“For the first time, a major international tournament begins without anyone knowing for sure how many teams will be taking part. Such is the case with the 2010 African Cup of Nations in the wake of the tragedy that befell the Togo squad on their journey to Angola. Three people died when the Togolese team bus was fired upon as it travelled through Cabinda, a province of Angola where a separatist movement has been involved in armed conflict with the central authorities.” (WSC)

“The cold air that is whistling through football isn’t solely as a result of the recent wintry weather. HMRC are on the move, and their aim is to recoup taxpayers’ money from football clubs that haven’t been paying their bills. They have been busy since the start of the season, having already extinguished Kings Lynn, agreeing a last minute payment plan with Rochdale and forcing a change of ownership at Accrington Stanley, where over £300,000 had to be found – new owner Ilyas Khan, at the last minute, paid £110,000 and stood as guarantor for the remainder. HMRC have also been after a number of non-league clubs, although Kings Lynn were the only terminal casualties.” (twohundredpercent)

“Sometimes I’m not surprised that online piracy is so rampant when it comes to soccer. Trying to find out who has the rights to a game or tournament is very difficult, and even when you find a stream, you’re not sure whether it’s an official one or not. Take, for example, the African Nations Cup which kicks off in a few hours from Angola. As far as I can tell, there’s no English-speaking television station in the United States that is broadcasting the game.” (EPL Talk)

“Football was never simply a game in Africa. It arrived in the mid 19th Century across the coast of the continent as a by-product of empire building. British, French, Portuguese priests, sailors, soldiers and missionaries brought a game unseen and not played by any in Africa. Traditional sports abounded but there is no record of anyone kicking a ball until the brutal transformation of the continent.” (BBC)

“One of the things I actually get paid to do in my office is run radiant heat load calculations for one of the product lines I represent. See, in my day-to-day work, I’m a sales representative for about ten different hydronic heating product lines, one of which is a radiant tubing company. Typically, we do heat loads for residential houses and driveways; however, one of the product lines I represent has been involved in some major projects. Projects like sports field turf conditioning. With all the weather postponements over the weekend, I figured I’d take a look at what, exactly, goes into a turf conditioning system and what they’re supposed to do.” (Avoiding the Drop)

Angola
“Togo’s footballers are being recalled from the Africa Cup of Nations by their government following a deadly attack on the team’s bus in Angola. An assistant coach, press officer and driver were killed. Two players were shot and injured in Friday’s attack. The Angolan government and tournament officials had been pressing Togo to stay for their group games in Cabinda. Togo government minister Pascal Bodjona said the team was coming home because the players were in a state of shock.” (BBC)

Togo Bus Attack in Angola ahead of African Cup of Nations: Reaction & Some Serious Questions
“So on the eve of the African Cup of Nations 2010, African football’s jewel in the crown, tragedy strikes. As was reported earlier, the Togo national team bus was ambushed by gunmen and shot at on it’s way from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the team’s base in Cabinda, where they were due to play their Group B Cup of Nations matches. Reports are coming in all the time, but it is thought that the team bus driver was killed on the spot. Additionally, 4 players are thought to have been shot and team doctors are also seriously injured. Nantes forward Thomas Dossevi spoke to RMC, a French radio station after the attack.” (Just Football)

No concerns over South African security, insists World Cup chief
“Danny Jordaan, the head of the 2010 South Africa World Cup, has told Observer Sport there should be no concern over safety at the tournament following the gun attack in Angola on Togo’s team bus, which killed four people and wounded eight others on Friday. Yet while Jordaan was insistent that ‘terrorists cannot be allowed to win’, he did admit “even more stringent” security measures would be taken ahead of the finals, the first to be held in Africa.” (Guardian)

Clubs want African players back after Togo attack
“Hull boss Phil Brown has led calls for Premier League players at the Africa Cup of Nations to return to the UK after the Togo bus came under gunfire. The assistant coach, press officer and driver were killed. Two players were shot and injured in Friday’s attack. Hull’s Gabon striker Daniel Cousin and Nigerian midfielder Seyi Olofinjana are among 31 Premier League players in Africa for the tournament.” (BBC)

Togo withdraw from Africa Cup of Nations after deadly gun attack
“Togo have withdrawn from the Africa Cup of Nations following the gun attack on the team bus that is understood to have killed one player, two staff members and the driver yesterday as it crossed the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo into the Angolan enclave of Cabinda.” (Guardian)

