Stoke played as they always play and Chelsea's new manager, whilst dealing with it reasonably well, was simply surprised just how rough it was out on the pitch for his players. I think a point away at Stoke in the first game of the season is perfectly OK, especially as many top sides will come away from the Britannia with nothing. I don't think Stoke play great football but that's for the opposition to deal with and find a way to counter it. For the record, I don't think any of the supposed penalty score shouts were justified, that's just the replay addicted press trying stir things up a bit. The ref gave nothing, to either side, and that's an end to it.

It is another one to add to the 'Stoke are too rough' whining manager group. Shall we instead discuss Lampard blatant dive, Terry's persistent Whining at the ref and a totally ineffective front line worth millions. Great result for Stoke, we are going in the right direction, on that display, Chelsea have a lot of ground to make up. No inventiveness by Lampard and company in the midfield. Oh how they could do with a home grown youngster like Cleverly. At least Lampard will be able to concentrate on trying to prolong his Chelsea career now that his inclusion in the England team has disappeared. Modric won't stand a chance either in that team of old-fellows. Interesting negativity espoused against people from other countries. The Football Premier League is the best of the best. And most players want to play in the EPL. In the EPL, anyone in the top 10 has a chance as demonstrated today by Stoke's side. Unlike most other league's(La Liga, Serie A) in which there are only two sides and the other 18 football teams left. In the first half it was some hard play, Stoke just couldn't keep up in the second, with an unfortunate injury to one of their best players. With most of the action coming in the second half, Chelsea still had trouble finding the net, and not due to lack of trying, but in reality Stoke's keeper showed up and showed up nicely tipping Mikel's and Anelka's above the bar, with many other good hands holding onto hard shots. Unfortunately Stoke's side did play dirty in the other box and show dramatically how they usually succeed in set plays, because of their constant attempt of blocking and pulling down the opposing side's keeper. I was constantly dismayed at these deliberate attempts, and there should have been some intense elbows to the ribs to these lackey players since the ref today seemed to run up and down the field with his eyes closed, but Cech is a gentleman it seems, and was able to deal with it with good backing from his side. It was a disappointment to drop 2 points, but it seems as if the start of the EPL showed how this will be an exciting season with most teams showing up with good performances. Maybe some says that Stoke City should leave the Premiership and join a rugby league, where their style of play would be better suited. It couldn't believe the amount of shirt pulling and pushing and shoving their defenders get up to. Huth was the worst offender. How anyone can pay to watch them play I don't know. Pulis the manager wants shooting. No doubt that they can rely on Mr Pulis to join those two outstanding members from the League of Gentlemen, Messers Barton and Pardow in stating this foreign practise must be firmly and emphatically stamped on before it effects further upright Englishmen like Mr Rooney & Mr Gerrard

When the creation of a football season deadline for player transfers was announced by UEFA a number of years ago, very few could have forecast the levels of excitement that would be created and the annual event it has swiftly become. The more cynical amongst you could perhaps now suggest it was a policy orchestrated by satellite television, such is the hype and sheer hysteria produced in the build-up to, and during, August 31st each year.

However it is not just about television and that, in part, is what makes it such a success. Fans can become involved, whether it’s just listening out for a mention of their team, or by interacting with news sources to try and claim an exclusive. BBC Sport’s website quickly latched onto this roller-coaster of a day a few years ago with a live text commentary running throughout and have embraced fans interaction by publishing selected comments from readers’ texts, emails and now tweets.  They are just as likely to publish a quote from Rob in Hemel Hempstead who apparently “has a mate, whose cousin’s girlfriend works at a Spanish airport and has just seen Lionel Messi getting on a private plane to Newcastle”, as they are to quote a BBC journalist with an inside line or a fan who is camped outside their club’s offices watching new players arrive. You have to pick and choose the ones you believe.

Despite numerous false stories, football social media really came into its own this year. In previous years an avid fan might watch Sky Sports News, whilst flicking between three or four news websites scanning for fresh stories on a possible transfer that the others haven’t picked up on. This year, with the sheer volume of sources now on football social media, one could simply refresh their timeline all day and get updates from any number of BBC journalists, Sky reporters, the written media and even the players themselves. When you see “Sky Sources claim” on their coverage you can be fairly sure that the source is somewhere on football social media. football social media sources were the first to break the story that Mikel Arteta’s move to Arsenal was back on (Sky were on an adverts break at the time) and first to confirm a number of players turning up for medicals or contract discussions. Most of the day’s high-profile transfers were presented first on football social media. The players also got involved, confirming and dispelling a number of rumours. Amongst others, Yossi Benayoun tweeted that he was in London and Anton Ferdinand gave the most direct update possible on his transfer to QPR (see below).

