Some players like lots of time and space, others can operate in crowds.

To play in central midfield you need to be at one end of what we'll call the space-time continuum; if you are not at the right end you may struggle in that role. In that case you need to find somewhere else where you will get space and time.

Bah. Just as the Odense fiasco represented more than just another defeat, so too did last night's pathetic exit from the FA Cup. Nobody's pretending it's easy to go to Everton and get a result if it was we'd manage to get points there once in a while but there's something horribly wrong about these disjointed farces.

Bah. Just as the Odense fiasco represented more than just another defeat, so too did last night's pathetic exit from the FA Cup. Nobody's pretending it's easy to go to Everton and get a result if it was we'd manage to get points there once in a while but there's something horribly wrong about these disjointed farces.

Last night, I was at work and I missed the USA at Panama match on Galavision from Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City. Too bad, it would have been my first look at lots of young USMNT prospects making their debut with the senior NT. The starting lineup was Nick Rimando in goal, AJ De La Garza, Michael Parkhurst, Geoff Cameron, and Zach Loyd in the back, Ricardo Clark and Jermaine Jones in the
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Saturday's win did many things but most of all it reminded us that, while the current Fulham squad does need a bit of tweaking, it contains a number of good players and making moves in January for the sake of making moves in January is probably not something we need to get too involved with.

Take the AJ situation.

There is so much that can change the draft and the way that teams select that it's really hard to look at KC's first round pick, the 16th overall, let alone the rest of KC's draft. So we're going to just look at the 16th draft pick at this point and go through the rest of the picks as they come up during the draft.

Don't normally put stock in transfer rumors, but it's a slow week and this story has legs.

Blackburn boss Steve Kean expects the green light to bid for unhappy Fulham striker Andy Johnson on Wednesday and make him one of the first signings of the winter transfer window.

Kean is due to meet Rovers director Vineeth Rao on his return from a summit with owners Venky's to secure the cash to carry out the £2million swoop.

Don't normally put stock in transfer rumors, but it's a slow week and this story has legs.

Blackburn boss Steve Kean expects the green light to bid for unhappy Fulham striker Andy Johnson on Wednesday and make him one of the first signings of the winter transfer window.

Kean is due to meet Rovers director Vineeth Rao on his return from a summit with owners Venky's to secure the cash to carry out the £2million swoop.

We've done this thing before, how tap-ins are only tap-ins because someone had the nous to get into the right position (e.g. Gera v Hamburg).

Note the following, then. Dempsey initially shapes towards the far post, then holds his ground in the middle, possibly in expectation of a Murphy cross.

Yes, I heard that. It would obviously be a step higher, and that has always been my goal. I did well last season when I was not injured, through many matches for Fulham. So why not step higher?

Why not indeed? You can look at this a couple of ways: one, footballers are too dull and never say anything noteworthy, so Dembele is to be applauded for answering a question (in this case about the very real interest from Spurs) honestly.

Yes, I know it's been a week since I wrote. Sorry, school comes first. Here's something to tide you lovely people over till I can write a proper article. Keep in mind that my offer to help contribute to the MLS offside stands, and that if you're interested you should email me at kaufmb@d-e.

There's a bit of noise about how the defence isn't so good now.

People are really pleased with AJ's form.

Under Roy Hodgson we never had these problems in defence.

But the forwards really suffered.

All of the above is not a coincidence!

Under Hodgson we rarely committed men ahead of the ball.

By Chris Wright

Presenting our pick of last night's Europa League g-g-g-g-g-goooooalllllss!!!

5. Luis Seijas, Vorskla vs STANDARD LIEGE

Ping!

4. Bibras Natcho, RUBIN KAZAN vs Tottenham

An expertly clipped free-kick to give the Russians the win.

European football does strange things to players. Andrew Johnson's league form has been okay that hat-trick is in the Fulham FC permanent scrapbook but in Europe he seemingly can't be stopped. Last night he nabbed two more for the collection, and what beauties they were.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

LA's defense has been on top form this season. (Getty Images)

I am moving on in my look back at my preseason positional rankings. Yesterday we looked at the keepers, today we're diving into the folks in front of those keepers the defense.