Togo withdraw from ANC as death toll increases
“Togo have withdrawn from the African Nations Cup in Angola following the machine gun attack on their team bus on Friday, with the death toll now understood to have risen to three. The team bus was attacked by rebels after crossing the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo into the Angolan enclave of Cabinda ahead of the tournament. There have been conflicting reports about the identity of those shot, but Togo assistant coach Abalo Amelete and a spokesperson, Stanislas Ocloo, have died along the bus driver; while the condition of goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale, who was reported dead earlier, is unclear.” (ESPN)

Tragic Togo attack has done irreparable damage
“Once again, the world of sport has been dragged into the news spotlight with tragic consequences. And, with the World Cup looming on the horizon, it could not have come at a worse time for the continent of Africa. There have been fears about the showpiece event in June, but Friday night’s shocking gun attack on the Togo team bus, which left four dead and many more injured, has now raised questions over the future of this year’s African Nations Cup as well.” (ESPN)

“If this year’s African Cup of Nations in Angola has entered the psyche of English football fans at all, it is because of the cataclysmic effect on Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes of a month without Didier Drogba. Hull, Sunderland and Burnley, it seems, will be too good for Daniel Sturridge. The 2008 tournament ought to have been the breakthrough for its standing in Britain, with less talk of the damage done by holding the competition at an inconvenient time for the Premier League (how dare they?) and more talk about the… y’know… football.” (twohundredpercent)

Group A: African Cup of Nations 2010 Preview (Algeria, Angola, Malawi, Mali)
“The tournament preview is up, you’ve seen the African Cup of Nations 2010 match schedule, now let’s crack onto the group previews. Here is our team-by-team guide to the competition, which kicks off in Angola this weekend.” (Just Football), Group B: African Cup of Nations 2010 Preview (Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo), Group C: African Cup of Nations 2010 Preview (Benin, Egypt, Mozambique, Nigeria), Group D: African Cup of Nations 2010 Preview (Cameroon, Gabon, Tunisia, Zambia)

African Cup of Nations Guide: Angola 2010

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006)
“The relationship between football and the box in the corner of your living room is a somewhat complex one. On both the big screen, the game hasn’t particularly well served, in no small part because even all of the drama that can be mustered with the aid of a script, hundreds of actors, a bunch of actors and all the muscle that Hollywood can muster seldom matches the sheer, visceral, unscripted thrill of the match itself. Television does better. The structure and length of the television programme seems better suited to the stories that the game has to tell, and the traditional strengths of strong factual programming – well chosen archive material and outstanding research – are obviously perfect for documentary-style stories from the game’s past.” (twohundredpercent)

“Quick, who finished second at the 1990 World Cup? Who was third in 1982? Chances are you don’t know. And if you do, congratulations — only a select few would recognize such as a laudable feat. World Cups are staged to crown a champion, to determine who is the world’s best — over the span of a given month, anyway. Tournaments come and go. The winners are forever heralded, their jerseys embroidered with a star above the crest to mark the occasion. Everyone else is forgotten. Yet some of the losers are memorable for just that: losing.” (ESPN)

“Football’s January transfer window, which opened Friday, has fast come to resemble an annual shopping frenzy for Europe’s leading clubs. First implemented in the 2002/03 season, the transfer window system gives teams 12 weeks in the summer and the month of January to recruit reinforcements for their rosters. Outside of those two periods, transactions are banned.” (WSJ)

“The European winter transfer window was flung open with a flourish last Saturday with Roma putting on display their newly acquired Italian international striker Luca Toni. Everybody seemed happy with the 18-month loan deal from Bayern Munich, not least the free-spirited Toni, whose chances of being part of Marcello Lippi’s squad going to South Africa next summer will doubtless improve thanks to the likelihood of playing regularly and being back on Italian soil.” (BBC)

“James is joined by Raphael Honigstein, Barry Glendenning and John Ashdown to discuss what little football news there is, as bad weather stops most of the midweek action. Stoke City need more than a bit of snow and ice to put them off, and the pod enthuse about their entertaining win over Fulham. But should Arsenal’s game have gone ahead? And why do other countries manage to play despite having worse conditions?” (Guardian – James Richardson)

