There have been a recent prevalence of rumours in the French press, written with a sense of genuine conviction, that Karim Benzema was offered to Marseille on transfer deadline day on a seasons long loan deal. Despite Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho continuously complaining all summer about his lack of options in the centre forward position – his options are limited to Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema, perhaps Cristiano Ronaldo, traditionally a player who prefers attacking from a wide position, on occasion too – the Spanish club were still prepared to let Benzema leave. At the same moment that Benzema was being offered to Marseille, who ended up signing Andre-Pierre Gignac instead, Real Madrid were preparing a last minute offer for Marco Borriello, then of AC Milan, who instead ended up moving to Roma.

The reason this web of deals failed to materialise was because Karim Benzema refused to return to France, specifically to Marseille, rivals of his boyhood club Lyon. Benzema was insistent on staying, saying, seemingly, that he still had to prove himself at Los Blancos and even if he were going to leave it would never be for Marseille. Jose Mourinho, however, has made a point to the player. On first impressions, he is not wanted, and if he is going to establish himself in the side he needs to improve drastically. If he doesn’t Real Madrid will again entertain offers in January, when the European transfer window reopens. This has now led to suggestions in the British newspapers that Manchester United and Liverpool will battle it out in the new year for the young Frenchman, hopeful of signing a player for close to £18 million who only twelve months ago cost Real Madrid almost £30 million.

It would represent a coup for either side those as of this very moment any such move appears altogether unlikely. Manchester United have a surplus of strikers, even sending two, Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf, out on loan for the season. The Red Devils will also reason that a move for Benzema might not even be necessary on the grounds that the club already has a striker on its books of a very similar fashion, the young Federico Macheda. In Liverpool’s case the reason for a move appearing unlikely is far more simple. Liverpool are clearly short of cash, despite selling Mascherano, and the current board are still looking for new owners to takeover. Should a takeover happen by January, however, a move for Benzema might be a method of appealing, and even appeasing, the Liverpool fans. Financially, it would also be a wise move. Benzema is evidently capable and still young enough to warrant a decent resale value should the move not turn out as hoped. Between now and January, however, Karim Benzema will be trying to establish himself at the Santiago Bernabeu and prove to his coach, Jose Mourinho, that his initial impression of him was wrong.

Just like the Neil Diamond hit song, FIFA officials are coming to America. Actually, they already arrived last night in New York City. And following a welcoming reception in the city that never sleeps, today they will visit three local sights considered for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup including the Javits Center which is a convention center proposed as the war room for either or both the qualifying and final World Cup draw. Then they will visit two of the newest venues in the States including Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey (a stadium considered as a training camp) and the New Meadowlands Stadium which is set to have it’s first NFL game later this week. The group will then head to Washington D.C. where they will visit George Mason University (another proposed practice facility).

All together the committee will visit 5 of the 18 desired World Cup destinations in America and Wednesday the FIFA officials will begin their day in Washington at the most famous phallic monument in the world, the Washington Monument, where the committee is expected to be greeted by a fan fare then the group will fly down south to Miami where they will visit one of the most overrated stadiums in the states of Sun Life Stadium. Then they will visit the Miami Beach Convention Center which is another site competing with the Javits Center for the final draw selection ceremony.

On Thursday, the committee will mess with Texas where they will visit the Dallas Convention Center (the third potential place for a final group draw) then they will travel to Houston where they will visit the Texan’s Reliant Stadium and yet another convention center. I am not sure if the new monstrosity in Dallas that Jerry Jones built is on the agenda, but I cannt imagine why it would not be considering it is one of the largest and newest state of the art stadiums recently built. I also found it strange that the committee would visit Miami without stopping through the Tampa Bay area considering Raymond James Stadium is a popular soccer site for the U.S. national team and a much nicer stadium then Sun Life in Miami.

But with the majority of the officials hailing from Europe and the fact that the U.S.A. recently hosted the World Cup in the 1990′s, it will likely be a European team that is graced with the honor in 2018. England, Spain-Portugal, and Belgium-Netherlands remain the top three candidates in the European area. 

photo credit: Phil Guest

Former U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena recently claimed that the U.S. Soccer Federation deserves much of the blame for the scrutiny that current national team coach Bob Bradley received in recent months for his potential dismissal from the country’s post. Arena believes that the organization needed to support their current coach more then they did and he also was quite critical of the officials for interviewing former German national team coach Juergen Klinsmann while they were still dealing with Bradley.

