Last week during “upfronts,” those giant press conferences where television networks pimp their new programming to advertisers, ESPN president John Skipper was asked whether his network would bid on the next Premier League contract, which would begin in 2016.

“We’ll be interested in it,” Skipper told the press. “We love the English Premier League.”

This quote came just days after Major League Soccer struck a new 8-year rights deal with ESPN and Fox Sports worth an estimated $75 million per year — nearly a four-fold increase over MLS’ previous rights deals, which were worth just $19 million per year. (MLS’ Spanish-language deal with Univision also increased from $8 million per year to $15 million per year.)

That’s not all ESPN and Fox Sports have been teaming up to buy lately. In the last four years, ESPN and Fox Sports have agreed to spend $1.2 billion per year for Major League Baseball, $200 million per year for Big 12 college sports, and $200 million per year for Pac-12 college sports. This alliance seems likely to spend big to take the Premier League away from NBC after 2016.

Why? NBC is owned by Comcast, and ESPN cannot allow Comcast to build a competitive sports network because that would give Comcast leverage over ESPN in carriage fee negotiations.

Right now, ESPN commands a carriage fee of $5.40 per month. That money flows directly from your cable bill to the network. ESPN2 also collects a carriage fee of $0.68 per month. Those numbers are expected to increase by 6.5% sometime this summer. With those two channels in more than 97.3 million homes, ESPN stands to collect more than $7.5 billion in carriage fees over the next 12 months.

This is how ESPN is able to spend $1.9 billion per year on the rights to NFL Monday Night Football and more than $1.3 billion per year on a wide variety of college sports. It is also how, according to Forbes, ESPN has attained an estimated valuation of $50.8 billion. That makes ESPN roughly 36% of the value of The Walt Disney Company.

Because of this, ESPN must ward off any threats to its revenue stream — such as a major cable TV carrier owning a sports network that might ever be considered on par with ESPN. Some have even suggested that ESPN encouraged Fox to create a national sports channel in order to prevent NBCSN from attaining any sort of dominance. After all, any cable package that includes Fox Sports 1 also includes ESPN and ESPN2. You can watch Fox Sports 1 all day, and ESPN will still get its share of your cable bill.

NBCSN, meanwhile, collects only $0.31 per month from each of the 78 million homes it reaches. That brings in only $290 million. Thus, NBC’s strategy with NBCSN has been to focus on sports with smaller, more dedicated fan bases and keep spending low to allow the channel to pay for itself. NBCSN can afford to pay $83.3 million per year for the Premier League and $200 million per year on the National Hockey League, but anything more than that would require some help from the parent company.

Comcast could do it, of course. The cable TV behemoth posted net incomes of $1.87 billion in the last quarter and a $1.91 billion the previous quarter. Plus, NBC just signed a $7.75 billion deal to keep the Olympics through 2032, as well as a 10-year, $4.2 billion deal with NASCAR. Money for those two deals, though, comes from sources other than NBCSN. In order for stave off what would likely be a $200-million-per-year bid from ESPN and Fox for the Premier League, Comcast would have to change course and allow NBCSN to spend more than it makes — and if Comcast really wants to do that, it might as well go big and spend $2 billion per year to take the NBA away from ESPN in 2016.

NBC has attracted lots of praise and impressive ratings for its coverage of the Premier League this season, but unless Comcast loosens its purse strings on NBCSN, the network will have a difficult time keeping the U.S. TV rights to the Premier League when that TV deal is up for renewal next year. ESPN will do whatever it takes to keep Comcast from gaining any leverage in future carriage fee talks, and that includes leaving NBCSN with hockey, auto racing, and very little else.

But on the bright side, we’ll get to hear Ian Darke call Premier League games again in a few years.

Dave Warner writes about the rising cost of sports TV rights at What You Pay For Sports.

Philip Badger’s plea to NBC Sports Network to let Premier League fans pay for NBC Sports Live Extra separately covers a few of the reasons why the online service will be available only to cable subscribers, but it ignores some key facets of cable TV economics that play a role in NBC’s decision.

As Philip mentioned, NBCUniversal is owned by Comcast, and Comcast is a cable company, and gee, why would Comcast ever want to give you a reason not to subscribe to cable? On the other hand, while Comcast is the largest cable company in the U.S., it only has 22.3 million cable subscribers, or roughly 30% of the market share for cable TV. That 30% share does not include the 37 million or so people who have satellite dishes, or the rising number of people ditching cable in favor of fiber TV services from AT&T and Verizon.

Still, Comcast-owned NBCU has a stake in all those subscribers, and not just for sports. That’s one key reason why NBCSN is only offering its online service to cable subscribers: NBC wants you to pay for all its other cable channels, too.

Those channels include:

• USA Network ($0.55/month)
• CNBC ($0.29/month)
• SyFy ($0.21/month)
• E! ($0.20/month)
• Bravo ($0.19/month)
• MSNBC ($0.16/month)

Those six channels account for $1.60 of your monthly cable bill. If all of those channels reach the same 80 million homes as NBCSN, NBC collects an additional $1.53 billion in subscriber fee revenue. That $10 million or so that FOX Soccer 2Go collects is a pittance in comparison.

Also, if you live in Philadelphia, Chicago, San Fran, Houston, D.C., Baltimore, or any part of New England, you’ll be chipping in for the Comcast SportsNet channel in that area. Regional Sports Networks account for at least $2.50 of your monthly cable bill. Some RSNs can cost up to $4/month.

This is just one form of bundling in the pay TV ecosystem, and it’s largely a result of media consolidation. Five corporations control the rights to nearly all the sports you see on U.S. television: CBS, Comcast, Disney, News Corporation, and Time Warner. These same five companies also own a huge portion of the channels on your pay TV service. Bundling all those channels together allows these corporations to collect revenue for all sorts of news, sports, and entertainment programming. The end result, though, is that customers end up paying for dozens of channels they don’t watch.

In addition, individual channels can serve as bundles, too, especially for sports. This explains why News Corp. is launching FOX Sports 1. By moving high-cost properties like the UEFA Champions League, NASCAR racing, and UFC from three niche channels (FOX Soccer, Speed Network, and Fuel TV) that collect less than $0.60/month combined to one general sports channel that’s expected to command at least $0.90/month, FOX Sports can not only shift the costs of those contracts off to consumers, but it can also collect enough money to pay for more high-value properties like Major League Baseball, and top college conferences like the Big East, Big 12, and Pac-12 — not to mention the FIFA World Cup and other major international soccer events, starting in 2015.

NBCSN works much the same way. At $0.31/month in 80 million homes, NBCSN collects $298 million per year. The NHL currently accounts for $200 million of that, and MLS accounts for $10 million. That leaves $88 million in subscriber fees — enough to cover the $83.3 million that NBC will pay the Premier League for the next three seasons. In order to cover those costs with its online-only service, NBC would have to find 278,000 EPL fans in the U.S. willing to pay $300/year for it. Considering that FOX couldn’t find roughly more than 60,000 people willing to pay $15/month, that plan probably won’t work.

Also, having such a high-value property also allows NBCSN to demand a higher subscriber fee and get cable and satellite services to offer the channel to more subscribers, thus increasing the channel’s revenue. Since Comcast owns the channel, extracting a few more pennies per month from 22.3 million subscribers shouldn’t be too big a hassle. In addition, everyone who gets NBCSN likely gets all those other NBCU-owned channels, meaning more money for Comcast.

This is how the pay TV game works, and since cord-cutting is not yet a serious threat to sports networks, it’s not going to change anytime soon. “TV Everywhere” services like NBC Sports Live Extra are designed specifically to keep customers attached to cable, because that’s where the money is for these corporations. On the bright side, if you do end up subscribing to cable, you can get just about all the soccer you’ll ever want. You’ll just have to decide if that’s enough to make you pay for all that other stuff you’ll never watch.

Dave Warner is a former soccer writer for the AOL sports blog Fanhouse and the founder What You Pay For Sports, a website that explores the relationship between sports and television and shows consumers how their cable and satellite bills subsidize major pro and college sports.