“There are no cup holders in this competition, as the Europa League is brand new, but de-facto Holders are Shakhtar Donetsk, of Ukraine, who won the final UEFA Cup title last May. The Europa League Knockout stage will begin in the third week of February, on the 16th and 18th. To avoid a Merseyside fixture congestion, the round will kick off two days before the rest of the matches in the leg. So it’s Everton v. Sporting Clube de Portugal on 16 February, and the other 15 matches on 18 February, including Liverpool v. Unirea Urziceni.” (billsportsmaps)

“Last month Marta was awarded the World Footballer of the Year trophy for the forth time. I have said it before: Marta is a great player. But in ten years, only three women have been given this award (Mia Hamm got it twice, & Birgit Prinz three times). Since 2001 (the year FIFA started awarding this trophy to female players), 9 men received the award with Ronaldinho winning it twice. I suspect Marta herself doesn’t think she deserves to have won this honor four years in a row.” (From A Left Wing)

“And so we come to the first posting of 2010. Only a few weeks ago, as I was stuck at an airport somewhere in southern Belgium staring out at an empty tarmac, waiting for an airplane that would never come, and facing another long drive home, I was thinking that with the Xmas holiday effectively cancelled, at least I wouldn’t have to miss my recommended daily allowance of Scottish football.” (Inside Left)

Washerwomen, Hubert Robert
“Barcelona have a mountain to climb to retain their Copa del Rey title after slumping to a 2-1 home defeat in the first leg of their last-16 tie with Sevilla. Barca’s Copa del Rey success of last year was the first of a record-breaking six trophies they won in 2009 but Pep Guardiola’s men need to do it the hard way if they are to claim a 26th cup title this season after a much-changed side went down to a similarly weakened Sevilla on Tuesday.” (ESPN)

Barca Humbled by Sevilla; FC Barcelona – 1, Sevilla – 2
“FC Barcelona surpirisingly lost the first leg of Copa Del Rey quarterfinals at home to an under strength Sevilla side. FC Barcelona now face a near impossible task of winning the second leg away from home with atleast two goals clear to proceed to the next game. Two matches into the new year, Barca is still looking for their first win of the year. Diego Capel always has been a head-ache for Barca and he opened the scoring for Sevilla.” (All About FC Barcelona)

FC Barcelona vs Sevilla , Copa Del Rey First Leg Highlights
(All About FC Barcelona)

“The tragedy of the 100+ Mitchell and Kenyon films is in their length, or lack of it. Getting a real idea of what an Edwardian soccer match was like from any one of them or all of them is next to impossible. This example, Newcastle United v Liverpool at St James’s Park in 1901, is about the best of the bunch.” (More Than Mind Games)

“When Barcelona whirled through Almería’s defence from kick-off and just missed with their first shot, you could see Almería’s players thinking: ‘Whew, only 89 minutes left.’ The match, earlier this season, was never a match. Little Almería’s annual revenues are just €21m ($31m, £19m), 5 per cent of Barcelona’s, and if they had brought any supporters along I could not see them. Almería got away lightly that night, losing only 1-0. However, the Spanish league is out of whack.” (FI – Simon Kuper)

Oman Biyik
“Lots of South American eyes will be aimed at Angola this month as the African Cup of Nations gets underway. Argentina will have a chance to study Nigeria, its opening World Cup opponent, while Brazil can look at Ivory Coast, the team it will face second in the so-called ‘Group of Death.’ The other clash between the two continents in the group phase of the World Cup is Uruguay against the hosts, but here the South Americans are out of luck — South Africa didn’t qualify for Angola. But Uruguay might meet Nigeria in the second round, just as Paraguay might be up against Cameroon and Chile could find itself taking on Ivory Coast. So from the South American point of view, some important reconnaissance work will be taking place over the next few weeks. (SI – Tim Vickery)

“The new year arrives in midseason for Europe’s soccer leagues, but the sense of renewal is none the less challenging. Put yourself into the shoes of Josep Guardiola, the coach of Barcelona. You had already warned your players that there might be a period of darkness after the team won the unprecedented six out of six competitions that it entered in 2009 — and now you are standing, ill clad in your gray suit in the constant downpour, as those cups are paraded at the Camp Nou stadium before Saturday evening’s match against Villarreal.” (NYT)

