Let's get the obvious out of the way up front, shall we? There is not currently, nor has there ever been, a full, traditional system of on-field-merit-based promotion and relegation in any American pro soccer endeavor that I'm aware of[1].

With that said, the essence of promotion and relegation, the ability to move between levels of a nebulous pyramid, does exist, and has for more than a decade[2].

The Philadelphia Union have officially completed a trade of Kyle Nakazawa to the LA Galaxy. Nakazawa will be sent to California with a second round selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft for one of the Galaxy's international roster spots.

Nakazawa was reported to be on his way to the Galaxy early this morning, when the Brotherly Game published a storywith information from a source knowledgeable on the situation.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon remains a Union player.

A Union official confirmed Sunday that Mondragon is in camp with the Union and said the club has not talked with Deportivo Cali, despite Colombian reports that Mondragon could sign with his hometown club, Deportivo Cali.

Long rumored Trinidad & Tobago U-20 national and Port of Spain Defence Force FC player Cordell Cato is no longer rumor, nor trialist, but has in fact signed with Seattle Sounders FC. Cato continues the expansion of Seattle's international roster slots, forcing even more competition.

"Cordell provides us speed and versatility as he can play on the flank and up front," said Sigi Schmid, Sounders FC head coach via press release.

Leicester City - Nottingham Forest 2:30pm - Fox Soccer FA Cup Third Round replay for Robbie Findley's Nottingham Forest and a reminder that draws don't lead to overtime and penalties in the venerable FA Cup. Instead, they lead to hastily arranged additions to the schedule. Findley was used as a substitute over the weekend, with Forest in the relegation zone in the Championship at 22nd.

The draft is over and next Friday players report to Portland and the Portland Timbers are hinting they are not done adding to their roster. Rumors are swirling as to who and what position said player plays. All of these leaves us fans in what seems like an internal state of nervous energy.

So lets take a look at what the roster looks like and what we can piece together from tweets and quotes over the last few weeks.

We're not gonna do this. Not right now. Just go read the Blackburn recap. Or the Swansea recap. Or any other match in which Liverpool never really looked like doing something worth watching, subtract any chances that were created but not taken, punch yourself in the face for watching the whole thing, and then go back to drinking yourself into oblivion.

With neither of Seattle Sounders FC's MLS SuperDraft picks being from Generation Adidas nor pre-signed seniors or internationals the two players are going to have to fight to make the tight roster. A roster than may get even tighter before they report as General Manager Adrian Hanauer said during today's conference call there are "other deals that are possibly pending or getting close.

United States Under-23 National Team coach Caleb Porter announced three additions to the squad currently training in Carson, California, along with two players unable to attend camp due to injury. Columbus Crew goalkeeper Matt Lampson, Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Perk, and Stuttgart defender Royal-Dominique Fennel have joined the camp, with goalkeeper David Bingham and defender Gale Agbossoumonde unavailable due to injury.

By Joel Greenwaldt
Baltimore Blast (7-3) vs. Milwaukee Wave (8-0)
Game Time: 12/31/2011 3:00 PM
http://www.misllivesoccer.com/
What needs to go right for the Blast:

• Continue to take advantage of the power play: Baltimore is currently ranked first in the MISL with a 50% success rate when they have the power play advantage.

As the Serie A season enters the winter break, Lazio sit firmly in fourth position on 30 points after an encouraging start to the season. They have only lost two games in the league (against Juventus and, once high-flying, Genoa) and they have qualified from the Europa League group stages. The additions made to the squad in the summer have been incredibly influential in helping carry the squad.

Liverpool are monitoring PSV Eindhoven pair Kevin Strootman and Georginio Wijnaldum hopeful of a potential £22m bid to sign the duo.
The raid to sign the pair could take place in January or in the summer. Boss Kenny Dalglish has brought in a number of youthful additions to the Liverpool squad over the past year and sees Strootman as a central midfielder with a great deal of potential.