Here’s the links:

• Who has the best youth system? [Behind The Goal Post]
• Villa go for Makoun [ESPN]
• Charlie Adam [SI]
• Gossip [Yorkshire Post]
• Transfer talk [Telegraph]
• Attendance talk [Offside Rule]
• Becks to watch from sideline [Yahoo]

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Here’s the links:

• What NFL team compares to your favorite EPL club [Bleacher Report]
• Young Sunderland player makes FIFA list [FIFA]
• Ex Villa player swept to sea [BBC]
• Who’s going to be relegated [Behind The Goal Post]
• Nani the best so far? [B.R.]
• Almunia on his way out [Natter Football]
• This weeks predictions [Football Focus]

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Here’s the links:

• Bellamy arrested [BBC]
• Blackpool vs. Liverpool tips [Footy Geek]
• EPL sackings [Yahoo]
• Podcast with Iain Macintosh [A Football Report]
• Arsenal defensive options [Metro]
• David Miliband coming to Sunderland [BBC]
• Tottenham to Olympic stadium poll [Guardian]

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Here’s the links:

• Fantasy tips [P.L.F.F.B.]
• Dzeko interview [M.C.F.C.]
• Beckham training with Spurs [Dirty Tackle]
• EPL podcast [Roto Radio]
• Week 23 predictions [Bleacher Report]
• Football fan map [Big Think]
• Mancini manager of the month [M.C.F.C.]

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Here’s the links:

• Monday Gossip [Sinnacle]
• FA Cup mention [That’s On Point]
• Davide Santon transfer [Sport]
• Newcastle United blog [Espn]
• Blackpool will try to keep Adam [Give Me Football]
• Footballers feeling the tweet [Soccer Portal]
• David Moyes thoughts [Inside Futbol]
• Top 10 Twitter controversies [Mirror]

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Here’s the links:

• Aston Villa shaken up [Caught Offside]
• Buy Beckham’s 2008 Porsche [Ebay]
• Manchester City played for the draw [A Different League]
• Obi Mikel out until February [Sky]
• Dzeko interview [M.C.F.C.]
• Soccer Songs [53 Songs]
• Anelka isn’t so bad [Sports Illustrated]
• Wanker of the year contest [Arsenal Review USA]

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Here’s the links:

• Everton vs. Spurs recap [T.H.F.C.]
• West Brom. eye Carew [A Different League]
• Survey to help the English FA [E.F.A.]
• Premier League rankings [Fan House]
• Leon Best hat trick [Shields Gazette]
• Interview of In Bed With Maradona [European Football Weekends]
• Samba hopes for Gunners switch [Eat Sleep Sport]
• Sturridge scores five goals [C.F.C.]
• FA Cup finalist sticker quiz [Three Match ban]

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Eboue in his street clothes after Arsenal’s latest match.

Here’s the links:

• Macheda to Sampdoria [The Scotsman]
• Asian Cup preview [Gib Football Show]
• Unrest in Ivory Coast [Unprofessional Foul]
• Rossi want’s to play at Chelsea [Sport]
• Nani earns United three [Four Four Two]
• Everton need a boost [A Football Report]
• Fantasy notes [FF Scout]
• City vs. Arsenal preview [Accu Score]

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Here’s the links:

• Cole backs Hodgson [FSC]
• Clubs waiting on Beckham [BBC]
• United to Wrigley Field [Hot Time In Old Town]
• Podcast [Opta Joke]
• Why EPL is so great [That’s On Point]
• David O’Leary fury with video [Daily Mail]
• Macheda loan thoughts [The Footy Blog]
• Ameobi return [The Shields]
• Thoughts on United [This Is Futbol]

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Here’s the links:

• Top 10 moments of 2010 [Just-Football]
• Fantasy tips [FPL Transfers]
• Paul Konchesky talk [Live 4 Liverpool]
• Darren Gibson thoughts [ManUtd24]
• Football fights [Caught Offside]
• Top 100 players [The Footy Blog]
• Podcast [World Soccer Reader]
• Year end review [That’s On Point]
• EPL’s seven burning questions [ESPN]
• Gossip and quotes [101 Great Goals]

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Here’s the links:

• Adam Johnson chat [Manchester Evening News]
• Star man report [Sky Sports]
• 3 Up Front podcast [Soccerlens]
• Sir Alex dishes out punishment [Dirty Tackle]
• Diaby injury blow [BBC]
• Asian Cup squads [World Cup Blog]
• Neil Young tribute [Manchester Evening News]
• Top 10 moments from S.A. [ESPN]

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Here’s the links:

• City go for Dzeko [BBC]
• Comparing EPL to NBA [Bleacher Report]
• Betting surprises [Sports Trading Life]
• 12th man clothing [Sabotage Times]
• Maradona linked to Fulham [Footie]
• Fergie fuming [Mail]
• Bassong challenges teammates [Espn]
• Football art [Sabotage Times]

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Here’s the links:

• Worst XI [Soccerlens]
• Fantasy tips [Roto Experts]
• Life of a footballer [Sabotage Times]
• Robinho talks with Kaka [Dirty Tackle]
• Everton vs. West Ham [Hammered]
• Fantasy preview [N.C.N.B.]
• Arsenal vs. Chelsea review [Goal]

Supposedly this is Joey Barton’s vehicle. Check it out!

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Here’s the links:

• Monday gossip [Sinnacle]
• Arsenal vs. Chelsea preview [Two Footed Tackle]
• Retro Mick McCarthey [Tikabooson]
• Rafa snowman [Studs Up]
• Van der Vaart is perfect [Phil Mcnulty]
• Everton brace for Cahill absence [Soccerway]
• Weather strikes again [Sky News]
• What the papers say [Soccer 365]

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Merry Bzzzzzzzzzzzz from Sam Morrill on Vimeo.

Here’s the links:

• Top ten posts [Off The Post]
• West Brom. worries [Express and Star]
• EPL Christmas signings [Mirror]
• Blackpool pitch inspection [Sky Sports]
• Donovan’s tweets [Daily Mail]
• Sunderland vs. United preview [MLS Tifo]
• Fantasy preview [N.C.N.B.]
• Liverpool vs. Blackpool preview [My 11]
• Top ten blogs [Footysphere]
• Transfer news [Footie.co.za]

Stu Holden celebrating and sharing with Twitter

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The great Robbie Savage bringing Christmas cheer. Another holiday themed video coming tomorrow.

Here’s the links:

• Live Ryan Babel interview [L.F.C.]
• Three up front podcast [Soccerlens]
• Free Puma watch with cleats [Soccer Fanatic]
• Premier league XI [N.C.N.B.]
• Football weekly podcast [Guardian]
• Birmingham tipped for relegation [Guardian]
• Jagielka not ruled out [E.F.C.]
• FIFA 11 Ultimate Team [EA Sports]
• Arsene hits back at Nani [Off The Post]
• Work for Sunderland [Inside World Football]

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Here’s the links:

• Chelsea facing transfer criticism [ESPN]
• Footballers and money [Sabotage Times]
• Fantasy EPL [Tikabooson]
• Dear Santa [Studs Up]
• Some fantasy stats [PL Fantasy Blog]
• New boots [Soccer Bible]
• Wife swapping (managers) [IBWM]
• Russell Brand footie film [Kicking & Screening]
• Controlling the owners [The Epoch Times]

Nice little Christmas photo for everyone! Can you guess who this is?

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Here’s the links:

• Balotelli’s hat [Beat The First Man]
• Fantasy Tips [Roto Experts]
• Stu Holden the best? [The Sports Blog]
• Top gum chewing managers [Inside Futbol]
• Sloppy mistakes by City [Bleacher Report]
• Quote board [The DA]
• Football violence [The Post Match Pint]
• Donovan close to deal [Metro]
• Berbatov’s seventh award [Dirty Tackle]
• EPL gossip [Sinnacle]
• 50 best photos of 2010 [Who Ate All The Pies]
• Tim Howard’s epic performance [Liverpool Echo]

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Here’s the links:

• Top 5 surprise performers [Sports Keeda]
• The great Man U massacre [Talk Sport]
• Christmas club wish lists [Daily Mail]
• Gossip Monday [Sinnacle]
• The Big Match DVD review [Three Match Ban]
• Beckham accepts award [The Original Winger]
• United get Anders Lindegaard [M.U.]
• Fantasy EPL talk [Roto Radio]
• Park could quit internationally [Four Four Two]
• When does your club score? [The Best Eleven]
• Ranking EPL fans [Bleacher Report]

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Here’s the links:

• Football gear [Studs Up F.C.]
• Andrei Kanchelskis [Narrow The Angle]
• Podcast [Winning Ugly]
• Champions league draw [UEFA]
• Holloway dismisses rumors [Soccer Net]
• Transfer talk [Soccer 365]
• Soccer conversations [Nutmeg Radio]

Asamoah Gyan with his new award.

