Chelsea will wear a fluorescent yellow third shirt during the 2010-11 season, according to a leaked photo.

Designed and manufactured by Adidas, the shirt features black trim and a very unique black line that runs down the center of the new Chelsea third jersey. The last time Chelsea wore a fluorescent shirt was during the 2007-2008 season when it was also bright yellow but featured a different trim from Adidas.

The black line down the center of the new Chelsea third shirt looks like a compromise to try to break up the fluorescent yellow color so it’s not quite so alarming.

What do you think of fluorescent jerseys, in general, and what do you think of Chelsea’s third shirt for this season? Click the comments link below to share your opinion.

For the largest selection of Premier League shirts for all 20 clubs, visit the EPL Talk Shop.

Related posts:

1. Manchester City Home Shirt for 2010-11 Season: Leaked Photo
2. Chelsea Third Shirt for 2010-11 Season: Leaked Photo
3. Manchester United Away Shirt for 2010-11 Season: New Photo

Stoke City has unveiled their new away jersey for the 2010-2011 Premier League season.

The shirt is designed and manufactured by Adidas. It’s navy blue in color with sky blue trim. And, in my opinion, it’s miles better than last year’s away kit which was black with red trim. The new Stoke City away shirt is shown in the above picture featuring Ryan Shawcross.

What do you think about Stoke City’s new away shirt? Click the comments link below to share your feedback.

For the largest selection of Premier League shirts for all 20 clubs, visit the EPL Talk Shop.

Related posts:

1. Chelsea Third Shirt for 2010-11 Season: Leaked Photo
2. Manchester City Home Shirt for 2010-11 Season: Leaked Photo
3. Everton Away Shirt for 2010-11 Season Revealed: Photo

*taps mic*

"Is this thing on?"

Looks like it is. No thanks to Amazon's hosting. This cloud bollocks is not all it's cracked up to be. 12 hours+ of downtime in one day. As someone who used to have a crappy little hosting business myself that's remarkable. And by remarkable I mean remarkably shite. Useless cunts.

Anyway, sincere apologies to everyone for the inconvenience. I suppose it's a good time to remind people that you can always subscribe to the Mailing List so you get the blog rammed into your box first thing in the morning. There are also apps for the iPhone and Android (hopefully a Blackberry one coming soon too) which should download it for offline reading. Anyway, while it's nice to have options it shouldn't have been so necessary yesterday. Apologies again.

So, what news of Arsenal? Well, we're down another centre-half as Sol Campbell decided to join Newcastle. Good luck to him up there. His half-season cameo was good for us and good for him. It allowed for a certain amount of redemption considering the way he left the club and he played his part in keeping us going as all around him dropped like flies - and we suffered a load of injuries. 

As I've said for a while I think his primary motivation is to play football and given Arsenal's need to spend money on the defence his chances might well have been very limited. It does make our need for new players all the more pressing, something Arsene is aware of, saying:

We are still on the search for centre-halves. We have three and we need at least four.

Interesting to note he doesn't consider Nordtveit yet part of the first team squad but with one good purchase the Norwegian could certainly be the man to back up the back up. You have to hope they're working hard behind the scenes because time marches on. Still there are whispers about Mertesacker while this morning's Sun links us with another Germanian, Serdar Tasci, who currently plays for Stuttgart. I realise transfers are complicated things but even though Djourou's injury was described as 'little' by Arsene Wenger we have to ensure our squad is complete and new players have time to settle in.

Already it looks as if some players might miss the opening game of the season. Arsene is doubtful about the involvement of Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie who apparently only return to training on August 5th. He thinks they might be short for the opener against Liverpool which, despite their recent difficulties, is never an easy game. They'll want to put the horror of last season behind them and with a new manager you can be sure they'll be right up for it. Going there without two of our best players isn't ideal.

As well as that Nicklas Bendtner will miss the start of the season with his groin injury, which is another World Cup hangover. He came back from South Africa and said he thought it was bad, Arsene Wenger said it wasn't big. Already there's confusion and misinformation about our injury situation and while he's not everybody's cup of tea I'd rather we had as many fit and healthy players at the start of the season as possible.

So at the moment Bendtner's out for the start, Cesc and van Persie could well be short, there's been no sighting of the lesser-spotted Denilson in pre-season at all, Rosicky picked up knock before the game the other night and wasn't risked (and there are rumours that his withdrawal was so as not exacerbate any problems for a player we're willing to sell), and there's no sign of Diaby yet either. You do wonder if a 25 man squad is going to be enough, perhaps we should lobby for special dispensation to double that. It would be only fair.

Quick Spanish press update? They haven't stopped talking about Cesc, making more noise I guess you'd call it. Apparently a load of the Barcelona officials have taken, or will take, a plane to London today (Easyjet, I hope, don't want to weaken the finances any further, chaps) to talk to Arsenal. I hope we sit them down in a conference room and every time they try and say something Ivan Gazidis makes a noise like a startled giraffe gnu with a sore throat. And keeps doing it until they go away.

Fulham have appointed a new manager which might, ordinarily, give you some hope that a deal could be done over Mark Schwarzer. However, Fulham have appointed Mark Hughes, a man with the manners and touchline deportment of a coked-up gibbon with whom Arsene Wenger really has no relationship whatsoever. Whether this affects a potential transfer or not remains to be seen but I wouldn't be surprised at all. I sincerely hope we've got other targets than the Australian. There are still whispers about the Italian, Marchetti, but it would surprise me if we were serious about him.

And that's it from a news point of view. Time to give you the winners of the Emirates Cup competition.

Thank you for all your entries and the RNG has selected the following lucky winners: Dave Ricklesford and Steve Adams. Well done to you both. You get 2 tickets for each day of the Emirates Cup as well as an exclusive stadium tour on one of those days. I'll be in touch this morning to get your details. 

Thanks again to Emirates for the prizes, commiserations to those who didn't win, better luck next time.

Emirates currently operates 14 daily flights from 6 UK airports via Dubai to over 100 destinations on six continents.

Emirates is pleased to offer Arsenal members very special fares worldwide. For more information and to book, visit www.emirates.com/arsenalmembers  

And that's about that. I'm off to ensure Amazon have enough peat to keep their servers going for the full day. Till tomorrow.

Mexican new boy Javier Hernandez joined up with his new team as Manchester United continued their American exploits, this time in Houston, Texas as the MLS All Stars stood in wait. Sir Alex elected for another young squad with old boy Ryan Giggs thrown in for good measure. An impressive and packed crowd of 70,000+ watched on from Reliant stadium for the annual event.

Former Premier League star Juan Pablo Angel started up front for MLS while golden boy Landon Donovan started on the bench having featured in his Galaxy side’s 4-1 defeat in the CONCACAF Champions League the previous night.

United found the break through early through Federico Macheda largely due to a defensive error from Kevin Alston that put Macheda in on goal after some 30 seconds.

United pinged the ball around well early while the All Stars struggled with possession and nerves. In the 12th, Macheda again struck with a well placed header off a United corner from six yards out. The aforementioned Angel came closest early on for MLS with a free kick in the 15th only to be denied by United stalwart Edwin Van der Sar.

MLS soon settled and looked most dangerous through a combination of Marco Pappa and Guillermo Barros Schelotto while Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher pulled the strings for United. Even for a pre season friendly, United did brilliantly in spreading the ball quickly and finding the seams in the MLS defense to create chances.

As the half approached, MLS created a few decent chances as an attentive and respectful sold out crowded cheered and ‘aahh’d’ every half chance. For United, the loss of Frenchman Gabriel Obertan to injury in the first half, their only concern.

With unlimited substitutions at the manager’s disposal, Bruce Arena elected to make six changes at the half in attempts to get back in a match which saw his side down by two goals.

Much to the crowd’s delight, Javier Hernandez made his United debut in the 63rd minute yet seconds later Brian Ching found the break through for MLS with a fantastic set piece header. Hernandez came close to pleasing the receptive crowd when Tom Cleverley provided a good far post ball into Chicharito who wasn’t able to beat Nick Rimando in goal.

It wasn’t long until United extended their lead to two goals again through Darron Gibson who found the net on a stunning free kick that David Beckham himself would have been proud of.

As the benches continued to clear, Tom Cleverley provided arguably the moment of the night for United when he slotted home United’s fourth. Cleverley received a ball into the box and ‘cleverly’ chipped Wilman Conde to create the space he needed to finish smoothly. Brilliant bit of skill from the United youngster who has a bright future.

Ultimately, United’s class was too much for a good group of MLS players who hadn’t had the time to gel as a team to compete against a United side who played their best match this pre season. Chicharito got his goal, which was arguably offside, but did well in finishing when he chipped the keeper for United’s fifth.

Chicharito looked impressive in his debut and is definitely one to watch progress in the Premier League this season. He has a natural striker’s ability to be in the right place at the right time and his instincts will serve him well with a supporting cast such as the players he’ll be surrounded by at United.

Congratulations to Landon Donovan who made his tenth appearance in an MLS All Star game yet looked slightly sluggish due to his run out on Tuesday.

What were your thoughts concerning the MLS All Star game? If you’re a United fan, how excited are you about the potential young players like Javier Hernandez and Tom Cleverley showed?

Related posts:

1. Manchester United 1-2 Kansas City Wizards: United’s American Tour Hits Snag
2. Manchester United 1-0 Philadelphia Union: American Summer Tour Continues With Win for United
3. Four Star Rooney Lifts Manchester United, Again

1 – Major League Soccer may have improved a great deal, but the first 20 minutes displayed by their All-Star team definitely didn’t demonstrate that fact. However, the All-Stars settled and, despite allowing 5 goals, played well (especially for a team that was hastily thrown together). Both of their goals were well taken and quality, and countless other opportunities went just wide, glanced off the post, or were only barely saved by United defenders. The two styles were evident, as United utilized their skill on the ball and the All-Stars showcased their heart, effort, and comfort in the sweltering Houston heat. In the end, all credit to both sides for a classy, entertaining match; an absolute joy when compared to the Kansas City and Philadelphia games.

