Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Internazionale Milan, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal. So many great clubs in the heart of Europe but not one has yet made a major transfer purchase in this January transfer window. To some degree or another, it could be argued, that each and every one of those aforementioned clubs need at least one single player, if not more in a few different positions.

We've spent a lot of time fantasising that Thomas Muller will one day gaze dreamily into our eyes. Honestly? We're a bit scared of the repercussions now. Image: REUTERS/Adnan Abidi.

It's that time of year again, folks. Yes, while you're labouring through the debris of another expensive holiday season, hiding whenever the postman comes 'round for fear of your credit card statement being delivered, rich footballers are off getting free swag.

"They don't go blind in attack anymore, they can also play for a result." This is a quote of the symbol of the "New Germany" Thomas Muller. That might be true, but Oranje's attack is still the best defence.

We looked at the goalies, defenders and midfielders... Now, two weeks after [read more]

Shall we kick off proceedings with a game of 'Guess the Tushie?' Your recently demonstrated prowess in the area implied you like it. PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images.

Apologies for the dearth of flesh in today's round-up, Kickettes; it seems that the weather is closing in across Europe and the nekkid has gone into hibernation.

Germany vs Holland 3-0 Highlights Goals Klose Muller Ozil Video Friendly 2011 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Germany vs Holland 3-0 Highlights Goals Klose Muller Ozil Video Friendly 2011 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Germany vs Holland 2011 ( Germany vs Netherlands 2011 Friendly Video Below) Score and result:- Germany vs Holland 3-0 ( Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose, Mesut Ozil) Imtech Arena, Hamburg- 15 November, 2011 [.

Last year three Barcelona players shared the stage at the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala and that remarkable scene could be repeated this year as eight Barcelona players have made the 23-man Ballon d'Or shortlist, with Lionel Messi odds on favourite to win the award for the third year in succession.

Just four players from the Premier League have been included in the short list for this year's Ballon d'Or, two of them from Manchester United, Nani and Rooney.

Interestingly enough, Rooney is the only Englishman mentioned.

Eric Abidal (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

Liverpool has been alerted to Bayern Munich striker Ivica Olic, who has voiced his dissatisfaction at being left on the sidelines.
The Croatian, who had been linked with a surprise move to Liverpool over the summer has re-emerged as a target, after revealing to Goal.com his desire to leave the club if he remains on the substitute's bench.

Bayern Munich's Croatian striker Ivica Olic has threatened to leave the club if his role as a super substitute does not change soon. Olic has made only 5 appearances for the champions this season totaling a meagre 72 minutes of play.

The 32 year old striker has had an injury plagued career the past 2 years which have resulted in him falling down the pecking order in the eyes of coach Jupp Heynckes.

It's not everyday that Leo Messi walks into the room to fulfill his media duties, so all those guys in Barcelona's press room obviously came prepared (yes, better camera lenses, extra jerseys to get signed, shoulders to rub, etc) when they heard the news!

Ashley Cole has expressed his admiration for the manner in which 22-year old forward Daniel Sturridge has established himself at Chelsea.

Sturridge found it difficult to break into the Blues attack when he first moved to Stamford Bridge in 2009 but a loan spell at Bolton last season, which saw him score eight times in 12 appearances, reignited his charge to break into the West Londoners' starting XI.

Bayern Munich youngster Thomas Muller has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to join then-Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea in the aftermath of Germany's impressive 2010 World Cup campaign.

Muller, who won the Golden Boot with his five goals as well as three assists in South Africa, contributed to the demolition of Argentina and England before the Germans exited the tournament with a 1-0 defeat to eventual champions Spain.

Bayern Munich youngster Thomas Muller has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to join then-Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea in the aftermath of Germany's impressive 2010 World Cup campaign.

Muller, who won the Golden Boot with his five goals as well as three assists in South Africa, contributed to the demolition of Argentina and England before the Germans exited the tournament with a 1-0 defeat to eventual champions Spain.

Tim Howard was called upon again. Here, Jai Alai in Miami...

A little quick redress on Saturday's 1-0 USA win over visiting Honduras in Florida. Jurgen Klinsmann's first win as manager as well.

The Rooster deserves a Snickers commercial

The Rooster sticking around.

