Thierry Henry added to his legend with the most crucial of goals for Arsenal yesterday, ensuring he bowed out of his return to the Premier League on a high note.

The French striker scored his 229th goal for the club in stoppage time at the Stadium of Light, to give the Gunners a crucial three points that saw them leapfrog Chelsea into fourth place.

At the Ballon d'Or ceremony last night, Sir Alex Ferguson was presented with the FIFA presidential award for services to football.

Ferguson claimed he was lucky to have managed so many great players who have helped him achieve the success he's had.

"It is an honour for me in the twilight of my life and very, very much appreciated," said Ferguson.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been given the FIFA presidential award for services to football. The United manager was presented with the award by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the FIFA Ballon d'Or gala in Zurich.

Talking about SAF, Blatter said:

"Elite football is all about results and winning and there is no one better at it than him.

Chelsea's veteran striker, Didier Drogba, looked set to end his journey with Manchester City sometime soon as the striker rejected the one year extension that was being offered to the 33-years-old attacker.

Drogba's refusal in signing the extension with Chelsea was revealed by the player's agent, Thierno Seydi, who believes that minimum contract length isn't something that his client seek in the twilight of the striker's career.

LA Galaxy are ready to make an effort to sign Liverpool's Dutch International Dirk Kuyt with a view to signing the player in January but loaning him back to Liverpool for three months.
Kuyt's time at Liverpool is coming to and end and it was always thought that he would return to his native Holland, however the speculation is that it is LA Galaxy that he is destined for.

If it was up to the fans, Steven Gerrard would continue playing forever. Unfortunately, Liverpool's captain is in the twilight of his career, and his retirement from the game will come sooner rather than later. When is that likely to be though? Gerrard may have already revealed the answer.

In the wake of his team's latest mistake-filled defeat this time to the lowly San Jose Earthquakes Steve Nicol continued to do what he's done all season after a loss: blame the players.

That, in itself, wasn't suprising. What was suprising, however, is that the gaffer, in the twilight of his worst season at the helm, has pointed the finger at everyone but himself since First Kick.

I posted the other day about Bayern Munich monitoring the situation with Didier Drogba at Chelsea and negotiations about a new deal. I wondered at the time whether or not Drogba would seek one last payday elsewhere from Chelsea.
It's rumoured that Drogba wants assurances that he will start alot more games than he has this season if he was going to sign a new deal.

Carragher: Career is Winding Down

Jamie Carragher has admitted that his career is winding down, as he continues into his 14th year of service at the club. The 33-year-old academy product could soon face stiff competition from younger members of the squad, but insists he won't give up his starting berth until it is made clear by his superiors that he is surplus to requirements.

Image by The Democratic Alliance via FlickrAccording to Bloomberg, David Beckham's earning power is climbing in his soccer career's twilight.
Becks paid himself an extra $4 million last year from new endorsement deals, according to a filing today by his Footwork Productions Ltd.

Image by The Democratic Alliance via FlickrAccording to Bloomberg, David Beckham's earning power is climbing in his soccer career's twilight.
Becks paid himself an extra $4 million last year from new endorsement deals, according to a filing today by his Footwork Productions Ltd.

(One minute mark.)

This may or may not be what happens when someone begins transforming into a werewolf. I'm sure it'd be easy to Google, but I'm too scared to get on some sort of worldwide Twilight watch list, so I'll settle happily at "I dunno" and be done with it.

Felipe Melo scored a grand goal today, began this frightening metamorphosis, then remembered his true identity Brazilian and began dancing.

It's September 9th and you've just wound down from the summer of silly, anxiously anticipating some rumor-free weekdays and some actual, ya know, football.

You're in for a world of hurt: David Beckham is a free agent and his contract runs up at the end of the year.

This won't be pretty.

Hey, it's Michael Ballack. Long time no see.

Welcome back

Michael Ballack was highly admired around these parts during his time at Chelsea. We, like Carlo Ancelotti, felt he deserved a short-term extension with the club. I, for instance, offered the following after learning of the announcement of his departure in early June 2010.

After a day spent trying to calm nerves frayed by the transfer season to varying degrees of success, it's back to the offseason grind of news drip-fed into maws eager for something tangible to hold onto as summer drags along. This, then, is all the Liverpool news that's fit to drip today...

* After making his debut with Liverpool in 1976, Sammy Lee would go on to become a key player in midfield for the next decade, playing an important role in European Cup and league triumphs before eventually being pushed out by injuries and Jan Mølby in 1986.

Seemed to have decided where he will sit during the twilight of his career

It's been a little more than a week since my last post. You have to excuse me. We are already in the post season. There's no Arsenal games to piqued the interest or the blogger in me. Yet, with the amount of news that has been going about, one would think that we are still the middle of the season.

Efficient, unspectacular, but effective.

Get in.

My apologies, folks, for the delay in getting this sucker online. It's been a bear of a few days in my world. Between my internet intermittently working and the prospect of hosting my future in laws for the past ten days, time has been a commodity that has rarely worked in my favor.

Hey there! Long time no write soccer blog posts for your fleeting amusement, huh? Sorry I sort of abandoned and forgot about you there. Trust me when I say that there's a good explanation. No, I'm not "moonlighting for the LA Galaxy and increasingly unable to handle the pressure of my life as an international icon in the twilight of his career" (funny, you at the back).

Just the worst teammate.

[Dirty Tackle]

• Sepp's FIFA twilight is in his hands. (The DA)
• Platini for prez (FIFA prez). (AP)
• The problem with Galatasaray. (Scouting Romania)
• A Polish derby. (EFW)
• Like a foreign language or something. (Studs Up)
• Looming June football.

Despite being one of the world's greatest ever, Ronaldo's twilight was neither graceful nor particularly easy. From the weight to the injuries to the tranny surprise to an eventual retirement expediated by an unforeseen Copa exit, his best memories are long gone and getting further away by the day.

Since Wayne Rooney's ridiculous goal against Man City on the weekend, there has been a huge debate to whether it was the best overhead goal that we have seen. I've got 4 for you beautiful people to choose from, or if your favourite one isn't on the list, vote other and then comment below with the goal you pick above these 4 beauty's.

The Luis Suarez Liverpool shirt will be worn by young Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, who completed a £23m switch from Ajax to Liverpool FC in January 2011. Suarez will wear the No.7 Liverpool shirt. Suarez is expect to fill the big boots left by Fernando Torres' departure along with fellow winter signing Andy Carroll.

Luis Suarez Liverpool transfer news Here is the latest news on the Luis Suarez transfer saga. Liverpool have now officially agreed an £22.8m transfer fee with Ajax Amsterdam for the Uruguayan hitman. ( January 28, 2011) Liverpool had initially bid £12.7m for Suarez, an offer that was flatly refused by Ajax.

LONDON, England Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp says David Beckham wants to play for Spurs and he's stepping up his bid for the former Manchester United star. Redknapp confirmed his interest in Beckham on Friday and, speaking after today's 1-0 win over Fulham, he said the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder was ready to return [.