Friday MLS Forecast

The Forecast takes the temperature in the Bay Area after Edmundo Zura's ill-fated loan stint and previews the truncated fixture list during this international weekend.

Eduardo Alvarez in Spain: Trouble in Paradise

My first, already fading, memories of a Real Madrid-Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu go back to December 1990. After a long history of failed efforts, a bunch of friends and myself finally managed to get tickets to watch the two giants face to face live. It was the second leg of that season's Supercopa, and even though the tournament was perceived as second-rate when compared to La Liga or the old European Cup, the atmosphere in the stadium was fantastic.

Deadline day drama at Arsenal HQ

It was 2100 BST on Wednesday at Arsenal's Highbury House headquarters and club officials were exhausted following the most frenetic few hours in transfer window history.

In the chief executive's office, Ivan Gazidis had spent the day making phone calls to agents and officials at other clubs as he tried desperately to complete the spending spree that the summer sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri had enabled and which the humiliating 8-2 defeat by Manchester United had subsequently made a necessity.

A few yards away, club secretary David Miles, chief accountant Stuart Wisely and head lawyer Svenja Geissmar were working furiously, filling out registration documents and ensuring they were emailed to the Premier League. In all, 20 officials from the club's finance and legal departments were working harder than they could remember.

Miss Universe contestants play a football match against each other

The Miss Universe pageant will be held in Sao Paulo on September 12 and just because everyone who enters Brazil is legally required to play football, the contestants played a match against each other on Monday. Brazil great Cafu was there because, well, why not?

Everyone: Rewind to 2001

Soccernet Looks Back

The Guardian Looks Back

The BBC Looks Back

Transfer Deadline Quotes of the Day

"The January I moved from Birmingham to Blackburn, I sat there by the phone for 13 days, worrying, waiting for it to go through - I lost a stone." Former Premier League midfielder Robbie Savage discusses the stresses of the transfer window on Football Focus Special.

"Tough night for Everton fans. A small squad seems to be getting smaller. Exciting times for QPR, Stoke and Arsenal." Manchester United striker Michael Owen on Twitter.

"Nice to see Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias come through with their promise to reinvest Andy Carroll money, £59m net profit from transfers in last 5 seasons... ambition???" QPR's former Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton on Twitter.

The Rest

Martin Keown's lowdown on the transfer window

After days, weeks and months of rumour, counter-rumour, comings and goings, the summer transfer window finally shut at 2300 BST on Wednesday. It was a frenetic final 24 hours for numerous clubs as money changed hands, players swapped shirts and squads underwent some last-minute tinkering. Former Arsenal, Everton, Aston Villa and England defender Martin Keown shares his views on deadline day with BBC Sport.

Owen Hargreaves: A romantic fairytale or the start of more Manchester misery?

There is a cruel joke doing the rounds on Twitter suggesting that the deal to take former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves to Manchester City has hit a snag due to an injury caused by him falling out of the transfer window.

After more than three years of injury misery, Hargreaves probably doesn’t find the wisecrack too funny, but the consolation for the 30-year-old is that he now has an incredible opportunity to prove his doubters wrong at City.

Paolo Bandini: Davide Santon's fall from stardom

Thankfully Davide Santon didn’t listen to Marco Materazzi. “If you don’t go to the 2010 World Cup Cup you should turn to the balcony and throw yourself off,” advised his Inter team-mate late in the 2009 season. If Materazzi was joking, in his own inimitable style, about the balcony then his suggestion that Santon should be on the plane to South Africa was a very serious one. He expected the full-back to not only be in Marcello Lippi’s squad but a key member of it within a year’s time. He was not alone.

Richard Jolly: Transfer Window Verdict

Liverpool

With Joe Cole loaned to Lille and Christian Poulsen going to Evian, two overpaid earners from the Roy Hodgson era are gone. The former manager's best buy, Raul Meireles, is another matter altogether and he could be missed. Among the arrivals, Sebastian Coates is the extra centre-back they needed while Craig Bellamy, coming in as David Ngog goes out, brings pedigree and versatility to the forward line.