2010 African Footballer of the Year

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Here’s the links:

• Lengthy EPL preview [Global Football Today]
• Shawcross return [Dirty Tackle]
• Player profile Ian Taylor [Three Match Ban]
• Fantasy – The Pundit [Barclays Premier League]
• Wenger looks for reaction [Soccerway]
• Top foreign players in history of EPL [Brett Day]
• Lampard return [BBC Sport]
• Big match flops [Telegraph]
• Football clothing culture [A Healthy Obsession]

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Here’s the links:

• Sven happy at Leicester [Sky]
• Four failing clubs [World Football Columns]
• Owners vs. managers [Soccer Portal]
• Pardew is a gamble [Three Match Ban]
• The Asia Cup and fantasy EPL [Tikabooson]
• Some football news [Avoiding The Drop]
• Rio apologizes [Espn]
• Everton supporters book [Everton]

Photo of the day features Darren Bent the chef.

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Here’s the links:

• Arsenal loss analysis [The Arsenal Column]
• Future Premiership [Bleacher Report]
• EPL tv rights [Forbes]
• Fantasy tips and review [Roto Experts]
• Umbro tee shop [Umbro]
• Hodgson keeps faith [BBC]
• Manchester City new signing [SI]
• General Krulak chat [AVFC]
• EPL roundup [Pele Confidential]

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Interesting video featuring big Sam today from the Mirror. Let’s hope his side never have to run a 4-3-1-2.

Here’s the links:

• Bendtner faces Denmark Axe [Mail]
• Manchester United vs. Arsenal preview [ManUTD24]
• Inside Soccer – Jen Chang [Sports Illustrated]
• Tangerine Dream [Gib Football Show]
• Letter to Tevez [The Fifth Official]
• Chelsea analysis [A Different League]
• Andy Cole on Manchester City [Goal]

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Finally the weekend is here and we can get back to watching the EPL. Here’s a few comments from Ancelotti ahead of the clash with Tottenham.

Here’s the links:

• Arsenal young guns [Beyond The Pitch]
• Guess the footballer [Three Match Ban]
• Value of Berbatov [Back Page Football]
• Relegation talk [That’s On Point]
• Evra vs. Arsenal [BBC Sport]
• Dempsey interest [Goal]
• Week 17 fantasy tips [Fantasy Premier League Transfers]

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Here’s the links:

• EPL clash of the titans [Prost Amerika Soccer]
• Top 5 EPL players by FIFA [The Best Eleven]
• Take a breath Villa fans [7500 To Holte]
• EPL viewing guide [EPL Talk]
• Mexican keeper Ochoa to the EPL? [Soccer Fanatic]
• EPL podcast [Barclay’s Premier League]
• Man. United most popular in India [Traffordshire Country]

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Here’s the links:

• Ray Wilkins speaks [Vital Football]
• Everton secure young midfielder [Guardian]
• Pardew leads manager race [Soccer News]
• Mike Ashley’s Pardew checklist [Transfer Tavern]
• True form of EPL teams [Bleacher Report]
• Weekly gossip [Sinnacle]
• 10 most underwhelming managers [Telegraph]
• The Hawthorns [Stadium Journey]
• Fantasy home vs. away [Tikabooson]
• Mike Ashley comic [Three Match Ban]

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Here’s the links:

• Tevez Interview [Man. City]
• Manchester City wacky Christmas party [Metro UK]
• Hughton sacked [Four Four Two]
• Favorite Freddie Ljungberg [The Equaliser]
• EPL fantasy advice [Roto Experts]
• Ronaldinho to Liverpool? [Give Me Football]
• Vote for UEFA team of the year [UEFA]
• West Ham’s Spector focused [Sky Sports]
• United Christmas giveaway [Manchester United]
• Martin Jol to lead Newcastle [Footie]

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Here’s the links:

• Friedel on the decline [Back Page Football]
• Grapevine rumors [Soccer 365]
• Ugg-oh [Kickette]
• Malouda faces possible ban [Mail Online]
• EPL formations guide [Soccer Portal]
• Peter Crouch boot interview [Soccer Bible]
• Arsenal without Koscielny and Vermaelen [League Football Live]
• Marko Marin scouted [Sport]
• Americans abroad [Soccer By Ives]
• EPL photo gallery [Espn Soccernet]
• Goal of the month compilation [Soccer Portal]

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Here’s the links:

• EPL preview and predictions [SB Nation]
• Sir Alex’s five goalkeeper options [Back Page Football]
• Baggie bird makeover [Who Ate All The Pies]
• Nine wins to survive [Daily Star]
• John Terry returns [Chelsea FC]
• No United players for fantasy? [Never Captain Nicky Butt]
• Top African player poll [Ghana Web]
• Photo: Balotelli and Boateng fight [Soccer Portal]

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Here’s the links:

• Carling Cup violence [Mail]
• Keane against the snood [Dirty Tackle]
• Balotelli scores twice [Mail]
• A man against the EPL [Four Four Two]
• The own goal club [FIFA]
• Week 16 fantasy tips [FPLT]
• Rio with Snoop Dogg [Vital Football]
• Spurs of the moment [Farlie On Footie]
• Schwarzer extends Fulham stay [Goal]
• Hodgson on Cole [Football Fan Cast]
• Win a signed Rooney boot [Four Four Two]
• World Cup host announcement [FIFA]

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• Sevilla after Park [Tribal Football]
• Peoples choice defenders [Footbalistic]
• Everton take in a Sounder [Seattle Pi]
• Rafa loves Liverpool [Footie.co.za]
• 10 ways to stay in EPL [Vital Football]
• Arteta signed boots [Soccer Bible]
• Heroes & Villains [Four Four Two]
• Martinez backs Boselli [Club Call]
• Fantasy EPL tips [Roto Experts]

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• • • Team News [False 10]
    • Hart praises Tevez [Give Me Football]
    • Chelsea practice in the snow [Chelsea FC]

• Elmander rumors [Manchester Evening News]
• Birmingham vs. Aston Villa preview [Fanhouse UK]

Four EPL teams face off in the quarter finals of the League Cup today. Hopefully the recent snowfall doesn’t put a damper on things. Credit to Jermaine Jenas for a quality photo. A nice birthday prank on his teammate Alan Hutton.

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Here’s the links:

• EPL’s 10 dirties players [Bleacher Report]
• Adrian Durham’s team of the week [Talk Sport]
• Carroll has the X-factor [Mirror Football]
• Clint Dempsey backs Mark Hughes [F & H Chronicle]
• Aaron Lennon’s unbelievable week [Tottenham FC ]
• Liverpool players adjusting to Hodgson [Liverpool FC ]
• Ashley Young makes a blooper reel [Goal]
• Bolton vs. Blackpool match highlights [101 Great Goals]

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Here’s the first series of links:

• Q&A with Andrey Arshavin, where he answers whether he’ll extend his contract at Arsenal [Andrey Arshavin’s official website]
• Now is Asamoah Gyan’s time [In Bed With Maradona]
• Carlton Cole publicly lashes out against Avram Grant [The Mirror]
• Everton renew shirt sponsorship deal with Chang [Liverpool Echo]
• Where have all of the English strikers gone? [The Gib Football Show]
• Chelsea strike a deal with Maribor [Sky Sports]
• Where’s your club in the Premier League rankings? [Fanhouse]
• Still doesn’t compare to this handshake snub [YouTube]

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Amazing that just four matches deep into the new Premier League season “Berbaflop” has seemingly replaced the all-action Wayne Rooney as Manchester United’s favored striker. On Saturday Sir Alex Ferguson was taking flak for omitting Rooney from his teamsheet and at some cost, United relinquishing a 3-1 lead at Goodison Park to allow Everton to claim a miraculous point. The aftermath of United’s midweek clash with Rangers in the Champions League had many questioning the exclusion of the Bulgarian from Fergie’s starting 11.