Liverpool wing wizard target Diego Perotti has admitted he would leave Sevilla if the club needed money.
The 23-year-old was heavily linked with a move to Anfield at the end of last season, with The Sunday People claiming that Kenny Dalglish made an enquiry over the player in March.
Reports surfaced on Sky Sports in April before leading into the summer, leading to Los Rojiblancos president Jose Maria Del Nido claiming that the player would not be sold to clubs in England or Italy.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

The "2011 in Review" articles for the Philadelphia Union are now up on the MLS website. One provides decent insight, the other, not so much. In the Q & A cobbled together from the last press conference of the season, in addition to relating that Freddy Adu was at "60 percent" for much of the end of the season due to a back injury and the need for defensive additions and competition within the various positions on the field, Peter Nowak discusses the mindset the team needs to win a championship:

"I told you guys at the press conferences we've had all year long that we believe in what we're building, we believe what is the culture around the team.

The Vancouver Whitecaps' first season in MLS ended as so many other "expansion" teams' season have ended in U.S. leagues throughout the years: basement and struggling to build for the future.* After the near immediate success of recent MLS additions ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.

Habib Beye is keen to stay at Doncaster Rovers for the rest of the season as he has no desire to head back to his parent club.
The right-back joined the Yorkshire club on loan from Aston Villa until January, but he is hoping to secure a longer move after making his first appearance in a 0-0 draw with Watford this weekend.

On Twitter @Untold Arsenal Making the Arsenal the book The Untold Index More links at the end

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Untold Injury Index – Gameweek 12

By Dale Higginbottom

Wow, those international breaks have been kind on us this season. As far as I can see no additions to our injury list [.

Norwich 1-2 Arsenal

Another game, another win. I've not dusted that little phrase down for a while now but it looks nice in print (and in pixels). Since losing at our lovely neighbours on October 2nd, we have registered seven wins and one draw in eight games fine form indeed.

Real Salt Lake's Luis Gil and Sporting Kansas City's Teal Bunbury saw their MLS seasons ended on Sunday as their teams suffered conference final defeats, but neither will have much time to sulk after being called into the U.S. Under-23 national team camp in Germany.

Gil and Bunbury bring the total number of players in the camp to 37 players.

I thought it might be interesting to look at the points per match of each of the expansion teams since RSL and Chivas joined the league in 2005. I could have gone back to 1999 when Chicago and Miami joined the league. But that just seems like a totally different era, and there was contraction between that time and the additions of Chivas and Salt Lake.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAVID GUBALA

The Chicago Fire didn't make the playoffs in 2011, but the team's strong finish to the regular season has interim head coach Frank Klopas looking look a good candidate to keep the coaching job. No decision has been made yet, but Klopas, also the team's Technical Director, does plan on being with the club in 2012, whether as the head coach or in another role.

It will take a week or two to let everything settle in my mind and get a proper season wrap up piece out. However, I have been thinking of a couple of things in restrospect the past couple of days and I felt now would be a good time to discuss those things. The past couple of months have been a roller coaster for Fire fans.

Via a really well written Jason Quick piece. I wish he would write Timbers more often. In addition to this stuff, there's some quality stuff on Paulson himself. Great article. Juicy article.

There has been some fairly scary (to me, anyway) financial talk in the past, but Paulson sounds really ambitious in this article:

"We are already looking at three to four guys who will be big, big additions in this offseason.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images (Bleacher Report) With European home grown talent continuing to rise in its value, more and more Europea clubs will be searching for alternatives to high priced local boys.
In the next year or so, more and more young American based talent, whether it is North or South American, will be flowing over to Europe.

Darrius Barnes has had an impressive three years in Major League Soccer. He entered the league in the 2009 SuperDraft. He was drafted by the New England Revolution and has remained a stalwart defender from day one. In his first season, he played every minute. That's no small feat for any player, let alone a rookie.

Damien Comolli believes Liverpool squad is 'complete' & does not need further additions

The Frenchman insists new signings should be given the time to gel before being scrutinised, and reiterates that club did not want to sell Raul Meireles in the summer

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-09-14 07:41:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

While many Arsenal fans are pleasantly surprised by the five unexpected additions that the club made before the summer transfer window closed, some are disappointed by the fact that, with the possible exception of Per ...

