Wednesday night Nate Jaqua scored twice and Steve Zakuani supplied two assists.  

The Rave Green will continue its bid to repeat as Cup champions when it hosts the Columbus Crew in the Open Cup Final on October 5 on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.

The Sounders have achieved a seasonal MLS mark of 9 wins with 8 losses and 5 draws for 32 points.  Overall after including friendlies and international competition the team stands at 12-10-7 overall.  Seattle is on a current domestic hot steak with only one setback in the team’s last 11 matches.

After coming from behind to beat Freddie Ljungberg and the Chicago Fire 2-1 at home last week, Sounders FC rides a franchise best seven game unbeaten (5-0-2) streak into New England.

The 3-0 home win over the Revolution on June 5 matched the biggest victory margin for the club. The Revs are 6-12-3 with 21 points.  While they have lost three in a row the team has notched a 5-4-2  home mark. New England lost at home to Monarcas Morelia 2-1 in the SuperLiga final on Wednesday.

Seattle's surge to begin the second half of the season has propelled it currently into the second of four wild card slots. Eight teams qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs, the first two teams in each division and those with the next four best point totals.

Seattle returns home September 9 to host reigning MLS Cup champion Real Salt Lake in a nationally televised contest on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.

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Milan was expected to have one more bad transfer campaign.

President Berlusconi and Vice-president Galiani decided to bring happiness on Milan fans faces.

On August 28th, Milan loaned amazing striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Barcelona. Also, their is an option for Milan to purchase him outright from Barcelona for 24 million €.

Barcelona wasn't happy, although Ibrahimovic scored 21 goals!! Amazing Barcelona management! They proved to everyone how bad they are in selling their players.

On the last day of transfer window, August 31th, AC Milan announced signing of fast Brazilian, Robinho. Rossoneri payed 18 million € for his services.

Milan coach Allegri was very thankful for this gift and he honestly didn't know that Robinho is actually coming. Now, Allegri is ready to bring Milan Serie A title finally!

Today, Milan future looks very bright. They have probably the best attacking lineup in the world.

Just look at this attacking lineup:

ATTACKING MIDFIELDER:  RONALDINHO

LEFT WINGER: ROBINHO

RIGHT WINGER: PATO

STRIKER:  IBRAHIMOVIC

This looks like a attack from dreams. This attack should score a lot of goals this season.

Milan still needs to focus on defense problems. Khaladze finally moved to another club (Genoa).

We can finally say that new era just began in AC Milan!

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The movement featured a lot of players going away from Salt Lake, on loan to be specific. The team has temporarily moved a number of younger players to USSF Division-2 Pro League teams in an effort to get them more playing time.

David Horst (24), Collen Warner (22), Chris Schuler (22), and Alex Nimo (20) all had seen limited MLS regular season action and were loaned out to get more game experience.

With no reserve division in place for youngsters to see some action, Real Salt Lake added to their loaned list when they sent highly regarded 16-year-old prospect Luis Gil, who had yet to play in a league game yet has been dubbed a future “No. 10” for the United States National Team, to AC St. Louis.

All the activity is a creative solution to the youth development issues that plague the league. The players may not be ready for the demands of MLS, but there is no longer a reserve division in place in order to get players much-needed game experience.

Still, Real Salt Lake is the only team in the league to use loans as an option. It’s difficult to figure why other teams have not taken the same route.

With that in mind the question is, should the New York Red Bulls loan out the highly touted Juan Agudelo?

The 17-year-old forward is a tantalizing prospect. He represented the United States in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, scored the equalizing goal against Brazil in the U-20 Copa Chivas tournament, had a strong performance in the Milk Cup where the United States was crowned champions, and was recently named to the U-20 roster for a tournament in Peru.

For New York, he has appeared in three U.S. Open Cup games and also played in exhibition matches. Scheduled so the reserves could get some time, Agudelo scored twice against Army and once more against Rutgers.

While he has shown to be a dangerous player, he has not played a single league game for the Red Bulls.

He also does not appear to be remotely close to the field as he is buried on the depth chart behind Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel, Macoumba Kandji, Salou Ibrahim, and Connor Chinn.

Currently, it is not a bad thing to be training with the likes of world-class forwards Henry and Angel, watching them, and learning the position and the game from two elite players.

However, there is no substitute for experience gained in live games; something Agudelo is getting none of currently.

With so much depth at the forward position, no reserve league, and the future of a promising young player at stake it might be in the best interest of New York to follow Real Salt Lake’s strategy and loan Agudelo next season.

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Mark Schwarzer was touted to come in as he even handed in a transfer request, but the deal did not conclude, for whatever reason. I am now not interested in why the deal did not happen but want to look forward.

As a club and as fans, all we can do is simply back and support Manuel Almunia and the rest of our keepers. We have no other choice. This has to be one of the biggest gambles of Wenger’s career and one that could easily backfire. If Almunia has a good season and Arsenal wins something, then this could be one of the best decisions Wenger has ever made. Looking at it now tells me it is a big risk.

The goalkeeping position at Arsenal is under the spotlight so much that every single shot, cross, and touch is looked at closely. The pressure is huge, so big that I do not blame the keepers for sometimes making mistakes.

Another reason why I will support Almunia is because of his personality (I know, it shouldn’t be a big reason) because he has always played for the shirt and been proud to be an Arsenal player. He has always stopped to talk to fans and personally, I have had a few conversations with him and he is a lovely fella. 

As for other keepers, Fabianski needs to play more games and I really hope he goes on loan because it’s unfair to judge him without seeing him play more regularly.

As a passionate supporter of this football club, I really hope fans back Almunia and give him another chance to prove himself. I do not see any other option, apart from writing this season off and starting a campaign to get Almunia out but I cannot see many people going for that option! So backing our man is the only way.

Let’s not forget, he has had good games for Arsenal, if he can cut out those silly mistakes, he can be the keeper we want him to be. I do believe that it takes competition in order to get the best out of Almunia but I am not sure if that will come. He did have a solid game at Ewood Park and more importantly, the fans backed him too. 

So let’s get behind him and hope for the best. 

The week started with a massive win at Blackburn. We all know the history with Big Sam, so it was a good achievement to win there. We did not have the best of times last season so was great to get the three points.

Roll on Bolton at home after the international break followed by Braga in our first Champions League game.

Come on you Arsenal!

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"Under our understanding of FIFA rules, the player is ineligible to play for England," an FA Spokesman said.

One would have to wonder why it took the FA so long to speak up. Surely this isn't the first time this issue has ever come up over the years?

FIFA article 18.1 (a) says: "At the time of a player's first full or partial appearance in an international match in an official competition for his current association, he must already have the nationality of the representative team for which he wishes to play."

What?

Maybe that's why nobody at FIFA spoke up. Nobody knew how in the heck to interpret that rule.

What the FA has determined, finally, is that Arteta, who played for the Spanish Under-16 and Under-17 teams, would have to have been eligible, at the time he played for Spain, to play for England as well.

Why? I have no idea. This rule makes about as much sense as a sand box in the desert. Arteta only recently pursued his British citizenship.

Arteta had been shown some interest in possibly donning the England uniform. His inability to crack the Spanish team has been frustrating for the 28 year old.

It appeared he was finally on his way to call up in 2009 before an injury sidelined him for several months. When he finally got healthy and returned to the field for Everton in January of this year, it was too late for him to get a shot with Spain for the World Cup in South Africa.

Recently re-signed with David Moyes at Everton, Arteta is ready to make a push for a national team. Perhaps for the 2012 Euros and even the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

But it now appears that if either of those goals is to be reached it will have to be with his native Spain, and not the red and white of the Three Lions.