Rooney’s downfall has, in part, been due to his poor and confidence-sapping performance at the World Cup which was in turn caused by a niggling ankle injury from United’s last campaign. The abundant speculation on his personal life has increased his burden, so much so that Ferguson uncharacteristically wavered and questioned his stalwart’s fortitude. His performance on Tuesday was lacking the characteristic aggression and the clinical finishing that would have seen the England striker tuck away his late header or bury one of numerous miscontrolled balls in and around the Rangers box.

Dimitar Berbatov’s rise is a less dramatic tale. He continues to display the talent that persuaded United to splash £30 million on him in the first place. Perhaps he has learned to no longer fear the weight of expectation. Maybe it is the excellent service that a rejuvenated Paul Scholes has provided of late which has sparked him into life, conjuring 3 goals in his four league matches thus far. Or possibly it is because Berbatov has run, nay, sprinted that little bit harder and appeared slightly more determined that his professional reputation has been restored.

The Bulgarian striker is a much more elaborate and naturally talented player than his English counterpart. Sadly, his unwillingness to work as hard as the indefatigable Rooney just made it more infuriating to watch such a class act waste his abilities. But now his flicks, his acrobatics, and his swagger are effective. In the home tie against West Ham in particular, Berbatov was pitch-perfect. In addition to his fabulous goal, Berbatov linked up extremely well with fellow goal scorer Nani, executing a brilliant back-heeled flick in the opening minutes that led to the Portuguese player crashing his shot of the crossbar. Against Everton he was more profligate but created several identical openings and shaved the outside of Tim Howard’s far post before notching his requisite goal.

But if United want to recover their title or advance in Europe, they will need both Rooney and Berbatov. Berbatov will never, no matter how motivated he may become, charge 60 yards to win back the ball. Nor is the Bulgarian a match-winner like his teammate, too often “making up the numbers” when the match has already been put to bed. But Rooney is unable to find the intelligent through balls and impudent dinks that the former Tottenham can. In the past it has been impossible to get these two expensive players, between them costing more than many professional squads, to work in tandem. When they both take to the field against Liverpool on Sunday and it can be reasonably assured they will, the United boss of 25 years may find himself with his best strike pairing at Old Trafford.

Finally, after almost two years to the day, Manchester City have washed their hands of the great lame duck – Robinho.

It’s been a great mystery to the Premier League as to why the £32.5 million man failed to perform to his potential at Eastlands. While some might say it was the culture or the squad of City, it must be mentioned that Robinho was one of the first (and the most expensive) transfers to come in to the Blue Revolution after Sheikh Mansour’s takeover in 2008. After an impressive showing at Real Madrid in which Robinho was the team’s 3rd highest goal scorer, it was almost a given that the boy-wonder would come into Manchester and take the world by storm. In fact, had Robinho done what was expected of him, he could easily be in Carlos Tevez’s position – lead striker and team captain. Yet, as the story goes, Robinho flopped. Refusing to acclimate to life in Manchester, Robinho became a lame duck – not playing, making no impact, always complaining and still getting paid £150,000 a week.

But finally it has come to an end. In a deal that sees Robinho going to AC Milan, City will get £18million up front and £4 million more in add-ons. While its a near £10million loss for City, most of the supporters and especially Mancini are likely to see it as a blessing – like removing a cancer that has been eating away at morale, team spirit and money.

It’s very possible that the Brazilian striker will settle in nicely at the San Siro, however in the time being, I, like other City fans are just excited to see him go.

Love him or hate him, Ashley Cole is the best at his position in England, and arguably the world. While this has been the case for many years (although I’m sure the Evra family might object), under Carlo Ancelotti Cole has transformed from an indefatigable left-back to an integral cog in Chelsea’s attacking strategy.

Fullbacks are an important aspect of any back four, of course, and the manner in which a manager utilizes this versatile position reveals their attacking intent. Overlapping fullbacks are a staple of most attacking outfits, combining with the wide men to enter dangerous space, or simply to drag defenders out of position to allow attackers more freedom to cut open a defense.

Ashley Cole has been the standard for the fullback position for years now. His tireless work on the left flank for Arsenal gave the Gunners that extra option in attack as he would race to the byline and whip in a decent cross, or simply (as stated above) supply an extra body the defenders had to acknowledge. It was always Cole’s unique ability to both know the right time to join the attack, and then to have the stamina to get back into sound defensive position in the event his team quickly lost possession. This is what has made him the best left-back in England for over a decade. Not to mention his ability to make Ronaldo and Messi look ordinary on more than one occasion.

But under Ancelotti, when Chelsea are in attack Cole has evolved into an auxiliary winger. On paper, the Blues line up in a formation much like this:

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/pdrez/ChelseaForm.png

We can argue about slight variances, but this is essentially the formation Chelsea use. Within this basic framework, there is an abundance of movement between Drogba, Anelka, Malouda, and Lampard. Particularly those front three, and particularly when the Blues are playing an inferior team, as they have in the first three matches of this Premier League season. When Chelsea are dominating possession, the triumvirate of Drogba, Anelka and Malouda can meander about, dropping deep, going wide, playing high, basically anywhere they can positively affect play.

But with the liberty Ancelotti has granted these three, their tendencies often lean towards playing up the middle. Anelka is a natural central striker, as is Drogba, and for Malouda, he wants to play up the middle to more heavily influence the game, which has transformed him into one of the PL’s best players. These tendencies leave Chelsea a very narrow team at times.

Ancelotti has rectified this would-be problem by ordering Cole to act as his width.

Cole is no longer simply making those blazing, overlapping runs from deep, but he is being stationed on the left of midfield when Chelsea are in attack. He is a full member of the attack, maintaining some semblance of width for the side. We are seeing new runs from Cole: acute diagonal runs from shallower positions, deeper overlaps to release HIM into scoring positions, and coming infield to join Lampard and Malouda in attack.

In the first half of Chelsea’s 2-0 win against Stoke, Cole put on a masterclass of this “new-found” position. Perhaps Stoke aided in this by playing a back 5 with wingbacks and CB’s that rarely looked on the same page, but credit Cole for exploiting such weaknesses. Stoke could not cope with Cole’s attacking forays, and not for the first time this season, Chelsea’s best move of the first half found Cole on the end of it. A quick back-and-forth of possession led to Michael Essien placing an inch-perfect pass through to Cole, who scuffed his shot wide. The fullback was playing higher than any forward on the move.

Later, Drogba dropped deep and wide, while Cole raced into the box on an acute diagonal from the touchline. Drogba did well to lob a 15-yard ball over two defenders and find Cole, who, running towards the goal, one-time lashed it from midair on to the crossbar. A phenomenal attack, which underlines Cole’s new role in the high-flying Chelsea attack.

There are few elite fullbacks who can take on the responsibility of being a dual-role player. Brilliant attacker, miserly defender, Cole has pulled it off with flying colors, and Chelsea are the great benefactor.

Any thoughts?  Leave your comments below.

But I have to do it with frustration, as my TV is often turned to Fox Soccer Channel, the ex-girlfriend whose number I can’t throw away. I love FSC for one reason – they put on the beautiful game and little else, outside of a guaranteed Proactiv commercial during every break. The feed is of poor quality, as volume levels randomly go up and down. The picture goes choppy or freezes, then returns a few seconds later to taunt me, knowing I’m no longer looking at a live shot of the action.

The picture quality is, quite plainly, atrocious for any sport. After a summer of being treated to HD on the ABC / ESPN family of networks for the World Cup, I endure something that shouldn’t even be called any level of “definition.” It only reminds me of the days when my cable box had a dial on it, and the channel numbers stopped at 36.

I know that Fox is not entirely responsible for Verizon’s FiOS not offering the channel in HD, but can’t they carry some of the blame? I get TLC and ABC Family in HD – why do I need to see reenactments of women who didn’t know they were pregnant in hi-def? Is HD really going to make Sixteen Candles a visual masterpiece? I would like Fox to, quite simply, try harder to get FSC HD on all available providers. No excuses. It’s the beautiful game. Watching football on FSC is essentially what it would be like if the producers of Mad Men had Christina Hendricks wear a beekeeper’s suit every week.