2 – Macheda can finish… against the MLS All-Stars. His first goal (which came inside the first minute) was a major gift from the All-Stars’ defense, but it was his speech, touch, and calmness that allowed the Italian to slot home the goal. His second was equally brilliant, as he nodded a corner from Nani into the back corner. Errant marking? Absolutely. But it takes class and ability to score a goal like that, and that’s just what Macheda demonstrated with his second strike.

3 – Ryan Giggs exemplifies what it is to be a Manchester United player. That may seem quite the obvious statement, what with his numerous achievements, awards, and leadership responsibilities… but tonight it was more than that. It was a brilliant through ball that nearly allowed Macheda to net his third. Late in the second half, Giggs deftly avoided two defenders and then the 36 year old Welshman slid a ball through to Macheda, which rolled inches pact the heels of the All-Star defender. However, because he was off balance, the defender couldn’t transition quickly and Macheda would have been through were it not for a somewhat suspect offside decision. Well done Giggsy… well done.

4 – All summer we’ve heard that United need to sign a player to replace Roy Keane; perhaps we already have that player. At least, apparently Jonny Evans took those statements to heart because in the 53rd minute, he unleashed his inner Keane-O. Real Salt Lake winger Javier Morales won a 50-50 ball and appeared to be winning the subsequent footrace when Evans decided to simply “sweep the leg”. A yellow card followed and somewhere (probably Ipswich) Roy Keane smiled fondly.

5 – With Obertan going off early in the first half, my speculative man crush on Chicharito was allowed to take center take when the Mexican international subbed on for United in the 62nd minute. He came on and had an immediate impact. If by “impact” I mean “stood in the wall as David Ferreira sent a ball into the box that was neatly headed home by Houston’s own Brian Ching. Probably not Chicharito’s fault, but worth mention if only due to convenient timing.

6 – Once the entire squad is back together at United’s Carrington Training Ground, Sir Alex Ferguson might want to work on set piece defending. Not just because Brian Ching was completely wide open for his goal, but because United had difficulty dealing with them throughout the match. Indeed, were it not for some Van der Sarian heroics, the scoreline could have been dramatically different.

7 – It doesn’t matter who the announcer is, giving players pet nicknames is always annoying. I cringed when John Harkes elected to refer to Hernandez as “The Little Green Pea” (it means Little Pea) and when both commentators continually referred to Real Salt Lake/MLS All-Star goalkeeper Nick Rimando as “Nicky”. Maybe I’m nitpicking a little but I don’t care…

8 – Darron Gibson can strike a ball. After a run by Chicharito earned a foul, Gibson calmly dispatched a screamer to the top corner (just pass the outstretched fingers of “Nicky” Rimando). A gorgeous goal and one that, dare I say, harkened back to another United legend: Mr. David Beckham. Now if only Gibson can find time to marry an annoying pop star who’s composed of 60% plastic and 15% silicone, then we’ll be in business.

9 – Tom Cleverly will probably tell his grandchildren about that July night in Houston. The young midfielder (who will probably find himself loaned out at the end of the tour) scored a lovely goal as he collected a deft chip from Darren Fletcher, flicked it over his defender, and then coolly slide the ball into the back corner to give United a 4-1 lead. Some brilliant bits of skill from both Fletcher and Cleverly, but it’s the latter who will probably remember that one.

10 – Rafael da Silva is awesome. Period. 100% hustle and effort 100% of the time. It didn’t matter that it was against a group of All-Stars or that it was a preseason friendly. The young Brazilian worked for every 50-50 ball, got into the attack countless times, and always looked legitimately pissed when the calls went against him. If he and his brother Fabio continue to get match experience, I find myself smiling with delight as I picture opposing defenders being overrun by curly headed Brazilians.

11 – It was a debatable topic until the 84th minute, but Chicharito may have officially overtaken Obertan as the recipient of my man-crush. The new striker “timed” his run perfectly, and a lovely ball over the top saw Hernandez go one on one with a charging Nick Rimando. Hernandez didn’t disappoint, as he sent a lovely chip over the lunging keeper and into the back corner. A beautiful finish. A beautiful debut. A beautiful man… Okay… that may be a bit much, but you get what I’m saying…

Former Manchester City manger Mark Hughes has agreed to replace Roy Hodgson at Fulham for the upcoming season, according to The Guardian.

Hughes, who was sacked as manager of City midway through last season, beat out a number of other candidates, including Ivory Coast boss Sven-Goran Eriksson and USA manager Bob Bradley, for the gig. Fulham had agreed to terms with Ajax manager Martin Jol last week but the deal fell through when the Dutch club refused to negotiate a release of Jol’s contract.

Hughes comes to Craven Cottage with high expectations. Fulham went from battling relegation in 2008 to the finals of the Europa League last May. Their recent success led to Hodgson’s selection as Liverpool’s manager after the sacking of Rafa Benitez. Hughes’ first task will be to fight off bids for some of his star players, including an offer by Arsenal for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and AC Milan’s pursuit of USA international Clint Dempsey.

Mohamed Al Fayed, Fulham’s chairman, can now begin his transfer-window shopping, with former Portsmouth goalkeeper David James and Aston Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell some of his high-profile targets. Fulham haven’t released the length or financial details of Hughes’ contact as of yet.

Related posts:

1. 5 Reasons Why Fulham Can Conquer America
2. Blossoming Bellamy Excelled Under Hughes
3. Manchester City Lose Patience With Mark Hughes

With news out that Harry Redknapp launched a bid to sign West Ham skipper Scott Parker it leaves us wondering whether or not he would actually improve the Spurs squad.

Tottenham will be hoping to secure a Champions League group stage place and for another successful Premier League campaign this season and Parker is not a player many would have expected them to be chasing this summer. Parker is a very good player as he has shown at Charlton and West Ham but Tottenham already have an abundance of midfielders at their disposal. Jenas, Huddlestone, Palacios, and O’Hara are all already competing for central midfield spots. Add to that youngsters Danny Rose and Adel Taarabt and you can’t help but think Tottenham should be prioritising other positions.

With Jonathan Woodgate’s playing career looking in doubt and the well documented fitness problems of Ledley King, Redknapp should be looking at bolstering his back line. Tottenham have a very talented midfield and front line and if they can bring in some good defensive cover they could just surprise a few people this season and have another very good campaign. Redknapp himseldf as mentioned a title challenge and with a bit of luck they may not be far off. There has been very little transfer activity at White Hart Lane this season and Spurs fans will be hoping this changes before the big kick off. Do you guys think Parker would improve the Spurs squad?

Related posts:

1. Tottenham Hotspur to Play San Jose Earthquakes July 17
2. Chelsea Should Sign Bastian Schweinsteiger This Summer
3. Tottenham Champions League

At long last, Liverpool have a match that means something. Buckle up.

Who: FK Rabotnički
What: Europa League Third Qualifying Round
Where: Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia
When: Thursday, July 28th 20:45GMT, 2:45EST
Why: Because it’s fun to play matches that are an ongoing reminder of the failures of the 2009-2010 season.

Plenty of questions headed into tomorrow’s match with Rabotnički—most importantly, who the hell are Rabotnički?

Before we get to that, though, let’s answer a couple of questions about Liverpool. In the build-up to the match we’ve been left wondering what Liverpool we’d get, and this morning we have the answer:

Cavalieri, Aquilani, Agger, Jovanovic, Kyrgiakos, Lucas, Wilson, Ngog, Spearing, Darby, Shelvey, Kelly, Skrtel, Eccleston, Ayala, Hansen, Gulacsi, Amoo, Dalla Valle, Ince

The naming of this squad also answers the question about the club’s priorities headed into the 2010-2011 campaign. Not that it’s a bad thing, but we know now that this competition is not going to be the place to catch Liverpool’s regular first-teamers. Maybe jumping to conclusions based on the squad for one early match, but I have a feeling that if the club were really invested in the Europa League we would have seen a couple more of Liverpool’s big names.

In fairness, Roy Hodgson did include a couple of names we didn’t see earlier in the preseason—Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger both make the squad and have to be locks to start. Even with all the younger players featuring heavily in the matches against Grasshoppers and Kaiserslautern, an experienced and solid back line has to be preferred. Martin Kelly and/or Stephen Darby might be the only young players to start, with Sotirios Kyrgiakos likely partnering Skrtel in the middle and Agger deputizing at left-back in front of Diego Cavalieri. Danny Wilson makes the squad, and has voiced his willingness to feature any and everywhere, but I can’t see him making his Liverpool bow out of position in Macedonia.

And that potential line is as experienced as Liverpool’s squad will get tomorrow, as both the midfield and attacking players will surely be a mixture of new signings and youth/reserve players. I’d guess that Hodgson packs the midfield area similar to what we saw against Grasshoppers—it’s not Rafa in Europe, but it’s still European competition, and midfield dominance is going to be pivotal. Given the dearth of central midfielders named in the squad, it likely means that Lucas and Jay Spearing will partner in central/defensive midfield. We could also see Jonjo Shelvey at some point, but I’m guessing Spearing and Lucas.

They’ll play behind a front four that, regardless of personnel, is relatively inexperienced and unproven. You’d have to guess that Milan Jovanovic will be the senior player up front in some capacity, with either Nathan Eccleston or David Amoo countering him on the other wing. I’d hope that Alberto Aquilani is fit after picking up a knock against Grasshoppers—if so, he could feature in the hole behind David Ngog. I’m very tentative to make any sort of assertions about Liverpool in attack tomorrow, as I: a) don’t think they’ll be doing much attacking, and b) have no idea who’s going to be fit and/or effective.

But if I don’t have much of a clue about what we’ll get from Liverpool, I’m a blank slate about Rabotnički. I didn’t mean any disrespect earlier when I posed the “who the hell are they” question—I’m very much in the dark about what they’ve accomplished in seasons past. They absolutely overwhelmed minnows Lusitans by an 11-0 aggregate in the first qualifying round, and worked their way past Mika 1-0 in the second round.

They do start their league campaign on Monday, though, which might play into the decisions that manager Zoran Stratev makes. Wandeir scored the only goal in the tie against Mika and has four in the competition, while Fabio Silva has notched five thus far. They also haven’t conceded in the competition—granted, they haven’t likely played any sides with much attacking flair, but it probably means they’ll be organized and stingy, even at home. And especially against a young, unproven Liverpool collective.