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Under new Premier League rules each team must register a squad of 25 players, eight of which must be “home-grown” players. Any player who is turns 21 after the 1^st of January during the season in question is free to be including in the squad without being one of the registered 25.

A “home-grown” player is a player who has trained with an English or Welsh team for three years or more while between the ages of 16 to 21.

The powers that be thought that it would be of great benefit to the Premier League and to the future of English football, both domestically and internationally, to enforce this new ruling.

However that is not the case. The new rules will lower the quality of the Premier League and hinder the progress of young English talent!

If you look at the transfers, no team had to run out and sign a massive amount of English players, in fact Chelsea allowed Joe Cole to leave for free and replaced him with Israeli international Jossi Benayoun.

Also, despite each club been obliged to included a minimum of eight “home-grown” players in the squad of 25, none of the teams are obliged to actually play any of their “home-grown” players.

The teams for the most part will remain unchanged, and the for the most part the usual suspects will line out for the team - with the exception of Man City who attempted to by a whole new team this summer.

The only thing that the rule has actually accomplished is it has forced teams with large squads of quality players to send some players on loan or in some cases on permanent deals.

Manchester United were forced to send Tom Cleverley on loan to Wigan for the season because Alex Ferguson could not fit him into the 25-man squad.

Cleverley is considered a valuable prospect at Old Trafford but he has become redundant for United due to the new rules. Cleverley turned 21 in August so he would not be able to get into the United squad unless he was one of the registered 25.

Tottenham were another team who were hit hard by the new rule. Harry Redknapp had to leave Jonathan Woodgate out of the 25-man squad due to the fact that his injury will keep him out for a prolonged part of the season.

That is just two examples of two English players on different ends of the spectrum that have felt the blunt of the new 25-man squad rule.

The Premier League and English Football Association are convinced that the number of foreign players is to blame for the national sides lack of success.

That is not the case!

In 1992 the Premier League was home to only 11 foreign players. Despite the league consisting on mainly English players the national side failed to progress from the Group Stages in Euro ’92 in Sweden, and the team failed to even quality for the ’94 World Cup in the United States.

The rule prevents the top sides in the league from being able to utilize all the players that they have at their disposal, but it in now manner will help increase the quality on the pitch, nor the quality of the English side.

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England really need to win this, Capello’s job is hanging by a thread and a loss here could see the Italian walking away from managing the international side, with a massive payoff mind, but walking away none the less. There has been no excusing the England side’s poor performances in international competitions as of late and the World Cup debacle was just the latest in a long line of screw ups.

England will be without Carson who has been dropped from the squad due to bereavement although he is the only recent news when it comes to injuries, Terry and Lampard will be missing out although it has been known for a while that they wouldn’t be playing in this match. Although there is a silver lining in the fact that this means that a few less seasoned England potentials may get the chance to get some time on the field and Bulgaria isn’t a bad team to practice against.

Bulgaria, on paper this team shouldn’t stand a chance, they aren’t a side of big names, they aren’t a side renowned for their footballing talent, however the odds don’t seem to make much of a difference when you’re playing England so anything could happen and that is what the Bulgarian manger should be telling his players. If there was ever a good time for Bulgaria to play England then this was it, a time when the side has lost public backing and the management is in turmoil.

Belgium vs Germany

Well, the home side will not be looking forward to this match, Germany are expected to tear Belgium to shreds and there doesn’t seem to be a lot that the Belgians can do to inspire hope in the fact that their side does have some sort of chance. The Belgian squad is divided and the behind the scenes staff are complaining about sorry the state of affairs, their last two coaches have lasted just 6 months in the job, there is a noted distance between the older and the younger players, To put things simply nobody is getting along. Belgium does have some good players Fellaini, Komapny and Vermaelen to name a few from the Premiership, however this isn’t going to matter for a team that is so obviously divided there is no way they could play as a team.

The Germans on the other hand have no such problems: they are well known for being organised and together, their biggest back room struggle is the gentle tug of war that is going on between Ballack and Lahm for the captains armband. Ballack will not be playing due to injury, however he has been promised his armband back when he returns to the squad. If you’re betting on the score line of this match, bet Germany and bet a high amount of goals on their part. If you think France were disorganised, Belgium are worse, this match is only ever going to go one way and the Germans are going to be going there with style.

Liechtenstein vs Spain

Well, this is a David and Goliath story and a half isn’t it, odds of Liechtenstein winning this, zero if we are all honest with ourselves. Spain are the best team in the world right now, this is not something that the tiny home nation can compete against, well at least not with any hope of actually winning anyway. The question isn’t about who is going to win it is about by how much Spain will win. It’s actually got to the point where some bookies are suggesting bets such as 10-0 to the away side and actively promoting them assuming this is the sort of thing that the punters are going to go for. In fact an awful lot of bookies refused to take bets on Spain to win.

Spain do have some concerns: Torres for example will need to be used sparingly if he is to avoid picking up yet another injury and there are one or two squad members side-lined who could’ve got a run out against the European minnows.

Spain are going to cruise to victory here and there is little more to say other than that if by some miracle Liechtenstein even managed to achieve a draw this would shock the world. It has been a long time since any team has retained a European title although if any team is going to do it it’s bound to be this current Spanish side.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores and live sports

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The victory enabled the Sounders to shut the door on an unenviable statistic they sought to eliminate.  Since the franchise’s inception last season Seattle had been unable to penetrate the Chivas USA goal in four matches.

Sounders FC is bidding to become the first repeat U.S. Open winner since 1982-83.

It is unbeaten at Starfire, which also houses the team’s training facility, in six matches.

Eager to erase the scoreless string against the visitors, the team of forward Jaqua and Steve Zakuani went to work early to produce the first goal of the evening in the 11th minute.  A Fredy Montero pass enabled Zakuani to break free behind the Chivas USA defense on the left flank.

Zakuani responded to the opportunity, cutting to the end line. Zakuani's cross met Jaqua in front of the goal for a one-touch shot that beat keeper Zach Thornton and put the home team on the scoreboard.

Colombia Comet Montero has been red hot recently so it was no surprise when he added another tally to his output, a score in the 58th minute that would turn out to be the decider in the contest.  The second goal was also created by the busy Zakuani, who juked his defender and drove the ball low across the middle. Montero tapped it past Thornton from six yards out.

The ambitious Colombian set his sights early in the season as he predicted 20 goals and 10 assists.  He stands exactly at the 10 pinnacle for assists while this was his 12th goal in all competitions.  After being named MLS Player of the Month for July Montero was named the league’s most recent Player of the Week.

Nate Jaqua has long been a favorite with Sounder fans.  Announcement of his name in the starting lineup at forward evoked a loud cheer from the Seattle faithful.  Jaqua is roughly what Pete Rose was to baseball.  

Rose was nicknamed Charlie Hustle for his determined and aggressive play on the baseball diamond.  The 6-3 Eugene, Oregon native Jaqua could be called the Charlie Hustle of soccer with his free flowing style, which was in evidence Wednesday night when his team needed him.

In stoppage time Jaqua scored his second goal of the night and sealed the victory with the aid of another Sounder who, like the Oregonian, is a veteran and a crowd pleaser.  Roger Levesque entered the match as a substitute in the 82nd minute.  He made his presence immediately felt by delivering a cross from the right flank that Jaqua headed home past helpless Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton.

Chivas USA pulled even temporarily in the 68th minute, giving Sigi Schmid’s squad its only scare of the night.  Jesus Padilla converted on an assist from Justin Braun.  Padilla had come on as a substitute 14 minutes earlier.