Verdict: Did well to dispose of the deadwood, while Bellamy could be a bargain and Coates is one for the future. But losing Meireles to Chelsea may backfire.

The Rest

SSN Exclusive: TSB's EPL Deadline Day Review

So the insane deadline day frenzy took place yesterday. Some used it well [Stoke], some used it out of desperation [Arsenal], while others fucked it up [Bolton]. Meanwhile Fergie sat watching with a big grin on his reddened chops. Here's a review of what teams did on the final day.

Arsenal
Arteta and Benayoun are adequate signings but Wenger lost Cesc and Nasri without getting any of his top targets. Santos is an improvement on Traore, but so would my Grandmother. Mertersacker is interesting. He probably knows more about defending than coach Pat Rice, but Rice probably has more speed and mobility.

Aston Villa
Hutton and Jenas. Not exactly signings to get the pulse racing. But that's what you get when your manager is Alex McLeish.

Blackburn
6 million for Scott Dann isn't bad business but what happened to the promises of signing Ronaldihno, Beckham and Raul? Yakubu is not quite what fans were hoping for.

Bolton
The club, which has massive debts, played poker and lost. Come winter the money Spurs offered for Cahill will look very good. They did pull off the huge coup of signing David Ngog, though.

Chelsea
Personally I think Modric is overrated at 40mil, so rabbit-out-of-the-hat Meireles seems good business. Everything will depend on how well he teams up with Torres.

Everton
Ouch! Big debts, no one wants to buy the club, and now they've lost one of their best players. But at least they brought in Drenthe from Real and the unpronounceable Stracqualursi who was top scorer in Argentina.

Fulham
Have taken a gamble with Bryan Ruiz from the Dutch league. Cottagers will be hoping he's more Suarez than Kežman.

Liverpool
Almost the perfect, albeit very expensive, summer transfer window, especially with the capture of Coates. Then came the 11th hour loss of Meireles to Chelsea. He brought some guile to the team, matching up well with Suarez, so could be missed. At least they're rid of Joe Cole and now have Bellamy to organize golf trips.

Man City
Award for the left field signing of the window. Its a shock Hargreaves didn't hurt his knee getting up from the table after signing the contract.

Newcastle
Used the final day to finallly bring someone in who isn't French. 20 year old Santon comes highly rated.

Norwich
Hard to say because I don't really know anything about any of the players they've brought in.

QPR
If you're probably going down anyway, you might as well do so interestingly. Anton Ferdinand, Joey Barton and Adel Taarabt all managed by Neil Warnock should provide entertainment.

Spurs
Kept Modric, but this only works out if he doesn't sulk for 12 months. Got rid of a lot of deadwood including the creepy David Bentley, but failed to bring in a defender. Parker is a solid signing, though.

Stoke
Paid a lot for Crouch and Palacios but the signings make sense, fitting into the team's style. Rory Delap will be delighted he has something even taller to aim at. Deadline day used well again by Pulis.

Sunderland
Went for the scattergun approach all summer. Among all those signings there has to by a good buy. Right? The modest Bendtner should fit in better than he did at Arsenal and they got rid of Anton Ferdinand, which is always a bonus.

Swansea
See Norwich.

Wigan
If you're buying someone from Celtic [Shaun Maloney], you know your budget is limited.

West Brom, ManU and Wolves did nothing. Boring bastards.

SSN Exclusive: US Open Cup Semifinal : Bobbie's Hospitality Report

Last night the Chicago Fire beat the Richmond Kickers 2-1 at Toyota Park to advance to the US Open Cup final in Seattle on 9/10. It was a well played game which the ref allowed to get pretty physical without getting out of hand. You can read all about it here. On our way to the seats my cohort Rodger and I were accosted by a member of the Fire's corporate hospitality staff and asked if we'd like a complimentary seating upgrade courtesy of American Airlines. I'm not afraid to look a gift horse in its mouth, and this one seemed to have all of its teeth intact so we graciously accepted her offer.