The only other news worth mentioning in the lead-in is the Luke Young transfer, but even that isn’t quite news. Apparently he’s joined up with Villa in Portugal as he makes up his mind, which also gives us time to make up our minds about how we feel. He would provide depth at fullback in a squad that sorely needs it, but it’s also another head-scratcher when the club are without a left-back. As usual, it’s not a slight to the player; rather, more evidence that there’s bound to be plenty more questions asked (and hopefully answered) prior to the end of August.

All focus is on the pitch tomorrow, though, and it’s what we’ve been waiting for. I’m hopeful that the switch is turned on since the Kaiserslautern match, because even if we have no idea who Rabotnički is, tomorrow’s result has very real consequences. Sure, it’s not the top priority, but it’s got to mean something.

Follow Liverpool Offside on Twitter. Or don’t.

So this is the alleged third shirt for the upcoming season. Me, I’m actually feeling this. Then again, I loved the fluorescent away from 2007-08. The light is a tad fuzzy so I’m not sure if it is in fact that same yellow from 07-08 or lime green as it appears in the photograph. Hey, at least the template appears to be original.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks to CFCnet for the spot.

The 2010 MLS All Star Game is tonight at 8:30pm ET (ESPN2), which will feature the best players from Major League Soccer versus Manchester United.

While I’ll definitely watch the game, I’m honestly not that excited about it. Yes, I’d love to see a good game but as with all pre-season friendlies, the game is meaningless. My sense is that most followers of Major League Soccer give the game more credence than followers of Premier League clubs do. Perhaps many MLS fans believe it’s a chance to see how the league compares to one of the best Premier League teams?

To me, though, no matter if the MLS All Star team wins 4-0 or vice-versa, it’s completely irrelevant. It’s a game that’s scheduled to promote Major League Soccer, to generate revenue for Manchester United, to give players a chance to practice and to provide us, the viewing audience, with something to watch. No more, no less.

The concept of an all-star game began with baseball in 1933 when the best of the American League played the best of the National League. The mere idea of such a game is frivolous, other than the reasons stated above. Would anything change if the MLS All Star Game was eliminated? Even if it did, we would still have an opportunity to watch foreign teams from overseas play friendlies in the States. There would be just one fewer game.

What do you think? Share your opinion in the comments section below.

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3. Man United v Chelsea TV Audience Breaks EPL Record In US

One of the many things I loved about the 2010 World Cup, other than the soccer on the pitch, was getting together with friends and strangers to watch the games at local bars and restaurants. During a Premier League season, the closest bar to me that’s open for the early kick-offs on a weekend is at least 45 minutes away, so I tend to watch the vast majority of games at home. After sitting with hundreds of soccer fans during the World Cup, it’s going to be hard to get used to watching competitive games at home again.

But one of the things that I experienced during the World Cup that gives me hope for the future is a tweetup. During the Argentina against Mexico game, I met up with ten sports fans who held a tweetup at a local sports bar.

With a tweetup, the concept is pretty straightforward. A host selects a venue to watch a game and then updates his Twitter followers of the venue and time. And then the followers RSVP through Twitter and everyone meets up in person.

The beauty of a tweetup is it provides an organized way for people with similar interests to meet up in person. By using a social networking site such as Twitter, it makes it easy to communicate and spread the word among soccer fans in a particular area.

For the Argentina against Mexico game, I met up with Pitch To The Rhino, a collection of sports nuts in South Florida who get together for events throughout the area. Before the game kicked off, we had a discussion about how soccer is the perfect marriage for social media because it takes something which people are passionate about and fuses it with a communication method that makes it easier to find people who love the sport as much as you do.

The reason that soccer tweetups such as the one that Pitch To The Rhino organized gives me hope is because similar tweetups have the power to bring people together in the name of Premier League soccer games across the United States, and around the world. Often times it seems that one of the few places to find soccer fans from your area is in the comments section of this website, but that’s often by chance and not the easiest way to connect with people locally.

With the popularity of the World Cup this summer and droves of people going to local bars to watch games, maybe it’s time for soccer tweetups to be organized nationwide to encourage soccer fans to get out of their homes for big games and head to a local venue where a tweetup is happening. It’s an opportunity to organize everyone and bring them together to one place rather than driving around town in search of finding a soccer venue which is habited by like-minded fans of Premier League clubs.

To see how a tweetup is successfully done, check out Pitch To The Rhino. Or, venturing outside of sports, take a look at Pizza Tweetup which brings people together from South Florida once a month at a different pizza joint to get together, eat pizza and make new friends. In the meantime, the rest of us will need to either wait or create soccer tweetups. They’re not out there yet, as far as I know, but it’s only a matter of time before they are.

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3. Fox Soccer Channel HD Launch Frustrates Soccer Fans

Quite a few stories today:

First, Arsenal beat Neusiedl 1919 4-0 yesterday. You’d really expect Arsenal to beat an Austrian Third Division side by at least that much, but it was a decent run-out, and after over a week of hard training, the guys did look a bit tired. Several of the World Cup guys (Eboue, Sagna, Clichy, Vela) got their first action in an Arsenal shirt this season, and Chamakh scored his first goal in an Arsenal shirt. I know it’s just preseason and all, but I really do think he’s going to be a fan favorite at Arsenal. He seems really unselfish, works really hard, and seems to have a really positive attitude. And with Wenger confirming yesterday that Bendtner will miss the first of the season, I don’t think there’s any question that Chamakh will get plenty of opportunities to prove his worth right away.

Wilshere continues to impress, and at this point, I really would be surprised if he leaves on loan. He works very well with Arshavin and Nasri, and while I know he’s still young and there will be growing pains, he’s capable of contributing at Arsenal right now. I think this is the year he’ll get that chance, especially with Ramsey out for most of the first half of the season.

Emmanuel Frimpong also continues his great preseason. He is far more tenacious and aggressive than Denilson ever has been or ever will be. Maybe he acts a little rashly at times, and gets caught out of position. But at that age you expect that, and you can coach and teach a lot of that stuff. But it’s much, much harder to teach someone to go after the ball like a dog after a bone — when that ball is in midfield and the other team has it, Frimpong has that mentality that that’s HIS ball and he’s going to do whatever it takes to get it back. He goes in for the tackle, he’s not afraid to use shoulders or elbows, etc.

I’m not saying he’ll overtake Denilson this season, because he won’t. But if he keeps it up, I do think there’s a realistic chance he’s Alex Song’s back-up next season. And this is a make or break season for Denilson, with his dismal effort last season and guys like Ramsey, Wilshere, Eastmond, Frimpong, Coquelin, Lansbury, and Aneke coming up through the youth ranks. If he doesn’t show us something this year, I don’t think he really has any kind of future at Arsenal.

The bigger news was that Johan Djourou had to come out injured in the 28th minute. It was pretty worrying at the time, but it turns out it was a slight hamstring tweak, unrelated to the knee injury that kept him out for all of last season. But it did underline his fragility, and it also underlined our complete lack of defensive depth. With Sol Campbell joining Newcastle (see below for details), I had the reaction of “wait, so now if Djourou’s hurt, we only have Vermaelen, Koscielny, and then . . . Nordtveit?” Not good. Wenger really needs to sign at least one more defender. Anyway, highlights of the match below:

Also liked it that Thomas Vermaelen wore the armband in the second half (Almunia had worn it in the first half) — as you guys know, I really think he’s captain material, and hope he takes over the armband after Cesc (whether that should be this season or when Cesc actually leaves the club is a debate for another day).

But the club heads back to London to continue preseason preparations. The Emirates Cup is this weekend, so we’ll see the team play on Saturday and Sunday (in the States, at least, those matches are being televised by GolTV). Wenger usually trots out something close to the first-team in those matches, so we’ll probably start to get a better sense of the pecking order at various positions then. Then the following Saturday we fly to Poland for the friendly with Legia Warsaw (televised on Arsenal online). Then another week of training ahead of the Liverpool match.

And yeah, as you’ve no doubt heard — Sol Campbell has joined Newcastle. He joins the Magpies on a one-year deal, which is a little interesting. They either offered him more money or more playing time (or both) than Arsenal could, I guess. I certainly wish him well. I’m not going to do a formal “good bye” post on him, since his recent tenure with the club only lasted 4 months, but he really surpassed the expectations of even those of us who really thought it was a good move. We expected him to be a good leader by example to the young players, but I don’t know that anyone quite expected him to play himself into shape and do the job on the pitch the way he did. He was our best player in several games, including the crushing defeat to Tottenham in the spring. He’ll certainly be missed.

And this, combined with Djourou’s injury yesterday, really does shed light on our defensive crisis. And make no mistake, it is a crisis. Other than Vermaelen, we don’t have anything approaching a sure thing at center back. And compared to the center back options of our competitors — Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, even Aston Villa — we are the obvious outlier, with no depth at all at the position. One purchase is the bare minimum for Wenger, and even then, I get the sinking feeling that once again we will be either turning to a youngster like Nordtveit or Bartley in a key spot, or having to pull Alex Song out of midfield, which really hinders our ability to break up the opposition’s possession. This is the exact same thing we said last season, it’s exactly what happened, and it was infuriating. Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be any more palatable this season.

On that front, John Cross from the Mirror, who’s generally very good and very reliable, is reporting that Arsenal are preparing a renewed push for Werder Bremen and Germany defender Per Mertesacker. He suggests that Arsenal are prepared to offer £10 million for the 25 year-old. I think this is good news, in as far as it means Wenger is really looking at bringing in an established player capable of starting right away.

But the people I talked to who follow the Bundesliga said they would be very surprised if that deal actually happened. When we first showed interest, Werder Bremen stated in no uncertain terms that Mertesacker was not for sale, and I don’t know why they would have budged from that this close to the season. Even if they are willing to sell, I don’t think £10 million is going to get it done. It will probably have to be at least £15 million — and if we were willing to pay that much money for Phil Jagielka, I don’t see why we couldn’t go that high for Mertesacker. But it’s also the case that Werder Bremen is a good team, that can offer Champions League football and the chance to play with established players like Torsten Frings and Mesut Ozil. And after the resurgent year German football just had (making the World Cup semifinal, Bayern’s berth in the Champions League final), the gap between the Bundesliga and the Premiership probably isn’t what we thought it was, especially in the eyes of Mertesaker, a native German. So while I’d love to get him, I’d be surprised if that deal actually takes place.