Kasey Keller, Seattle’s veteran goalkeeper and captain, felt that the team had relaxed its defenses temporarily and generated a hole on which Padilla capitalized to knot the contest.  After grabbing the ball to put it back into play Keller shouted out his displeasure to his mates.

On the entire evening, however, it was an occasion to relish for the home team.  It was Seattle that constantly pressed the attack, creating numerous opportunities, along with some near misses, without which the already decisive 3-1 result could have been larger.

The Sounders held a commanding 19-10 advantage in shots with a 9-6 edge on goal.  Seattle was on top 10-7 in the corner department.  Keller recorded five saves on the night while his counterpart Thornton stopped six shots.

After the match Sigi Schmid assumed the frequent posture of a winning coach, that of being pleased but not satisfied, seeking additional improvement from his club.  Schmid would have liked a clean sheet on the night for a team that has one of the proudest defenses in the MLS.  At the same time he recognized the evening’s effort for what it was, an occasion of solid achievement.

"Obviously we weren't happy with the goal we gave up because we always try and be perfectionists and so forth,” Schmid said.  “I thought our ball movement at times was good. [Steve] Zakuani was sharp today. He had the better of [Mariano] Trujillo on the outside. That was important for us. It's a field that lends itself to speed of play, getting faster and I think we took advantage of that."

Congolese and London bred speedster Zakuani had recently returned from a pelvic injury.  His return was swift to the delight of Sounder patrons as he enjoyed one of his greatest games in a Seattle uniform with his hard charging dynamics and brilliant feeds that produced assists accounting for the scoring difference on the night.  

"I think he got a lot of respect early on, once he took them early and set up that first goal," Schmid explained.  “After that, I think [Mariano] Trujillo packed up and for sure in the second half they got people over there to double him. [Rodolfo] Espinoza came back a lot in the first half to help on him and in the second half they tried to double and triple him. If you can make magical moments like that or moments that impact games, that's what makes the difference in games."

Schmid also paid deserved tribute to Jaqua on his inspiring play.

"Well, they all count whether they are six yards away or twenty-five yards away,” Schmid said.  “He has made a couple of good runs. He made some good runs today. We talked about it before the game. I said, 'Hey, you're the leading scorer in the Open Cup. You want to stay there.'  Obviously he tried to stay there, or is there with the two goals tonight. A lot of the work for his goals, great service by Roger [Levesque], great service by Steve [Zakauni]. We were unlucky a couple of times, Steve's header at the back post was one that we could have had as well. I am very happy for Nate and he got a couple of goals again today."

Jaqua has scored five times in U.S. Open Cup competition.

Since Schmid will be facing the Columbus Crew, the team he coached before moving to Seattle, it was only natural for him to comment on the upcoming match for the U.S. Open Cup title from that standpoint.

"It's sort of ironic that it's the team I'm coaching now against the team I used to coach and so obviously I know their whole coaching staff,” Schmid revealed.  “I know a lot of their players there. So it's going to be emotional that way. But we are very happy that we are hosting the game. And we are very excited. We want to sell out Qwest and we want to be able to hoist a trophy in front of all those people."

The next order for business for the Sounders is a trip to Foxborough, Massachusetts.   Saturday they face the New England Revolution in an MLS match at 4:30 p.m. PT. After that the team hosts reigning MLS Cup titlist Real Salt Lake September 9th in a nationally televised contest on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.

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I'm well aware of the general consensus that Gallas is very unwanted at Spurs considering his background and what has gone on in that time. In his years at Chelsea and Arsenal, Gallas was notorious for his outbursts on and off the pitch, not to mention his emotional outpouring after the draw to Birmingham not so long ago. However, I must speak up for Redknapp and his decision to acquire him:

1) He's free!!!! - Fans can't say it's a waste of money because we haven't spent any transfer funds on him. I can think of players we've shelled out for who were overpriced *COUGHS* DARREN BENT *COUGHS* £16.5m *BRONCHITIS KICKS IN*.

All that needs to be paid is a rather modest £60k per week. As Harry correctly points out, Gallas could've gone to ANY club, but he wanted to stay in London and play for Spurs. He chose convenience over money. What if Gallas was another one of Harry's great deals where he spends little but the outcomes are big...

2) He's a great defender! - Gallas may have ruffled a few teammates' feathers in the past, but you don't become a team captain for sitting on your tush every week! Gallas became captain and was like that for two seasons until being stripped of the captaincy for creating tensions in the dressing room, but as far as leading a team goes, he led by example; defending while getting forward to score.

He is a solid center back and a frequent goalscorer (by defenders' standards) and has been that way in his time at both Chelsea and Arsenal. Just this past season, he formed a great partnership with the belting Belgian, Thomas Vermaelen. 

3) WE NEED HIM!!!!!!! - Jonathan Woodgate's career is heading towards a premature close unless his last roll of the dice—a full scale surgical operation—is a success.

I hardly remember how he played against Wigan, either due to it being ages ago or him not having to do much anyway. Assuming the worst (e.g. he doesn't come out of the operation in full working order), his career will be over and to me will feel like he's just died.

I know he isn't going to die, but his absence and potential career termination makes it seem that way and it's rather saddening if you ask me.

Harry is in desperate need of a center back and Manchester City have immaturely refused to do any deals with us for life so Micah Richards was held back from a move to us.

I'm not prepared to listen to fans saying ''It's because we're a top four rival and pipped them to it last year, so they won't want to sell us players''. Aston Villa are/were (depending on your viewpoint) also City's top four rival and they happily took Milner and gave Stephen Ireland to them in return.

Arsenal are a rival of ours and at least 10 players have made a switch between the two North London clubs.

Gallas was a realistic option and an easy one. No massive amount of travel required; he's free seeing as he ran out his contract. Imagine it, Gallas heading in a goal against Arsenal.
Mark my words, it will happen.

Hang on, I'll make you a deal: Favourite this article and then see how Gallas' time here pans out. If he doesn't score against Arsenal or put his full shift in as a defender for us, then you can insult me with comments as much as you like and I won't respond as I won't be able to argue when you say it was a bad move all along.

But if he does score against Arsenal and give good performances, then you'll all buy me a pint whenever we meet at a game,if we ever do.

What have we got to lose? Harry will put Gallas in his place if he plays up because unlike Wenger, he's not French.  When opportunity knocks, answer the f*cking door!

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Venue: Roi Baudouin, Brussels, Belgium

Almost two months after a painful semifinal defeat in the World Cup to Spain, Germany start their qualifying campaign for the European Championships, to be hosted in 2012 by Poland and Ukraine. Germany's records in qualification campaigns are wonderful; in fact, they have lost only once in the previous four years in qualifiers- and that loss came in a game which took place after they had pretty much qualified for Euro 2008.

For Belgium, the story is different. They did not qualify for the European Championships in 2004 and 2008. Their new head coach, Georges Leekens will be hoping for a successful qualifying campaign this time around. Belgium did not have a great qualifying campaign for the World Cup; they scored 13 goals but conceded 20. Wesley Snock scored six of those 13 goals. However, Leekens has left Snock behind.

Belgium doesn't have a good record against Germany. Their last win against the Germans dates back to 1954 in Brussels; so, perhaps, this time around, they will be playing for a point rather than all three.

Squads

Germany's biggest absentee is central defender Arne Friedrich, who is out injured. Piotr Trochowski and Dennis Aogo are other absentees. Another important absentee is Jerome Boateng, who aggravated an injury after a collision with a cart in an airplane. Serdar Tasci has not been picked by Joachim Loew due to his lack of first team football for Stuttgart. A glaring absentee is Michael Ballack but I am pretty sure he will not mind much after the piece of good news he received from Loew. Rene Adler, Heiko Westermann and Christian Trasch are back in the fold after missing the World Cup due to injury problems.