The plebe's view of our seats.

We were escorted to a nice little table set up at the edge of the field and were introduced to the hospitality staff who informed us that we'd be enjoying a four course meal and free drinks. We informed them that we are both vegetarian and they said they'd have to consult with the chef to see what they could do for us. The cheese plate arrived in short order.





Rodger and Bobbie enjoying the cheese plate





A better view of the cheese plate


Frankly the cheese was a bit disappointing, though solid- cafeteria grade cheddar, some mild blue cheese and a standard wedge of brie. Garnish options included nuts, honey and some sort of plum jelly which was quite nice. There was a huge amount of melon on the plate as well as a nice helping of pineapple. While we snacked a slight drizzle started and our server brought us complimentary ponchos. We also enjoyed the sight of the excellent Sebastian Grazzini scoring from the penalty spot.





Grazzini Takes a Penalty


The entrees were fresh mozzarella sandwiches with tomato on baguette. Sadly the chef was overly generous with whatever weird aioli he was using that night and the whole experience was somewhat soggy. Still, we were well into the free Heineken at that point so it hit the spot.





Entree


We were served dessert in the 83rd minute while the Fire easily kept the ball out of reach of the Kickers. It was a delightful red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting- easily the best of the food we were served.





Dessert


We were polishing off the last of the crumbs as the final whistle sounded. Rodger and I downed our last beers and headed for the exit, though not before paying a visit to the excellent new fan shop to pick up a pair of Fire Zubaz for the wife.


Bobbie and Sparky

When a goalkeeper’s mistake is forgiven by an empty-net miss

Yanagisawa decided to shoot from outside the box instead of going in a bit closer and ended up putting his shot wide of the far post.

The Mill + ++ +++

Wednesday's Rumours

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Swindon Manager Paolo Di Canio in Bust Up with Striker Leon Clarke

Leaving for LA - Robbie's Revenge?

From Tallaght to Hollywood, Robbie Keane still divides opinion. Dion Fanning travels to LA to talk exclusively to the Galaxy's newest star.

Dominic Fifield: Wenger makes leap of faith by bringing Mertesacker to Arsenal

With the humiliation endured in Sunday's 8-2 defeat at Manchester United still raw, Wenger has performed something of a U-turn by returning to Werder Bremen to sign Per Mertesacker for around €9m (£7.6m) despite having apparently previously been unconvinced that the 26-year-old, albeit an experienced and rugged performer, would thrive given the furious pace of the Premier League. Interest had been expressed last summer only to come to nothing while those doubts persisted and, even this time around, the Germany international had initially featured relatively low on Arsenal's list of potential recruits.

Yet the centre-half is available at a relatively small fee for a player who boasts 75 caps, for his country given the financial problems being experienced by Werder, and should complete his move having broken away from international duty to fly to London and undergo a medical. Mertesacker will be followed to the Emirates by the South Korea striker Park Chu-young, a £1.8m signing from relegated Monaco, and the Brazil defender André Santos, a 28-year-old attack-minded full-back who is to join on a four-year deal for £6.2m from Fenerbahce.

Americans Abroad: Michael Bradley to Chievo Verona

United States midfielder Michael Bradley has moved from Borussia Moenchengladbach to Chievo Verona, becoming the only American player in Italy’s Serie A.

The only other American-born players to have joined Serie A clubs in recent years were Alexi Lalas, Giuseppe Rossi and Oguchi Onyewu.

Five Reasons Why This Move is Great

Liverpool have acquired a player of huge talent in Sebastian Coates

Liverpool fans in the UK could be forgiven for not having seen Coates in action; the Copa America was hardly played at the most Europe-friendly of times for the most part. So let me assure you that you're getting a genuinely fine defender, regardless of his youth.

