The Next Coach At Real Madrid?
La Liga Weekly — Roberto Mancini Warhol Design Now, I've gone on record that the best man for the job at Madrid is sitting on the bench as we speak. I've been there. I've known what it feels like when the boss wants you out and no matter what you do, the people around you make it increasingly difficult for you to continue. The zone of no-confidence hits. The one where the middle manager chimes in and says, "they have every confidence that he's is doing a good job", but in all actuality they have no confidence in you at all, and they're lining up your replacement. Dead man walking, that's M. Pellegrini. He has two shots at retaining his company car, the office and the white ...

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Dirty Tackle — All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle… Outrage over Wayne Rooney’s use of wussy hand covers in the Champions League. [Channelbee] Chelsea consider selling the naming rights to Stamford Bridge. And I consider crying. [Sky Sports] Sven Goran Eriksson acts like a weirdo (unsurprisingly) in a new Kleenex commercial. [YouTube] Stevie Gerrard was devestated when Xabi left Liverpool. [Kickette] Manchester United to pay full cost of repairs for the fan rampage that followed their Carling Cup tie at Barnsley. ...

VIDEO: Sven does Kleenex ad
The Beautiful Game — This kind of makes up for the lack of Special1 TV...

Good times with Football Manager, eleven famous beards and Sven gets an acting role
The Spoiler — Also appearing on a computer near you… Sven stars in a Kleenex ad Reminiscing on the Championship/Football Manager series [Guardian] Arsenal scouts hid in trees to get a look at Vermaelen [Off The Post] Football’s greatest bearded footballers [Interestment] Patrick Vieira (not even the best midfielder on Inter’s bench) demands to be recognised as the best midfielder in France [Goal.com] Arsenal weighing up an £18m punt on winger Milos Krasic [Caught Offside] 1 ...

Tax Hikes Coming, Is A Strike Next In La Liga?
La Liga Weekly — La Liga revenue up in smoke Have you noticed how some of the best players in the world, playing in England Javier Mascherano of Liverpool, Robinho at Manchester City and even Andrei Arshavin who had barely even finalized his transfer to Arsenal himself, have all been casting their eyes at Spain? Barcelona was the common denominator in each of their longings, but Real Madrid has its own suitors: Xabi Alonso, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Karim Benzema. Well, it's because of a Spanish government tax break that until recently gave foreign-born players who were signed by Spanish clubs a tax break on their earnings from the projected 43% of earnings over 600,000 euros to ...

OGN RealMadridTalk Podcast VII
La Liga Weekly — OGN Soccer Podcast at itunes and laligaweekly This episode Adam and I discuss El Derbi, Atletico Madrid Vs Real Madrid - Matchday 10 - La Liga | 07/11/2009 - 22:00 CET | Vicente Calderon. If you wish to download the OGN/La Liga Weekly Minute+10 podcast and listen later, right click the audio icon -> right click and save and save or subscribe to iTunes to get the latest episodes.

Madrid Derby Ditto: Atleti 2-3 Real Madrid
La Liga Weekly — It's an interesting story the Madrid derby. Madrid scores often, and early, an opportunistic goal by Kaka from distance, 2-0 to Marcelo of all people, and a little after half-time it was already 3-0 when Pipita Higuain, ransacked through the Atleti defense for a deft shot in the box. Quique-Sanchez Flores responds by calling on his best player, the injured Kun Aguero, who promptly, finally starts exposing the fatal flaws in the Real Madrid defense. The are half-a-team, the merengues are, and if Atleti had another half to spare, they might have made it interesting, but we have to remember that this is Atleti. As Sid Lowe in the Guardian wrote today, That is a ...

Copa del Rey: Real Madrid 1-4 Alcorcon
La Liga Weekly — Despite winning on the night from a late Rafael Van der Vaart goal in the 81st minute, Alcorcon beat los merengues on aggregate and go through. For the second year in a row Real Madrid are beaten by a much lesser team in the Copa del Rey and the humiliation of that defeat carried an ominous tone heard from the depths of the Santiago Bernabeu. "Pellegrini, dimite" or Pellegrini, quit. Pellegrini, must go . It's simple, reactionary stupidity. A team isn't built in a day even if you can afford to buy one in a day. They haven't had enough time to settle themselves and they barely know how to play with each other. Their best player is on an injury walkabout that started ...

Video Highlights: Matchday 10 La Liga España
La Liga Weekly — the laligaweekly.com La Liga highlights widget Rápido! check out these goal highlights from La Liga including one more defeat for Atletico at the feet of crosstown rivals Los Blancos

Guti, Gone Gone
La Liga Weekly — Real Madrid's José María Gutiérrez Hernández or simply Guti José María Gutiérrez Hernández, Guti for short, met with Jorge Valdano for lunch yesterday and notified the Real Madrid boss-man that there was interest from Inter Milan, that he'd like to leave in January, there are no hard feelings and no there's nothing to the rumors that he and Manuel Pellegrini aren't getting along. It's just time to move on apparently. He's sick of the speculation and the lies being printed in the press. Don't believe him. It's all an act. It's sad really. At his best, he's a phenomenal talent, one of the last real fantasistas around, and if he had been able to grow up and ...

Jesus Navas gets a call up
La Liga Weekly — Jesus Navas, 24 year old winger from Sevilla, Andalusia, has finally made the call for Spain. La Furia Roja has been on his radar for years now, since becoming a first-choice selection for Joaquin Caparros, Juande Ramos and now Manolo Jimenez. Through it all the proud Andalusian played his way through a debilitating illness. Homesickness. You laugh, I know, I was there too, but it's more than just a general yearning for home for Navas. These are severe, lengthy panic attacks that hit when he least expects it, causing depression and even seizures, whenever he leaves Seville. He couldn't join La Furia Roja on a tour of the United States because he couldn't even leave ...

OGN RealMadridTalk Podcast VIII
La Liga Weekly — OGN podcast at laligaweekly.com Topic of the day, Ronaldo's recovery, Guti's displeasure and Pelligrini's muscle flexing. Join Kevin, Adam, Corey and Mark as they discussion everything Real Madrid during International week. If you wish to download the OGN/RealMadrid podcast and listen later, right click the audio icon -> right click and save and save or subscribe to iTunes to get the latest episodes.

ESPAÑA-ARGENTINA: International Friendly
La Liga Weekly — Looks like today's friendly between Diego Maradona's albiceleste and La Furia Roja will be taking place at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid today. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has Iker Casillas in goal as expected. In defense, he placed Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos on the right, the Barca duo Carles Puyol, and Gerard Piqué in the middle, and Villareal's Joan Capdevila rounding it out. Xabi Alonso will play the holding role just in front, and as expected, Xavi and Iniesta will partner to duplicate their roles for club and country. David Silva will likely play on the left of them, but rather than bring in Alvaro Negredo to partner David Villa up top, del Bosque has ...