Arsene Wenger's recent outburst about banning clubs with a large deficit from UEFA competitions would end the super club status so coveted of Billionaire owners. This scenario would amount to a cap on transfer fees and excessive wage demands. Clubs would have to spend only what they earned, and if they exceeded a percentage limit [. Click to continue reading...

Benitez set to leave as Rafa reopens old wounds?

Rafa Benitez could well again be on the brink of leaving Liverpool after laying the blame for the Gareth Barry/ Xabi Alonso fiasco squarely at the door of Rick Parry.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Sunderland game, a clearly Benitez exasperated Benitez stated he has had no involvement with any talks on either player since April. Click to continue reading...

The Bad: Sorry Walter, you're out of Europe five days into August. Queen of the South have lasted longer. And, given your ill mannered outburst last week, you have made it clear that the buck stops with you and you alone. The Good: Look on the bright side, no chance of crying into any microphone you find about a fixture pile up this year. Click to continue reading...

that was just plain bad tonight. The Wizards facing another undermanned team (as many as 8 starters missing) and lay a complete egg in DC losing 2-0. The first shut out of the season for Zach Wells and DC United. Yet again, the Wizards offense looked anemic, refusing to take shots until it was too late and then putting them wide or straight at the keeper. Click to continue reading...

Taken from the Star in Malaysia

Thursday July 31, 2008
Kedah expect James to honour his contract
By RONNIE OH
GEORGE TOWN: Kedah expect wantaway hot-shot Marlon Alex James to play on until his contract ends on Aug 31.
Kedah team manager Datuk Othman Aziz said he expects all his players, both local and foreign, to honour their contracts. Click to continue reading...

Gareth Barry's transfer to Liverpool finally looks like going through after the Anfield club came up with the money to secure his move from Aston Villa.

The longest-running saga of the summer has reached a confusing climax after an earlier statement that he was staying at Villa Park.

Sportsmail understands that the mix-up was due to a deadline being missed by 20 minutes, and the transfer will finally be concluded on Thursday. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool and Villa finally agree £19m deal for Gareth Barry as England star secures his Anfield move

Liverpool have drawn a line under the summer's longest-running transfer saga after finalising a £19m deal for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry.

Fresh from concluding a £20million deal for Spurs striker Robbie Keane, the Anfield club have held further talks with Villa and The Insider understands that they have reached agreement on a £17. Click to continue reading...

The four-goal outburst was the most for FC Dallas since a 4-0 win over New England on May 20, 2006. After Los Angeles routed them 5-1 here back on May 18, Dallas returned the favor, snapping a four-game winless streak.The Galaxy (6-7-5), now winless in their last six (0-3-3), remain second in the West, missing an opportunity to move past idle Real Salt Lake into first. Click to continue reading...

After Cesc's recent performances in Euro 2008 some Gooners are calling for him to be made Arsenal captain. I'm all for this, but not at this present time.

Although surprised at the time, I feel that Le Boss made the right call in naming Gallas the Arsenal skipper. Pretty much everyone believed that Gilberto would be named Thierry Henry's successor and it was a shock to see Gallas as new club captain. Click to continue reading...

(Apologies for this post getting up several days late. It was supposed to run in mid-week but a technical glitch caused it not to be posted.)

What happens when a team that can't win two in a row faces a team that can't win?

You get a tie.

Click to continue reading...

So I talked to a U.S. Soccer honcho about Cuauhtemoc Blanco's outburst at the U.S. Open Cup.
I wanted to know why there hadn't been any news about disciplinary measures yet. Turns out, the committee to deal with the matter hasn't even met yet. They'll decide the case in August, apparently. There's no rush to act, I was told, since the Fire is out of the Cup and any censure would only affect next year's tournament. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill expects Liverpool to come in with a new bid for Gareth Barry.

Liverpool have been frustrated in their attempts to sign Barry, with Villa reportedly looking for in the region of £18million for the England international.

Barry is set to return to pre-season training with Villa on Wednesday after being suspended for two weeks for his public outburst against O'Neill. Click to continue reading...

LOONY FIFA president Sepp Blatter has today called for club owners to boot slavery out of football. Blatter claimed there is too much ‘modern slavery' in football and vowed to fight for the freedoms of footballers everywhere who are forced to kick a ball around every Saturday for just £30,000-£150,000 per week. Click to continue reading...

Gareth Barry's Aston Villa nightmare deepened last night when the Midlands club claimed they had rejected a new bid from Liverpool.

But Villa insist the offer from Anfield was not the £17million one widely reported earlier yesterday.

Liverpool also denied they had made a £17m bid, and insisted it was "not their final offer". Click to continue reading...

Because that was our main concern after watching Germany spectacularly fail in last night's Euro 2008 final. It's always pretty embarrassing if the first thing the losing team do is complain about trivialities and behave in a totally juvenile and ungracious manner. Oh but wait, wasn't good old Jens Lehmann an Arsenal player for a good few years? Click to continue reading...

With Xabi Alonso apparently getting resigned – although far from ecstatic – to the idea that a transfer to Juventus is inevitable, no progress seems to be made as far as his probable replacement – Gareth Barry – is concerned. A transfer that was to be concluded two weeks ago still drags on with Liverpool's offer inching upwards yet without any making any real impact on Aston Villa's stand. Click to continue reading...

The French are an odd bunch. They make cracking cheeses, hams and breads, but often choose instead to eat common garden pests such as snails and frogs. When it comes to football then, they yo-yo between the sublime and the miserable, with the last ten years offering a perfect microcosm of this frustrating fact. Click to continue reading...

Get ready for a Sir Alex Ferguson outburst - it's in the post, according to the Daily Mirror. The newspaper report that the fixture compilers have not been kind to Manchester United this summer, handing them six tricky away matches after each of their Champions League group games. Although the Scot has not yet publicly commented [. Click to continue reading...

Rafa Benítez is hoping to use the money the sale of Xabi Alonso to Juventus generates to bring in Albert Riera from Espanyol after the European Championships concludes.

The Liverpool boss knows that he will have to sell in order to finance a higher bid for the former Manchester City wideman, while saving the bulk of his transfer kitty for Gareth Barry, according to AS. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool are back in the hunt for want-away Espanyol winger Albert Riera – but will not allow themselves to get caught up in a bidding war.

Manager Rafael Benitez is lining up a £9m offer for the former Manchester City winger but will resist the Spanish club's attempts to inflate his value. Click to continue reading...

Welcome to the first of my previews for Group B (aka 'The Group of Fairly Severe Contusions') containing the second of the joint hosts, Austria, along with conquerors of England, Croatia, the ever dangerous Germany and first time Euro qualifiers, Poland.

Austria
Official coach slogan - Only together we can win. Click to continue reading...

A nice looking eastern conference showdown tonight on ESPN2 with New England hosting Kansas City. Both teams sit currently at the top of the east and a win by either team will mean a lot going into the start of August. Looking at this game you have to think that the Revs have to come out [...] Click to continue reading...