Again these rankings are all about the starters and the depth behind them.

It meant so much to everyone. Fulham fans before the game seemed nervous. I don't know what the Rangers fans were thinking but they were loud and excitable. This was them back in the big time. "We hate it when our friends become successful" sang Morrissey. "And if they're Fulham, that makes it even worse.

There cannot be a true Galaxy fan alive today who does not love them some Brazilian. A Brazilian apparently named Vitor, specifically. Twice now I've seen game rosters with that name and tried to figure out if the Galaxy signed some new player. But when you see our magical little Brazilian elf on the field, there is no doubt it is Juninho.

Tweet my Goal! The funniest comments from Spurs 3-1 Shamrock Rovers and Thursday's Europa League action

Not a classic night in the Europa League, but an entertaining match at White Hart Lane made up for it... Tottenham 3-1 Shamrock Rovers: Pav and Gio end Irish dreams Stoke 2-1 Besiktas: Walters' Turkish delight Odense BK 0-2 Fulham: AJ grills BK Maribor 1-2 Birmingham: Wade in for Blues These were the funniest Tweets on the game from our @MirrorFootball feed :

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-09-29 22:26:17 from: The Mirror

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

There's an old coaching maxim that when you defend you try to make the pitch small so there's no room, and when you attack you try to make it big, so there's space to play in. Fulham admirably though they played at times tonight seem to have it the wrong way round, contstantly attacking a forest of defenders, while having to defend big spaces while undermanned.

he did not reveal to Ruiz that he was cup-tied before he had secured his signature from Twente on transfer deadline day. Ruiz is ineligible because he played for the Dutch side in the Champions League before they were eliminated earlier this season and dropped into the Europa League.

"He thought he could play but he couldn't.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

As far as first starts go it was not what Zac MacMath would have wanted, but it was certainly not a contest he will forget anytime soon. The rookie goalkeeper will fondly remember the night the Union stormed back from 4-1 down in the second half to earn a gritty point.

The New England Revolution couldn't hang onto a 3-0 lead or a 4-1 lead in front of 16,148 at PPL Park on Wednesday night, splitting the points with the Union. The Revolution's AJ Soares opened the scoring in the 9th minute, and it was 2-0 New England when Rajko Lekic converted a penalty kick in the 21st minute.

By Sean McElroy The Los Angeles Galaxy have a true abundance of riches. They have two of the best goalkeepers in MLS, Donovan Ricketts and Josh Suanders. They possess a back line of young, promising (and I might add, mostly American) players, notably Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, and AJ DelaGarza, mixed in with the veteran [.

It's another poor result against a poor club as NY baffingly draws the Fire in front of a sold-out crowd. Mark and Dave call for the madness to stop before chatting with rookie defender AJ Soares of New England. We finish up with your ideas for fixing the Red Bulls. Nine matches to go! CSRN MEDIA PLAYER

BY ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif -- The Los Angeles Galaxy got off to a roaring start in the CONCACAF Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Club Motagua in their group A opener on Tuedsay night at Home Depot Center.

Adam Cristman and Landon Donovan tallied for the Galaxy, but Los Angeles was wasteful in front of next squandering several opportunties to extend their lead over the Honduran club.

Average position charts from ESPN. Things to note:

Looks like the team's going for a sort of old school imbalanced back four. This is not uncommon in football's history, and attacking full-backs are an important part of the game now. At Barcelona they have a system in which Dani Alves storms forward, whereas the left back is less progressive and Sergio Busquets drops back while Alves raids.

Here's part #2. Again, the cast is: Rob is Rob Griffin; Rich is Rich; Jamie is JamieR; Dave is Chopper; Tim is me; Don is HatterDon; Nick is Nick Johnson; Colin is Colin Baker.

Enjoy.