Cross reports that the back-up plan is to go back in for Dynamo Kyiv’s Senegalese defender Pape Diakhate, and/or Ajax defendre Jan Vertonghen. You would think both of those deals would be more realistic if Arsenal is determined to make them happen, as both of those teams are in smaller leagues. But I’m starting to get worried, because a deal needs to be done soon — the season starts 2 weeks from Sunday, and it’s key for a defender to be used to working and communicating with the others on his backline and his keeper. Bringing in a guy either right before or right after the start of the season and throwing him right into the fire seems like a surefire recipe for a costly defensive miscue or two.

Finally, congrats to Francis Coquelin and Giles Sunu, who led France to a victory 2-1 over Croatian in the semifinal. France will play Spain, who beat Thomas Cruise and England 3-1, in the final. Coquelin assisted on the winning goal.

**************

Don’t forget to follow the Arsenal Offside on Twitter to get links and bad one-liners: www.twitter.com/ArsenalOffside

After the World Cup, being an English footballer is hardly something to brag about. For many critics the term ‘English footballer’ is a by-word for over-paid and over-rated.

However, those critics will be dismayed by the new UEFA home-grown rule which has come into effect this season. Dismayed because it has increased the worth and value of English born players who, whisper it quietly, perhaps don’t deserve it.

The rule states at every club must have least eight “home-grown” players in a squad of 25. To you and me, home-grown may well evoke images of student flats window sills crowded with lush, green, smoke-able plants. But in football terminology ‘home grown’ is a player who has to be registered for at least three seasons at an English or Welsh club between the ages of 16 and 21.

So squads light on home grown players have to buy in Englishmen to make up their quota. Hence we see Liverpool’s interest in Villa journeyman full back Luke Young. In their signing of Joe Cole, it went un-noticed that he would also improve their previously depleted home-grown quota.

Scott Parker has been targeted by Villa, Spurs and by Liverpool ahead of any serious European talent presumably in part because of his nationality. Arsenal need a centre half or three and so the new rule has put Phil Jagielka on their shopping list instead of Wenger’s more usual choices of some obscure French kid who no-one has heard of but turns out to be rather good.

Chelsea’s 21 players who have been given squad numbers so far contain just five home-growners which means a step up for three English reserves or a dip into the market to top up their quota.

Of course, many clubs will buy in players aged 15 and bring through for three years by which time they will qualify as home-grown players. But as this rule was only pushed through last September, we’re a couple of years away from that being possible for every club. So though the intention is to make English-born players have more chance to progress, in the long run, this may still not happen, as English teenagers are rejected in favour of more skilful young foreign imports.

In the short term it potentially gives domestic players a chance to flourish – the doubts that many are merely padding to be used only in emergency remains – but it also drives up the price of English players. They have become more valuable merely by being born here, not always because they are especially great footballers, which can’t be a good thing and may go some way to explain the 30 million quid being asked for James Milner; an extraordinary figure when you consider a prospect such as Ozil is reputedly available for half that figure.

All of which ensures that football continues to walk on the outer reaches of financial sanity.

Related posts:

1. The Valuation of James Milner: A Transfer Market Comparison
2. Milner Looks Set For Manchester City
3. 7 England Footballers Who Should Join Heskey in Retirement

Javier Hernandez is confident he can buck the trend and succeed in the Barclays Premier League with Manchester United.
Previous young Mexico such as Dos Santos & Vela failed to make an impact with Hotspurs & Gooners.
His first appearance will be against MLS All Star at Reliant Stadium tomorrow morning, Malaysia time.

About playing with Manutd;

Hernandez said: “It’s an honour because I want to achieve big things. It’s a very nice challenge and hopefully I will be able to contribute. I will always try to enjoy it because sometimes we focus so much on the achievements and our dreams, and maybe we forget to enjoy it.”

“Besides wanting to do the best job I can, grow and learn plenty, I also want to add my little grain of sand because this is a team sport. I want to win a title. I want us to be a great team.”

About playing in EPL;

“I have spoken to them ( Vela & Dos Santos) and they are definitely happy for me and they know that this is the most powerful league in the world. They tell me to take advantage of the situation and I should thank God for the opportunity.

About the pressure playing with the biggest football club in the world;

“I always try to see pressure in a different way – more like motivation. There are millions of people in the world who would do anything to be in my position and have this opportunity.

About playing with football legends such as Ryan Giggs & Scholes;

“These are people I would watch on the television, that I would even play with them on PlayStation,”
“I dreamed of one day being able to play with all of them and I’m going to try to learn from them the most I can.

After playing against MLS All-Star, Manutd will travel to Mexico and playing against Hernandez’s former club, Chivas Guadalajara on Saturday to mark the opening of tits new 45,000-capacity stadium.

Ferguson reveals that the striker will play “one half for Chivas and one half for Manutd”.
However, when asked what he would do if Hernandez scored against United, the manager joked:

“He’ll be fined and transferred back.”

Hahaha…Good one SAF!

So yesterday evening's 4-0 win over SC Strudel's collection of postmen, trainee architects and bus drivers really didn't tell us a great deal we didn't already know.

Stand out players on the evening for me were Nasri, who's contuining a fine pre-season, Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs at left back in the first half. Two two Emmanuel's looked good in parts. Frimpong looks to have the makings of a tenacious defensive midfielder with solid distribution. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas got a goal, might have had a couple more, might have set up a couple (but they're linked to the couple of might have had), and showed some nice touches.

I can't help thinking that a season out on loan would be the best thing for both. Frimpong can get a season's competitive football under his belt, JET can go and learn that the game is about doing the simple things first. Too often he looks for the trick or the showboat and if he cuts most of that out of his game, because it won't work at the highest level, he'll make rapid progress.

Theo Walcott got a goal, Marouane Chamakh scored a penalty, Don Vito saved one, and we got our first look at some of the World Cup players as Vela (who got a goal), Eboue, Sagna and Clichy all got a run in the second half.

Manuel Almunia started the game in goal and as captain, he's been thawed having been so thoroughly frozen out last week. The only slight worry was the fact that John Djourou came off after about half an hour. His ability to withstand injury is always going to be a concern and while we don't have any news on how serious it might be it's still most untimely. It looks as if Sol Campbell has decided to go and join Newcastle and good luck to him up there but it means our defensive options are running very thin.

There's talk this morning of a move for Per Mertesacker but I don't know how much truth there is in it. A photo was circulated of him yesterday, supposedly in a North London pub, but a quick look at the photo's EXIF data showed it was taken in 2009, not yesterday. Sure, the camera's clock could be wrong but I suspect shenanigans and I hope it's not the basis of any of today's stories. Signing an experienced German international who is 6'4 or whatever he is sounds rather too good to be true. Maybe I've just lowered my expectations.

Whatever about that though, the fact is we need at least one centre-half and we need him asap. Hopefully Djourou's withdrawal was precautionary but the precarious nature of his fitness really illustrates the need for a top class player who can come in and play first team football straight away. Unusually there was no interview post-game with Arsene, and no quotes either, so what exactly is going on is anybody's guess. The squad will now return to London to continue pre-season training and for the Emirates Cup, more on which anon.

Now, yesterday further financial revelations regarding Barcelona showed the Catalan club lost €77m last year, amazing when you think how successful they've been on the pitch. Remembering as well they had to borrow €150m last week just to keep going it makes their pursuit of Cesc Fabregas all the more ludicrous. It is quite beyond me how any accountants, bankers, financial advisors and even club officials can believe spending another €50m, at least, for a player they don't really need is good business. Arsene Wenger says:

There are still noises from Barcelona, but that is all it is.

Clearly dismissing their ability to do a deal that would even come close to what Arsenal would require to sell a player like Cesc. And that's assuming we'd even talk to them. Which, at the moment, we wont. Barcelona's assistant sporting-director's lover's personal secretary, Toni Freixa, says:

Arsenal don't want to sit down and negotiate with us. It's not a problem with the wishes of Cesc or of Barca - they simply don't want to negotiate.

It seems, at last, the message might be getting through. Will it stop their constant blather? I doubt it. Talk is all they've got left and making so much 'noise', as Arsene puts it, takes the focus away from the fact they're footballing hobos, out with the begging bowl just to stay afloat. More than a club? Not for long unless they sort their money issues out. They need to go to Ocean Finance and consolidate all their loans into one, simple, easy to manage payment. The cunts.

In case you missed it yesterday I posted an interview with former Gunner Edu. The lads from Arsenal Brasil very kindly offered me the English translation as an exclusive and a tip of the hat to all the Arsenal sites and blogs who have linked to it.

However, once again the despicable fuckers at goal.com, who I refuse to link to, have done what they do best, and that is steal other people's content. They took a part of what Edu said, made it into a story, and 'credited' it as follows:

Now, I know the chaps at 101 Great Goals somewhat, not 101 Goals, and they're always very careful to give proper credit and links when they use content from other blogs. In this case, however, goal.com has simply taken the content Arsenal Brasil worked hard to produce, between getting the interview, the editing, the sub-titling etc, and ripped it off. And they don't even have the decency to provide a link to them or to Arseblog, from where they ripped it off. And I know this because they've embedded the video at the bottom of their story.

So, just another illustration of why goal.com is one of the worst football websites in the world. Ever. If you're tired of seeing other bloggers, writers, journalists and media outlets stories passed off as their own, simply go to NewsNow, click on the name of the site and choose 'hide publication'. They are purveyors of baseless rumours, bottom feeding, hit-whoring click parasites of the worst kind. Don't give them what they want. Just ignore. In no other industry is it acceptable to so blatantly profit off the work of others, I don't know why it's deemed acceptable on the web.

Moving on and to the Arseblog Mailing List. It looks as if Gmail have done something to their spam filters which has meant a lot of people haven't had their daily edition. If you've noticed a lack of Arseblog in your box, log into Gmail via the web (even if you're using it in a client like Outlook or Apple Mail), click in the spam folder and highlight the Arseblog emails. Then, at the top, click 'not spam' and that should sort the problem out. Gmail will remember that from now on. To be doubly sure, add Arseblog as a contact in Gmail - thanks to @engkiat for that.

