Givanildo aka Hulk: Hulk Smash

My thesis is that the lack of inches on the Arsenal defense bemoaned by Wenger and Toure is a convenient excuse for the generally brain dead defending that sunk us so badly against Hull. In short we are freaked. Seriously, I hope this nonsense is not being internalized by the club players because it does not bode well.

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Real Maryland FC of the USL-2 has named Carolina RailHawks goalkeeper coach David Noyes as their new General Manager.
Noyes brings over twenty five years experience as a professional soccer player and coach to the USL-2 side. He has directed soccer programs ranging from youth camps and clinics to collegiate and professional levels. Click to continue reading...

This strange story comes to us from a reader down under:

Mark Bosnich Age:36 Position:Goal Keeper Previous Clubs: Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea After his short term stint with Central Coast Marniers after not playing a competitive match in 5 years, he is now looking for a club.

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Motivational speaker and guru Steve Black has worked closely with Kevin Keegan during his first stint in charge of Newcastle United. Steve Black - motivational speaker and Newcastle fan Black has also worked with the Newcastle Falcons, Sunderland, Fulham and the Welsh rugby union team in similar roles. Click to continue reading...

Justin Rodriguez profiles Charles Renken. I actually think Charles will have an easier time of it because Freddy Adu came before him. People will be more careful about the hype they put on Charles. Freddy has lived up to many expectations with a pretty solid pro and international career, actually, but the build-up around him was such that some people still think he's disappointed. Click to continue reading...

Southampton heads north to London to play QPR today. Saints have a single win with 3 loses in their first 4 games. It's not an encouraging start even for Saints fans who don't have high hopes for this season.

QPR have a few knocks and we should expect a few new faces since their last game, a 1-1 tie with high flying Bristol City.

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He's been called President Pinocchio, Tourettes and Motormouth (that last one's mine), but if there has been one person on Ramón Calderón's case since he became Real Madrid president, that is José Antonio Abellán, a journalist and presenter of the popular late-night radio sports programme El Tirachinas. Click to continue reading...

If the season ended now, San Jose and Los Angeles would miss the playoffs. But past and present San Jose (with a year in L.A.) keeper Joe Cannon sees signs that a rivalry that produced some classic MLS games could be reborn:

That's going to make our rivalry much better.

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Gianfranco Zola wants his time with the Hammers to be as successful as his spell at Chelsea. The Italian enjoyed a fantastic seven-year stint with the west Londoners between 1996 and 2003. As well as winning the FA Cup, League Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and European Super Cup with the club, the former playmaker also scooped a [. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has admitted that if he should return to Spain one day, Atlético Madrid would be his first choice destination.

The 26 year old shot stopper is back on his homeland this week to help his country prepare for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Armenia. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez welcomed new signing Albert Riera to Anfield today - then admitted the player's former Premier League employers could be title contenders this season.

The Spanish winger spent six months on loan with Manchester City in his previous spell in English football and although it was an unmemorable stint for player and club, the prospects of both have flourished this week. Click to continue reading...

First-class flights from Coruna to Newcastle have been popular this summer as a Spanish U-21 international begins life in the Premiership. Argentine defender Fabricio Coloccini had moved to England previously in the window but he has now been reunited with his former team-mate Xisco at St James Park from Deportivo La Coruna.

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Best of luck to former Saints manager Paul Sturrock. Sturrock, who is currently in his 2nd stint as manager for Plymouth (div 2; Championship), was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. This shouldn't affect his duties, at least not for awhile. He was only in charge at Southampton for a few months but he's not a bad manager. Click to continue reading...

Headed out to Galaxy training today largely to see how new signing and former UCLA Bruin Eddie Lewis was doing after that ghastly looking head injury in Guatemala last week.

Turns out the 34-year-old Cerritos native was just fine - albeit with a chunk still noticeably missing from his head - and went through the entire 80-minute practice with no restrictions and no problems.

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Did you know that Rafa Benitez has spent £160m ($299m) on transfers during his tenure at Liverpool. Yes, you heard that right. Rafa Benitez has spent over £160m during his stint as manager and director of transfer operations at Liverpool. This of course refers to transfer fees alone; it does not refer to player salaries. Click to continue reading...

I always like to read columnists' opinions on soccer, well, columnists who can take an objective look at a game or a hiring or a move or whatever without having to drop in a "soccer sucks" reference.

Anyway, I always enjoy reading colleague Jim Alexander whenever he has the chance to chime in on Chivas USA and/or the Galaxy. Click to continue reading...

United legend Roy Keane has tipped rivals Chelsea to win the title, when saying that they have a new manager and there's no African Cup of Nations distraction to worry about. It was probably a throwaway line, but it was one that will have bemused United supporters on the eve of another Premier League season. Click to continue reading...

Cobi Jones faced the media for the first time Tuesday as the Galaxy's interim coach.

Jones said kinder things about predecessor Ruud Gullit than some of the players I talked to Tuesday. And he was saying all the right things as far as former GM Alexi Lalas was concerned, too:

"It's a loss of someone that was very dedicated to this club and this organization, not only the Galaxy but AEG.