Of all the talents in an exciting generation of players coming through for Uruguay, Coates is perhaps the most complete.

Sid Lowe in Spain

The new season has finally started in La Liga but there was no sign of a revolution at the Sánchez Pizjuán.

Alvaro Negredo makes Málaga's brave new world feel remarkably familiar.

Ambitious Park Races Towards Emirates

Out of all of their heroes, many Korean football fans felt that it was Lee Chung-Yong who would one day play for Arsenal. Park Chu-Young, not so much. It was different back in 2005 when he was the hottest property in Asia and linked with Chelsea just weeks after making his professional debut. Then, it was assumed he would end up at the elite. Six years later, he is set to sign for the Gunners though not in time to face Park Ji-Sung, his predecessor as South Korean captain, in the English Premier League. Such a meeting would have organizers at the World Athletic Championships in the striker's hometown of Daegu which started the same day as his arrival in London for a medical, wondering where all the Korean journalists had gone.

Americans Abroad: Altidore nets another brace; Howard earns first clean sheet

Jozy Altidore refuses to let his name be forgotten as he continues his wonderful run of form in the AZ Alkmaar shirt. In Europa league play, the 21-year-old striker netted a brace for the second match running before helping his side to a 3-0 victory against Groningen on the road in Eredivisie play. Altidore played 90 minutes against Aalesund, scoring in the 23rd and 59th minutes, as Alkmaar demolished the Danish side 6-0 in the second leg of its Europa League qualification playoff to advance on aggregate, 7-2. Upon the club's return to Eredivisie play, Altidore played 76 minutes against Groningen away as his side continued its strong goalscoring form, defeating the home team 3-0.

The Rest

Manchester City taken to a whole new level with Sheikh Mansour's £1 billion investment

Three years after the regime of previous owner Thaksin Shinawatra almost plunged City into financial meltdown, with the club desperately attempting to fund the £6.45 million signing of Argentine full-back Pablo Zabaleta before the 2008 summer transfer window closed, the transformation of Manchester City is now almost complete – at the cost of £915,000 a day.

Having spent £210 million to acquire Thaksin’s stake, plus a transfer outlay taken to £433 million with Nasri’s arrival last week and an aggregate wage bill of £360 million, Sheikh Mansour’s bank account has now had £1.003 billion of its funds directed towards his football team since Sept 1, 2008.

The Perfect 10

Who have been the best, the most exciting and the most creative football players in the world over the past 25 years?

Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane perhaps? How about Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten and Michel Platini?

Do they have anything in common? Well, they could all be loosely described as number 10s.

They are players who control games from a forward area using their vision, skill, intelligence and, above all, creativity.

Going back through history, the truly great teams have almost always had one of them. Right now, Barcelona have four - Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and now Cesc Fabregas. That is proof of just how highly Barca - the best in the business - rate this type of player.

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Tuesday's Rumours



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Steve Davis on MLS

Know your Major League Soccer --

Five things we learned from Week 24:

Hope Solo among cast members for fall's 'Dancing With the Stars'

The new cast of "Dancing With the Stars" has been revealed.

The Big Interview: Lothar Matthäus

Bulgaria coach hopes Euro 2012 qualifier against an old adversary may open up the prospect of a passage home.

Lothar Matthäus seeks win over England to help end his German exile.

Are Barca and Real killing Spanish football?

La Liga had a familiar look to it on Tuesday morning.

Wealthy behemoths Real Madrid and Barcelona top the standings on goal difference after each recorded emphatic wins against opponents who were utterly outclassed.

Villarreal, through to the Champions League group stages after finishing fourth last term, were thrashed 5-0 by Barca at the Nou Camp on Monday night, a day after Real Madrid romped to a 6-0 victory at Real Zaragoza.

Barca’s financial clout was underlined by the fact that coach Pep Guardiola was able to start without Spanish World Cup-winners Xavi and David Villa as new signings Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez scored on their home debuts in the league.