Germany squad

Goalkeepers: René Adler (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Manuel Neuer (FC Schalke 04), Tim Wiese (SV Werder Bremen)

Defenders: Holger Badstuber (FC Bayern München), Marcell Jansen (Hamburger SV), Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München), Per Mertesacker (SV Werder Bremen), Sascha Riether (VfL Wolfsburg), Heiko Westermann (Hamburger SV)

Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Real Madrid CF), Toni Kroos (FC Bayern München), Marko Marin (SV Werder Bremen), Thomas Müller (FC Bayern München), Mesut Özil (Real Madrid CF), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln), Bastian Schweinsteiger (FC Bayern München), Christian Träsch (VfB Stuttgart)

Forwards: Cacau (VfB Stuttgart), Mario Gómez (FC Bayern München), Miroslav Klose (FC Bayern München), Stefan Kießling (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)

Germany's defence will look very different compared to the one that featured at the World Cup. Arne Friedrich's place in central defence will most probably be taken by Heiko Westermann. The left back spot will most probably be given to Marcell Jansen. In goal will be Manuel Neuer while Philipp Lahm will be the right back and Per Mertesacker one of the central defenders.

The midfield will look the same with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira taking up the defensive midfield positions while Thomas Mueller, Lukas Podolski and Mesut Oezil will take up the positions of the attacking midfielders behind lone striker Miroslav Klose.

Belgium's Timmy Simons returns to the squad after almost a year away from the international scene. Coach Leekens feels that Simons is a "young warrior" who will add "balance" to his team. Belgium's defensive department consists of the likes of Thomas "the Verminator" Vermaelen, Daniel Van Buyten and Vincent Kompany. They also have good attackers such as Lille's Eden Hazard. Marouane Fellaini is one of their well known midfielders.

Belgium squad

Goalkeepers: Logan Bailly (VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach), Jean-François Gillet (AS Bari), Glenn Verbauwhede (KV Kortrijk) 

Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (AFC Ajax), Laurent Ciman (R. Standard de Liège), Olivier Deschacht (RSC Anderlecht), Guillaume Gillet (RSC Anderlecht), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City FC), Daniel Van Buyten (FC Bayern München), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal FC) 

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (KRC Genk), Steven Defour (R. Standard de Liège), Marouane Fellaini (Everton FC), Timmy Simons (1. FC Nürnberg), Jan Vertonghen (AFC Ajax), Axel Witsel (R. Standard de Liège), Faris Haroun (KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen) 

Forwards: Christian Benteke (R. Standard de Liège), Eden Hazard (LOSC Lille Métropole), Romelu Lukaku (RSC Anderlecht), Kevin Mirallas (Olympiacos FC), Jelle Vossen (KRC Genk), Moussa Dembélé (Fulham FC)

Big decisions

Joachim Loew made two big decisions: primarily he announced that Michael Ballack will remain as the German captain; his deputy will be Philipp Lahm and the third vice-captain will be Bastian Schweinsteiger.

He also announced that Manuel Neuer will remain as the starting goalkeeper while Rene Adler and Tim Wiese will be his two deputies.

Tactics

Belgium conceded 20 goals during their WC qualification campaign and scored only 13. So, they will perhaps set up defensively and try to catch out Germany via counterattacks. Belgium's good defence alongside a very good keeper, Logan Bailly will not break-down easily. However, Van Buyten's presence could turn out to be a weakness.

There are seven Bayern players in the squad- all seven know Van Buyten's strengths and weaknesses and will definitely try to exploit him. They also know about his offensive strengths and will perhaps put Mertesacker on the case. They have to watch out for Vermaelen as well who can not only head well but can also take precise and ferocious shots. Germany will try to go out and attack; they are not the underdogs and will not only play off the counter-attack as they did in the latter stages of the WC.

The game could turn out to be one of those clashes where the offensive side tries to break-down a defensive side for 90 minutes. Fitness could play a part as the Germans have not reached peak fitness yet due to reaching the semis of the WC while Belgium have no such problems to deal with. Belgium will try to use set-pieces as well as the German defence can get caught out from free-kicks and corners.

Prediction

Despite the fitness issues, I expect Germany to edge this one out by a single late goal.

Final Score: Belgium 1:2 Germany

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But last year there were a few panicky moments for Gunners fans when a game of musical shares was taking place between Stan Kroenke, Alisher Usmanov, Danny Fiszman and Lady Bracewell-Smith the four biggest shareholders (with a combined 88% of the clubs shares between them).

An agreement not to sell had expired and it seemed inevitable that a battle royal between Usmanov and Kroenke was weeks away.

If that had happened then the future of the club in the short term would likely be a rough ride.

Only months later however and the major players have agreed to promote an unusual scheme to enfranchise the supporters at as low a financial outlay as possible.

With a single Arsenal share costing upwards of £10,000 even the most ardent fan would find it difficult to get involved but now, it seems that may change.

The board are looking at promoting fan ownership by selling shares or a share for as little as £10 per month and therefore allowing more fans to get involved.

Two questions need to be asked however - 

Firstly, how could this scheme make any real indent in the £600m valuation of the club and any sort of inroads into the current share ownership. Isn't it just a bit of window dressing to appease the fans?

Secondly, why would they do this?

It is impossible for me to answer these questions but there are likely to be more voluble arguments both for and against it than if one person were to attempt to take sole ownership of the club.

What should also concern Arsenal fans is why ahve none of the major shareholders made a move to buy the rest of the club?

Lady Bracewell-Smith made it clear only a few months ago that she was willing to sell her shares but nobody seems to want them.

Could we be looking at a board hoping to pay considerable dividends in the next few years?

And will the noise about the possible fans ownership help take peoples eye of that issue?

At the very least Arsenal fans have a few months of mild concern until these things gain clarity.

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Though they stumbled to a painful draw at home on opening day, this match could so easily have been a solid victory that gave them the start they needed. Instead Lee Cattermole was sent off for two silly bookings, the second, a totally unnecessary tackle on Lee Bowyer. Birmingham, and in particular Sebastian Larsson, who twice delivered excellently precise set pieces to set up their goals, did show excellent resolve in grabbing the requisite goals. However, Steve Bruce was understandably annoyed with his side throwing away a two goal lead.

The second match was away to WBA, who had been torn apart on opening day by a rampaging Chelsea. Again in this match Sunderland did play well for a reasonable portion of the match, meaning Albion keeper Scott Carson had to be on his game, though over ninety minutes they again let themselves down with new Baggies signing, Nigerian Peter Odemwingie, grabbing a goal on debut with nine minutes left to play.

The third match against Manchester City's millionaires was another patchy performance from the Black Cats and realistically, Steve Bruce would have been pinching himself on the sideline at the end to make sure that it was not some wonderfully quirky dream.

Yaya Toure and City had been so dominant in the early stages of the match that it looked like being a long afternoon for Bruce,  who would certainly have been emotionally charged considering his time as captain of City's greatest rivals, Manchester United. Ivorian Toure was in a different class early on and set his team mate Carlos Tevez up for the simplest of finishes as early as the sixteenth minute, the Argentinian inexplicably missing an open goal after getting his foot too far under the ball.

City were however in excellent mind and consistently pressured the home side before going into the break with the scores level. Steve Bruce was able to shake his lads up after the break and they came out with a bit more fire in their belly and a lot more confidence than they had shown previously. City started to make hard work of it and even the hugely impressive Toure began to look a slightly different player. Sunderland's new vigor ended up propelling them to the points, with the impressive Egyptian star Ahmed Elmohamady putting a dangerous ball in for the hardworking Darren Bent, only for Micah Richards to drag the Sunderland front man down on the edge of the six yard box.

