoring goals, but at the same time the team looks like it's just scraping through simple matches and if it wasn't for two goals by ... Click to continue reading...

Is it just me or are Real Madrid really missing the presence of their tanned, Portuguese, man-o-sex Ronaldo? Sure their overly excited old fellas are scoring goals, but at the same time the team looks like it's just scraping through simple matches and if it wasn't for two goals by ... Click to continue reading...

Jack McInerney and the US take on UAE

USA vs UAE, Ijebu Ode, 1 November 2009, 16:00 (local time)

Follow the match on ESPNU, ESPN360.com and Galavision starting at 10 AM.

The final day of the World Cup U-17 group stage.

A US win will get them into the last 16.

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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...

AAAAHHHHHHHH I AM ARTUR BORUC AND THIS IS A LIST OF THINGS THAT MADE ME ANGRY THIS WEEK:

1. HALLOWEEN I DECIDED TO BE A MONK FOR HALLOWEEN AGAIN THIS YEAR AND I ASKED MY FRIEND MICHAL ZEWLAKOW TO BE A MONK AGAIN TOO BUT HE SAID WE SHOULD BE MICHAEL JACKSONS AND I SAID "AHHHHHHH BUT I WANT TO BE A MONK!

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A week or so ago the news broke that David Beckham would probably be returning to the San Siro in the new year for a loan stint.

AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani has now revealed it is certain the former Real Madrid and Manchester United man will rejoin Leonardo's men in January.

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Javier Saviola is in great form with Benfica, scoring goals in Europe and in Portugal.

Two more goals yesterday in Benfica's 6-1 win over Nacional.

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Irrespective of what some would have you believe, it is foolhardy to try and predict at an early age which players can make it at any professional club, let alone one with Liverpool's ambitions.
This should be the principle underlying any talk about the prospects of those players at the academy or in the reserves. Click to continue reading...

Two large Italian clubs received huge injury news today as they sought to climb up the Serie A table.

Juventus star and striker Vincent Iaquinta revealed today that he has a torn meniscus and will have surgery on his knee Tuesday. He injured it during training Saturday and did not play this Sunday against Siena.

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Benfica continue their roll in the Portuguese Superliga with another crushing defeat of a portuguese side. This time the team to feel the wrath of the Eagles was Nacional da Madeira who went down to an embaressing defeat 6-1. Oscar Cardozo had the hat trick scoring goals in the 17th, 48th and 89th minute the latter two on the PK, while Saviola chipped in a brace in the 40th and 61st minute. Click to continue reading...

RVP: Cesc. Look at me, mate.

Cesc Fabregas: Don't wanna.

RVP: We can't take all the responsibility here. We're good at scoring goals. We make jazzy stuff happen on the pitch. That's what we do.

Cesc Fabregas: I'm captain.

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RVP: Cesc. Look at me, mate.

Cesc Fabregas: Don't wanna.

RVP: We can't take all the responsibility here. We're good at scoring goals. We make jazzy stuff happen on the pitch. That's what we do.

Cesc Fabregas: I'm captain.

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Man United striker Wayne Rooney has said that he would have liked former United winger Cristiano Ronaldo to stay. Rooney has said that he was ‘unhappy' to see Ronaldo leave and he would prefer that he was still in Manchester.


"I don't consider I was ever in Ronaldo's shadow but, no, I'm not happy he left the club and I don't think any of us are," Rooney told The Sun. Click to continue reading...

Get on that Kevin Doyle train
This week's Funny Feeling Friday selection is Wolves' Kevin Doyle (5.4M) who has scored 3 goals in his last 4 games, but is only 3% owned in the Fantasy Premier League. He is - what we may call - an "against the grain" selection...
Doyle comes cheap, but will continue to go ignored by thousands of fantasy managers as Wolves take on Aston Villa at home this weekend. Click to continue reading...

It's been a fabulous season for rookies in MLS. All across the league, rookies have peppered starting lineups, as the 2009 draft yielded one of the best returns ever.

As a result, narrowing the candidates is a tough call. Two rookies in D.C., Rodney Wallace and Chris Pontius, started almost every single game for United, and Pontius showed his class with a couple of spectacular goals this season.

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