Much has already been said about FSC’s other programming choices, so I won’t rehash all of it. However, I can confirm that I am NOT interested in what Susan Sarandon has to say on Soccer Talk Live tomorrow. Really? Susan Sarandon? I think she’s a very talented actress, but in the first few shows of a supposedly “cutting-edge” football program, this is who they’re booking? Was Dina Lohan not available? Or can we perhaps expect Flavor Flav on an upcoming episode?

I love the sport of football. Nothing else comes close for me. But Fox Soccer Channel certainly presents obstacles in my love affair with the game. Like that ex-girlfriend of mine, there’s a seemingly endless list of bad qualities. However, all the negatives are put up against the one thing  that’s done so well. FSC shows football matches. A lot of them. So, like the ex’s phone number, until a better option comes along or it changes dramatically for the better, I’ll hang on to FSC.

But they should be worried about how I’ll feel tomorrow.

Everton boss David Moyes appears to be taking a huge gamble by not selling Pienaar. The South African midfielder has attracted interest from multiple clubs this summer, and now would be the cash-strapped club’s last chance to make any money from his sale.

However, Moyes has plenty of reasons to let that transfer cash sit on the table — the biggest being Pienaar’s own words. When Bayern Munich came calling last February, Pienaar told the press he wasn’t really so keen on moving.

“I feel this is my home. The supporters have always been good to me and I always give 100%. I definitely aim to play here for a lot longer – why not? Talk of moving is only rumours and I am definitely enjoying my football here.”

Granted, Pienaar might have changed his mind about the Toffees since then, but with so many of the winger’s teammates — most notably Mikel Arteta and Jack Rodwell — committing to Everton for the long term and trying to convince him to do the same, it’s possible that Moyes is banking on Pienaar remaining loyal to the club and signing a long term deal.

Moyes, however, also has a very pragmatic reason for keeping Pienaar on the books for one more season — he can’t sign his natural replacement until January.

The Toffees and their supporters might have held out hope that Landon Donovan, who had an eye-opening loan stint with Everton last winter, might return to Goodison Park in the summer. A wildly successful World Cup run, however, raised his asking price to more than £10 million, which Everton wasn’t ready to pay.

Even if Everton could have paid that fee, however, Major League Soccer wasn’t ready to let its marquee star go just yet — not before the Los Angeles Galaxy had one more playoff run with its roster intact. The prospect of a star-studded L.A v. New York championship game, which would feature Donovan and league-leading scorer Edson Buddle on one side and Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel and Rafa Marquez on the other, is simply too tantalizing to the marketing staff at MLS for them to allow Donovan to leave before season’s end.

As a result, selling Pienaar now would leave Everton with only Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Leon Osman available as pure wing players for up to four months. If you squint just enough, you could see Arteta or Victor Anichebe playing on the wing, but Arteta is far more effective in a central role, while Anichebe is more striker than winger. That lack of depth is something a club with European aspirations — not to mention that has experience with injury-thinned squads — can’t afford to risk.

This brings up another important reason for Everton to keep Pienaar around — his versatility. Pienaar can play virtually any role in midfield. Last season at home against Manchester City, with Arteta and Tim Cahill unavailable, Moyes plugged Pienaar in central midfield with Marouane Fellaini, and he not only proved extremely effective in possession, but he scored the goal that put Everton ahead. Should injuries impact Everton’s midfield again this autumn, the club would be much better off with Pienaar than without him.

Perhaps the ideal situation for Everton is for them to sell some other squad players before the transfer window closes (both Yakubu and Joseph Yobo are tipped to be sold), use that money to bring Donovan back to Goodison Park, then hope that loyalty wins out and Pienaar will stay. It’s a calculated gamble on Moyes’ part, but it could pay off huge dividends for the club in the long run. Plus, in the short term, it keeps Pienaar away from a club like Tottenham Hotspur, who might be competing with Everton for that all-important 4th-place spot this season. That battle might be worth more to the club and its supporters than any transfer fee.

After falling behind amidst a chorus of boos, England’s captain Steven Gerrard went all Bruce Banner turns Incredible Hulk on poor Hungary. That frustration and torment endured by England’s underachieving side inspired Gerrard to remind us that he is still capable of being one of the world’s best.

Down 1-0 to 62nd-ranked Hungary, Fabio Capello’s seat was definitely heating up. He can thank his captain for sparing his blushes.

For changing his formation and installing Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott in the starting XI, Capello should be commended. But, it begs the question: where was this outside-the-box thinking 6 weeks ago?

This is the exact formation Capello should have used for the World Cup. With Rooney operating as a lone striker, flanked by Johnson and Walcott, and with Gerrard, Frank Lampard and the deeper-lying Gareth Barry in central midfield, England were much fresher and precise in their attacking game.

It doesn’t take a genius to have known this pre-World Cup, so Capello should still be held largely accountable for England’s failings. Putting Gerrard in a central role to link up with Rooney is a no-brainer, but evidently it took Capello a World Cup disaster to figure it out.

Despite the changes and the bright start, England fell into the same patterns of lack of creativity and lack of interest at times. So much so that Hungary took an undeserved lead on 62 minutes when substitute Michael Dawson got it all wrong and allowed Fulham’s Zoltan Gera to spring an attack which ended in a Phil Jagielka own goal. England’s misfortune was almost laughable in its cruelty as video replays showed that the ball did not cross the line when Dawson hooked it away just in time, but again much to Capello’s chagrin, the referees got it wrong.

Seven minutes later Gerrard showed the world that he still has it in him to take over a game by himself. Pouncing on a loose ball 30 yards from goal, the Liverpool icon lashed home a breathtaking drive. But it was his celebration that was the bigger talking point. It was a palpable cathartic release of all the disgust and frustration from South Africa, and one could not help but feel happy for the England captain. He was their best performer at the World Cup, and deserved better from his teammates.

He was not finished with the equalizer however. His range of ability was put on display as he took a ball from Ashley Young in the box and Robinho’d himself beyond two defenders before toe-poking a precision shot into the goal to send Wembley into delirium.

It was just a friendly, but the fans’ reaction shows just how much England loves their national team and their national game. Most expected booing throughout the match, but it was not the case. The crowd reserved their boos for Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and John Terry, and then the whole team after they tapered off at the end of the first half and walked off at 0-0.

But at the end of the day, cheers outnumbered jeers. All England wants to do is win. They still don’t have the talent to win a major tournament, as a one-man Gerrard masterclass was the only way to get past a mediocre Hungary side, but perhaps this change of formation and an injection of youth will help their cause.

At the moment though, certain senior players such as Gerrard and Ashley Cole (who somehow just gets better with time) must remain integral to England’s set-up. The same cannot be said for John Terry, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry and even, at times, Wayne Rooney. Another poor performance from this quartet.

Should they be axed? What are your thoughts on England at the moment and moving forward, and on the match today? Leave your comments below.

El Niño has ended his silence today and has announced he “is more committed to Liverpool FC than ever.” This almost feels like a summer move, because with Liverpool finishing 7th last season, it seemed inevitable that the combination of his highly-overvalued price tag and Torres’ desire for Champions League football would lead to his departure from Anfield.

Depending on which Liverpool supporter you speak to, you get a different emotional response on Fernando Torres’ decision to stay put.

There are those with Torres tunnel vision, who dare not envision their hero in another uniform, plucking goals for a title rival like Chelsea. They claim that with Torres, Liverpool are a far better team than without him. Indeed, a Torres-Gerrard-Cole attacking triumvirate has mouths salivating in Liverpool, and will surely be among the best front lines in the Premier League.

And then there are those that feel in this Manchester City-distorted transfer market that maybe, just maybe, it would have been wiser to get the £50, £60, or even the mind-boggling £70 million for Torres, the astronomical numbers that City had purportedly been flirting with to land the Spanish striker.

With the potential of such an absurd amount of cash coming in, should Liverpool have listened to offers?

Such overvaluations only come around so often, and with Torres’ recent history of niggling injuries that keep him out for a month here or a month there, a £50-70 million offer is gross overestimation of his true value in my mind. While I lack genius knowledge of the world transfer market, surely Roy Hodgson could have replaced Torres with at least three top-drawer players had they resolved this situation very quickly post-World Cup.