Bent stood up to take the penalty and though it was certainly not the best spot kick you will ever see, just sneaking under the dive of City custodian Joe Hart, it hit the back of the net and Sunderland had the points. 

In the aftermath it is obvious that this result could be the watershed moment for Steve Bruce and his side. They have shown that they can definitely play, though inconsistency that has dogged them in the last few seasons has already been evident in their opening three matches. The signing of Ghana star Asamoah Gyan is a credit to the ambition of the club and gives Darren Bent further reason to play well. As well as potentially giving Bruce another option when arranging formations that could incorporate both of these powerful strikers. 

Anton Ferdinand made an impressive return against Manchester City as well, underlining the quality that made him such a high profile signing for the club. It is high time he really delivered on the promise he has shown earlier in his career.

Egyptian Ahmed Elmohamady, his cross on the weekend proving the undoing of City, is known as Egypt's ''Beckham' and gives Sunderland excellent service from wide positions, something that Steve Bruce will hope comes to the fore with the size and ability of his two main strikers. 

Steve Bruce is a very consistent and competent manager and will always be hoping for a chance to eventually emulate his former boss Alex Ferguson. He has assembled a side here that could finally give Sunderland the ability to end the terrible away form that has dogged their success in recent years. With a solid spine and creative players throughout the squad he will hope the morale boosting victory over the most star studded side in the premier league will galvanize his team with the steely resolve that is needed for them to be consistent performers in the EPL. 

The ingredients are there for them to make some waves this season, and to knock over more of the leagues big guns. Certainly this season there will be a trepidation for high profile visitors that does not come at other grounds with the result that the weekend gone has shown. Sunderland can and should build on this result and Steve Bruce will do everything in his power to make sure this happens. It would not be at all surprising to the this writer to see more of the leagues more fancied sides falter against this team, the question will be, can they perform on their travels as well? 

If they can, they could quite easily push for a Europa league spot, and take more points the bigger sides can simply not afford to give away.

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“We’ve given up way too many early goals this year,” Galaxy midfielder Chris Klein said after Saturday’s 2-0 loss to the Kansas City Wizards. “What that does to us is it ends up making us chase the game and allowing teams to sit in and counter against us.”

Los Angeles is 0-5-1 when they allow the first goal this season. All of the six first-half goals allowed this season came in the first 20 minutes of each game.

Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant gave a concise explanation regarding the goals given up early.

“A lot of it’s coming from the midfield, we’re up and they’re breaking on us and it’s some freak play in behind,” Dunivant said. “It’s not like [opponents] are getting in behind and breaking us down so we need to adjust to that. It is the common theme.”

For Klein, Los Angeles's nasty habit of chasing the game is simply unacceptable.

“It’s more indicative of our style of play and when we go down early and we have to chase the game and chase the game and chase the game, it allows teams to sit in and be tight against us,” Klein said on Saturday. “Usually teams have to come out and spread themselves out and that’s when we can catch them.

"When you give up that early goal you’re not able to do that.”

Midfielder Landon Donovan was quick to note that the difficulty for teams to come from behind after getting scored on early was a common theme in Major League Soccer.

“In this league, it’s hard to chase any game because we don’t have enough talented players,” Donovan said. “There aren’t enough talented players around the league to do the things to make plays when the other team has 10 guys behind the ball.

"When you see Chelsea or Man U or Arsenal or Barcelona play, they have enough quality players where they can play against 10 guys behind the ball and still create really good chances. That’s always going to be hard for us. We need to get back to the things we’re good at and if we do that, we’ll win.”

Los Angeles is 13-0-0 when they score first. They will look to make it 14-0-0 when they take on the Fire.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. PT and will be televised by Fox Sports Prime Ticket and TeleFutura.

INS & OUTS

Solving the complacency dilemma:

“I wish there was a simple answer,” Donovan said during training this week regarding Los Angeles's complacency issues. “If there was, we’d have figured it out. We’re doing our best to get back to basic things again.”

After a 11-1-3 start, LA's skid has hit a decrepit 2-4-1, with consecutive defeats for the first time in what has been a forgettable couple of months.

“We have to figure out who we are and what we’re all about and if we can do that we’ll have a chance,” Dunivant said. “If not, and we continue getting through these games like this, we’re not going to win the championship—and that’s obviously our goal this year.

“We haven’t responded well enough," he said. "I think that’s something we did very well last year, coming back. Especially in a lot of the early results, we were coming back and getting draws, fighting and scrapping. Our mentality has to change a little bit. We have to be more of a scrappy team. We have to be more of blue-collar team.

“Maybe we’ve listened to too much of the hype about being in first place and gotten a little complacent and thought maybe we could change our style of play or whatever. All that feeds into your mentality and you’re seeing the results and it’s not good.”

Donovan knows this all too well.

“There’s a natural tendency in sports when you get a big lead to take your foot off the gas a bit,” Donovan added. “We’re certainly at fault for that. But now, we’re right in the thick of it.

"Now, that doesn’t mean we’re not going to be in the playoffs, it doesn’t mean that we’re still not going to have a good year, but if we’re going to be as good as we can be, we need to be a lot better.”

And if it starts with the first match in September, more power to both Donovan and Dunivant. So the story goes.

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However, a number of players were sent away from the Emirates on loan spells in order to aid their growth and development. This is a ploy that has been utilized for several years now Wenger. The prospect of loaning players off to other clubs enables the youngsters to gain sufficient experience and mature as players.

The most notable transfer loanee was left back Armand Traore. The Frenchman, who arrived at the Gunners in 2006 from French giants Monaco, completed a season long spell to Italian giants Juventus. Traore, whose last loan spell was during the 2008/2009 season where he impressed greatly with Portsmouth, was a solid contributor in defence last season especially in the absences of Gael Clichy and Kieran Gibbs, the routine left defenders.

Despite looking shaky for the Gunners, Traore is overflowing with promise and also boast a handy attacking palete. Blessed with great pace and footwork, the former AS Monaco performer is versatile and strong complimenting both his defensive and attacking attributes.

But having completed his loan deal, what will the future hold for Armand Traore at Arsenal?

With Kieran Gibbs showing great promise and Pedro Botelho, currently on loan in Spain, also performing well, alongside Gael Clichy’s current dominance. The young gun could struggle to implement himself back into the Arsenal squad thus seeing his time at the Emirates ended.

There’s no denying Traore is a talent but does this loan spell beckon the close of his Arsenal career?

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Older fans can recall the Swedish trio of Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordhal, and Nils Liedholm thrilling supporters in the 1950s. Many more will remember the Dutch triumvirate of Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, and Frank Rijkaard.

This summer, they have tried to go one better.

Two late deals at the San Siro have snatched the headlines and captured the attention of their Serie A and European rivals. First came Zlatan Ibrahimovic to complete his tour of Italy's big three after a brief sojourn at Barcelona. Then they pounced for Manchester City misfit Robinho.

They join Brazilian aces Ronaldinho and Pato to complete a mouthwatering attacking set-up. It has given the Rossoneri a major boost in their bid to unsettle their city rivals Inter, who have been so dominant in recent times. But how, exactly, will it work?

Tactically, an ultra-ambitious 4-2-3-1 formation is being forecast with Ibra up front supported by Robinho, Dinho, and Pato. On paper, at least, the idea just about stands up. However, it does make you wonder who might do the tracking back.

Indeed, could they simply be repeating the mistakes made under Leonardo?

His side often looked like it had been sliced in two with the forwards at one end of the pitch and defence at the other. When it worked it was spectacular, but it was ultimately picked apart pretty easily.