Finally for now, today is your last chance to win tickets to the Emirates Cup as well as that exclusive stadium tour, with thanks to Emirates Airline. Just click here for the competition, answer the question and you're in the draw which will take place tomorrow.

And that's just about that for today. Watch out for further Emirates Cup based competitions later in the week. 

Till tomorrow.

“You‘re not, you‘re not good, Al. You stink.”

Let’s hear it people.

“See me son, I’m the one sportin’ Dolce and Gabbana.”

Carlo knows style. Now Chelsea does as well.

Chelsea and fashion giants Dolce & Gabbana announced a three-year partnership on Tuesday. Yes, D&G (HELLO!). I, for one, did not see this coming.

The Italian luxury designer will provide the club with a variety of suits and outfits for players, management and staff. D&G also will be redesigning the club’s reception area.

You may remember that D&G have been involved prior with both the Italian national team and AC Milan. So this isn’t, by any means, a landmark collaboration.

What it really boils down to – at least for me – is that Carlo fancies a well-made suit. And Carlo gets what he wants.

“We are really happy about this partnership and to be able to link our name to such a prestigious club like Chelsea,” said Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. “We are big football fans: for us it means healthy competition, intense passion and great discipline. Football players are style icons both on and off the pitch and, on top of this, there is our love of England and of London, which have always been a source of inspiration for our work.”

Me getting an in-depth look at what D&G had to offer back in ‘06.

Our very own Ron Gourlay had this to say: “We are delighted that Dolce & Gabbana will be our official supplier of formal wear for the next three years. Their designs for this season’s team wear are exceptional, and we’re excited to be partnering with such a world renowned and innovative design house. In addition to dressing the team, Dolce & Gabbana’s comprehensive redesign of the club’s directors’ lounge and other key areas of the stadium will also serve to showcase our relationship over the next few seasons.”

Click the suit to see more images of what D&G has in store for the club.

Bonus: Me, I could only think of this when I heard the news. I know I’m not the only one.

Who: The Best Players Major League Soccer has to offer against the best youngsters that Sir Alex Ferguson could fit into an adult small uniform.
What: The MLS All-Star Game
Where: Houston, Texas, USA or (if you can’t make the game in person) ESPN2/Galavision
When: Wednesday, July 27th – 8:30PM EST
Why: CHICHARITO! CHICHARITO! CHICHARITO! Yeah, I’m on board with this one…

A Brief History of the MLS All-Star Game:

MLS began in 1996, and so too did the All-Star Game. However, it was a long six years before the league instituted the type of event we’ll be seeing Wednesday night. No, for five of it’s first six years, MLS employed an All-Star game similar to those in other major American sports. Thus, it was East v West in a battle of “who could score more goals without even attempting to play defense.” All that changed when, in 2003, the league scheduled a match with Chivas de Guadalajara of the Mexican Premier League. Aside from a minor blip in 2004 when Real Madrid failed to turn up, the league never looked back. Subsequent opponents included Fulham (a 4-1 win for MLS), Chelsea (a 1-0 win for MLS), Celtic (a 2-0 win for MLS), West Ham (a 3-2 win for MLS), and Everton (A 1-1 draw which American Tim Howard one for the Toffees in a penalty shootout). Thus, it’s fairly clear that the MLS All-Stars have a good record against British opposition, something that Head Coach Bruce Arena will be hoping to continue Wednesday.

And just who are these All-Stars?

If reading just isn’t your thing, then click the video below to watch the squad selection announcement courtesy of the MLS Homepage.

As explained by my best friend Wikipedia, “the selection of the MLS All-Star First XI is determined by an online fan voting system which accounts for 25% of the total vote, with players, coaches and general managers, and the media each holding 25% of the vote… The additional seven players will be chosen by the MLS All-Star head coach Bruce Arena and the Commissioner of MLS Don Garber.” All that said, here’s your roster:

Starters
GK Donovan Ricketts – Jamaica/LA Galaxy
DF Omar Gonzalez – United States/LA Galaxy
DF Chad Marshall – United States/Columbus Crew
DF Jamison Olave – Colombia/Real Salt Lake
MF Dwayne De Rosario – Canada/Toronto FC
MF Kyle Beckerman (injured) – United States/Real Salt Lake
MF Marco Pappa – Guatemala/Chicago Fire
MF Javier Morales – Argentina/Real Salt Lake
MF Guillermo Barros Schelotto – Argentina/Columbus Crew
FW Edson Buddle – United States/LA Galaxy
FW Landon Donovan – United States/LA Galaxy

Reserves/Alternates
GK Nick Rimando – United States/Real Salt Lake
DF Kevin Alston – United States/New England Revolution
DF Jonathan Bornstein (injured) – United States/Chivas USA
DF Wilman Conde – Colombia/Chicago Fire
DF Heath Pearce – United States/FC Dallas
MF Bobby Convey – United States
MF Sébastien Le Toux – France/Philadelphia Union
MF David Ferreira – Colombia/FC Dallas
MF Brad Davis – United States/Houston Dynamo
MF Shalrie Joseph – Grenada/New England Revolution
MF Jeff Larentowicz – United States/Colorado Rapids
FW Juan Pablo Angel – Colombia/New York Red Bulls
FW Brian Ching – United States/Houston Dynamo
FW Jaime Moreno – Bolivia/DC United

Some familiar names if you’re a fan of the Premiership. Juan Pablo Angel notched 44 goals in 175 appearances for Aston Villa, Landon Donovan was instrumental in Everton’s strong performance last season, and Jaime Moreno managed 25 career appearances Middlesbrough. In the broader world, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Sébastien Le Toux, Javier Morales, and Donovan Ricketts all spent considerable time abroad (is it still called “abroad” if it’s your country of birth?). Managing this collection of talents is former UVA/DC United/Red Bull New York coach Bruce Arena, who currently manages the Los Angeles Galaxy. I can honestly say that I never would have thought it possible for Sir Alex Ferguson and Bruce Arena to be coaching on the same field, but there you have it… Dreams can come true… I guess…

Who will be featuring for Manchester United?
In case you missed it, here is my preview of the United squad prior to it’s arrival in North America. All of the players (save for Chicharito) that participated in the World Cup are absent, and injuries to several key players has left this United side looking slightly threadbare. Here’s what they started out with:

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar, Tomasz Kuszczak, Ben Amos
Defenders: John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Rafael, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Fabio, Tom Cleverley, Ritchie De Laet, Corry Evans
Midfielders: Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher, Darron Gibson, Nani, Gabriel Obertan
Forwards: Dimitar Berbatov, Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez, Mame Biram Diouf.

After taking on teams in Toronto (Celtic), Philadelphia (the Union), and Kansas City (the Wizards), multiple United players have picked up minor injuries. As reported by Gemma Thompson at the official page, “Sir Alex is expecting a tough match against the All-Stars and has some decisions to make regarding his team. He said at the press conference last night that Fletcher and O’Shea are carrying knocks and today he insisted he’ll only pick a totally fit XI.” All that aside, I’m still guessing that Fergie will send a fairly strong side onto the Reliant Stadium pitch.

Taylor’s Predicted Starting XI: Van der Sar, Rafael, Evans, Brown, Fabio, Giggs, Scholes, Fletcher, Nani, Berbatov, Macheda/Chicharito.

And what of Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez?
The level of excitement surrounding United’s newest signing is reaching a fevered pitch. From the official site again: “I’ve had an email from friend of ManUtd.com Tom Marshall, who works for the Guadalajara Reporter newspaper, saying tickets for Friday’s game sold out in a matter of hours and the demand was so high the ticket website crashed. Chivas are now selling passes for United’s training session on Thursday night.”

However, it’s not just Mexican fans who are eager to see the 22 year old striker take the pitch. The MLS players are excited as well. Said Guillermo Barros Schelotto , “I think that I would like to see how Hernandez is and to see if he’s at the level of Manchester United or not. There are a lot of expectations there. There are many important players [on Manchester United] but for me, my expectation and knowing Mexican soccer, it’s for Hernandez.”

Nick Rimando was equally excited, stating, “For me I’m excited to play against Scholes and Giggs since those are the guys I grew up watching…. And Javier Hernandez. He was in the World Cup with the Mexican national team and it’ll be fun to play against him. He’s a quick player and he’s feisty in the 18-yard box,” Rimando said. “We played against him last year with RSL when he was with Chivas. Very dynamic. He likes to go forward and get to balls over the top. And he likes to score goals and he scored a ton with Chivas. That’s why Manchester United signed him.”

Personally, I am very much looking forward to seeing Chicharito take the field in a United kit. Whether that’s because I think he’s going to be an immediate impact player or because I’m trying to rationalize United’s lack of signings remains to be seen. One way or the other, I’m excited for kickoff!

And how say you?
What do you think of the MLS roster? Who should Arena start Wednesday night? And Sir Alex? Big names or youngsters? What do you most want to see from this match?

The great youth hope played a central role in France reaching the UEFA European Under-19 Championship final.

Gael Kakuta netted the leveler in France’s 2-1 win over Croatia in Caen. The French will face Spain for the 2010 title Friday in Caen. That should be an excellent match.

Hit the jump for moving pictures of Gael’s strike, his second of the tournament.

Fox Soccer Channel HD is expected to launch on DirecTV on August 11, sources confirmed to EPL Talk on Tuesday.

It’s been a long and anxious time for soccer fans in the United States who have been waiting for news regarding the announcement. Fox Soccer Channel HD began broadcasting in HD in late January and then originally launched on DISH Network in early February. Slowly but surely, Fox Soccer Channel HD has been added to TV providers across the United States. But the largest satellite provider, DirecTV, hasn’t added the 24/7 soccer network as of yet, but will now do so in August, six months after the launch of Fox Soccer Channel HD.

DirecTV is also working on adding Fox Soccer Plus in HD in the near future.

As of press time, there is no word from Comcast regarding when they, as one of the largest TV providers, will add Fox Soccer Channel HD to its programming. But as soon as we get news, EPL Talk will report it here. In the meantime, please reference How to Demand Your TV Provider Adds Fox Soccer Plus or FSCHD.