Even with his dreadful World Cup performances, City and Chelsea were still pricing Torres at alarming rates. Had Liverpool sold early, that influx of cash could have given Liverpool a lot of leverage in the transfer market to go after top names like David Silva, Mario Balotelli, or Rafael van der Vaart just to name a few. Or perhaps buying a direct “replacement” (quotes because it is hard to replace Torres) plus some cheap, young up-and-comers to bring depth into the squad that Liverpool desperately needs. With either approach, money would have been less tight to try and lure players to Anfield that would serve to rebuild the club.

The reasons for second-guessing the retention of Torres are A) economics and B) improvement.

First, yes, Torres is a top 5 striker in the world when healthy, but he is not worth the ridiculous sums of money Man City were throwing out there, and much of that has to do with his propensity for injury. Any product with the very real tendency to break down at critical junctures should have its value lowered. Despite your deep love for that product, when a buyer comes along and grossly overvalues it, and you, as the seller, are in need of quick cash to improve your overall company, you should sell that product and reinvest in your business.

Second, does retaining Torres improve a Liverpool side that finished seventh last season? It was surprising to see them play so poorly last year, and one can blame various injuries and poor form from their captain Steven Gerrard, but their fall from grace last season begs the question of whether offloading star players to build depth at the club is the better way to respond to a disheartening season.

But as the powers-that-be at Anfield saw it, just like many Liverpool supporters spanning the globe see it, a Liverpool with Torres is better than a Liverpool raking in £50-70 million with which to rebuild.

Of course, there is no right answer, just opinion. Time will tell which option would have better served Liverpool and their fans.

What do you think? Leave comments and ideas below.

While I do not always agree with UEFA President Michel Platini, like his proposals for wage caps and vendetta against the big-spending Premier League, the Frenchman has been spot on in implementing more referee assistants on the pitch.

Platini was massive in introducing extra assistants to aid the referee in last season’s Europa League competition. In that system, one official is placed at each goal and can assist the referee with goal-line calls and penalties. Because of the success of that experiment, it was announced today that the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has ratified UEFA’s proposal for the use of extra officials in all Champions League matches for the 2010-2011 season.

While the system was largely a success in last year’s Europa League, there were a few instances where calls were missed in critical areas, leading cynics to proclaim that additional officials do very little. But, as this was the first time in history for extra assistants to be utilized, there were always going to be a few hiccups along the way. Errors could be blamed on the assistants not being authoritative enough, and UEFA should underline how important a job these goal-line assistants now have.

Giving these officials the confidence and authority to make difficult calls will ameliorate any tentativeness they may experience in their new position. Aside from the head referee, these officials may very well be the most important on the pitch. With these added assistants, a bounty of positives are introduced to the game:

A) Discouraging simulation: With an additional pair of eyes at each goal witnessing action in the most important area on the field, hopefully diving in the box will be discouraged. Players will know that cheating their way to a penalty could more easily be caught, and could be deterred from doing so. Well, maybe not the Latin players, but we can pray, can’t we?

B) Phantom goals: In the wake of Frank Lampard’s “ghost” non-goal in England’s second round defeat at the hands of Germany, adding these eyes is an absolute must.  Had there been an assistant watching Lampard’s shot as it left his foot and tracking it to the goal, England would certainly have been awarded their equalizer and perhaps the World Cup would have turned out differently (although probably not knowing the England players).

C) Spotting penalties and infractions: The most critical area of the pitch deserves a pair of eyes, does it not?  Ultimately, yes, the referee has the final say and will be the one blowing his whistle the minute he feels a penalty has occurred, but with an assistant present, if he is ambiguous on the call he can either default to or confer with his assistant to make sure he gets the call right.

Granted, calls will still be missed with these new assistants.  In American football, there are seven referees on the field with equal authority when it comes to calling an infraction, and there are still blown calls.

Is UEFA’s new system perfect?  No.  But they and IFAB have taken a monumental step in the right direction to clean up some of the abysmal officiating the sport indefensibly tolerates.  One thing is certain: FIFA will fall well behind their European counterpart on any progressive ideas to better the sport.

What do you think about this issue?  Good or bad move by UEFA?

So the Londoner is off to Merseyside.

In what has been a stale post-World Cup transfer cycle, where hearsay reigns supreme over any actual movement, this week saw the first eyebrow-raising move: Joe Cole to Liverpool.

Eyebrow-raising because all summer it seemed that most of the major English power players were in for Cole EXCEPT Liverpool. London clubs Arsenal and Champions League newbies Tottenham were most heavily favored to land the English playmaker. Even Manchester United entertained the thought momentarily. But Liverpool?

To be fair, this is an astute piece of business by new manager Roy Hodgson:

A) it replaces a very effective but neglected Yossi Benayoun

B) does not further sink Liverpool’s financial ship as it is a free transfer, and on wages will only cost them £18.4 million over 4 years

C) gives Liverpool some attacking flair

D) it is a major English signing for Liverpool which always placates the fans

Liverpool come out winners in every aspect of the argument.  At 28, Cole can still resurrect a career that was supposed to be the dawn of that “golden generation” of English playmakers.  When first being introduced to the English game in the late 1990s, Joe Cole was a prodigy: An Englishman with true technical ability, able to pull off ankle-breaking shifts in direction while remaining steadfastly English in determination and work rate.

It is sad that we have still not seen the very best of Joe Cole post-West Ham.  At Chelsea, he forced his way into Jose Mourinho’s and his successors’ plans, but was always first to look up at the substiutions board when raised.  He never got remotely close to Lampard or Terry reputation, who are first on the team sheet each and every week.

Yet, it wouldn’t be a far-fetched notion to state that a large majority of English football fans keep a special place in their hearts for Joe Cole. This is because they know how few and far between Joe Coles come in England that are actually English. I am not English, but from the get-go I was always drawn to Cole because he was so unlike your standard, direct English player. The masses marvel at his raw, unparallelled technical ability, but sadly for Joe and for England, it is just that that we have always talked about: his ability.

Now, at 28, this is Cole’s chance to prove himself.  To prove that the golden child of West Ham and all of that unbridled potential can be unleashed on the English and European stage. But Liverpool might not be the place for that.

I get it.  At Liverpool, Joe Cole will be second on the team sheet behind captain Steven Gerrard.  He will no doubt be a regular fixture in Hodgson’s starting XI and will be a focal point in attack.  But with Fernando Torres still highly uncommitted about his Liverpool future, and midfield monster Javier Mascherano apparently itching to flee Merseyside, does this move make much sense for Cole?

No one can deny Liverpool’s stature as one of the world’s biggest clubs.  They have earned with tremendous success both domestically (18 titles) and in Europe (5 European Cups).

But let’s be honest.  This is a club on the wane.  Although they are a smaller club, it would have made more sense for Cole to go to Tottenham and reunite with old Hammers manager Harry Redknapp.  He would have an instant impact on sealing Spurs’ advancement to this season’s Champions League group stages, rather than helping Gerrard and company secure passage to the Europa League group stages.

And certainly at Tottenham, Redknapp would start an international-class player like Joe Cole at every opportunity.  So playing time would have been no factor.  The best players belong on the biggest stage, and if Joe Cole wants to get back to being one of the biggest names in English football, he should be playing in the Champions League.  Simple as that.

If Arsenal were serious in their overtures, the way they play their football at Ashburton Grove would have suited Cole perfectly.  His place in the starting line-up may not have been as concrete at Arsenal, but surely Cole would have proven himself worthy after pre-season and coming through early matches unscathed.  There, he would have a title-chasing, Champions League club to play for.  Sure it would kill Chelsea fans to see their old hero line in Arsenal or Spurs colors, but in today’s day and age these things are hardly insurmountable for fans.

Going back to Liverpool’s fragile state as a club.  The Premier League is getting crowded as competition grows fiercer each season.  With Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and a good Aston Villa side in the title and European places mix (not to mention David Moyes’ Everton), who is to say that Liverpool will be battling for anything next season other than mid-table?  If they lose Mascherano and/or Torres, it is not inconceivable to see them failing to qualify for the Europa League next season.

While few can argue the merits of signing Cole from Liverpool’s perspective, arguing in favor of it from Cole’s is a more difficult task. 

Joe Cole needs to be starting day in, day out for a team in the Champions League with Premier League title aspirations.  That is best scenario for Joe, and the best scenario for the English national team in 2012.

