Raphael Honigstein summarizes one of the more entertaining winter breaks in Bundesliga history.
Zonal Marking’s Michael Cox slums it over at ESPN Soccernet — their message boards read like the muppet show — by running his tactics ruler over Villarreal, the Yellow Submarine which has resurfaced in La Liga’s Champions League places.
The Swiss Ramble returns with [...]

Friday
For those of you who had November 26 in the pool for the first “Wenger out” column, congratulations as Matthew Norman has penned the “time to go” piece for the Arsenal manager.
Let’s see. Two points adrift of the league leaders and needing a result against a winless side in order to qualify for the Champions [...]

The World Cup is less than a week away and today we preview groups E through H. Teams are listed in predicted order of finish in group.

1. Brazil- The Selecao come into this tournament as favorites for many pundits and fans alike. Dunga, a former World Cup winner, is the Brazilian manager and has [...]

Alan Hansen worries Wayne Rooney’s heavy lifting for United could have a draining effect on his performances for England.
Rooney has raised his game to another level with Ronaldo’s departure. Having said that, suggesting he has surpassed what Drogba and Torres do for their respective clubs based on knocking four past Hull City at home is [...]

Paolo Bandini sees Juventus supporters enflamed by the defeat to Milan.
Crazy, crazy times in Turin, where some rumours have Guus Hiddink as Ferrera’s successor.
Oliver Kay reports on the Glazers’ attempt to refinance their debt.
What this suggests is Sir Alex Ferguson’s spending power might be curbed, at least for the short term, despite the swag from [...]

Matt Hughes submits Emile Heskey for Arsene Wenger’s consideration in the Arsenal striker sweepstakes.
First off, top marks for Hughes looking well beyond the stale, recycled conventional wisdom during transfer windows. And his case for Heskey is a pretty strong one. He would be reasonably cheap and could serve as a false nine in the 4-3-3 [...]

The ever-excellent Jonathan Wilson questions the impact of television on football’s development.
Wilson probes much deeper than normal here, going well beyond the normal criticisms of television’s stultifying impact, whether it is the lazy narratives constructed by commentators based on cliches, stereotypes and gossip. A must read for anybody interested in the sport.
There’s a lot of [...]

This will be the last issue of links until the New Year as I’m escaping the grey skies and eight-hour days of northeastern Alberta for a little sun and cerveza in Porto Vallerta. Merry Christmas to the readers and correspondents of this blog. I promise I’ll be back in 2010 and I hope you’ll continue [...]

Jonathan Pearce doesn’t see history repeating itself at Pompey.
As I mentioned yesterday, it’s funny how English punditry reads like a typical James Bond movie as the villains are inevitably exotic foreigners. Good old ‘arry, by the way, is the hero of this piece, the inspirational leader that help conjure the Great Escape of 2006, rather [...]

After yesterday’s famine, today provides a feast of interesting commentaries and stories from around the blogosphere.
Alister McGowan talks with Alan Hansen to measure the effect of the African Cup of Nations on Premier League clubs.
Looking at Chelsea’s January program, you’d think they’d be able to cope without Drogba, Essien, et al for that stretch. Then [...]