In addition to the expected launch of Fox Soccer Channel HD on August 11, sources advised that GolTV HD is supposed to be added to DirecTV on August 4.

Related posts:

1. DirecTV Adding GolTV HD, But No Fox Soccer Channel HD or FS+ HD In Sight
2. Fox Soccer Plus to Launch On DirecTV and FiOS March 1
3. Helpful Advice for All Of Us Who Want Fox Soccer Channel in HD!

I’m hoping to interview Manchester United’s contributing editor Gemma Thompson sometime later this week. She’s been traveling with the team on their North American tour, and has been regularly updating her blogpage over at the official site. So, that said, any questions in particular you would like me to pass on? I’ve already got “Is Chicharito our savior” and “Am I overhyping Obertan a bit too much” covered… but all suggestions are welcome…

“I don’t need to talk to (Ashley Cole). He is happy to stay at Chelsea. He never said he wanted to go. Ashley is a Chelsea player and nobody wants to sell him. We want to keep him in our squad. I am 100 percent sure he will be at Chelsea this season. I consider him to be the best player in his position in the world. There is no chance he will go.”
-Carlo Ancelotti

Doesn’t look like the world’s finest left fullback is clamoring for a move to Madrid in this shot, from Monday’s training session. Good to have you back in London, Ashley.

It seems the news is recycling itself.

And, being a sheep, I will follow suit.

We first get confirmation on what’s already been confirmed—Liverpool have signed Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic, and Danny Wilson ahead of the 2010-2011 season. Cue dog and pony show. Cole and Jovanovic arrived on free transfers, while the Wilson deal entails £2,000,000 up front and a further £3,000,000 dependent on any number of add-ons. Cole is on board for four years, and both Jovanovic and Wilson have signed three-year contracts. But words are boring, so here’s some pictures!

We’ve pretty much covered everything that needs covering regarding these three—both Cole and Jovanovic address the need for experience and skill on the left side of midfield, and Wilson is clearly one of the emerging defensive talents in the United Kingdom. For me, the capture of Wilson is maybe the most encouraging for the long term, but all three obviously have the potential to make an impact in the near future.

All three of the signings were deemed to be a good bit of business, although the club are still without a left back. The rumors linking the club to Carlos Salcido from PSV Eindhoven are steadily increasing, but two days ahead of the first leg match in Macedonia there’s still no proven option. But it’s not as if there will be a whole lot of proven options for the match with Rabotnicki, so what’s one more area of concern?

The unveiling of the new signings comes on the same day as other news we knew was coming—Javier Mascherano wants out. The news actually came from Roy Hodgson, whose time with the press has been endless since he arrived at Anfield. Anyhow, here’s what he had to say (via the above link at BBC):

“He wants to leave the club, he made that perfectly clear. I think he wanted to leave a year ago. He wants to leave now but he has a contract (that runs until 2012) and I expect him to honour that contract. The mere fact that the player is a little bit unhappy with his situation and would prefer to leave does not necessarily mean that he will do. It disappoints me but it is not unusual.

“I think in every club throughout the world there are players playing in the team who would prefer to leave. Some are allowed to, some are not allowed to. Mascherano is a Liverpool player with two years on his contract. I expect him to be a Liverpool player until the day the club chooses to accept an offer for him.”

I doubt that means he’ll be featuring in matches anytime soon—I’d expect and hope that the club get to work on selling him sooner rather than later, and that they actually make the funds available to use. If the price tag for the Argentinean is actually in the £30m range, it’d be a crime not to use a good amount of that to fill the aforementioned hole at left-back and provide the squad with some much-needed depth.

It’s no surprise that you won’t find me eulogizing Javier Mascherano much. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved watching him play for Liverpool in the past few seasons, and he’s one of the best pure defensive midfielders on the continent. But starting last summer things clearly started to turn for him, and while it was probably me projecting his desire to exit on his performances, I felt like I was watching a different, less impressive, more petulant player. The vintage performances, at least during 2009-2010, were few and far between, although on his day he was still one of the best in the side. Had he wanted to stay I’d be more than happy to see him in a Liverpool shirt this season, but now I’m just hoping for a quick and profitable exit.

As for the other stuff mentioned in the banner, I’m opting for a quick link dump rather than wasting space by typing the same thing differently for a paragraph. You know, like I did above.

—Emiliano Insua’s move to Fiorentina might have hit some bumps, as there’s some questions about the wages that he’s demanding. This would be an interesting scenario—move engineered prior to Hodgson’s arrival goes down in flames, club without a left-back…something tells me the stooges up top would still find a way to get rid of him.

—Hodgson has done a bit of a 180 on the Torres exit talk, stating today that he fully expects the striker to return. Two days after he stated that he’s unsure and that Torres had beef with the club, this seems like good news. Until two days from now, when he’s sold to Chelsea for $12.

—Shamefully and keeping with my inability to be original, Liverpool Offside now has a Twitter account. I’ve been lingering in the shadows since I started it in April, and true to form I forgot about it for three months until someone randomly started following me. I’ve started providing links so far, and I’ll likely post semi-regularly. Until I get fed up and disillusioned, at which point I’ll post a lot while I’m drinking. Roll on 2010-2011!

Only two days now until the match in Skopje, and despite the uncertainty over who we’ll see, I can’t help but be excited. Real deal preview up tomorrow with any other news.

Hodgson Confirms That Mascherano Wants Out Of Liverpool

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson confirmed the rumors that Argentinian midfielder Javier Mascherano wants to leave Liverpool.

“He wants to leave the club,” Hodgson said. “He has made that perfectly clear. I think he wanted to leave a year ago. He wants to leave now but he is contracted to Liverpool so whether he leaves or not will be our decision.”

Mascherano, who signed a four-year deal in 2007 after switching to Liverpool from West Ham, is rumored to be trying to reunite with Rafa Benitez, who was recently appointed manager at Inter Milan. It is widely expected that Liverpool would be willing to concede Mascherano in order to retain Fernando Torres.

The Spanish striker has been linked with massive transfers to Chelsea and Manchester City but has told Hodgson he is looking forward to playing for Liverpool this season.

Drenthe Facebook Page Was A Fake, Not Coming To Liverpool

Yesterday, the internet was abuzz with news that Real Madrid full back Royston Drenthe had confirmed his intentions to play at Liverpool via his “official” facebook page.

Turns out the facebook was a fake and Drenthe’s agent has confirmed his client will be staying at Real Madrid. “Royston does not have a Facebook page, a Twitter page or a MySpace page. We will be taking legal action against the person who set up this false Royston Drenthe account,” Drenthe’s agent told the BBC.

Bellamy Might Be Leaving City After Summer Spending Spree

The always-contentious Craig Bellamy might be looking for a new club after Roberto Mancini admitted he might not have room for the Welshman.

Mancini is concerned about complying with the FA’s new 25-man roster rule. Under the new guidelines clubs may only name 25 players to the full-time roster from Sept. 1 to January and the City roster is becoming crowded after a tear of new signings.

Bellamy has been linked with a move to Tottenham but nothing official has been announced.

England Falls To Spain In U-19 Euro Championship Semi-final

England’s quest for the U-19 Euro Championship has come to an end with a 3-1 defeat to Spain.

Spain jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a 12th minute goal by Daniel Pacheco and a stellar goal 15 minutes later from the Spanish captain Keko. England brought one back three minutes later with an absolute laser from John Bostock.

Spain iced the victory with a second-half goal from Sergio Canales and advanced to the final. It’s another solid tournament for England’s youth teams who saw their U-21 squad advance to the Euro Championship finals last year where they suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Germany.

Latest Transfer Rumors

The Mail is reporting Liverpool is looking to send Maxi Rodriguez to La Liga side Espanyol.

The Sun is reporting Chris Brunt has signed a three-year deal with West Bromwich Albion (confirmed).

Emanuel Adebayor is being pursued by Juventus and Marseille.

Bolton have poached Real Madrid full-back Marcos Alonso.

You can email John Boschini at Jboschini89@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/@johnbo01

Related posts:

1. Premier League News, Daily Ticker: July 24
2. Premier League News, Daily Ticker: July 21
3. Premier League News, Daily Ticker: July 20

GolTV announced its schedule for the live matches featuring Arsenal, AC Milan, Celtic and Lyon who will all be competing in the 2010 Emirates Cup, which will be televised live on GolTV in both SD and, where available, HD.

The schedule of games that will be televised on GolTV is as follows:

• Celtic v Lyon, 9am ET, Saturday, July 31
• Arsenal v AC Milan, 11.20am ET, Saturday, July 31
• AC Milan v Lyon, 9am ET, Sunday, August 1
• Arsenal v Celtic, 11.20am ET, Sunday August 1

Each game will be played at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. The tournament is now in its fourth year. Each team competes in two matches, being awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw. Plus one point is awarded for each goal scored. The club with the highest point total at the end of the tournament will be declared the 2010 Emirates Cup Champion.

GolTV is available in HD on DirecTV and other TV providers.

Related posts:

1. Schedule of Preseason Friendlies On US TV This July and August
2. A Night At The Emirates: A Fan’s Perspective (Video)
3. ESPN Doesn’t Know The Difference Between Emirates and Highbury

I recently had the chance to watch Pelada, a remarkable soccer documentary that follows two Americans on a journey around the world in pursuit of pick-up games. It’s a simple premise, but the experiences and people they encounter around the globe are wonderful to watch. If you consider yourself a soccer fan, this is one documentary that you must seek out.

When the film recently made its South Florida debut, I was fortunate to catch the film at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood with some of the soccer royalty from the southern tip of this great country. In the audience were Thomas Rongen, Fernando Clavijo, Miami FC, Phil Schoen, Ray Hudson and many others. Thankfully, I had a chance to capture Ray Hudson’s introduction to the film and I also interviewed the star of the film, Gwendolyn Oxenham.

Below you’ll find a 15-minute edition of the EPL Talk Podcast which features both the Hudson introduction and the conversation with Oxenham.