After being just a point off bottom on New Year's Day, what do you think happened in the locker room or training field that saw our fortunes change in 2011?

The most emotional goal we've ever seen?

Having decided not to renew his contract at Fulham Zoltan has come back to the club where he started his career in England," said Hodgson.

"The last time he played at West Bromwich Albion he was a very popular figure with everyone at the club, not least of all the fans.

Here are the highlights.

You get freedom of the cottage for cup games and, for the sake of it, I got tickets right behind the goal in the Putney End. You can see me in red talking to Martin after AJ shot straight at the keeper in the first half.

Anyway, lessons have been learned about sitting too close: that shot, for instance, felt like a sitter from where we were.

When I woke up this morning I made sure to check the internet to confirm that last night's result was not a dream. We really did win. We really did get 3 points. For a few brief, placid days the Revs will occupy 7th place in the East. And I won't complain.

I'll admit, after our game against the Union I thought for sure that we'd hit rock bottom.

A nice enough evening stroll for the men in white. It wasn't especially pretty or effective, but a 7-1 aggregate win is emphatic enough.

The goals were all fairly routine and made us wonder why there weren't more of them. For 1-0 AJ slipped through, and calmly finished, for 2-0 Senderos sent Duff scampering clear, and he calmly finished, then Zamora scored at the far post to make it three, then Sidwell overcame a serious case of finishing yips to make it four.

Stevenage 1-0 Fulham | Shroot 80
Pre-Season Friendly | Broadhall Way | 786

Pre-season is well underway now and Boro secured their second successive victory with a 1-0 win over a Fulham XI this afternoon. A late strike from trialist Robin Shroot was enough to give Graham Westley's side the win after a solid performance in the Sunday showers.

AJ Soares was on every MLS team's radar at the 2011 SuperDraft. He certainly appeared to fill an immediate need for the Union, as a versatile defender who can play on the outside or down the center. The Cal product has had a confident start to his MLS career and was tested on Wednesday against English Premier League champions Manchester United.

Their Words My first experience with Manchester United was as a child watching their Treble victory in 1999 on VHS tape, and I am excited to now see them show off their talents here in Foxborough. New England Revolution defender AJ Soares, writing for The Boston Globe. Other Sources US survives amid changing landscape - from FoxSoccer.

BY ADAM SERRANO

The LA Galaxy had to reach deep into its bench, but was able to continue its 11-game unbeaten streak with a 0-0 draw against the Seattle Sounders on Monday night.

Third-string goalkeeper Brian Perk performed admirably in his MLS debut, making two saves including the definitive play of the game on a Fredy Montero penalty kick in the 18th minute.

A tie on the road against the best team in the league should feel satisfactory. But facing a third-string goalkeeper, drawing a penalty and generally outplaying the Los Angeles Galaxy for much of the match, the Seattle Sounders 0-0 tie does not feel as satisfying as it probably should.

The big reason for that is probably Fredy Montero's failed penalty.

If you saw the New England game, you saw a heart-stopping moment of defensive scrambling that resulted in not one, but two gol-line clearances in rapid succession. First AJ Delagarza, the Landon Donovan made determined, desperate plays that helped preserve the victory and clean sheet for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders have a few things in common. Both are in the preliminary round of the CCL, both lost dynamic players to on pitch injuries and both get a few thousand fans to show up when they play in the suburbs. Tip your waiters, I'll be here all week. Big D Soccer gives us some insight into the upcoming Wednesday night match.

How strange. As time ran out on this most odd season, the Arsenal fans got angry. It's hard to be sure what this was about, but perhaps there was a clue in last week's 'lap of appreciation' at the Emirates, during which the team was booed.

Booed for finishing fourth. What kind of fans are these people?

Crocker Lions, Senior Boys Fall 2010

A trio of boys, all part of the Crocker Lions squad that reached the Final 4 as freshman in 2008 (Catholic's first year as a boys program when New Covenant won the District and lost in the Quarterfinal to Crocker) will continue their careers for Missouri-based schools.