Of course, the personnel has changed and that is a key factor.

Ibrahimovic may not have had the impact hoped for in Spain but he has always been a big player in Italy, capable of winning matches on his own. As a target man with Inter he often pulled opposing defences apart singlehandedly.

Robinho is more of an unknown quantity, at least as far as Italy is concerned.

There is no doubting his technique and skill. But his time in England raised concerns about his attitude and approach to the game. There is definitely work to be done to reclaim the player everyone knows he can be.

But perhaps the biggest factor in any Milan revival might be the form of the two footballers they already possessed.

Last season Ronaldinho flickered into life from time to time while Pato suffered injuries and an apparent loss of confidence. They need to step up their game this year.

The early signs have been good on both fronts. The young striker scored two against lowly Lecce at the weekend, and seems to have rediscovered the form which saw him skip by opponents with ease a couple of seasons ago. He has the ability to terrify even the top defenders.

As for his more elderly countryman, the world has been waiting a while for his return to form.

On song, there are few footballers who are more fun to watch mesmerise the opposition with some fancy footwork. On Sunday he showed just how influential he could be as an assist-man for such a quality strike force.

Inevitably, however, such an attacking line-up puts pressure on the defensive department. That is where new boy Kevin Prince Boateng might find his work cut out.

Along with veterans like Massimo Ambrosini or Rino Gattuso he will be expected to put in a tremendous shift in breaking up play. If he is partnered with Andrea Pirlo in a deeper midfield role, he may have to be a one-man wrecking crew.

The way the Rossoneri have been assembled is clearly no accident.

Owner Silvio Berlusconi wants his team to entertain and has now purchased the players he believes can deliver that goal. Coach Massimiliano Allegri will be under pressure to deliver both results and flamboyant football.

In times of austerity, Milan's Big Four seem like something of a breath of fresh air. They all have their flaws, for sure, but if they can click they all remain major world players.

As the transfer window closed the eyes of the world were on Serie A once again, it felt quite nice.

Only time will tell if this quartet can produce the sweet attacking symphonies their supporters hope for. However, they have certainly added some extra zest to the battle to topple Inter.

The countdown to the city derby in November is likely to be a thrilling one.

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Now the 24-year-old striker who featured in most World Cup XI selections gets the chance to show off his wares to the English Premier League—after a quick diversion with Ghana to give Swaziland a Nations Cup footballing lesson.

Asamoah captured the hearts of disappointed South Africans everywhere—not to mention the odd Englishman—as he scored three goals to inspire his side beyond their five African rivals at the World Cup.

While South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Algeria fell by the wayside, Asamoah helped the Black Stars—without injured Chelsea superstar Michael Essien—through their qualifying group and into the quarterfinals.

But with the whole of Africa backing Ghana, we hit that chilly July night against Uruguay in front of 80,000 at Soccer City. With a mouthwatering semifinal—Africa’s first crack at the last four—beckoning, Uruguay’s Luis “Hand of God” Suarez got an arm on what should have been a last-minute winner on the line.

Gyan, the continental colossus, stepped up...and saw his penalty rattle the bar. Half-an-hour later, he bravely stepped up again to score in the penalty shoot-out...but Uruguay squeaked past 4-2 on spot kicks. Agony.

A couple of months later, the pain is still apparent as Gyan mulls over his transfer deadline day £13.1 million move from French club Rennes to Sunderland.

Gyan smiles ruefully. “It was a major, major disappointment. For me and for my nation. But that’s in the past.  You have to be strong and move on.

“I have to concentrate on the positives, I had a good tournament, I’ve kept mentally strong and I’m looking forward to the future challenge with Sunderland.”

Gyan finds himself partnered with another people’s champion at the Stadium of Light—Darren Bent. The former Spurs striker didn’t even get a ticket to the World Cup, despite his goal glut for unfashionable Sunderland last season.

Gyan, whose move broke the £10 million transfer record on Tyneside set by Bent, is 24 has experienced life in Italy with Udinese. He scored 11 goals in 39 games for them, 14 in 47 with Rennes in France. His international record of 22 goals in 44 games will have the Swazis quaking in their boots this weekend in Lombamba.

Gyan flew out on Thursday to join the Black Stars, losing finalist in Angola, to lead the crusade for a place in the finals of the competition to be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Their group also features Congo and Sudan.

Former Manchester United stalwart Steve Bruce, who has turned Sunderland into a force to be reckoned with—they shocked mega-bucks Manchester City last week—said, “Gyan works extremely hard for the team and will complement Darren up front. He is a traditional No. 9 and we will benefit from that. Yes, we have managed to bring in another top-class striker.

“It is a great piece of business, amazing that the club record signing is done on the last day of the transfer window.”

Bruce can expect more than just football from his new signing whose brother, Baffour Gyan, currently plays in Ghana for Asante Kotoko.

Earlier this year, Gyan produced a popular single in his homeland called African Girls with a Ghanaian Hiplife singer called Castro The Destroyer. On the label of this No. 1 hit, Gyan calls himself Baby Jet. Hopefully he’ll rocket up the scoring charts too.

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Liverpool manger Roy Hodgson has been a media darling in England for quite some time now. However, even after all his hapless efforts, he did not endear himself to the fans by signing no striker for the Reds, even after stating the obvious need.

The Reds even managed to sell Damien Plessis on the deadline day, thus making almost £10m profit in player sales in this window itself. Clearly, it is impossible to be convinced that any club which ended seventh last season will move ahead after such a window.

In a day which was shrouded by just one hopeless rumor of Carlton Cole for Ryan Babel, Liverpool only managed to unveil the signing of one first team probable, Paul Konchesky. Konchesky is a reliable, but by no means an extraordinary, left back.

Although there were initial reports of Mario Gomez and a few others like Wolfswinkel and even the ridiculous link to Zamora, none really materialized.

Quite ridiculously, the club’s official website came up with news like ‘what Lucas said about Torres,’ when reports quoting Lucas as ‘clueless’ about his own future were doing the rounds.

The signing of Adam Hajdu and Suso also does little to ease the ever so gaping problem at the club currently. Maybe we have two talented youngsters in them, but we also had two more mature ones departing in Lauri dalle Valle and Kacanicklic in the Konchesky deal.

The only credible reports suggested that Ryan Babel was summoned upon by Mr. Hodgson and was asked to really look forward to a career of a centre forward at the club.

Now, it is well known (and even Babel himself has reportedly tweeted) that Ryan Babel is at best a winger. It is alright to think that he can at times even change the flanks, but to ask him to be a centre forward and especially in Torres’ absence makes less than little sense, especially considering his erratic spell of brilliance at the club.

Now, with the transfer window closed, it has all boiled down to the fact that Liverpool FC needs the improbable to happen at least up to the next transfer window. In simple words, they need an injury free Torres through and through, somewhat like what Drogba has managed for long spells at Chelsea. But then, Drogba had partners and even now there is the experienced Anelka, and Liverpool have N'gog. Hardly a satisfactory option yet.

But going by Torres’ injury record, which is pretty similar to that of Robin Van Persie’s, Hodgson should have been careful.

Given the fact that the Liverpool manager promised that he could use every penny of player sales towards strengthening the squad, it was only agonizing to find him stating that he would not add "bodies" to the club. Such a process was so very needed, even if the quality of players available may have been a little lower.

Although most would agree that the signing of Raul Meireles was quite a coup for the club, it would be perfectly reasonable to agree that getting a quality striker after that would have summed up a good transfer window for the club. As much as all the fans love Torres, they can’t ignore how injury prone he is, which almost cost Liverpool a place in any European competition last season.