Wherever you live in the world, try to watch the unforgettable film. More information can be found at http://pelada-movie.com/

Related posts:

1. Henry Winter Interview: World Cup, Premier League and Custard Creams
2. Watch “The Two Escobars,” June 22 on ESPN
3. Barney Ronay Video Interview

A couple of stories today:

First off, it looks like Sol Campbell will not be returning to the club, as he has just returned from his honeymoon and gone straight to Newcastle for a medical. If that goes well, an announcement on a deal is expected soon. It’s a bit disappointing, because I think he’s good to have around as a good influence on the younger players, as he really was a model professional after returning to Arsenal last season. And he surprised a lot of us by showing he was really up for it on the pitch as well, especially towards the end of the season once he had played himself into shape.

But he’s still a 35 year-old who started last season in League 2. So I can’t be too disappointed about it. And was I the only one who was a bit put off by his whole wedding/honeymoon thing? The timing of it, I mean, not the fact that it occurred. The man is a professional footballer, who knows damn good and well when preseason training takes place, and it just so happens that he schedules his wedding right at the beginning of that period, with honeymoon immediately to follow? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was trying to get out of preseason training, the same way Brett Favre’s (American football reference, sorry for those who don’t follow) annual “I don’t know if I’m going to come back from retirement this year or not” saga takes place during preseason training just so happens to coincide with preseason training, every athlete’s least favorite part of the season. I was a bit put off by it, but maybe that’s just me.

In other news, Cagliari and Italy goalkeeper Federico Marchetti has been linked to Arsenal by Cagliari’s President, who claims Arsenal is pushing for his signature. He’s only been the starter for one season at Cagliari, but drew rave reviews from his performance. He was a surprise starter for Italy’s last two games at the recent World Cup, when Gianluigi Buffon was injured, but he managed to let in 4 goals on 6 shots on target in those performances, which sounds downright Almunia-esque. I kid, I kid. But he’s supposed to be a good one, he’s just 27, and probably wouldn’t be bad. He’d have to be better than the options currently on hand, at any rate. Don’t know what to make of this, since I haven’t seen this rumor out there too much, but the fact that it’s the club president claiming it adds an air of legitimacy to it that we don’t normally see with our daily keeper transfer rumors. We’ll see.

And Barcelona are complaining about Arsenal, again. Barcelona spokesman Toni Freixa says that: “Arsenal don’t want to sit down and negotiate with us. It’s not a problem with the wishes of Cesc or of Barça – they simply don’t want to negotiate.”

Sigh…no, Toni, it’s a “problem” with the wishes of Arsenal. You know, the club with whom Cesc signed a five-year contract. Specifically, the wishes of Arsenal that Cesc is not for sale, at any price, at this point. If someone has no interest in selling something, why would they negotiate? In keeping with my newfound exhaustion and serenity over this, I’m not going to get angry and go on a rant over this. Instead, to me that’s a good sign, that Wenger and the board are staying true to their word and their message, which throughout this whole thing has been very simple: Cesc Fabregas is not for sale. Cesc is due in training camp on Monday, and I would be pretty stunned if he weren’t there.

Finally, this isn’t strictly Arsenal-related, but . . . greatest goal celebration ever? Greatest goal celebration ever:

As Premier League football fans languish in the desert of meaningful matches and as we’ve now reached a sort of middle point between the end of the World Cup and the beginning of the Premier League season, I can’t help but to wonder if soccer grew, stayed about the same, or took a small step backward in the US this summer.

As Europe’s finest clubs cash in and tour the States as we live and breathe and as the next so called ‘major’ summer friendly tournament kicks off, ends or whatever it is ‘major’ summer friendly tournaments do, this football supporter seems to notice a tad bit of exhaling from the tidal wave that was the World Cup and more specifically the USMNT’s successful ride for three weeks this summer.

Vanished are the new soccer fans that emerged to chat from around the water cooler at the office, gone are the packed pubs full of rabid celebrations and extinct is the feeling of soccer in the air one got when simply walking out the door when the World Cup was in full force.

As quickly and as casually as the additional troops mounted to represent Uncle Sam’s Army as the boys battled in South Africa, it was equally as quick that the reinforcements left the soccer battlefields and retreated to other interests.

But in my attempts to gauge if the World Cup had any lasting effects on the popularity of the sport in this country and with help from the readers of this article, I must first look at a few obvious points I’m currently observing and quite possibly hold off on passing any judgement on my fellow compatriots until the Premier League and other European leagues resume later next month.

(For the record, I believe the lasting effects concerning growth, either positive or negative, resulting from the World Cup won’t truly be felt or known for at least a few more weeks or months, and although the casual soccer newbies have dropped off like lemmings off a cliff, it’s still possible a new generation of soccer hard-cores were conceived during the World Cup. It will be these new soccer fans, lead by their friends and others who support club teams across the world that will prove whether or not a substantial growth occurred).

Point #1. The power of the World Cup

The World Cup always brings the most casual soccer fans out of the wood work especially in this country as the sheer bigness of the event itself is usually enough to hold the attention of even the most lackluster soccer fans. The point here is that the let down of momentum the World Cup concedes after it’s capitulation is only a natural result to an event that rages on non stop for a full month. Simply stated, when there isn’t much soccer going on, people don’t watch much.

Point #2. Who is the casual fan interested in watching?

As much as I enjoy watching Premier League teams take on MLS sides who have everything to prove, how much are soccer fans attending, watching or even enjoying these pre season friendlies? Is the reception the international club friendlies receive an adequate litmus test for the popularity of soccer in the US? I think it could be, but what happens when English and European giants leave the states for home? The hardcore support will always be there, but will interest and attendances wane from the casual observer who was so hot for the USMNT and so eager to catch a glance at a Premier League club?

As I view recent matches on Veetle and the dreadfully-still-in-standard-definition FSC, I seem to notice as many empty seats as I do full. Granted, recent matches were played in NFL stadiums boasting huge capacities, but major US cities such as New York left plenty of seats empty. Had the USMNT played any sort of meaningful match post World Cup, the stadiums would have easily been bursting at the seems with excitement and anticipation. Which leads me to my third point,…

Point #3. Country over sport.

Americans like their country first and their sports second. More specifically, I believe the USMNT has some incredibly devoted and brilliant fans. Yet I also believe that a pretty decent chunk of the pub goers, the downtown fan-fest attendees and the World Cup party hosts were fans of the flag on the shirt first, people who genuinely like soccer sure, yet not devoted fans of the sport we all love and hold so dear and thus viewed the sport itself as secondary.

Once the USMNT was eliminated, so too were the casual fans of the US team dismissed from the World Cup. They were never cheering for soccer in the first place, they were cheering for their country, and when their country exited, so did they.

And realistically, there’s nothing wrong with that sentiment when viewed from multiple angles, except in regards to the growth of soccer in the US as a long stay and mainstream sport. People have the right to move freely in this country and cheer on sports the way they see fit, yet that ideal doesn’t translate into supporters of the game, if anything, it detracts from it.

There is in fact a give and take to how incredibly supportive and patriotic Americans were for their country this summer. It was something to be proud of yet something I found myself oddly questioning it’s very authenticity when viewed as a soccer insider.

As a final example, I’ll point to the thousands of frustrated soccer fans in the US who have DirecTV as a satellite provider and who have waited patiently for the better part of a year or more for the provider to pick up FSC’s HD feed.

As last season’s domestic campaign blew away with the wind and the summer months pushed on, not a word has been uttered by the satellite giant as to when, if ever, soccer fans will be awarded for their patience and what’s rightfully owed to them.

In comparison, any number of NFL, NCAA, NBA, MLB or any other sport under the sun available to consumers in this country are readily available in HD on a myriad of channels. And although HD broadcasts of the beautiful game have come along by leaps and bounds in this country, the two stations that provide the majority of Premier League games, FSC and FSC+ (and more football than anyone), each week remain almost unwatchable in standard definition.

One has to ask themselves, how serious does DirecTV take this sport in our country? Would they have changed their policy on picking up the HD feed had they been bombarded by the mainstream masses? As the smallish soccer community tried their hardest to persuade, DirecTV set up auto reply email responses thanking subscribers for their interest and automated phone lines with pre recorded messages to waft away the anxious. Can one imagine an NFL network in standard definition or such a prolonged wait for HD broadcasts?

As I’m only one man who can only observe so much, ultimately, I’ll count on the soccer community we’ve formed here to pitch in and tell me how the sport is now viewed in your workplace, area, community, city and state after such an eventful World Cup and summer in general.

Did soccer in fact grow at all this summer or does it remain our beautiful little secret, our niche sport that gives us our sense of purpose, or our singular ability to relate to the rest of the world?

Related posts:

1. Where Have Those Summer Breaks From Soccer Gone?
2. Frustrated Soccer Fans in the US Begin Again Their Wait for Fox Soccer Channel HD
3. Prediction: Soccer Will Become a Mainstream Sport in U.S. This Summer

My good old chums at Arsenal Brasil were lucky enough to track down former Gunner Edu to ask him some questions about his Arsenal career.

On the agenda were his arrival at Arsenal, his favourite players, the Invincibles why he left, his thoughts on Arsene Wenger and much more.

They've kindly added the English subtitles exclusively for Arseblog. Happy viewing.

Edu interview - Arsenal Brasil from arseblog on Vimeo.

Note: The 'Marcos' referred to in the interview is the former Brazilian goalkeeper - Guardian story here.

Manchester United are becoming ‘ze Germans’ of club football. Regardless of their squad’s supposed weaknesses, debt-worries or the omens of bad form, United are always there-or-thereabouts when it comes to the title. This season shall prove to be no different. Sir Alex Ferguson is the longest serving in the Premier League for a reason; he continually puts out excellent teams rotated amongst an excellent squad. They are by no means infallible and in a few key positions looking very old, nevertheless you can count on United to fight on all 4 fronts for another season. All of this is much as my colleague Kratik said just last week. Whereas he indicates that United don’t need to improve for the upcoming season, and Sir Alex agrees, I feel they do need to improve but for the future.

In terms of improving the squad though, there is still some work to be done and as Sir Alex continues the final phase of his stewardship he would want to leave United in a position to win after his legacy is complete. For this he will require some young talent to supplement and then replace the older talent left in the squad. First and foremost the continual question of the goalkeeper.