Germany clinched their ninth successive victory in Group A after a superb 3-1 win away to Turkey to prove that they are arguably the best team in Europe right now. Goals by the in-form Mario Gomez, Thomas Muller and a late Bastian Schweinsteiger penalty sealed an impressive 3-1 win for Germany at the Turk Telecom [.

Turkey vs Germany 1-3 Highlights Video 2011 Goals is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Turkey vs Germany 1-3 Highlights Video 2011 Goals is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Turkey vs Germany 2011 Score and result:- Turkey vs Germany 1-3 ( Balta/ Gomez, Muller, Schweinsteiger) Turk Telecom Arena, Istanbul- European qualifying- 7 October, 2011 Goals from Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller, plus a penalty from [.

Is this a 'Twister' contest?

As usual in the days leading up to a bunch of international fixtures, our inboxes are littered with images of players in training. We have been studying these at length (for work purposes, obviously) and quickly became aware of a number of important questions that need to be asked regarding team preparation, proposed formations and tactics.

The 'Sex Face'. With additional looming? It's a strong start from Bafe. Image: BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images.

Aside from a perfunctory nod in the Weekend Results and the occasional photo of Yoann Gourcuff, Ligue 1 tends to remain somewhat 'off-piste' for us. But that doesn't mean we're not constantly monitoring the newswires (Editor's note: yes it does) for images of players exhibiting what we like to call 'The Five Tests of Titillation': namely those poses that we can wilfully misinterpret as an effort by a player to appear on these pages.

Manuel Neuer and Kathrin Gilch prepare to enter the magical world of Grimm's Fairytales, where scary monsters, large wooden staircases and the paparazzi must all be negotiated before they get to live happily ever after. Image: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images.

Having already exploited the comedy value of football players in lederhosen for all it's worth last week, the timing of the release of these photos of the Bayern Munich boys at Oktoberfest couldn't have been worse.

Dominating the premier league so far, two Manchester teams haven't really set the lights up in Europe as until match day two, both teams yet to taste victories.

This midweek, Manchester City was beaten by superior Bayern Munich, while Manchester United scraps a draw against surprising Swiss outfit, FC Basel in an extremely thrilling game which saw Sir Alex Ferguson's team blowing away a two goals lead in the first half.

By Chris Wright

Around this time every year, the Bayern Munich squad celebrate the onset of Oktoberfest by talcing up and slithering into their lederhosen for a traditional Paulaner photo shoot here are the best snaps from this year's, which took place at the club's training ground yesterday.

Joahim Low did not have to dig his nose to strike gold. Mario Gotze serves notice that he might be the next best thing to Mesut Oezil who is already the best thing since Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Then there is the small matter of Thomas Muller and Andre Schurrle.

As ever, all too many politically correct, don't-muss-up-the-carpet type of tip-toeing through the wonderful landmine fields that are pressers and interviews. Fortunately it's the summer, when egos can swell and transfer moves can be made with the slight utterance of a few words.

Fernando Gago and Thomas Muller know of what we speak.

The Wilshere Ultimatum: What Jack Wilshere's exclusion from Under-21 duty says about English football is a post from: Just Football

"All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes."
- Winston Churchill

"What we really need is everyone working together for the benefit of the game in this country and the development of young players.

Zenit 2-4 Bayern Munich ( Alexander Bukharov, Huszti- Zenit/ Miroslav Klose*2, Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben- Bayern) 18-05-2011- Club Friendly A six goal fest in a club friendly saw Bayern Munich beat Zenit St.Petersburg 4-2 in Russia. Great result for Bayern, who initially trailed 1-0 to Zenit after Bukharov had opened the scoring for the St.

A confusing weekend for the Manchester newspapers, who, for the first time in some thirty-five years, had a bit of a conflict as to which club's achievements they should be featuring on their front page. We particularly enjoyed the Manchester Evening News, which evaded the problem completely by sticking the Great Manchester Run on the front of their esteemed organ, and dealing with other relevant matters elsewhere.

The Sun in the early hours this morning is reporting that Roman Abramovich wants more "thrilling and sexy football" and intends to bankroll another £80m this summer to bring in players to three areas that have been identified that need bolstering. The three positions are:

• A creative midfielder
• A flying winger
• A solid right back.