“Check out this preview for Stevan Lofgren’s documentary-in-progress on football in Africa. It looks like it will be a wonderful film, which should be ready sometime this Spring in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup.” (Soccer Politics)

“Afternoon all, hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. Mine was relatively quiet and stress-free. A pity the same can’t be said about Notts County, as in the fifth day of this new decade, the club has been issued with yet another winding up order.” (The Great Footballing Circus)

“If the auto industry can do it, why shouldn’t football? Germany and the Netherlands have been waiting for a big trophy for 16 and 24 years respectively. Both will travel to South Africa with ambitious and quality teams. Both teams have to deal with a few understrength positions too, though. So I decided to follow Uli Hoeness’ and Louis van Gaal’s example at Bayern Munich and see what a Dutch-German hybrid national team could look like and what it could achieve.” (World Cup Blog)

“In his first game after rejoining Flamengo, Adriano’s presence put an extra 50,000 on the gate. “The emperor has returned,” they chanted – and the 27-year-old striker was looking imperious from day one. His 19 goals – making him the competition’s joint-top scorer – and his all-round attacking play were vital to the Rio de Janeiro giants ending a 17-year wait to win the Brazilian Championship.” (World Soccer – Tim Vickery)

“My football team, Burridge AFC, occupy the 13th tier of the pyramid system, playing their home games a punted clearance away from the River Hamble in the senior division of the Drew Smith Group Southampton League. The consistent absence of spectators leaves referees to tolerate various degrees of abuse alone. I haven’t always been nice to them myself. I followed one off the pitch after the final whistle of a game with Ordnance Survey Reserves, to continue remonstrating about his decision to give Survey a late penalty, but a brisk step suggested his main concern was getting to the sanctuary of his dressing room rather than repeat the answer he’d given me several minutes earlier.” (WSC)

“With the World Cup nearing, 2010 will be South Africa’s year. The self-proclaimed Rainbow Nation will receive a rainbow crowd of visitors, the largest and most diverse group of tourists in its history. The spotlight on the country’s progress since apartheid will be more intense than ever. The World Cup host, President Jacob Zuma, will bring Britain his message of success with a state visit here in March. Eight months in office, he has surprised his critics. He is more accessible to ordinary South Africans than his aloof predecessor, Thabo Mbeki. He is more willing to listen to colleagues than Nelson Mandela who, according to former ministers, could be brutal in cabinet, shutting speakers up by saying he had already taken his decision.” (Guardian)

“When Arsene Wenger was appointed Arsenal manager back in 1996, the London Evening Standard ran a headline that said ‘Arsene Who?’ ‘Right away they told me I would never win anything, not just because I was unknown, but because I was a foreigner,’ Mr. Wenger later recalled. ‘The papers were full of articles illustrating exactly why a foreigner would never win the Premiership.'” (WSJ)

“Financial and football journalism have long been distant cousins. And since the formation of the Premier League in 1992, that has largely not mattered. This year, however, it has. Give or take a Norman Lamont-inspired week or two during its inaugural season, the Premier League has lived through economic boom times allied with a bottomless pit of broadcast revenue from that bottomless pit of broadcast evil, Rupert Murdoch. The burning monetary question for most fans has been ‘what comes after billion?’” (twohundredpercent)

Orazio Gentileschi, St Francis and the Angel
“Steven Gerrard rescued Liverpool again with an equaliser at the Madejski Stadium to earn an FA Cup third-round replay against Reading and avoid an embarrassing defeat. It was hardly the most influential performance from Gerrard but the Liverpool skipper produced a goal when his side needed it most, as he does so often, meaning the two clubs will meet again at Anfield. Simon Church had bundled in an opener to give the hosts the scent of an upset but Gerrard levelled before the break for Rafael Benitez’s men.” (ESPN)

The hunger that could drive Steven Gerrard away from Liverpool
“Another year, another transfer window. Time to wonder, do I dare? Roberto Mancini was probably only joking when he suggested Liverpool might like to make Manchester City a belated Christmas present of Steven Gerrard, Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres, though for one member of that talented trio his humour must have touched a nerve.” (Guardian)

Liverpool frustrated by resurgent Reading
“STRANGE to think that four months ago Liverpool were favoured by many to win the league. A solitary game into 2010 and their domestic season has been reduced to a frantic attempt to cling onto a Champions League place and a hopeful tilt at the FA Cup.” (TimesOnline)