Goalkeeper: Edwin Van Der Sar has been a stalwart since his transfer from Fulham. The two Champions League winners medals are a testament to his ability and the gap between them shows his longevity if a couple of poor career choices. Van Der Sar will continue to be the prominent goalkeeper for United this season but doubts will remain over his injury-proneness. He missed a substantial part of last season due to injury problems and also unfortunately some domestic health problems as well. Whilst this isn’t a blueprint for the upcoming season it is something United should keep in mind. With Thomas Kuszczak a reliable, if uninspiring, back-up Ferguson could go into the new season without bolstering his squad. However that does leave question-marks over the next season as Van Der Sar turns 41. There are some young talented keepers available on the transfer market at the moment and with Arsenal also looking to strengthen this area there would be fewer choices at the next transfer window and prices would become inflated as teams realise that United need a keeper. Any potential targets are going to be disillusioned to playing second fiddle for a season so United have left themselves a problem. It is difficult to predict who United will bring in but the likes of Igor Akinfeev and Maarten Stekelenburg have been discussed. Stekelenburg had a good world-cup with a few minor gaffes due to the movement of the Jubalani, at 27 he enters the prime of his career and due to Ajax’s money worries could be available at a fraction of his true value. The main positive for Stekelenburg is that he, like all the Dutch, is fluent in English. One of the Keys to Goalkeeping is communication look back to the roars of Peter The Great.

Defence:United have an interesting line up, it is entirely possible for them to put out a defence whose youngest player is 28 in Vidic (Brown, Rio, Vidic, Evra), but also they could realistically put out a back 4 whose oldest player is 22 (Rafael, Evans, Smalling, Fabio). Of those 4 only Evans and Rafael have enjoyed regular playing time. With those 8 Premier-League calibre players and back-ups in O’Shea and Neville, United really don’t need to strengthen their back-line at all. The development of Rafael and Fabio will be crucial for the seasons further ahead but there is little to indicate that this is much of a worry as both have shown promise if some youthful naivety, the champions league quarter-final being the case in point.

Midfield:Here we enter the crux of the matter, Kratik argued that United have “ten world-class midfielders” a bold claim, and one that could be scrutinised. The term World-Class should only be reserved for those who play at a ‘worldwide’ level. Those who shone in the world-cup may be termed world class, but Darron Gibson and Anderson? Both have potential for sure but I doubt either could qualify to the levels of Xavi, Schwiensteiger or Sneijder. The reason United havebeen linked with creative midfielders is their need for one. Mesut Ozilis the obvious choice and the bookies favourite. After lighting up the world-cup in his first game he didn’t replicate that kind of form again. Whilst always being capable of creating something from nothing. It is a happy accident that his contract is due to run out in 2011 and as such can be bought for less than people were expecting. In terms of the other midfield spot, I think it’s finally time to giveup on Owen Hargreaves even if he were to return the worry over his fitness would remain particularly in the combative nature of the Premier League. Darren Fletcher is an excellent player but his partnership with Michael Carrickdid not work in the past season, despite his detractors I don’t feel it’s time to give up on Carrick. If he could get the form he showed at Tottenhamand West Ham as he ranged further forward and his short passing ability was utilised in exploiting space in the final third he could yet be effective. As a deep-lying playmaker in the Xavi, Alonso and Pirlomould he is not effective. Finally there is the range of young midfielders United have, Anderson and Nani have had their chances at the first team level but also have been in and out of the team regularly as their form  has swung wildly from excellent to anonymous. Nani entered a rich vein of form going into the close of the season, but then again so did Salamon Kalou. If Nani can perform like he did then and carry that through the majority of the season he will be a prized asset. If he returns to running himself into trouble and terrible delivery United will have a depth problem on the wings. Personally I haven’t seen enough of Obertan to make a decision on his ability coming into the season. With Park, Valencia, Giggs, Nani and ObertanUnited’s wings are well stocked with potential, the only players who could improve on this would be squad players at best or Global superstars whose price-tag precludes a realistic purchase anyway.

Forwards:Up front United are much like their defence, well stocked in youth and experience. Wayne Rooney speaks for himself, his horrific world cup (honestly his touch was shocking for a normal player and diabolical by his standards) was probably down to the lingering injury that hampered the end of his season. With a rest and a team who can carry his injury for a while Rooney will no doubt return to goal-scoring and game winning form. Only one other United striker played at the world cup and that was the exciting Javier Hernandez, in his cameo roles for Mexico he showed great dribbling ability coupled with great pace and precision. Wherehe exploited the space behind France and showed composure he also turned the Argentineans inside out and slammed a shot into the net. Whilst like Obertan I can’t pass judgement until I haveseen him week in and out he is the most exciting part (at the moment) about United’s upcoming season. On the negative side we have the ‘Mercurial’ (to put it kindly) Dimitar Berbatov . His touch and vision are sometimes impossible  and then sometimes ghastly. He shows pace but then also shows a lack of stamina, consistently inconsistent he was not worth and is not worth the money United paid for him. That is not to say he should be shipped out or forgotten about, he still has a role to play in the upcoming season but if United fans are considering the future as well as the upcoming season they will place their hopes on Hernandez and not Berbatov. Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda and Michael Owen provide the depth for the very worst of injury crises but with only patchy playing time and substitute appearances between them they will not be the key for this season.

All-in-all United are fearsome, a football machine with a squad the envy of Europe. United havenot built their success around having the best eleven on the pitch, although they are at the very top in this, they thrive on having the depth to consistently challenge for all in front of them. The youth can challenge for the Carling Cup, the first eleven for the champions league and elite premier-league games and the squad for the mid-table clashes and mid-week FA cup ties. The main concerns for United fans lie in the Directors Box not on the field. I was writing about their on-field issues here, their off-field issues could fill a book or two. In summary, United fans don’t worry about the upcoming season, they only worry about the few after that, when Ferguson does step down and Giggs and Scholes retire, it will be the measure of the club if they’ve prepared for that.

Related posts:

1. Rafa Benítez: A Success?
2. Bolton-Manchester United: Player Ratings
3. AC Milan 2-3 Manchester United: 8 Key Observations

Poor Roy Hodgson has had the pleasant task of informing the public that Fernando Torres is more than just a little iffy about staying with Liverpool. He seems to have washed his hands of the guilt a la Pontius Pilate. Hodgson emerged from talks with Torres saying, “Unfortunately, I cannot do much more,” Hodgson confessed. “His beef is with the club and not me.”

What beef is that exactly?

For Torres it’s the disappointment in the promises that Liverpool failed to fulfill—specifically the enhancement of the team with new players. The 26-year old striker was clearly depending on these new additions to win some silverware. Back in March, Torres was quoted in an interview with a Spanish paper saying, “If we do not reinforce the squad, […] all we will be able to do is fight for fourth again.” The striker emphasized his point, suggesting that Liverpool need to bring in “four or five top class players to compete—better than the ones we have.”

He has a point.

But if El Nino wants to transfer out of the club, now is not the time.

Liverpool know that they haven’t followed through on giving Torres the support that he desires, but the fact that they nabbed Joe Cole and retained Steven Gerrard should send a message. Cole and Gerrard might not be the ‘top-class players’ Torres was referring to, but he should realize that they perform well in the Premier League.

Despite lifting the World Cup trophy, he hasn’t made a good case for himself in terms of being an attractive candidate for potential clubs. His untimely groin strain at the finals against the Netherlands is scheduled to bench him for two months and his (lack of a) World Cup performance put him on par with the English squad.

Aside from this, he is only one year into his four-year contract with the Reds and any sort of transfer will be very expensive, to say the least. Chelsea, who are currently leading the chase, began to doubt their original valuation of £50 million (as reported by the Telegraph) after the World Cup. (To be quite honest, I don’t think Chelsea even need Torres, but that’s another story for another time). Liverpool currently value Torres at £70 million. Manchester City have also revived their interest in purchasing Torres, and unlike Chelsea, they are willing to pay a higher price.

Conversely, there are several important reasons why he should leave Liverpool. Financially, the club is very unstable and the likelihood to win silverware with the Reds isn’t very high. Although Hodgson has made it clear he would like to keep Torres at Anfield, he should consider selling the striker in order to pay for several others to give the team the reshaping and bolstering it needs.

And although Hodgson managed to grab Cole and Gerrard, it might not be enough. Torres probably realizes that obtaining these two players was not a difficult task for the Reds. After all, Cole was a free transfer from Chelsea and Gerrard was, well, relatively unwanted by other clubs.

The bottom line is, Liverpool need Torres more than Torres needs Liverpool.

Liverpool fans on the edge of their nerves can perhaps take solace in what Torres said back in March: “I don’t plan on going back to La Liga for a while. I have made my move away from home and I owe Liverpool a lot. I like it here, and people have treated me like one of their own. I am very happy here and hopefully my future is here. I think the club deserves to win again, but at this point they know they are a long way away.”

Related posts:

1. Liverpool Transfer Rumors: Who May Be Coming and Going
2. Liverpool: Who Should Stay and Who Should Leave This Summer?
3. Torres Out For Remainder Of The Season, Should Be Fit For World Cup

TM will be having a launch to commemorate their 5 year sponsorship deal with MU. The launch is held at 1 Utama, on the 31st July 2010. Our guest of honour is living Legend – Bryan Robson who will give a speech and sign some autographs.

In addition to the launch, a mini road show is organized from the 28th July to the 1st August 2010 at the same spot. Activities such as TM Fanatic Kick
Challenge, foosball, PS3 and the main highlight – the Old Trafford 100 years
Exhibition. Little pieces of MU history is on loan to us to be exhibited ie:
Shay Brennan, Bryan Robson and Rio Ferdinand’s shirt and Boots, Medal from their win as Premier League Champions in 1993-94, Matchball from 2010 Carling Cup Final and a few others. The Opus will also be on display and for those who are unfamiliar; it’s a large book on the history of Old Trafford.

The Details;
Launch Date
Date : 31st July 2010
Time : 3 pm to 6 pm
Venue : 1 Utama, Grd Flr, Highstreet (Rainforest) in between Gap and Polo Ralf Lauren.

Road Show
Date : 28th July to 1st August 2010
Time : 10 am to 10 pm
Venue : 1 Utama, Grd Flr, Highstreet (Rainforest) in between Gap and Polo Ralf Lauren.

* Information by Soon- Totalsportsasia