What do you think about Cole’s move?  Leave your comments below.

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First there was Brand Beckham going to Hollywood. Now we have King Henry coming to the Big Apple.

While MLS is getting that knack as a semi-retirement league for the world’s greatest stars (Frank Lampard has mentioned it as well), Henry’s signing is still a major deal for the young league.

Put simply, on footballing credentials alone, this is the best signing in MLS history. At the peak of his powers in the early 2000s, Thierry Henry was the best forward in the world. He was the most feared striker in England by a healthy margin. Twice runner-up FIFA World Player of the Year to countryman Zinedine Zidane (2003) and Ronaldinho (2004), Henry was voted player of the year in England twice by the PFA and three times by the Football Writers’ Association.

He was on the French national team that won the World Cup in 1998, and played a pivotal role in their Euro 2000 championship and 2006 World Cup final appearance. With Arsenal, he won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups, and was the centerpiece for the unprecedented 2003-04 title-winning Arsenal side that went undefeated in their domestic campaign. After moving to Barcelona in 2007, Henry claimed the treble in 2009, often utilized as a left-winger/forward alongside Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi.

But it is more than just the accolades that define Henry. He is arguably the most electrifying player to grace the Premier League. His technique, movement, acceleration, speed, strength, and goal-scoring abilities were second to none in England.

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/pdrez/thierrhenryarsenal.jpg

Starting out as a left-sided midfielder, Arsene Wenger converted the Frenchman to the center-forward, but Henry always drifted out wide left to collect the ball, and then proceeded to torch fullbacks and central defenders regularly. A 360 spin here, blinding pace there, Henry was a pleasure to watch every weekend. One wonders, if Abramovich and Mourinho hadn’t arrived in England, how many more titles could Henry have won with the Gunners?

At 32 and turning 33 in August, does Henry have much left in the tank? He should light this league on fire and be THE outstanding player. He has endured a rocky couple of years with both Barcelona, where he fell out of favor and was a regular on the bench last season, and France, after his infamous “Hand of Gaul” debacle and finding himself on the bench for the national team in their laughable World Cup campaign.

Still, there is no one remotely in the class of Thierry Henry in MLS when it comes to talent and skill, including Beckham. The dream scenario for MLS is a New York – Los Angeles final with Henry and Becks both fit. The two teams are both at or near the top of their respective conferences, so that dream final looks to be on once both superstars return to action.

These signings are critical for MLS’ growth, despite the negative “retirement” moniker they may receive from critics. Why? Take me for example. I went to see Beckham play here in New York (actually New Jersey), and now I will 100% be attending a Red Bulls game to see Henry play. These stars galvanize interest for nascent American soccer fans, MLS fans, and hardcore soccer fans like myself who largely ignore MLS and follow the European leagues. All in all, Henry’s signing is a big positive for the league.

Now, let’s watch a master of his craft in action. Sit back and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgPH6NGbnwk&feature=related

What are your thoughts on Henry’s move to America? Good for MLS, bad for MLS? Good for Henry, bad for Henry?

Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

I am fully aware that I am late to the why-England-were-eliminated-party here, but as I’ve pored over the litany of explanations on the web, I’ve found that there is an unfair discrepancy of player blame vs. manager blame.

Sure, the England stars appeared lackadaisical and short on ideas, but these are the same players that excel for their clubs under different systems than England’s, so blaming them can only go so far.

Somehow, Capello has failed to get the most out of his players, and that rests with the manager.

1.) Formation Was it written somewhere in his contract that Capello must employ the traditional English 4-4-2 in order to manage the national team?

As has been exhaustively written, Steven Gerrard is a waste playing in an unorthodox left-side midfielder position. When England was steamrolling through a relatively easy qualifying group, everything was rosy. But forcing arguably your country’s best midfielder out of position simply to conform to an outdated formation is naive at best, criminal at worst.

Rather than marginalize Gerrard’s talents, Capello should have built a system that showcases his abilities. Gerrard’s unique (at least for the English team) versatility has always been his downfall for the national team, yet one would think that since the FA shells out £6 million a year on the Italian “genius”, he would be able to figure out one simple notion: cater your formation to your best players, not the opposite and marginalize them.

It amazes me that fans and blog-writers can figure out that the system employed in South Africa should have seen Gerrard somewhere in the middle, yet Capello only did so when his God-send Gareth Barry was out injured (more on that later). The sad part is there are a multitude of ways in which to do execute this:

The above is just one example formation that Capello should have used in this tournament, but shockingly this was never fully implemented on a large scale by Capello nor his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson. In it, Lampard and Gerrard are utilized in formations for which they excel at club level (yes I know Gerrard had an off season this last campaign, but that could be attributed to injury and Rafa Benitez using him where? You guessed it, on the flank).

This is the primary system that Chelsea employed in the glory years of Mourinho, and the formation that Carlo Ancelotti reverted too after testing a midfield diamond. Manchester United has used it to great effect, with Sir Alex Ferguson realizing he lacked a second world-class striker to complement Rooney. Rooney went on to score 34 goals this past year for United, so it is hardly inconceivable that he would shine under such a system for England.

Because Capello was convinced that a Lampard-Gerrard central midfield pairing would not work (which barely anyone contests), Gareth Barry was always going to be in the starting XI as a holding player screening the back four. So why not allow both Lampard AND Gerrard to operate in their familiar positions?

For Lampard, the above system puts him right where he operates for Chelsea, allowing him freedom to attack the box with Barry behind, and positions Gerrard closer to Rooney where he needs to be because those two are the best England have on the ball. Gerrard could serve as a second striker in most attacking situations knowing that Lampard would carry out more defensive duties to help Barry if necessary.

Perhaps I am naive (also not inconceivable!), but does this not seem a formation that would get the best out of all the players on the field? It puts Joe Cole, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney in comfortable positions that mirror their club responsibilities

2.) Personnel

Heskey, Heskey, Heskey. I still am not convinced starting the big battering ram was a wise choice, and it would be hard to continue to argue such after this tournament. Short tournament campaigns like the World Cup require goals to win, and Heskey simply wastes a spot.

It is shocking to me that Capello would take a nomad footballer in the doldrums of his career and put him in the biggest show on Earth. Does he seriously think Emile Heskey is good enough to make his squad, let alone configure how he would use Wayne Rooney, England’s great hope, based on Heskey? It is complete crap. No one can sit there and look me in the face and say that Peter Crouch could not do as well as Heskey in opening up space for Rooney. Crouch provides more options than Heskey. He drops deep to open up space, he can play as a target man late in matches, and, oh wait, he actually scores goals (21 goals in 38 England matches to be exact)!

But Capello’s worst personnel decision was leaving Joe Cole to rot on the bench. England have almost no technically gifted footballers other than Cole, and Capello’s asinine decision to start an inexperienced (yet promising) James Milner over Joe Cole is indefensible. Why start yet another strong, direct type of player when pretty much the whole team is comprised of such guys? Cole brings much needed guile, style and creativity that, like John Terry famously pointed out, is one of few Englishmen that can actually open up defenses. Cole was the player of the 2006 World Cup for England, and was completely misjudged and misused by a stubborn and incorrect Fabio Capello.

3.) Man Management

While Sven-Goran Eriksson gave England the Baden-Baden WAG fiasco, Capello gave England boredom and a misplaced authoritarianism. Capello must have forgotten he is no longer a club coach, and while his attempts at Mussolini-esque autocratic rule throughout qualifying (where he sees the players once every so often) were met with enthusiasm by the British press, such attempts failed him once he had England for over a month where personalities can clash.

Granted, John Terry’s attempted “coup” was ill-advised, but it underscored the feelings of many England players at his managerial style. It highlighted that there was a major chasm between players and management, and perhaps severe lack of communication. The blame must rest with the manager for not having the full faith and confidence of the players. There was a lack of unity in the team, and while the players should never go blameless for such disharmony, the manager should be pointed at for not getting his messages across.

At the end of the day, the aforementioned three reasons are enough for Capello to be fired by the FA. He didn’t do his job. In fact, he did worse than the much-maligned Eriksson, who took his team to the quarterfinals in every major competition.