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Once the golden boy of US Soccer, Clint Mathis is ready to return back home after a six month stint in Greece. He saw limited playing time for Ergotelis and only managed to net one goal. A source within the league has told me that Mathis is very close to a return home. What [...] Click to continue reading...

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Goal.com - Bologna And QPR After Bogdani

Albanian striker Erjon Bogdani of Chievo is getting requests from teams both in Italy and abroad.

Daniele Arrigoni's newly promoted Bologna are still looking for a powerful striker for next season, when they will make their return to Serie A after three seasons of absence. Click to continue reading...

Sven Goran Eriksson added several players to his original list of call-ups on Thursday. The plan is for all players who have been called up so far to report next week for two days of training. Then, there will be another list next week and that one will presumably be the one that will be for the game against Honduras. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa have signed England right-back Luke Young from Middlesbrough, who reportedly want Liverpool's Steve Finnan as his replacement.

Young, 29, completed a medical on Thursday evening before becoming the second new full-back to arrive at Villa Park following the capture of Nicky Shorey from Reading earlier in the day. Click to continue reading...

From the opening whistle, the Red Bulls looked star struck and tentative. Trotting out a 4-5-1 formation (which you all know I LOVE), I already sensed it would be a long, long night. Within the first few minutes, Danleigh Borman missed a clear shot into the back of the net on a beautiful Van Den Bergh cross - and that confirmed my suspisions.

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I apologize up front at this being late. As you saw on the blog Monday, the internet was down until this afternoon.

So I begin my previews for the upcoming Barclay's Premier League season. Naturally I'm starting with taking a look at those teams I see being stuck in for the fight for survival, and not going down.

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David Suazo, arguably most dangerous striker in CONCACAF, has been linked to AS Roma. The Honduran's agent, Giovanni Branchini, mentioned yesterday that a move from Inter to Roma was "possible."

New Inter boss Jose Mourinho is in the middle of a house cleaning in which he has his eyes on a few of his old Chelsea players, but the club must unload some talent to make room for any new signings. Click to continue reading...

Nolberto Solano has admitted he will consider a short-term deal with a club in England while he waits to learn whether he will join up with David Beckham at the Galaxy.
Winger Solano is hoping to join Los Angeles Galaxy, the English league's first Peruvian player was released from his contract at West Ham last month - and he is prepared to leave the country 10 years after arriving to join Newcastle. Click to continue reading...

- Would Jeff Cunningham be the cure for our goal scoring needs up top? Would he be a good fit with Angel's game? If you are day dreaming, not so fast. Cunningham's baggage has ruled him out of the Red Bulls plans, so says King Blogger Ives. A Cunningham signing, especially in light of TFC's current scoring woes, would have been a grasp of desperation by the organization.

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Poor ol Kleberson. As if his stint at United wasn't embarrassing enough, without Old Trafford's favourite new chant having to bring back all the memories. Anderson, unlike his fellow Brazilian, is a top quality player and certainly is better than Kleberson. "I have come from one big club to another so I am very happy," Kleberson [. Click to continue reading...

If Brazil win the Olympic football title next month, Singapore can take a little credit. Samba stars Alexandre Pato and Anderson took time out yesterday to praise the Republic for a job well done. They said their training stint here will go a long way towards ending Brazil's Olympic jinx. Said AC Milan's Pato: 'For sure, we can [. Click to continue reading...

While speculation continues over the Galaxy's reported interest in former EPL star Nolberto Solano (see previous post), another rumor has resurfaced: the future of Landon Donovan.

The source of this one was two-fold.

Donovan was quoted by England's Sky Sports as saying:

"The older I get and the more I play, the more I'm yearning for that highest level I can play at.

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Jimmy Bullard played a huge role in Fulham's fight for safety last season and now Steve Bruce would like the 29-year-old midfielder to return to Wigan Athletic. The midfielder played 157 times in his last stint in the JJB. Click to continue reading...

Javier Mascherano has confirmed that he'll go to the Olympics and, brimming with confidence, is targeting another gold medal and the Premier League title.

Midfield battler Javier Mascherano has come under fire over his imminent stint as a Beijing olympian, which will involve him missing the start of the season. Click to continue reading...

New signings to make a difference at Sengkang
Syahrom Sulaiman info@sleague.com
All season long, Sengkang Punggol's well-documented problems up front became a major talking point in the S.League. Currently occupying the last spot, the Dolphins' inability to convert the chances in front of goal is putting them in danger of finishing the season on a new low. Click to continue reading...

Sammy Lee believes Liverpool can get back to their glory days in the league.

The Reds assistant manager - who was part of the famous Liverpool sides that lifted the league in the early 80s - returned to Anfield earlier in the summer as boss Rafa Benitez's right-hand man.

He knows how much the club wants a first-ever Premier League crown, and believes they are not far off achieving this aim. Click to continue reading...

After much back and forth it appears that a more realistic valuation may resuscitate Rafa's interest in this La Liga star. Rafa Benitez wants to bring Albert Riera back to the Premier League with Liverpool. And Riera is excited about the prospect of a return to England following his stint ... Click to continue reading...