Monday Backpasses: No more horse-faced internationals?

Ruud van Nistelrooy quits Dutch team [Yahoo!]
The going price to play with Barcelona? $2125 [NY Times]
You probably missed it earlier, buried in the post that no one read, but there are some serious problems in LA [Sports Illustrated]

More stuff further down

Liverpool lose player to the Argentine passport scandal, in a roundabout way [Soccer 365]
Robbie Savage is disappointing Paul Jewell in training. Considering the spring that the two had, it's hard to know who to root for [BBC]
A round up of the ins and outs over the summer in the EPL. Liverpool, Tottenham and Fulham have been busy. Stoke City, not so much [BBC]

And, finally:
Two takes on Xabi Alonso to Arsenal.
Either he's going [Daily Star]
Or he's not for sale [Soccer 365]