Reading 1 Liverpool 1 – Match Reaction
“In a season packed with dire performances, this may just be the worst yet. We didn’t lose, but we were outplayed for long spells by a team fighting relegation from the Championship. A team without their two best players. This was fucking terrible, especially considering the ’strength’ of the side we put out. Reading wanted it more, they were first to most loose balls and they passed the ball far better than we did. How can that happen? We’re not getting any better are we?” (Liverpool Way)

Reading 1 – 1 Liverpool
“Championship strugglers Reading deservedly forced a replay against Liverpool after an entertaining and finely balanced FA Cup third-round tie at the Madejski Stadium. Reading have won only five of their 24 Championship fixtures and are 20th in the table after a disappointing season that saw them recently part company with manager Brendan Rodgers. But the Royals, thrashed 4-1 at Plymouth on Monday, had spells when they were the superior side against a Liverpool team determined to prosper in the competition after their elimination from the Champions League and travails in the Premier League.” (BBC)

Reading 1 Liverpool 1: match report
“The FA Cup is supposed to be Liverpool’s chance at redemption, the competition that helps them salvage something from this spiralling season. With Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres in harness the intent was there to deliver a performance full of New Year’s resolve. Instead they delivered their season in microcosm – occasional hints of the team that this was supposed to be, subsumed in a mire of mediocrity.” (Telegraph)

“For the second time in as much as visit, Villareal maged to take a point away from Nou Camp. Villareal’s away form has been very poor this season, but that didn’t stop them drawing and almost winnin g the match in the end. With this win Barca has moved clear of Real Madrid by three points, but the Madrid based side can equal Barca in points if they manage to win tonight at Osasuna. When Pedro put Barca in the lead in the 7th minute , we all expected to have a dominant match, but Villareal equalised through David Fuster in the start of second half.” (All About FC Barcelona)

Liga: Barca drop points, Atletico beat Sevilla
“Barcelona dropped points at Camp Nou for the first time in the campaign as they began 2010 with a 1-1 draw against Villarreal.” (ESPN)

FC Barcelona vs Villareal Highlights on 02/01/2010
(All About FC Barcelona)

“We’ve seen some great soccer jersey releases in 2009. The tight-fitting retro look made a strong comeback as the oversized kits of the early to mid 2000s made way for team wear that more closely reflected today’s contemporary fashion. In celebration of the year that was in the world of footie kits, we’ve made a list of our favorite jerseys released in 2009 and checked it twice. Here are the Football Fashion Top 10 Soccer Jerseys of 2009.” (Football Fashion)

Station Name: CONNAUGHT ROAD
“With the transfer window now officially open, English football’s top-flight clubs can begin a month-long spending spree as they get their last opportunity to wheel and deal before the end of the season. Last season’s January window was dominated by Manchester City’s astonishing £100m bid for Brazilian superstar Kaka. And with new manager Roberto Mancini arriving at the club there could well be similar activity at Eastlands this time around.” (BBC)

“It’s been a decade of excitement and intrigue and a lot has changed over the past ten years. Here, ESPN Soccernet’s columnists relive their best memories from the world of football.” (ESPN)

“FA Cup Holders Chelsea will host Watford on Sunday, 3rd January. This match-up is among those in the round with the closest distance between grounds. It’s about 25 kilometers, or 16 miles, between Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge and Watford’s Vicarage Road. The closest distanced clubs that are matched up in the FA Cup Third Round are Arsenal and West Ham United. Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and West Ham’s Boleyn Ground (aka Upton Park) are 15 kilometers (9 miles) apart. West Ham hosts Arsenal on Sunday. In 1980, West Ham won their third and most recent FA Cup title over Arsenal 3-0, with a 13th minute goal by Trevor Brooking. It was the last time a club from outside the top flight won the FA Cup. On the FA site, you can see a look back at that final and a preview of the match this weekend {click here, and go to ‘Hammers waiting for…’ which is halfway down and center in the videos section}.” (billsportsmaps)

“From Arsenal’s striker shortage to Wolves’ budget buys we take a look at the Premier League shopping lists” (Guardian)