After all the drama, Roy Hodgson seems to have pulled off a Rafa Benitez of last season, who too erred in going for just a quality mid-fielder when signing a striker was of utmost priority. Maybe Meirles is a far fitter and stronger player, but knowing the extremely physical nature of the premier league remains to be seen.

Liverpool fans are understandably disheartened that even after the weak performances of the team in recent weeks, Hodgson has not considered signing a striker a necessity and has resorted to lame reasons like no quality players in the market.

Well, even if there weren’t quality players to match Torres, there sure were better people than what a yet to develop N’gog and make-shift Babel is expected to manage!

The Reds needed players, not just cash. As the window ends, Hicks and Gillett will, however, be happy at Hodgson's inability to spend the money, as they would look to direct the entire sum to the fines which they must pay for being unable to sell the club before August 31. In fact, they have reduced to half the sum.

As things stand, Mario Gomez is ready to warm the bench at Munich again, which is clearly the best job for a 125k wages per week deal. Carlton Cole is pleased to continue at West Ham, which may have to battle relegation by the looks of things now.

Ricky Wolfswinkel is preparing to teach Uncle Roy a lesson in the Europa, when Liverpool take on FC Utrecht in the group fixtures. The Liverpool fans will have to await at least  another four months before the transfer window re-opens again.

Seems a long wait from now, and if Liverpool are exposed to injuries just like last year or they undergo administration, their fate may already be sealed by then. 

Surely, it seems a long season for the club at the moment.

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In action after their rampage from a week before was Arsenal playing against the reeling Blackburn Rovers.

Arsenal once again turned in a fine performance of slick passing and fluent football.  That is, until the second half when Cesc Fabregas was taken off the field.

Once again, Arsenal struggled without their captain on the pitch and the Rovers took full advantage of it.

Blackburn pressed for much of the last thirty minutes but simply could not find a way through. However, during the last ten minutes of play, a series of attacks by Blackburn finally managed to stay in the Arsenal box.

In two series, Blackburn players were fouled with no attempts on the ball by Arsenal in the box, and at the 82nd minute two fouls occurred back to back.

So what were the calls from referee Chris Foy?

Play on.

Not a single whistle or second look at multiple fouls inside the box when Arsenal were on their back foot.

While the crowd continually roared at every opportunity, it was those three fouls that the Blackburn players were actually appealing for and on the video replay that the commentators and home viewers were allowed to see in slow motion, it is clear that at least one penalty should have been given to Blackburn.

Considering that all the momentum was in Blackburn's favor, it is not outside of the realm of possibility that the Rover coul have least a drew, or maybe even against Arsenal.

So, for denying a team any chance of victory, despite multiple instances of being fouled, and at home no less, referee Chris Foy is the EPL villain of the week.

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D.C. United have played 26 competitive matches this year, and managed a meager 25 goals from them.

The figure becomes even worse reading when U.S. Open Cup matches are taken out of consideration: 15 goals in 21 matches reads United’s utterly laughable league scoresheet so far this campaign.

The record for ineptitude in the final third is 25 goals in Toronto’s inaugural 2007 season, and while I’m all for one-upping those Canadians whenever possible, this is one record no one in D.C. wants to claim.

In order to avoid that ignominy, United will need to tally 11 goals in its remaining 8 league games.

To offer some perspective on just how it long it might take United to score 11 goals, Danny Allsopp is currently the club’s top scorer, registering a lofty four goals—for the entire season.

The fact that new coach Ben Olsen has apparently dumped any hope of saving face in the league for a Portsmouth-esque assault on the Cup certainly doesn’t bode well for avoiding the infamous record either.

So who is to blame for this Biblical goal drought?

Chris Pontius and Santino Quaranta, stalwarts of United’s attacking midfield, have been largely anonymous this season.

Pontius showed flashes of brilliance in Seattle and a handful of friendlies, but nothing of note in the league.

Some expected Adam Cristman to pick up the goal slack following an unfortunate metatarsal injury last season, but that has not come to fruition either (putting faith in a Kansas City import was always a dubious prospect anyway).

Seventeen-year old Academy product Andy Najar has been one of the lone bright spots this season, netting three goals in 19 appearances and showing real signs of promise for the future.

What can be done to end this dearth of goals you ask?

The obvious answer is a Capitol Hill favorite: throw some money at the problem.

One need only look toward New York (with envious eyes) to see the fruits of splashing a little cash on a goal-poacher in this league of heavy parity.

The D.C. backroom staff must have considered this option, but decided rather than actually spending money on a quality player who can score goals (heck maybe even win some games), they should instead squander their Designated Player spot on a midfielder who hasn’t had a nose for goal since almost a decade ago in the Serbo-Montenegrin Football League, and no reputation whatsoever outside of Central Europe.

In his defense, Branko Boskovic can hardly be expected to have the impact of an Henry, Castillo, Marquez, or even Guzman, because he is quite simply not an out-and-out striker. Boskovic is merely an innocent pawn in a very, very poorly played game.

The midfielder impressed mightily as recently as 2008 in the heart of a Rapid Vienna side that won the Austrian Bundesliga, and indeed had he been placed at the interior of a quality MLS side he may have found real success as a ball winner and distributor.

But if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, D.C. would have more than four wins.

D.C. took a swing with finally signing another D.P. (only the third in club history).

It was far from a threatening hack, but fans in Philadelphia, Columbus, and New England must certainly be feeling the breeze from the almighty miss.

The D.P. in MLS is a tricky entity, he must be measured not only by impact on the team in terms of wins and losses but also (perhaps more importantly in a perverse sense) in terms of fannies in the seats.

Boskovic has delivered on neither.

How the United staff could so quickly set aside the memory of a successful goal-scoring crowd favorite D.P. like Emilio and opt for an over-the-hill central mid from football's Hinterlands is beyond my obviously limited soccer understanding, yet perhaps given time Olsen will be able to remedy the mistake.

D.C. supporters are passionate to a fault, yet some of the most understanding and intelligent fans of the game in general I’ve ever had the pleasure of coming across.

They understand that sports are cyclical, and United is not subjected to the cruel fate of a relegation system that most other leagues in the world use.

It is certainly not a far stretch to imagine how the past few seasons of soccer in D.C. could have United ending up as America’s first Leeds United or Nottingham Forest: a grand old club languishing several rungs down the ladder and with no escape plan to speak of.

This season may be tanked, but we can all at least look forward with hope to the Olsen era, and perhaps even a D.P. signing that can pay dividends in goals scored.

Maybe not, probably not, but at this point hope (and the Cup) is all that’s left for this proud franchise.

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The scene then shifts 2,500 miles to the east and Foxborough, Massachusetts on Saturday when Seattle faces the New England Revolution at 4:30 p.m. PT.

Over the past two months since beginning Open Cup play, Sounders FC (9-8-5, 32 points in league; 11-10-7 overall) has been on domestic tear, losing only once in 10 games.

If it can advance past Chivas USA (6-11-4, 22 points), Seattle will host the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on October 5 on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field. The Columbus Crew and D.C. United meet in Wednesday's other semifinal.

The Rave Green are cup holders but have yet to score a goal in four MLS meetings with Chivas USA, which defeated D.C. United 1-0 at home on Sunday to snap a three game losing string. Seattle will face Chivas USA again in its final regular season home game  October 15.

After coming from behind to beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 at home last week, the Sounders ride a franchise best seven-game unbeaten (5-0-2) streak into New England. The 3-0 win over the Revolution June 5 matched the biggest victory margin for the club. The Revs (6-12-3, 21 points) have lost three in a row but are 5-4-2 at home. They host Monarcas Morelia in the SuperLiga final on Wednesday.