Bradley re-signed with the squad on another four year contract last week, but was reportedily interested in a few coaching vacancies in the EPL this season. But Arena believes that the U.S. Soccer Federation waited too long to make a new deal with their current manager and he believes that interviewing a foreign-born coach for the position was insulting to the American-born manager.

Arena fumed the following statement to a Yahoo! Sports journalist:

That criticism comes if you are not given the right support from top to bottom. You need to support your guy and that comes from the top. When that support is not there it brings questions. Whether you like the decision or not, England said ‘Fabio Capello is our guy’ and didn’t deviate from it.

And I can’t really agree with anything that Arena is saying here. First off, you sign a contract for a reason. The reason why you sign the dotted line is because your obligation to the squad lasts exactly that long. The U.S. Soccer Federation has every right to consider new candidates once their current manager’s deal runs out much like the owner of a league team has every right to bring in new talent at the start of a new season for a workout with their club. And considering that Bradley desired interviews with EPL squads that were interested in his services, I’d say the coach deserves the same right to consider his other options at the end of the deal as well.

Waiting to re-sign Bradley should not be considered a fault of the U.S. Soccer Federations, but is simply a formality to the business aspect of sports management. The organization has every right to test whatever waters they want to and once Bradley is no longer employed to be the national team coach he deserves every right to interview for any job that he is invited to interview for. But claiming that interviewing Klinnsmann or bidding their time is a disservice to Bradley’s reputation is ridiculous because the Federation has every right to do exactly that from a business perspective.

I also find the England example to be poorly used considering the FA did a similar disservice to Capello by announcing that they needed some time to consider bringing the Italian-born coach back following their disappointing early exit from the Cup. England did not immediately support their coach like Arena claims (Capello was still under contract too mind you), but instead suggested they needed time to consider their squad’s future. Although the FA never interviewed any other potential replacement or waited over two months to make a decision, it is still the organization’s prerogative to consider a replacement following the event.

But it appears Arena has some real issues with the idea of a foreign-born coach managing the Yanks and the former national team coach and current manager of the LA Galaxy made sure to let everyone know where he stands on the issue of a foreign-born coach potentially taking over the Stars and Stripes squad:    

And I will say until I am on my death bed, the USA should be coached by an American coach. Bob Bradley is the right guy. The worrying thing is that again I think we came close to throwing big money at a foreign coach and I think it would have been a mistake. You need an American coach. You save some money, a lot of money, and you get someone who understands the American way. This country, and soccer in this country, is different to anywhere else. Our players don’t suddenly get better with a foreign coach. They don’t suddenly become Superman. It is a bunch of crap to think otherwise.

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France and new coach Laurent Blanc were unsuccessful in their debut match of the European 2012 qualifiers. And Les Bleus new era under the successful former World Cup winning footballer would begin much like their dismal effort this summer in South Africa. With a shock loss.

And considering the fact that the former elite football squad would have the home field advantage factor working in their favor along with the fact that they were playing against lowly Belarus, I think it is safe to say that the result was extremely disappointing for the frustrated club. The final score of the match was 1-0 and the new French coach did express that he felt his side outplayed the victors, but at the end of the day the only result that matters is the one on the scoreboard.

And several factors can be blamed on the loss including the aftermath effects of that frustrating World Cup effort (or lack of) this summer that saw four star players suspended for insubordination including Chelsea man Anelka’s 18 match ban from the French side. And considering the fact that several other players were overlooked by the squad due to their negative involvement in the scenario, France entered the match with a starting eleven far removed from their most talented group and the new cast of players simply could not put together the necessary winning formula.

And it is hard to blame Blanc considering he is trying to set the tone for the squad and trying to send a message to the mutinous crew of egomaniacs that put a damper on this summer’s event, but setting such a moral standard has also jeorpardized the coach’s shot of advancing to Euro 2012. It’s a tough scenario because you have to respect the fact that Blanc is trying to set a moral standard for the squad, but on the other hand the coach was put in this position to win matches and losing to Belarus doesn’t exactly scream confidence.

The one bit of good news for the nation this week was that the FFF officially parted ways with former boss Raymond Domenech who was still a member of the group’s technical advisary board. The FFF supposedly fired the former coach because of “three grave errors” that were made this summer. The first was the handling of the Anelka situation, the second was the aftermath of the incident that saw the entire team protest and refuse to practice, and the final was the coach’s refusal to shake hands with South Africa’s coach Carlos Alberto Parreira following their final match of the event.           

photo credit: kosabe

Roma defender John Arne Riise recently revealed his next dream destination and it wasn’t to an expected destination like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Manchester United, or even big spending Manchester City.