Raphael Honigstein in Germany

Two Champions League teams prepared for their meetings with Arsenal and Chelsea with a convincing display of English cliches.

Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund draw on English influence.

Phil Ball in Spain

It's been a strange summer in Spain, waiting and waiting for some bread and butter stuff, and when it finally comes it's difficult to arrive at any conclusions because next week the league 'rests' for internationals. No wonder the players' union (AFE) finally decided to get on with the show and drop the second week of the strike, with the prospect of no league games at all until September 10th. It was almost as if the league authorities knew this - that it would give them some silent leverage to at least get the curtain finally raised.

The Trawler: Beautiful South

Welcome to The Trawler, your weekly submersion through the teeming waters of life in the Championship, League One and League Two. You might be surprised what you find down there.

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Monday's Rumours



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Spain: La Liga Weekend Review + Monday Preview

Cristiano Ronaldo struck a hat-trick as Real Madrid started their La Liga campaign in ominous fashion with a thumping 6-0 away victory over Real Zaragoza. Alvaro Negredo was the star at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as he scored both of Sevilla's goals in an impressive 2-1 home win over big-spending Malaga. New-look Atletico Madrid began their campaign with a disappointing goalless draw at home to Osasuna.

Review

Barcelona vs. Villarreal: Preview

Monday MLS Breakdown

In the second half of Columbus' 6-2 defeat at Seattle on Saturday, Crew substitute Jeff Cunningham stepped up to the penalty spot and stroked home a penalty kick to reduce the deficit in a hopelessly one-sided affair.

This particular strike – clinically placed to the opposite side of the diving Kasey Keller – wouldn't merit much in the way of scrutiny under normal circumstances. It lacked any aesthetic or tangible significance. It didn't inspire a revival or halt the unfolding horror show for any length of time. It just added another goal to the total of a team on the wrong side of a heavy defeat. It did, however, possess one characteristic that will rescue it from the scrap-heap of forgotten goals: it allowed Cunningham to displace Jaime Moreno from atop the league's career goalscoring chart.

Breakdown

England: Premier League Weekend Review, Reports and Analyses

The north sent out a message of intent at the weekend as Manchester United and City crushed Arsenal and Tottenham respectively as the North Londoners were humiliated. Arsenal's arch-rivals Spurs were also put to the sword at White Hart Lane as Harry Redknapp's troops were taken apart 5-1 by Roberto Mancini's expensively-assembled Man City. Liverpool and Chelsea continued their fine starts to the campaign with wins over Bolton and Norwich respectively while Newcastle and Wolves are also turning heads as they both have seven points to their name from three league outings. Blackburn remain pointless so far following a late 1-0 home defeat to Everton while West Brom are also in the drop zone following a late home defeat to Stoke City at The Hawthorns.

Review

Liverpool 3 - 1 Bolton: Tim Rich at Anfield

Chelsea 3 - 1 Norwich City: Paul Doyle at Stamford Bridge

Tottenham 1 - 5 Manchester City: Dominic Fifield at White Hart Lane

Team of the Week

Five Things We Learned

England: Premier League Focus on Manchester United vs. Arsenal

Manchester United
8 - 2
Arsenal






Kevin McCarra: Wayne Rooney hits hat-trick as Manchester United crush Arsenal

Phil McNulty: Wenger's greatest humiliation

Martin Samuel: United shot Bambi and even Fergie felt the pain

Richard Williams: Shell-shocked Arsenal troops led by a general stripped of his virtue

Henry Winter: Arsenal's most humiliating result since the days when the Queen Vic was a monarch and not a pub

Paul Parker: Who would want to join Arsenal now?

Player Ratings

The Fifth Official

Few of us like Monday but The Fifth Official does, for it brings with it a chance for him to point the finger and laugh. Here he pulls out the pretty, the puzzling and the downright pig-ugly from a week brimming with potential victims.