Last week I said that I would write a double post covering the Dallas and Columbus matches. Unfortunately, the Columbus match is too much in the forefront of my mind right now than the Dallas one. I was expecting to get three points out of Columbus, and I'm really bothered that we didn't. I just can't shake it, so I've obsessed over it this past week.

Manchester United have today confirmed that Paul Scholes has signed a year long contract extension to keep him at the club next season.

As the years have gone by, Scholes hasn't played as regularly as he wanted and this was something that has bothered him for a while. Sir Alex Ferguson had wanted Scholes to carry on playing but the midfielder decided that he wasn't prepared to play a bit part role so retired.

By FRANCO PANIZO

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The U.S. men's national team's busy summer is well underway, but the real action is set to begin.

The United States will play the first of its five matches in the coming weeks against Scotland at EverBank Field on Saturday night, and the game (which will see the U.

When the 2012 MLS schedule was released, plenty of people circled tomorrow's match between the Houston Dynamo and the LA Galaxy. It's the first meeting between the two sides since last season's MLS Cup Final and everyone expected it to be a battle between two of the better teams in the league. Now with just over 24 hours to go until kickoff, it's lost some of the sheen of expectation.

When Jurgen Klinsmann named the 27-man roster for the current U.S. national team training camp, the players who didn't get called in were as big a story as the players who Klinsmann did call in. The absences of several players came as a surprise, while some other long-shots didn't come through for some fans.

With only three days before their next game, a friendly against Spanish side Valencia, on Wednesday, the Timbers had a regeneration day at Jeld-Wen Field to recover from their win over the Chicago Fire. Most of the Timbers starters were absent from practice today, instead spending time in the gym with the team's trainers.

Let us be anxious. Just a little bit. This is a 21 year old footballer who has already missed a whole season for his ankle problem for which the club and its medical staff seemed to think the cure was around the corner. Now that this injury has kept him out of the 2012 Euro comes the news that he is to undergo a "minor" knee surgery which is a complication arising from said ankle problem.

In this past week, a new stadium opened, a new leader emerged in the East, and there were a number of beautiful goals. I considered just posting highlights of goals, but there was much more than goals happening. Also, I need to reach a minimum word count to post a story. Let's run down the action, shall we?

Even including results in non-MLS competition Seattle's record against the LA Galaxy is not good enough for Sounders fans. There is no other team that can clearly be argued as better than the one here. Both have three major trophies in the past three years, but LA's are more significant. They are roughly equal in CCL play.

Redknapp and McLeish deserve to be sacked - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Last week I wrote an article highlighting Tottenham's failings and reasons for their recent collapse. Poor defending, a lack of squad rotation, the mental strain for Harry of managing Spurs while dealing with his court case along with dodgy tactics on the pitch were the problems I felt Spurs had.

By Dominic Vieira, writing from Lisbon

Once a nobody, once irreplaceable and now an uncertainty. At the age of 24, the forward from Tenerife has played over 160 matches, kissed all the trophies and set a record which Messi didn't, becoming the first player in history to score in 6 different competitions in one season.

Morning all, welcome to Friday. Last night I dreamt that I won a contract to paint the stadium but the club's insistence that it be painted with Tippex made it a very fiddly and time-consuming job indeed. It was taking ages, and I wasn't allowed to hire anyone to help me.

Anyway, on with early team news ahead of tomorrow's crunch game against John Terry's Philandering Flock, and the manager has confirmed Mikel Arteta's absence but says the injury is just a 'bad sprain' and nothing more serious than that.

This week is definitely a feel-good show. Of course, we talk about the Seattle Sounders' 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday. That win brings the Sounders to 3-1-1 on the season and gives them 10 points through five matches, the best start in franchise history. On top of that, they managed to do it with several significant absences.

Any doubts about just which team is the very best in Major League Soccer at the moment were put to rest on Saturday night as Sporting Kansas City delivered their latest masterpiece performance.

Sporting KC thoroughly outplayed Real Salt Lake in a match-up of the league's best teams, with Aurelien Collin providing the difference with a header goal that gave Kansas City a 1-0 victory at Livetsrong Sporting Park.