The former Liverpool man desires a move to America and the MLS when his time is up in Serie A.

The ginger defender, who conviently played for a club called the Reds a few years back, recently told Vg Nett publication that his next planned move would be across the pond to the States in a few years and the Norwegian left back revealed that he has desired the move abroad for quite some time now:  

We will talk about my contract with Roma again at some point in September. I think the monetary issue and the length of the deal will be a formality. In my future I see myself playing for Roma for a few more years and then heading to the United States. I really want to play in the USA, it is a dream I have had for a long time.

And at twenty nine years of age, Riise is slightly younger then most of the European players that desire such a move to the American league and considering the fact that the defender has ten years of top level experience (between Liverpool and Roma), I would say that he is the perfect candidate to join such an ambitious league.

Riise also admitted that he did have a team in mind to move to and the choice should not be a shocker considering the destination is one of the most popular and well known globally to the world of football. Riise declared keen interest in playing defense for a club that once had a well known American ginger defender. The squad is of course the La Galaxy:  

I have not thought about a club yet, but where David Beckham is playing seems like a nice place to live.

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Former Fulham forward and current member of the MLS Chicago Fire Brian McBride is set to retire at the end of the 2010 MLS season.

And the former USA national team star is considered one of the best Americans to ever play the game and is currently in third place all time for career goals for the national team side. McBride’s career has been long and illustrious and the former Columbus man has scored 78 goals and 51 assists in his 11 year MLS career with Chicago and Columbus and the forward also still shares the Crew joint record for total goals scored along with Jeff Cunningham.

And it is fitting that McBride will be hanging up the boots at the age of 38 years old. After all he is one of the few players playing in the league today that was alive when Richard Nixon was still in office before the Watergate scandal. McBride will always be remembered as a hard working fan favorite whose best years were likely with Premier League side Fulham where the forward scored 40 career goals in 153 appearances with the side and was honored with the team’s Player of the Year Award two times in his career in 2005 and 2006.

And the forward was so popular with the English side that Fulham named a stadium bar after him when he left the squad to rejoin the MLS in 2008. McBride is considered one of the best MLS players to ever play for the league and was the first pick in the MLS Inaugural Draft for Columbus. The former Hamburg and Everton man (on loan) also was honored as one of the MLS All Time Best XI recently and will be greatly missed as a footballer by American fans and English fans alike.

And like I said before Fulham named a bar after him and in my opinion that is way better then a statue outside of the stadium anyway. 

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The French national team will begin their quest for Euro 2012 today under a new coach who hopes to create a new era of football for the beleaguered sports nation from this summer. The team recently was visited by Zinedine Zidane and a few other teammates on the successful 1998 World Cup title winning team during training and the famous midfielder along with a few other past legends stressed the importance for the squad to start anew under the leadership of their former national team teammate and current manger Laurent Blanc.

Zidane believes that the squad can achieve extraordinary things under Blanc and stressed that the former defender was the right man for the job considering his past success as a national team player:

Laurent is the right man for the job because of his experience and the player he was. Because the team is starting from scratch, they can do some extraordinary things together.

And Blanc will truly have to start from scratch considering the suspension of four of the team’s key players heading into the World Cup this summer. Nicolas Anelka of course received an 18 match ban that left the Chelsea man laughing at the FFF and his time as a national team representative is over following his profanity-laced tirade directed at former coach Raymond Domenech this summer. Former captain Patrice Evra and Franck Ribery are both still awaiting the end of their suspensions as well. Evra was suspended five matches and Ribery three. Jeremy Toulahan was the only other suspended player from this summer’s antics and the footballer has already served his one game suspension, but was not selected for the upcoming match against Belarus anyway.

Blanc will likely be without forgotten forward this summer Karim Benzema as well due to the Real Madrid man experiencing a brief injury earlier in the week, so several fresh faces will be seen in today’s match. Blanc also has stressed that his side needs to be properly represent their country by singing the national anthem before the match. The coach claimed that playing for your country is a great honor and singing the anthem is a way of showing appreciation for the privilege of representing your nation. The coach even went as far as to hand out lyrics to the song because he believed that many of the members did not know all the words.

The French national team was among the most successful at the turn of the millennium, but in the last decade the side has experienced several frustrating results in the biggest international events.

Blanc hopes to change that under his new regime.

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The UEFA has banned the popular South African horn from entering stadiums this upcoming year. All 53 nations involved in the Champions League and European Championship have been ordered to disallow the blaring musical instrument into their venue’s stands this season.

