Zola's new club's achilles heel: Its defence

Kevin Keen took on the caretaker role today with Zola looking on at his new club. Their attack was pretty decent but their defending was pathetic with Chris Brunt making Upson look silly in his match winner 7 minutes from the end. The Baggies first strike came when an unmarked James Morrison with all the time and space in the world blasted home Valero's cross.

Robert Green has been having a substandard season and his careless spilling of a cross and his subsequent tackle of Barrett led to the Baggies going up through Bednar's PK conversion.

Two areas of concern for Zola:

His club's haphazard and slow to react defence. He has been trying to get Steve Clarke from Chelsea to join him in addressing that issue. But his former club is stalling for more money for his services than West Ham can afford. Clarke has resigned and West Ham is planning to go to court to secure his services.

Physical fitness. In Zola's estimation, the Hammers ran out of gas against the faster and younger Baggies in the second half which led to a few crucial lapses.

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LA Galaxy: Bruce Arena still in search of his elusive first win

The LA Galaxy is running out of time. They lost to the KC Wizards, 0-2 in Arrowhead stadium as thousands came to see David Beckham. This was a team that they had beaten comfortably in the past. It is too early in Bruce Arena's managerial career with the Galaxy to judge whether this will put them back on track but it is safe to say a slow start is not the turnaround that Tim Leiwecke, the CEO of AEG was looking for.

There is not much in the Western conference that separates teams competing for the wild card playoff spot, so this loss really hurts.

A lot of Arena's reputation was tarnished in the 2006 World Cup debacle as well as the imploding 2007 Red Bull season. Some of these concerns linger on in his association with the Galaxy.

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Video:Babel takes Liverpool to a long awaited win..

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Video: Blackburn 0-4 Arsenal Highlights

Blackburn Rovers vs Arsenal 0-4 13.09.08 Highlights

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Round one to Chelsea

In the match that shall be known as the filthy rich clubs with the GDP of a small country derby, Chelsea schooled Man City. But there were some moments of beauty like Robinho's free kick and some great interlinking play that was evocative of a Brazilian heritage which might lead Mark Hughes to don a tie and a thong and make a beeline for the carnaval. Their finishing was a let down though.

So I would be careful in reading too much into the Chelsea win. Round 2 will be very interesting as a number of newly minted players in City's squad would have had more time getting on the same page. I can even imagine some skittish Man fans wondering what is in store for them in their derby. A triumvirate of Brazilian players on the open field against Wes Brown and Van Der Saar. Should be quite a delectable spectacle.

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What four zero feels like when your score is 4

New England Revolution have been on the wrong side of a 4-0 score four times this season.They finally figured out how to reverse the equation and beat Chivas USA by the same score yesterday.

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Video:Bob Bradley's team comes good at last..

A 3 - 0 win against Trindad and Tobago.Bradley is having a better time now than Dunga - whose head is back on the block after Brazil only managed a goal less draw against a 10 man Bolivian team.

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