The Houston Dynamo are coming off consecutive bye weeks, but that does not mean the well-rested club is not facing some serious issues ahead of its match against the Chicago Fire this Sunday.

With Adam Moffat and Colin Clark already suspended for the game, the Dynamo could be down a third midfield starter with 2011 MLS MVP runner-up and assist king Brad Davis nursing a calf injury that he suffered in training over the weekend.

The New York Red Bulls midfield suffered a tough blow today amid word that Teemu Tainio will miss four to six weeks with a knee injury suffered in training on Thursday.

Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe revealed the details of Tainio's absence on Friday, while also stating that standout defender Wilman Conde will also miss Saturday's match vs.

Liverpool host Aston Villa tomorrow afternoon with a view to turning around the horrible run of league results that's seen them entrenched firmly in the middle of the table. Six losses in seven have left the club a point behind Everton and eleven off of Newcastle and Chelsea. Villa are safely out of the relegation discussion but have had struggles of their own, with only two wins in 2012 and seven goals conceded in their last two.

It's been a frustrating time for William Gallas and while we started to become used to his injury absences towards the end of the previous campaign, he has spent most of this season on the sidelines.

William is back however and in the games since his return he has shown that he still has plenty to offer the side and he also believes in a top three finish for Spurs.

New England's 2012 season began as we all expected. The Rev's lost their two opening road matches, including a 1-0 loss at San Jose and a whopping 3-0 spanking by Sporting. Things turned around only narrowly with the club's home opener, as the club rode past the absences of Darrius Barnes, John Lozano, Stephen McCarthy, and Benny Feilhaber to find a 1-0 win over Portland.

Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com

Three Eastern Conference teams with serious postseason aspirations. Six games. No wins.

That's far from how the New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union and D.C. United planned on starting a season filled with promise and hope.

I am filling in for Geoff as time was of the essence for the writers of Big D and I was the only SF writer available at the time. I was able to ask the three questions of Big D soccer and was asked three in return. Big D also has a nice piece on the scouting the Timbers.

SF: There is a lot of European interest in a couple of your younger players, namely George John and Brek Shea, what kind of affect on the team and the players will this have?

AJ Soares played left back for the first time in MLS on Saturday. (Photo Credit: Joshua Pearson)

It would be easy to chalk up the New England Revolution's season opening 1-0 loss in San Jose to injuries, absences or even lack of chemistry thanks to so many late signings.

With Chris Tierney suspended, Saër Sène injured, Jose "Pepe" Moreno yet to arrive and Darrius Barnes a late injury scratch, the Revs had no shortage of ready-made excuses heading into the match.

Click Here for a Free £50 Bet for All New Paddy Power Customers Chelsea v Stoke Well, at least Andre Villas-Boas can watch a Chelsea game without the fear of being sacked this weekend. He probably won't though. The question will then be whether the Chelsea players can rally around Roberto Di Matteo to get [.

Apologies for the tardiness...

Speculating about what might have happened had Parker, Bale and/or VDV been fit is the very living, breathing embodiment of pointlessness (although it has not stopped yours truly moping on a near-daily basis about what might have been had Gazza tapped in against the Germans in Euro 96), but for the purposes of perspective following our SECOND CONSECUTIVE DEFEAT (gasp) it might be salutary to note that with the aforementioned gentlemen on board our lot probably would have prevailed.

Do y'all realize it snowed this morning? Crazy. Actually, as a Minnesota native, I would have preferred snow to 38 degrees and windy rain. But there's soccer to be practiced, and practice to be reported on. That's the sacrifice I make.

It was a closed practice today, so oregonlive's Kip Kesgard and I talked over the news and absences before hanging out in the conference room for an hour.

Sporting KC is back in preseason action today as they kick off the Disney Pro Soccer Classic down in Orlando, Florida. KC's opponent today is the Houston Dynamo, who defeated the Wizards in the Eastern Conference final last year 2-0 to earn a trip to MLS Cup ahead of Sporting.
The Dynamo have Brian Ching back after spending time with the Montreal Impact, who selected him in the expansion draft.