Capello comes off as a stubborn disciplinarian whose tactical acumen (at least at international level) was grossly overrated. While the players could have and should have played with more confidence and clarity, much of England’s failure was down to poor planning and poor managerial execution of solid game plans. In the Germany match, Capello played into their hands. He should have matched their formation with a similar one like above, and should have had Gerrard in a central role (where he excelled against the USA) throughout the tournament.

In the high-stakes world of international tournaments, if you underachieve as Capello has (especially at his exorbitant salary), you should get the sack. Perhaps it is time for England to go back to an English manager.

It is almost as if the FA concede that England are not good enough to win a World Cup without a foreign, tactical “genius.” Well, a Swede and an Italian have gotten them nowhere. Maybe it’s time to go back to square one.

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During his broadcast of the Italy-Paraguay match, Ian Darke, never shy in his observations of that match before him, made the astute observation that the Italian penalty area “must be a minefield” to the Paraguayans by the way they seemed to avoid it at all costs.

While Darke’s comment focused on Paraguay’s defensive “negativity,” that match was one of the many where we have seen teams exhibit solid approach play, only to loop a cross to row Q, fire a missile well over the bar, or fail to pick out a teammate in the box with a fairly simple pass. Italy could have and should have been up 2-0 by halftime, and they paid for failing at the end of their attacking moves by dropping two points in Group F.

Indeed, the final third has been where attacks go to die in this year’s World Cup.

In a very informative article in the Guardian, Rob Smyth details some telling statistics from this year’s World Cup. While most attempts by goalkeepers to assail a new ball are dismissed by the general sporting populace, perhaps criticisms of Jabulani aren’t so far off.

According to stats by Opta, just 1/3 (33.4%) of shots have been target, roughly a 10% lower accuracy rate than the Champions League and Premier League campaigns from last season. While Smyth concedes the World Cup sample is much smaller, if you are watching the game there is no doubt that you have been thoroughly disappointed with some of the finishing and crossing thus far. World-class players are skewing golden opportunities time and again.

But to blame a ball is a poor, poor excuse for professionals. They have had time to practice with the ball, and adjustments need to be made.

Another contributing factor is the changing nature of the game. As written in a previous post on this site, the game is more professional than ever, and as Jose Mourinho’s assault on Europe’s trophy cases attests to, if a team can remain tactically disciplined and organized, they can absorb pressure and employ a successful counter-attacking strategy.

The defensive organization of North Korea, Nigeria, and Switzerland have stifled the likes of Brazil, Argentina and Spain to a combined 3 goals in their opening matches. Inferior teams voluntarily concede possession knowing that a point in these early matches is far more important than trying to score goals against technically superior sides.

Most guilty of poor play in the last phase of an attack is Spain. As favorites, there is a massive world microscope on the Spanish. As expected, the Barcelona boys dominated possession and put together breathtaking attacks, only to see that final ball scuffed, not controlled properly, or missing the target. The Opta statistics show that Spain led the pack with an incredible 49 touches in the Swiss penalty box (17 more than Chile in second place), yielding exactly zero goals.

Just as Internazionale soaked up the pressure against Barcelona in this year’s Champions League semifinal, Switzerland defended like heroes and went route one. They got a scrappy, ugly goal to send the defending European champions into a shock from which they could not recover.

It has been argued that there have been minimal exciting goals because teams are more cautious in this opening round of fixtures, but that doesn’t sum it all up. There has been solid approach play by the likes of Italy, Ivory Coast (who should have beaten Portugal) and Brazil, but with no end product. Disappointment does not come from negative, defensive tactics across the pitch but rather positive, attacking tactics getting thrown out the window in the last third with shoddy passing and finishing.

Obviously, there are many contributing factors for why the final third has become a black hole so far, but the bottom line is that the attacking talents on the pitch simply need to step up their game. Whether it is pressure, defensive organization, or Jabulani, the play in and around the box has to improve if we are to get the goals we so crave.

As I write this, Argentina is putting a show on against South Korea, but their 2 goals so far have been an own goal and a soft goal from another set piece. Again, brilliant approach play, awkward finishing.

Who else is frustrated with play in the final third out there?

Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Ashley Cole. An illustrious lot, these world footballing stars would make the starting XI of just about every squad on the planet and are known from the Midwest to the Midlands.

Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Tim Howard. While making strides in European leagues, this bunch do not exactly strike fear in their opponents.

But when these players clash on Saturday in Rustenberg, South Africa, you can throw their disparate reputations out the window. This is 90 minutes of football, and to the victor go the spoils.

This is where on the pitch the match will be won or lost:

Michael Bradley vs. Frank Lampard:

Coming off of another monster season where he scored 27 goals in all competitions, Chelsea’s heartbeat Lampard can dictate matches with expert passing and positioning, or by thundering a lightning bolt goal from 30 yards out. Because the U.S. does not employ a holding midfielder in their 4-4-2 formation, Lampard will be difficult to contain.

Unless American coach Bob Bradley alters his regular formation, his son Michael will have to be extremely disciplined and restrained in linking up with the U.S. attack, and will have to help his midfield partner (most likely Ricardo Clark, Edu, or Jose Torres) in denying Lampard the space between midfield and defense that the English star is a master at exploiting. Bradley is America’s best central midfielder, displaying good composure on the pitch and a fine footballing IQ. Rarely caught out of position, he will have to play his finest match to give the U.S. a chance.

Bradley and his partner will have to keep tight on Lampard, denying him the space he needs to operate. If given space anywhere on the pitch, Lampard has the ability to pick out a defense-splitting pass or simply reversing the field with accurate long-range passing. When the Chelsea talisman gets the ball, an American must press him and knock him off his rhythm, and never allow him to create his own long-range blast which can turn a game on its head in a heartbeat.

Landon Donovan vs. Glen Johnson (or Ashley Cole):

This matchup is dependent on where Bob Bradley elects to start Donovan. The better matchup for the U.S. is for their star player to line up against Liverpool’s Glen Johnson, for the simple fact that Ashley Cole is better than Johnson. For all his attacking flair, Johnson is vulnerable in his defensive positioning, and the U.S. must exploit this when given the chance.

In his time at Everton, Donovan showed that he can be a serious threat when operating as a true, old-fashioned English winger: running at fullbacks and to the byline, keeping defenders on their heels. This is beneficial for two reason. One, Donovan can outmaneuver Johnson and get past him creating dangerous situations for the English defense. And two, keeping Johnson back in defense negates his ability to contribute to the attack, where he is most effective.

If Bradley elects to start Donovan on the right against Ashley Cole, the task is a much taller order. Cole is arguably the best left-back in the world who has made Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo look devastatingly ordinary. With an indefatigable style, Cole can stifle any winger defensively, and after the opposition avoids his flank, he can act as an auxiliary left-winger for the English attack, whipping in fine crosses for teammates to latch onto.

Oguchi Onyewu vs. Wayne Rooney:

The tallest task for the American team is stopping Wayne Rooney, and much of that will fall on the broad shoulders of Milan’s Onyewu. “Gooch” lacked playing time at Milan due in large part to injury, so having to face the English Player of the Year in his first match is not exactly ideal. Although Rooney has looked subdued since his April ankle injury at Bayern Munich, do not doubt that Wazza will bring his A game to South Africa.

And unfortunately for the U.S., that A game translates into a very tough England team. Stopping Rooney is out of the question, containing him is not, however. It will have to be a team effort, and not solely on Onyewu and central defensive partner Jay Demerit. Capable of dropping deep to dictate play, spreading the ball around with near Xavi-like precision on his day, playing off the shoulder of defenders and turning them with world-class acceleration, or simply bulldozing his way into the box to score, Rooney is a true all-around attacker. The man is simply on another footballing level than anyone in the American side.

So how do Onyewu and co contain him?

Perhaps the best remedy, as Jay Demerit has publicly suggested, is to wind Rooney up, to get in his head to the point that he pulls one of his vintage meltdowns. That means coming in hard on the tackle, give him zero space, and get physical at every opportunity. Because if Rooney is allowed to meander about the pitch and control the match with nary a frustrating challenge, he could single-handedly win the game.

While there are many more intriguing matchups across the pitch, these three should be the most pivotal. The team that wins these encounters will win the match.

What other matchups do you consider key to the outcome of this much-anticipated match?  Leave your thoughts below.