“Financial and football journalism have long been distant cousins. And since the formation of the Premier League in 1992, that has largely not mattered. This year, however, it has. Give or take a Norman Lamont-inspired week or two during its inaugural season, the Premier League has lived through economic boom times allied with a bottomless pit of broadcast revenue from that bottomless pit of broadcast evil, Rupert Murdoch. The burning monetary question for most fans has been ‘what comes after billion?’” (twohundredpercent)

“The fast-approaching New Year tends to bring a bit of nostalgia — and indeed, soccer fans in the U.S. had a lot to commemorate in 2009. Whether you’re a follower of the U.S. national team, Major League Soccer, the UEFA Champions League or all of the above, this past year provided a collection of drama that proved more boards are surfing the soccer wave than ever before. Here are 10 moments, in no particular order…” (SI)

“End of decade lists are a tricky business. I mostly enjoy them, but am somewhat skeptical of anything that tries to boil a decade down to a list of the ten best. Mostly because someone always gets left out, the one to ten rankings are somewhat arbitrary, and the resulting debate is an apples to oranges “how can Messi be above Maldini” free for all. No thank you.” (The Offside)

“With half a season or so now completed in the Championship, my fellow blogger Lloyd and I have taken the opportunity to assess events thus far, in the wake of a bracing walk along Plymouth Hoe. Here are the results…” (thetwounfortunates)

“When the soccer historians look back at this past year, 2009 undoubtedly will go down as the year of FC Barcelona. The Spanish giants won an unprecedented six titles — winning every tournament in which they participated — and became the most successful squad in history. While Barça has arguably the most depth of any squad in the world, with quality players at every position, its domination wouldn’t have been possible without the inspiration of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.” (SI)

Andrea Mantegna, The Adoration of the Shepherds
“Fernando Torres scored an injury-time 50th Premier League goal for Liverpool to give his side a Champions League lifeline against Aston Villa. The Spaniard drilled a low shot across Villa keeper Brad Friedel in the 93rd minute to become the fastest player in Reds history to score a half century of league goals. It means Rafael Benitez’s side are only two points behind Villa and three adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham in the race for European places.” (ESPN)

Football transfer rumours: Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard to Man City?
“It’s that time of year again, when the Mill dresses up in its windproof cagoule and sturdiest front-zip chunky fleece boots and and heads off Up West with its fishing stool and its salvaged Ben10 play tent, plus a sense of new term excitement stuffed into its polyester bumbag alongside the Pork Farms savoury breakfast slice. Taking up its spot on the pavement outside Big Transfer Talk Stores the Mill will spend the night twitching and shivering and occasionally awaking from fevered dreams of snatching the last Jason Roberts from the shelves after a wheezing 30-yard sprint and a series of eye-gouging hand-offs, or snatching a knockdown Honduran under-21 international left-winger from the claws of Steve Bruce in a sweaty, rabbit-punching clinch in the Central-American-reduced-to-clear aisle.” (Guardian –
Barney Ronay)

Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano catch the eye as Italian giants line up raid on Liverpool
“Italian vultures are ready to swoop on Merseyside as Liverpool struggle to maintain their Big Four status. The Reds face a fight to hold on to star players Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano if they fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League. AC Milan are keen to make Torres their next star signing after failing to replace Kaka, Jose Mourinho dreams of having Steven Gerrard at Inter Milan and Juventus are ready to renew their interest in Javier Mascherano next summer.” (Daily Mail)

Liverpool Ends 2009 on a Positive
“Tuesday, Liverpool met Aston Villa at Villa Park, where the Reds won 1-0. The match winning goal came in the third minute of stoppage time of the second half, when a defensive error gave the ball away to Fernando Torres. The game was as messy as the snowy weather, with both sides giving away the ball easily. Liverpool dominated possession except for a short spell in the second half.” (Bleacher Report)

Dynamo Berlin – Vorwärts Berlin 1-1
“Twenty years after the Berlin Wall crumbled and heralded German reunification, most football clubs from the former DDR have the look of flowers in the desert. Energie Cottbus’ play-off defeat by Nurnberg in May removed the last trace of eastern representation in the Bundesliga and all the ex-Oberliga giants – Dynamo Dresden, Carl Zeiss Jena, 1.FC Magdeburg, Lokomotiv Leipzig, et al – now live a hand-to-mouth existence in the third, fourth and fifth tiers of the domestic system.” (World Soccer – Nick Bidwell)