Last season's Carling Cup final was seen as a formality for Arsenal, who were pitted against a spirited yet pedestrian Birmingham City outfit. However, the men from the Midlands came away with a 2-1 win and, most importantly, the trophy, despite the Gunners' relentless pressure.
The news that goalkeeper Tom Heaton, defender Mark Hudson and midfielder Stephen McPhail are winning their respective battles against injury suggests that Cardiff may be significantly strengthened come Sunday.

Real Madrid v Racing Santander Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds La Liga 18 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) leaders Real Madrid have won their last seven league matches as they host 18th place Racing Santander. The match will take place at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain on Saturday, February 18, 2012.

Morning all,

the preparations for Milan begin in earnest now. The team travel to Italy today and the latest news we have regarding injuries and absences is that Per Mertesacker has gone to Germany to meet with their national team doctor regarding his injury. The German press say the results of an MRI he had here were 'inconclusive' but I suspect this is more about getting a second opinion than not knowing exactly how serious the damage is.

Liverpool can't continue their hot streak and end up with their eighth home draw of the campaign, failing to take advantage of a Spurs side that were lacking in both personnel and intent. With the success of the past few weeks creating a healthy dose of optimism this one's got to be chalked up as a disappointment, and worrying in that Liverpool yet again failed to capitalize in a match that mostly looked like theirs for the taking.

It has been an up and down season for Juventus striker Alessandro Matri. There have been times where it seems that every time he touches the ball it ends up in the back of the net while at other times there have long absences of his name on the score sheet. When he is hot, he has been praised uncontrollably, even once being compared as the next David Trezeguet.

Without a "Group of Death," and without 5 of the top 8 ranked African countries (Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa all failed to qualify), the opening stages of the African Cup of Nations lacks a bit in the tasty fixtures department. For perspective, Tunisia, the participating country with the fourth-highest FIFA ranking is still behind tiny Cape Verde Islands (who also did not qualify).

Photo by ISIphotos.com

For U.S. Under-23 winger Joe Gyau, the future is now.

Gyau confirmed on his own Twitter feed that he will be in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's matchday 18 against Hannover 96 this weekend for the first time. Hoffenheim is dealing with a number of injuries, and Gyau, who has been playing well for the club's U-23 team, is going to get his first taste of first-team life in the Bundesliga in what could prove to be a seminal year in the 19-year-old winger's career.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

As the calendar gets set to turn to 2012, it's an obvious time to reflect and look back at the year that was for U.S. Soccer.

While the year provided the ushering in of a new coaching era, a 6-8-3 international record and a breakout stage for a number of players, it also saw some of the more familiar names rise to the occasion on both the club and international levels.

With reports emerging about an agreement between Milan and Manchester City outcast Carlos Tevez, there are many who believe the Argentina striker will be a big addition to the star studded Rossoneri squad. However, the Citizens have yet to negotiate with Milan and there is no guarantee the transfer will go through during the January window.

The draw for the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine was made yesterday with some very interesting match-ups. This A-Z guide should enlighten, confuse, bore or maybe even fascinate some of you football fans.

A is for Absence - The group games are being played at 5pm and 7.

Morning all,

let's start with early team news ahead of tomorrow's trip to Wigan and nobody who played on Tuesday is added to the sicklist, but Tomas Rosicky remains out with a thigh knack while Abou Diaby will miss 10 days with 'a slight muscular problem'.

Obviously I don't think anybody is surprised by that but Diaby now seems to be caught in an infinite loop of injury.

Desperately sad news about Gary Speed - RIP

Within a day or two it will inevitably be swallowed within the black hole of wondrous statistics about just how darned good the current crop are (best start to a season since the '61 Double-winners, since you ask), but the win at West Brom has muscled its way into AANP's exalted list of Most Hard-Earned and Pleasing Little Gaggle of Wins This Season, or "MHEPLGWTS" as we like to call it for ease of reference.

... of the 2011 MLS Season as we know it. Welcome back everyone! Sorry I've been gone so long, school and work have been taxing but I should have managed my time a little better to make a few posts before now, so for that I am sorry. I'm not leaving the blog yet, and with the offseason upon us now week long absences between posts isn't too out of the question until preseason training picks up in February.

The only fit first team fullback left

With everyone safe and sound back at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger conducted his pre match press conference today. The topics which he covered can be seen here. As with any presser, the more important topics usually covers who's out and who's back in the squad.