And most sporting events have followed suit this summer including the large majority of Premier League stadiums. However the Premier League itself refused to do so and only suggested to the various club’s arenas that they create their own ban. And even last week when I was at an NFL preseason game I looked at the back of the ticket and sure enough the stadium had banned the vuvuzela.

The horns became one of the biggest debates of the World Cup this summer when the loud blaring bee-swarming sound created conflicts for television coverage and communication on the pitch between footballers and officials alike. Many officials demanded that FIFA should immediately ban the horns at the World Cup, but this never happened due to the fact that the instrument was a native celebratory part of South Africa’s culture and FIFA did not desire to tamper with the hosting nation’s traditional sporting culture.

However it appears that the hated horn will remain there due to it’s potential affect on other nations sporting culture. Several excuses have been made for why the vuvuzela was disallowed from an arena including that it impeded PA announcements over the loud speaker regarding evacuations and other emergencies, it could be used as a violent weapon, and my favorite from Fulham because it is very loud and annoying.

The UEFA claims that the horn was outlawed because it impedes the traditional songs sung by Champions League fans at the event and therefore negatively affects the various traditions brought forth by club’s fans at the event. Also the organization admitted that the horns could affect the referees attempt to blow a play dead and the horns simply distract fans from enjoying the game.

The vuvuzela’s only home appears to be from its birth nation in South Africa where the horn was originally invented a long time ago as a way of bringing spread out villages together for town council and other community assemblies.

photo credit: smagdali

The ongoing anti-Glazer protests by a vocal minority of Manchester United fans seems to be having an effect as Manchester United have announced that they have failed to reach their target of season ticket sales this summer,

On not reaching their goal, Man United‘s chief executive David Gill tried to spin it like this:

“I’ll be clear on that. Last year our target was 54,000 season tickets, we’ve sold 51,800, which is pretty good in the current climate. We’ve sold more season tickets than the capacity of most Premier League grounds. Our executive seat sales are on track as compared with last year in a different market. I think the bare facts are that the club is in good financial shape. The ticket sales have held up. We sold out for Newcastle and West Ham but we are not complacent and we’ve got to keep working to make sure that we fill the ground for every game and we’ll do that by playing great football, attractive football, exciting football that brings fans in.”

What Gill does not mention was that as recently as two years ago Manchester United had over 24,000 people on a waiting list for season tickets. That list has now vanished.

I am sure the economy has had an impact on some Man Utd fans not renewing, or buying, season tickets, but there is no doubt that the anti-Glazer sentiment is playing a major role in fans not buying tickets.

For the first time Premier League teams had to name a 25-man squad for the first half of the EPL season and there was a couple of surprises.

All 20 clubs had to submit a squad of up to 25 players containing no more than 17 players who do not qualify as homegrown. Homegrown players are classed as players who “irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday”.

U21 players (born on or after January 1 1989) do not have to count towards the 25-man squads. Changes to the squads can be made in January.

Left out of the Spurs squad was Jonathan Woodgate as Harry Redknapp decided to omit the injury-plagued defender who has a chronic groin problem. Woodgate made only three appearances last season and has not played at all since November. Specialist surgery in both America and Australia proved unsuccessful and Redknapp believes the player is in danger of having to retire.

Another former England player Owen Hargreaves got some good news today as Manchester United included him in their squad. Hargreaves has made only one substitute appearance in the last two years as he battles tendinitis in his knees.

Liverpool were only able to name 21 senior players in their 25-man squad as Rafa Benitez’s Spanish invasion left Liverpool short of home-grown players. Chelsea are in a similar situation as they could only name four homegrown players in their squad and as a result they only have 19 senior players in their squad. A rash of injuries to either Liverpool or Chelsea players could mean that their title ambitions will depend on the performance of a lot of young kids.

Official squads
Arsenal: Manuel Almunia, Andrey Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh, Gael Clichy, Denilson, Abou Diaby, Johan Djourou, Emmanuel Eboue, Lukasz Fabianski, Cesc Fabregas, Laurent Koscielny, Vito Mannone, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, Alexandre Song, Robin van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen, Sebastien Squillaci.

Aston Villa: Brad Friedel; Brad Guzan; James Collins; Carlos Cuellar; Curtis Davies; Habib Beye; Richard Dunne; Eric Lichaj; Stephen Warnock; Luke Young; Stewart Downing; Jonathan Hogg; Stephen Ireland; Isaiah Osbourne; Stiliyan Petrov; Nigel Reo-Coker; Moustapha Salifou; Steve Sidwell; Ashley Young; Gabriel Agbonlahor; John Carew; Emile Heskey.