Tuttomercato had a short, interesting article up this morning about Arjen Robben and what seems to be a possible/inevitable (depending on how you read it) move to the league leaders. Below is the full translation, which begs the questions: is such a move even likely, and if so, would he be a good fit at a team like Milan?

Germany vs Kazakhstan 2011 March 26, 2011- 26/3/11 Euro 2012 Qualifying Final score:- Germany vs Kazakhstan 4-0 ( Miroslav Klose*2, Thomas Muller*2) Germany ease to a 4-0 victory over Kazakhstan in European qualifying thanks to two goals each from Thomas Muller and Miroslav Klose. Germany v Kazakhstan 1-0 ( Klose goal vs Kazakhstan 4′) Germany [.

Bayern Munich vs Hamburg Allianz Arena, Munich 12 March 2011- 12/03/11 Final score:- Bayern Munich 6-0 Hamburger SV ( Arjen Robben*3, Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller, Heiko Westermann own goal) An Arjen Robben hat trick vs Hamburg gives Bayern Munich a comprehensive 6-0 win in the Bundesliga clash between the two sides.

By IAN HOLLIDAY

Since their meeting in the UEFA Champions League final last season, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich have been on similar paths. Both clubs started slowly in their respective leagues, both clubs have been climbing their respective tables in recent weeks and both clubs earned wins this Saturday ahead of their Round of 16 matchup in this year's Champions League on Wednesday.

Bayern Munich vs Hoffenheim Allianz Arena- February 12, 2011- German Bundesliga Final score:- Bayern Munich vs Hoffenheim 4-0 ( Mario Gomez, Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben*2) Arjen Robben's brace inspires Bayern Munich to an easy 4-0 victory over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga. Bayern vs Hoffenheim 1-0 ( M.

Off The Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories.

This week, Walter Pandiani tells "arrogant" Cristiano Ronaldo he has a screw loose, Brazilian goalkeeper Saulo injures himself celebrating his goal, the Ankaragucu manager punches a fan of his own team during a game and Arjen Robben chokes Thomas Muller for being disrespectful.

One goal. One moment. One shot. One piece of history.

Michael Thomas, the man who will always be remembered as the scorer of THAT goal, the one that won Arsenal the First Division title in 1989 in the last few seconds of a match against Liverpool at Anfield.

Of course, Thomas accomplished much more than that one historic goal.

By Chris Wright

In which preening Werder Bremen 'keeper Tim Wiese stops Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller dead in his tracks with a sublimely executed 'spinning roundhouse takedown'...

You've just been Wiese'd my friend!

After just about shaking off his concussion, poor old Muller was then throttled (quite literally!

It seems to be all kicking off at Bayern Munich, as Arjen Robben refuses to apologise for punching Thomas Muller at the end of Bayern's 3-1 win over Werder Bremen at the week-end.

Robben was incensed when Muller moaned about Robbens last minute free-kick which flew over the bar with Muller wanting a pass instead.

Arjen Robben does not appreciate it when his teammates moan about his wayward free kicks. When Thomas Muller gestured to express his disapproval of Arjen Robben's second half free kick in Bayern's 3-1 in over Werder Bremen on Saturday, Robben took exception.

Bayern Munich vs Kaiserslautern January 22, 2011- Allianz Arena, Bundesliga Final score:- Bayern Munich 5-1 Kaiserslautern ( Arjen Robben, Mario Gomez*3, Thomas Muller/ Jan Moravek) A Mario Gomez hat trick gives Bayern Munich a crushing 5-1 win over Kaiserslautern at the Allianz Arena. Jan Moravek scored the only goal of the game for Kaiserslautern.

Wolfsburg vs Bayern Munich January 15, 2011 Wolfsburg 1-1 Bayern Munich (Sascha Riether/ Thomas Muller) A late equaliser from Sascha Riether earns VFL Wolfsburg a point against Bayern Munich in their first Bundesliga clash after the winter break. Wolfsburg vs Bayern 1-0 ( Thomas Muller goal) Wolfsburg 1-1 Bayern Munich ( Sascha Riether goal) ( [.