In some ways, journalism has become markedly easier thanks to football social media, with a constant source of opinion and reaction from fans, players, staff and officials alike giving sufficient content for any commentary or article. The problem is that rumours started without any foundation become fact before you know what has happened. Scanning down my timeline on Wednesday morning I saw this tweet from fellow City fan @Barnzy_BCFC: “Hearing rumours of Ryan Bertrand going to Bristol City on a season long loan”. This was picked up by the BBC and printed on the website as a rumour. As we all now know, nothing came of it.  However, lo and behold in the next morning’s Sun newspaper, it was there in print: “Bristol City: Ryan Bertrand, season-long loan”.

©Exiled-Robin

The football player Landon Donovan scores late in the first half against Colorado for his 12th goal of the season. What has been assumed for months finally became official Friday: The Galaxy is going to the MLS playoffs. With Landon Donovan scoring the only goal late in the first half, the Galaxy beat the defending MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids, 1-0, at the Home Depot Center, becoming the first team to claim a spot in the 10-team postseason field.

And while that might be something worth celebrating in most places, Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena all but pretended not to notice. They think they should be able to make the playoffs every year. Which isn't to say the Galaxy has nothing left to play for. There's the Supporters' Shield and home-field advantage in the live playoffs, both of which go to the team that finishes with the best regular-season record. The Galaxy, with 55 points, has a seven-point lead over Seattle with six matches left. The most important things for them right now are certainly to protect themselves in terms of home field in the playoffs. This means that they need to win games. Those are the things that they're focused on.

They're also focused on trying to get through the next three weeks without injury or undue fatigue. Between the MLS schedule and CONCACAF Football Champions League play, the Galaxy won't have anything longer than a three-day break in mid October, two weeks before the playoffs begin. They have a number of players that can help the football team and have not played a whole lot to date. Obviously they're going to be counting on them over the next month. The Galaxy began working on that rotation Friday, giving defender Bryan Jordan and forward Paolo Cardozo their first starts in more than two months while welcoming keeper Donovan Ricketts back after a 10-week absence caused by a broken bone in his left forearm. But that did little to slow the Galaxy, who outshot the Rapids with an impressive 12-2 live score, in the first half yet had just a goal to show for it. That football livescore came in the 36th minute after Chad Barrett rolled a centering pass to Sean Franklin, who drew two defenders toward him before dumping the ball off to Donovan, unmarked at the top of the 18-yard box on the left wing. From there Donovan had no trouble beating Colorado keeper Matt Pickens and tying New York's Thierry Henry atop the MLS scoring table with 12 goals apiece.

The Galaxy, whose passes were cleaner and whose possessions were crisper than Colorado's all night, continued to toy with the Rapids in the second half, though its inability to score finish no doubt troubled football Arena. And it almost cost the Galaxy when Wells Thompson beat Ricketts on a rebound shortly after the intermission. But Thompson was clearly offside and the goal was waved off, preserving the Galaxy's 14th shutout in 28 matches. That was a very good win for their team. To win the MLS Cup they must have to be in the playoffs. And they're in the playoffs right now.

©Kevin-Baxter@Los-Angeles-Times 

As promising as England were in defeating Bulgaria, the performance in Sofia should not be viewed as the moment that time ran out on the international stage for Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand. It was undoubtedly an encouraging display by Fabio Capello’s team, but the positives of the performance must be tempered by the quality of the opposition. Bulgaria football team were as bad as we have seen in a long time, they even made Arsenal look good! Similarly, if England put four past Wales at Wembley on Tuesday night to secure another emphatic victory, the reality will be that they are facing a team ranked 117th in the world rankings.

Until the team that played in Sofia comes up against an opponent of genuine international pedigree, the quiet optimism generated by Friday’s score victory cannot be truly tested and quantified. Which is why it is totally premature to suggest it is all over for Lampard, Gerrard and Ferdinand with England. It is all well and good to say that Capello should now be ruthless and turn instead to the likes of Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill and Stewart Downing, who all did well against Bulgaria. You also have Jack Wilshere, who is a fabulous football player, and the likes of Phil Jones coming through to challenge for selection. But what if Gerrard and Ferdinand come back from injury and return to their best form with Liverpool and Manchester United respectively? The same goes with Lampard at Chelsea. Once you get past 30 years old, as a footballer, you are on a downward trend, but certainly not finished by any means.