Birmingham: Maik Taylor, Stephen Carr, David Murphy, Lee Bowyer, Roger Johnson, Liam Ridgewell, Sebastian Larsson, Craig Gardner, Kevin Phillips, Cameron Jerome, Garry O’Connor, Barry Ferguson, Colin Doyle, Matt Derbyshire, Scott Dann, James McFadden, Michel, Keith Fahy, Nikola Zigic, Stuart Parnaby, Alexander Hleb, Jean Beausejour, Ben Foster, Martin Jiranek, James O’Shea.

Blackburn: Paul Robinson, Martin Olsson, Chris Samba, Gael Givet, Ryan Nelsen, Brett Emerton, David Dunn, Nikola Kalinic, El-Hadji Diouf, Vince Grella, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Mark Bunn, Steven Nzonzi, Keith Andrews, Michel Salgado, Jason Brown, Frank Fielding, Pascal Chimbonda, Mame Biram Diouf, Jason Roberts, Benjani.

Blackpool: Charlie Adam, Alex John-Baptiste, Chris Basham, Stephen Crainey, Malaury Martin, Daniel Coid, Ishmael Demontagnac, Neal Eardley, Robert Edwards, Jaso Euell, Ian Evatt, Matthew Gilks, Elliot Grandin, Marlon Harewood, Dekel Keinan, Brett Ormerod, Keith Southern, Ludovic Sylvestre, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Luke Varney, David Vaughan, DJ Campbell, David Carney.

Bolton: Robbie Blake, Adam Bogdan, Gary Cahill, Tamir Cohen, Kevin Davies, Mark Davies, Sean Davis, Johan Elmander, Ricardo Gardner, Stuart Holden, Jussi Jaaskalainen, Ivan Klasnic, Zat Knight, Chung Yong-lee, Fabrice Muamba, Andy O’Brien, Joey O’Brien, Martin Petrov, Sam Ricketts, Paul Robinson, Jlloyd Samuel, Gretar Steinsson, Matt Taylor, Al Al-Habsi.

Chelsea: Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, Ramires, Frank Lampard, Yossi Benayoun, Didier Drogba, John Mikel Obi, Florent Malouda, Jose Bosingwa, Yury Zhirkov, Paulo Ferreira, Salomon Kalou, Ross Turnbull, John Terry, Alex, Nicolas Anelka, Henrique Hilario, Daniel Sturridge, Patrick van Aanholt, Jeffrey Bruma, Gael Kakuta, Fabio Borini, Josh McEachran.

Everton: Tim Howard, Mikel Arteta, Jan Mucha, Steven Pienaar, Iain Turner, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Tony Hibbert, Phil Neville, Seamus Coleman, Tim Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Louis Saha, Sylvain Distin, James Vaughan, John Heitinga, Victor Anichebe, Leigton Baines, Yakubu, Marouane Fellaini, Jermaine Beckford, Leon Osman.

Fulham: Mark Schwarzer, David Stockdale, John Pantsil, Fredrik Stoor, Aaron Hughes, Rafik Halliche, Chris Baird, Brede Hangeland, Carlos Salcido, Stephen Kelly, Zoltan Gera, Clinton Dempsey, Bjorn Helge Riise, Dickson Etuhu, Kagisho Dikgacoi, Danny Murphy, Jonathan Greening, Simon Davies, Damien Duff, Andrew Johnson, Diomansy Kamara, Moussa Dembele, Bobby Zamora, David Elm, Eddie Johnson.

Liverpool: Jamie Carragher, Joe Cole, Stephen Darby, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Brad Jones, Paul Konchesky, Jay Spearing, Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Ryan Babel, Milan Jovanovic, Dirk Kuyt, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Lucas Leiva, Raul Meireles, Christian Poulsen, Pepe Reina, Maxi Rodriguez, Martin Skrtel, Fernando Torres

Manchester City: Shay Given, Joe Hart, Stuart Taylor, Jerome Boateng, Wayne Bridge, Aleksander Kolarov, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Shaleum Logan, Micah Richards, Kolo Toure, Pablo Zabaleta, Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong, Adam Johnson, Michael Johnson, James Milner, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Patrick Vieira, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jo, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez.