“Fears that the Bundesliga would struggle this year to match last season’s nail-biting conclusion already seem misplaced. At the winter break only five points separate the top five clubs – and the top two are old hands at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The unofficial ‘autumn champions’ are Bayer Leverkusen, who were cruelly rechristened ‘Never-kusen’ after four second-place finishes between 1997 and 2002.” (WSC)

“Just seven days remain of this decade, and it has been another historic one for Liverpool. It feels just like yesterday that we were heralding the new millenium. This was to be the decade that Gerard Houllier led Liverpool to the Premier League title, and made them challenge on all fronts. He came close, guiding the club to second place and six trophies before he left in May 2004. Rafael Benitez took over the Frenchman’s mantle and has since made the club a force to be reckoned with once again. These two Liverpool managers of the noughties have treated us to some legends of the club (the likes of Fowler, Gerrard, Owen, and Carragher), some unforgettable moments, and some thrilling matches.” (Bleacher Report)

“Michel Platini has found an unlikely ally in his plan for financial reform of European club football: free-spending Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. Mr. Platini, president of UEFA, European football’s governing body, has introduced a new set of rules aimed at curbing the expenditure of Europe’s top clubs by barring teams from spending more than their revenues. The rules, called ‘financial fair play,’ will come into force in 2012 and would ban teams from the Champions League unless they break even on football-related business. This is to prevent clubs running up huge debts in the pursuit of success.” (WSJ)

A Constellation Chart of Ingenious Design
“The last decade saw the final years of Brian Clough and George Best, the emergence of Jose Mourinho and the return of Diego Maradona. That quartet, along with the likes of Jens Lehmann, Sepp Blatter and, of course, Roy Keane, ensured the noughties enjoyed an array of memorable quotes throughout the years. Here is a selection of some of the most memorable, most shocking and most amusing.” (ESPN)

“In another effort to churn out a weekly column using a tired, formulaic method, I present for your consideration XI personal highlights from my year in soccer…” (Pitch Invasion)

“It’s the final Football Weekly of the year – indeed the decade – so we’ve rolled out the big guns for our end of the noughties extravaganza. James Richardson is joined by Barry Glendenning, Raphael Honigstein, and Fernando Duarte to take stock of the Premier League at the halfway point of the season. Can Chelsea keep setting the pace? Have Arsenal got what it takes to go the distance? Will Liverpool finally get their act together? And are Birmingham City or Fulham going to nudge past Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur into the Champions League spots?” (Guardian – James Richardson)

“Very few people realize that in addition to walking his dogs, managing lower tier English teams, and glaring at reporters, Roy Keane follows the Premiership avidly and is a keen reader of classic literature. Recently, he was impressed by a robust and tenacious Fernando Torres and shared a few thoughts with us on ‘el nino’ and a few others…” (futfanatico)

Fernando Torres
“Speculation about which players would move where and for how much in the January transfer period began back on Sept. 1, the day after the last window closed. A midseason transfer or loan can considerably boost a team’s second-half fortunes, or help alleviate the burden on players struggling to balance a championship run with cup competitions and the UEFA Champions League campaign.” (NYT)

“No other fixture in Premier League history has produced more hat-tricks than Liverpool v Arsenal, and in continuing our build-up to Sunday’s clash at Anfield, ExtraFootie looks back at five classic trebles. Just to note that Liverpool were last season’s top scorers in the top-flight with 77 goals, whilst the Gunners were joint second alongside Chelsea and champions Manchester United on 68.” (Extra Footie)

“During 2009, EPL Talk made some big changes in the podcast department by moving the weekly show to a daily format, promoting Kartik Krishnaiyer to host and adding new guests and analysts such as Laurence McKenna and Alex Caulfield. In 2010, we have even bigger plans and some major celebrities lined up to be interviewed, but before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I want to share with you the top 15 most download EPL Talk Podcasts of 2009.” (EPL Talk)

“Ever had a hospital pass? The one with the red cross marked on it that you know is going to end with a large amount of personal grief – if you are very lucky? This is mine. Namely the request to name the Premier League team of “The Noughties”. The job that will please no-one and will have plenty of you waving your fist in fury at the laptop. So apologies in advance. My only excuse for leaving out your own personal favourite or club legend is that I can only pick 11 players and there could have been so many more – and this might be the best substitutes’ bench in history.” Z(BBC – Phil McNulty)