Those players cannot run like they did as 25 year-olds, but they learn to adapt and adjust their game and their experience ensures that they still have lots to contribute. You don’t ditch players halfway through a qualifying campaign simply because some younger players have done well against a team of no-marks. That is nothing more than sweeping everything under the carpet. Capello knows that a manager can only be ruthless with that type of player when he is no longer of any use and I don’t see that applying to Lampard, Gerrard or Ferdinand. Their circumstances have changed, however. In the past, they would have been in that group of players who had to play if they were playing for their clubs and score a lot. That situation has evolved now, though, to the point whereby they have to be playing and also 100 per cent fit to be selected. Eighteen months ago, if Ferdinand was able to stand up, he had to play, but now he has to prove his reliability to Capello by playing on a regular basis with United. But when he is fit and performing, Ferdinand is a player who cannot be overlooked. None of the players who stepped in for Ferdinand, Lampard and Gerrard in Bulgaria can be classed as certainties to start games at Euro Football 2012 if England go on to qualify. Take Smalling. He has been brilliant for United and he was great against Bulgaria, but can we say he will be in the England team next summer? No. Cahill? Yes, he was promising in Sofia, but he is still at Bolton, so he is another ‘maybe.’ Ashley Young and Downing have also started the season well for new clubs, but again, you would not say at this stage that they are guaranteed starters next summer. Scott Parker has done extremely well in his last two internationals, but Scott is no youngster. He is in his early-30s, so proves that age and experience is not necessarily a bad thing.

The only outfield players I would suggest are in that category are Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole and neither of those can be classed as emerging youngsters. Suggesting that Capello should copy Germany’s lead in the build-up to the last World Cup by promoting youth at the expense of the old guard is too simplistic. For a start, you have to remember that Germany did not go on to win the World Cup. They did better than England, but we cannot forget how bad England were in South Africa. And if the major factor behind England’s poor score tournament was because players were tired after a long, hard season, then the only certainty is that Capello’s squad will travel to Poland and Ukraine having had another long, hard season. That is English football. The big clubs will once again challenge on four fronts and the physically effects of that will tell on the players involved. But there were positives out of the Bulgaria that offer signs of encouragement.

The system deployed by Capello, of two holding midfielders behind four attack-minded players, worked well and offered tremendous balance, especially with the pace and movement of the front score players. When the likes of Wilshere are fit for selection, then Capello has a problem in terms of accommodating him, but that is a good thing because you are having to think about finding room for a top-class player. But one thing for certain is that nobody should use games against Bulgaria or Wales as a reliable gauge to assess whether the younger players are ready for top-level international football.

The "underdog" football team Venezuela is keyed up to test their strength against Lionel Messi who led Argentina here on Friday ahead of the football World Cup qualifiers between the two sides Octomber 14. Venezuelan head coach Cesar Farias underlined the importance of the FIFA official international friendly stating that a high profile opponent like Argentina always intensified the desire to perform with a lot of live score.

A game like this involves lot of prestige. That makes it important. This friendly match is not a friendly for us. Everytime you play against Argentina, you want to see the team in very good form. We will play the game on Friday with the intention to have many live score and win because we intend to use the game for preparation. This is an opportunity to check where the team stands before our Oct 14 qualifier. The Venezuelans finished as the surprise pack in the recent Copa America tourney, where they took the fourth spot and even beat formidable Brazil. We are traditionally known as the Cinderella team back in South America. But now the scenario has changed. Our football is growing at a good pace. The 38-year-old Farias said his team would pay attention to the strengths of star-studded Argentina, but emphasised that football was more a team agame than one of individual heroics. He also cautioned Argentina - world number nine team - that they should also be worried of the class of Venezuelans.

Who can't hide the fact that Messi is a great player? But football is a team game, that is why we have been working to be a cohesive unit. We have our attention on the strengths of Argentina. But we are focussing more on our strengths and scoring live score at the Argentinian's goal. And yes, they do have to worry about the Argentine players, but they also have to worry about our Nicholas Fedor, Jose Salomon Rondon and Hector Gonzalez. While the Argentines seemed a bit apprehensive about the Salt Lake stadium's artificial turf on which they have never played. They have played on artificial turfs before but no so many live score in games history. They did play Colombia in New York seven months back and Mexico too on artificial turf. So it won't be a problem. Farias is expecting a good and entertaining match on Friday. The match will be a good one and enjoyable for those who turn up in numbers on Friday.

Farias has retained his job since 2007, very unlike other Latin American coaches who are sacked after every poor performance. Coaches of football teams always keep their luggage outside the door. The deal is unless you show results, you can't continue. Fortunately we had good results the four years this coaching team has been in the job. Correct behaviour allowed us to retain our place and took straight our live score to high level.