Manchester United: Ben Amos, Darren Fletcher, Tomasz Kuszczak, Darron Gibson, Edwin van der Sar, Ryan Giggs, Wes Brown, Owen Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson, Park Ji-Sung, Jonathan Evans, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Antonio Valencia, Gary Neville, Dimitar Berbatov, John O’Shea, Javier Hernandez, Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney.

Newcastle: Sol Campbell, Steven Taylor, Shola Ameobi, Joey Barton, Danny Guthrie, Peter Lovenkrands, Jose Enrique, Alan Smith, Leon Best, Fabricio Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Steve Harper, Kevin Nolan, Wayne Routledge, Danny Simpson, Ryan Taylor, Mike Williamson, Xisco, Fraser Forster, Tim Krul, James Perch, Cheik Tiote, Hatem ben Arfa.

Stoke: Asmir Begovic, Danny Collins, Rory Delap, Salif Diao, Matthew Etherington, Abdoulaye Faye, Ricardo Fuller, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Danny Higginbotham, Robert Huth, Kenwyne Jones, Carlo Nash, Jermaine Pennant, Danny Pugh, Ryan Shawcross, Thomas Sorensen, Tuncay Sanli, Ryan Shotton, Tom Soares, Michael Tonge, Jonathan Walters, Glenn Whelan, Dean Whitehead, Andy Wilkinson, Marc Wilson.

Sunderland: Marcos Angeleri, Phil Bardsley, Darren Bent, Titus Bramble, Fraizer Campbell, Trevor Carson, Lee Cattermole, Paulo Da Silva, Ahmed El Mohamady, Anton Ferdinand, Craig Gordon, Asamoah Gyan, David Healy, Steed Malbranque, George McCartney, John Mensah, Simon Mignolet, Nedum Onuoha, Andy Reid, Kieran Richardson, Crisitjan Riveros, Michael Turner, Robbie Weir, Boudewijn Zenden.

Tottenham: Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Sebastian Bassong, David Bentley, Vedran Corluka, Peter Crouch, Carlo Cudicini, Heurelho Gomes, Michael Dawson, Jermain Defoe, William Gallas, Tom Huddlestone, Alan Hutton, Jermaine Jenas, Younes Kaboul, Robbie Keane, Ledley King, Niko Kranjcar, Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric, Kyle Naughton, Jamie O’Hara, Wilson Palacios, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Stipe Pletikosa, Rafael van der Vaart.

West Brom: Giles Barnes; Roman Bednar; Chris Brunt; Scott Carson; Marek Cech; Simon Cox; Graham Dorrans; Marc-Antoine Fortune; Pablo Ibanez; Gonzalo Jara; Dean Kiely; Abdoulaye Meite; Ishmael Miller; James Morrison; Youssouf Mulumbu; Boaz Myhill; Peter Odemwingie; Jonas Olsson; Steven Reid; Paul Scharner; Nicky Shorey; Gabriel Tamas; Somen Tchoyi; Jerome Thomas; Gianni Zuiverloon.

West Ham: Ruud Boffin, Robert Green, Tal Ben Haim, Manuel da Costa, Danny Gabbidon, Herita Ilunga, Lars Jacobsen, Winston Reid, Jonathan Spector, Matthew Upson, Luis Boa Morte, Valon Behrami, Jack Collison, Kieron Dyer, Julien Faubert, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Radoslav Kovac, Mark Noble, Scott Parker, Pablo Barrera, Carlton Cole, Zavon Hines, Benni McCarthy, Victor Obinna, Frederic Piquionne.

Wigan: Chris Kirkland, Mike Pollitt, Charles N’Zogbia, Emmerson Boyce, Gary Caldwell, Ben Watson, Hendry Thomas, Ronnie Stam, Jordi Gomez, Hugo Rodallega, Mohamed Diame, Maynor Figueroa, Steve Gohouri, Daniel De Ridder, Ali Al-Habsi, Antolin Alcaraz, James McArthur, Mauro Boselli.

Wolves: Marcus Hahnemann; Wayne Hennessey; Carl Ikeme; Kevin Foley; Ronald Zubar; Richard Stearman; Jody Craddock; Christophe Berra; Steven Mouyokolo; George Elokobi; Stephen Ward; Jelle van Damme; Karl Henry; David Jones; Michael Mancienne; Dave Edwards; Greg Halford; Nenad Milijas; Adlene Guedioura; Matt Jarvis; Stephen Hunt; Kevin Doyle; Steven Fletcher; Sylvan Ebanks-Blake; Marcus Bent.

photo credit:http://www.gfdb.com/Player.6627.Owen-Hargreaves.aspx