Seattle's surge to begin the second half of the season has propelled it into the second of four wild card slots. Eight teams qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs.  The survivors include the first two teams in each division and those with the next four best point totals.

The Sounders announced Monday that the Gambia National Team has called in midfielder Sanna Nyassi for Saturday's African Cup of Nations qualifier with Namibia in Banjul, Gambia.

Nyassi will miss the matches against Chivas USA and the New England Revolution.  He will return to Seattle September 6.

It was also announced Monday that Sounders forward Fredy Montero was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 22 of the 2010 MLS season. Montero scored the first goal against the Chicago Fire to tie the game at 1-1 in the 36th minute. His second strike came in second half stoppage time to give the Sounders a 2-1 victory.

This marks Montero’s second Player of the Week award. Montero also captured the Player of the Month award for July and has led Sounders FC to an unbeaten 5-0-2 record in league play. He has five goals and three assists in that stretch.

Following Tuesday’s workout in Tukwila Coach Sigi Schmid talked about the upcoming match with Chivas USA as well as other subjects.

“It’s a different Chivas under Preki versus a Chivas under Martin Vasquez,” Schmid said. “We have played against Martin Vasquez’s team once and that’s the team we are preparing for. I thought we possessed the ball alright in the game down in L.A.

“We didn’t get a goal and neither did they. So it was just one of those things. Against Preki’s team, just like Preki’s teams in Toronto, they end up getting a little piece of you, they foul you, they break up the rhythm of the game to make it difficult to play. We have got to do better against that type of team. Chivas under Martin doesn’t play like that.”

On the subject of selecting a lineup for Wednesday‘s match, Schmid related, “If we think a guy is ready, we are going to play him. We are looking at situations, ‘Oh, OK. This guy has done well at training. It’s pretty close between these two guys. So maybe this guy has got a knock or is a little bit fatigued so we are going to make a change there.’ But in general, we are going to try and play the guys who are ready and able and healthy and well and it’s going to be our best team that we put out there.”

Schmid went on from there to discuss what Chivas USA is likely to do regarding lineup selections as well as motivation:

“Yeah, I think they will do the same thing. . . .  This for them is big. It’s an opportunity for them to get a trophy … So this is a game that I think is very important. I think you can expect them pretty much bringing their starting lineup.

“I heard that [Osael] Romero, who got called into El Salvador, is not going in until after our game. So obviously they want to have all hands on deck. . . . Certainly a team like them who, in their history, hasn’t won a trophy at this stage to be in the semifinal they are going to be a hungry team. It’s going to come from the front office on down, ‘This is a chance. We are in the semifinal. We are one game away from getting to the final. We are two games away from having the trophy.’ So they are going to be a hungry team.”

Coach Schmid also commented on Nyassi’s opportunity with the Gambian National Team:

“It’s great for him. It’s a good reward. And certainly how he has played late he deserves it. He’s got an opportunity to play in qualifying games for the Africa Nations Cup and those are important games for their countries.

“We are happy for him. We are missing him. We could use him here. He always plays well on this particular field, playing here at Starfire. For him, I think it’s a great reward and for him to put himself back into the picture there is good.”

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Sunderland made a top signing in Asamoah Gyan for a club record transfer fee of £13m. The other big profile signing was Robinho to AC Milan, a deal that resulted in Marco Borriello's departure to Roma on loan from Rossoneri.

Meanwhile, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger failed yet again to bring in a top-class goalkeeper.

The Fulham keeper, Mark Schwarzer, was on the verge of move to the Emirates but didn't come to fruition solely because of the lack of replacements at Craven Cottage. David Stockdale's injury didn't help either.

First off, Wenger shouldn't have left it this late. The current first-choice, Manuel Almunia, is indecisive and lacks organisational skills. He's not authoritative and flaps the ball far too many times paving way for stunning goals like that of Danny Rose's.

A top-team competing in the Champions League needs a better netminder than a dithery Almunia.

With cash in abundance, where did Arsenal go wrong in their pursuit of a new goalkeeper?

Fingers will be pointing at Wenger for being stingy and not meeting the plausible valuation for his targets. What would've happened if his earlier bids were close to the £4m asking price of Fulham? It would've forced Fulham to sell with nothing really to hold on to.

However, Wenger left it too late to the extent that Fulham couldn't find a replacement.

Who are the losers here? Arsenal, Wenger, and Arsenal fans.

In the course of the season Almunia is destined to make crucial mistakes which might prove costly, particularly against top sides.

Wenger had plenty of options to consider before the end of the summer transfer window. Italy could have proved the best hunting ground for a new goalkeeper had Wenger shown any kind of ambition to win silverware.

The Bologna keeper Emiliano Viviano has all the potential to don the jersey of a top European side. And Bologna's massive debt means the club would be forced to sell if the price is right. Wenger could've easily secured Viviano for £5m to £8m.

And still if you aren't sure of Viviano, I would advise you to watch the highlights of Inter Milan's 2010-11 season opener against Bologna. You would immediately know why it ended in a goalless draw.

The other option was Roma keeper Doni. Although he's currently down the pecking order at Roma, his quality is unquestionable. An injury dislodged him from the No.1 spot at Roma, and presently, he's struggling to win back his position. One would say, an ideal scenario to sneak a deal.

He would not have cost Arsenal much. And considering the fact that now Arsenal are left with the same old flops, it would've been worth a gamble. As the adage goes, try and fail but never fail to try.

The Italian club Clagilari's custodian Federico Marchetti was the other possibility. A bid of £10m would've forced Cagilari to sell, when you take into account that the player had already handed in a transfer request earlier in the summer.

But what was the money on Wenger making that lucrative a bid for a goalkeeper?

In the end, Arsene Wenger's parsimonious attitude ensured that Arsenal are left with a mediocre first-choice goalkeeper, who was never good enough to be a first-choice at a club like Arsenal in the first place.

Time and time again Wenger proved that he has a blind spot for goalkeepers, and he underlined that fact once again with his parsimonious attitude taking the front seat.

Even the most fervent fan of Wenger wouldn't be in a position to explain what made Wenger to stick with his "tried-and-failed" options. Cash is not the stumbling block here. Maybe arrogance and childish stubbornness.

Criticism where it's due. Wenger must take responsibility and quit Arsenal if eventually the goalkeeping situation is what's going to cost Arsenal the title this season.

Wenger's dream of ending the trophy drought this season with Almunia is a hallucination.

Until Arsenal (read it as Wenger) sign a top-class goalkeeper the jigsaw remains incomplete. You know what I mean. God, save Wenger from further goalkeeping blushes. It's more of a hope than expectation. But I, like most fans, know what is eventually going to happen.

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The Brazilian star originally signed with City after failing to secure a transfer window deadline move to Chelsea, who at the time was headed by Felipe Scolari. He was never happy with the squad and is the reason, along with Elano, that Kaka did not decide to move from Milan to City a few summers ago.

After failing to secure a longer loan period with his home club Santos, Robinho and his representatives were shopping the striker to Barcelona in an effort to reunite Robinho with La Liga.

This year, however, Robinho was actually able to secure a last second transfer to one of the world's most successful clubs, and he will join other Brazilian stars Pato & Ronaldinho Gaúcho.

Milan signed Robinho to a four-year deal and had to pay his former club Manchester City a transfer fee of €15 million Euros, a far smaller sum than the €42.5 million they originally paid to bring the Brazilian over from Real Madrid.

Perhaps now that Robinho is actually on a team he wants to be on, he may begin to play better and for a more consistent length of time. Perhaps he will begin to take the game and its off the field requirements more seriously. But then again, he also had the same opportunity when he moved to Real Madrid and he failed to deliver on his potential promise.

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