If you were asked to name your preferred first eleven now that the transfer window has shut, you would pretty much pick 6 or 7 similar players in a 4-3-3 formation under AVB.
There is an argument that Chelsea have become predictable since last season and pretty much for three halves of football at the start of this season.

By Phil Gregory Well, that was one hell of a deadline day for Arsenal fans, and it brings to a close our summer of transfer activity which has resulted in six additions. Those are, of course: Mertesacker Jenkinson Santos Arteta Benayoun Campbell Gervinho Oxlade-Chamberlain Young Park You could also potentially include Miyiachi onto that list [.

Well, it's hard to refuse when a team like Chelsea comes knocking at your door. Even harder when possibly the best Portuguese coach in the business wants you. Extremely irresistible when Chelsea can offer you first team playing minutes and Champions League football. Thus, Raul Meireles weighed up his options and decided to join the Andre Villa-Boas Chelsea evolution.

After months of anticipation, it is hard to believe that the first weekend of the Premier League has already come and gone. As we all look ahead to the second week, here are some additions that should be made to all fantasy squads on ESPN Premier...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.

Who each Premier League team needs to sign in the transfer window

Despite having all the close season to do their summer shopping, it seems the majority of the clubs in the Premier League are still seeking additions to their squad for this season.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-08-16 16:27:56 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has acknowledged that in order to enjoy a successful season ahead, it is important for the club's personnel and fans to be on the same page throughout the year.

Wenger has endured a difficult relationship with many of the Gunners' faithful this summer as he has failed to make significant additions to the squad despite the inevitable departures of key midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

Despite the pundits tipping Arsenal for another difficult season following the club's drab goalless draw away to Newcastle yesterday, manager Arsene Wenger is content with his players' efforts, particularly those in the much criticized Gunners defense.

The boss singled out first-choice defensive pairing of Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny for praise, insisting that the two players must be lauded for helping goalkeeper Wojciech Szceszny keep an impressive clean sheet in a difficult atmosphere at St.

Skysports.com understands Bolton Wanderers have made a bid to sign Liverpool striker David Ngog.
Bolton boss Owen Coyle is in the market for attacking additions after Daniel Sturridge returned to Chelsea after an impressive loan spell and Johan Elmander joined Galatasaray.
Turkish forward Tuncay is close to finalizing a loan move to the Reebok Stadium and Coyle is now stepping up his interest in Ngog.

Amanda and Kirsten return, kicking things off this week with an analysis of Jurgen Klinsmann's first roster for the USMNT, the Timmy Chandler situation (which is their new band name), and some surprising additions and omissions. After that, they review a dramatic week in MLS, with DC/Toronto, KC/Seattle, and Vancouver/Chicago all offering various levels of wackitude.

As you would expect, Spurs players are talking in positive terms ahead of the new season and although there have been no major signings at the Lane this summer, skipper Michael Dawson is confident that the club can retain their top four status at the end of May.

"We're aiming to be in the top four, we've been in it, and the lads are hungry to be in it again," Dawson is quoted as saying in The Independent.

Arsene Wenger has renewed his interest in Gary Cahill after Thomas Vermaelen was injured in the defeat to Benfica. That's according to the Mail, which reports that chief scout Steve Rowley went to the Reebok Stadium on Friday to assess Cahill in Bolton's 1-0 defeat by Levante. The paper says it is a "clear indication" the club are ready to ramp up their interest.

Arsene Wenger has renewed his interest in Gary Cahill after Thomas Vermaelen was injured in the defeat to Benfica. That's according to the Mail, which reports that chief scout Steve Rowley went to the Reebok Stadium on Friday to assess Cahill in Bolton's 1-0 defeat by Levante. The paper says it is a "clear indication" the club are ready to ramp up their interest.

Tottenham are weighing up an approach for Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva.
The Londoners are preparing for the seemingly inevitable departure of Luka Modric to Chelsea, who are believed to on the verge of submitting a £30m bid for the Croatian, and have identified Lucas as an option. With Wilson Palacios also likely to leave White Hart Lane with Stoke City interested in taking him on, the need to bolster the squad becomes clear.