Liverpool's new owners have been warned that even the sacking of Roy Hodgson might not be enough to stave off an exodus of their key players, including Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina. Although the manager's departure appears inevitable, and the two Spanish players would not leave during the winter transfer window, frustration at the club's inertia means they will go in the summer if they are not convinced by the new manager and handed reassurances of major investment.

Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona as his hat-trick helped Madrid beat Villarreal 4-2, on a day when Espanyol boosted their European ambitions by downing Real Zaragoza 4-0.

José Mourinho's men twice had to come from behind against third-placed Villarreal and on both occasions it was Ronaldo who restored parity, the Portuguese forward cancelling out Cani's cool seventh-minute opener just two minutes later before heading in on the stroke of half-time after Marco Ruben (18) had chipped the Yellow Submarine back in front.

Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona as his hat-trick helped Madrid beat Villarreal 4-2, on a day when Espanyol boosted their European ambitions by downing Real Zaragoza 4-0.

José Mourinho's men twice had to come from behind against third-placed Villarreal and on both occasions it was Ronaldo who restored parity, the Portuguese forward cancelling out Cani's cool seventh-minute opener just two minutes later before heading in on the stroke of half-time after Marco Ruben (18) had chipped the Yellow Submarine back in front.

Gerard Houllier claimed the signing of Darren Bent is a "major milestone" that will send out a message about the club's ambitions.

"We are absolutely delighted to have him here and we know he will be a tremendous asset for the months and the years ahead," Houllier said. "His arrival sends out a clear message about the ambition of our football club.

In the wake of Darren Bent's shock transfer to Aston Villa Sunderland manager Steve Bruce attempted to side with the fans by declaring his dismay at the strikers transfer.
Bruce said he felt ‘massively let-down' by the forward, who completed his £18million move to Villa Park on Tuesday.

No domestic matches this weekend, but with January 1 in the rear view mirror, the flipping of the calendar was an important milestone nonetheless. The Winter Transfer Window officially opened and American players are among the most sought after targets. Players with USMNT ambitions have already started moving and rumors continue to swirl around some of the bigger names in American soccer.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This is our first review of the football in 2011 and after taking a one week break at the end of last year we catch up with some of the big football stories good and bad from the last two weeks.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This is our first review of the football in 2011 and after taking a one week break at the end of last year we catch up with some of the big football stories good and bad from the last two weeks.

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is looking forward to the FA Cup third round clash against fierce rivals Manchester United and hopes his side can use the magic of the cup to turn around their poor form.
United, unbeaten after 20 league games, are clear favourites for the clash with Hodgson's men, who lost 3-1 to Blackburn in their last fixture.

With rumours Edwin van der Sar will retire at the end of the season, Sir Alex Ferguson is looking to stock up on decent keepers in a bid to find a suitable replacement. Anders Lindegaard has already joined from Aaeslund in Norway and Bayer Leverkusen stopper Rene Adler is the latest name linked to the club.

Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler has revealed that as a kid he had Manchester United posters all over his bedroom walls.

The club revealed earlier this season that the goalie has a special clause in his contract which specifies that if Manchester United offer the asking price, they have to sell him, so intent is he to his dream of being a United player.

Dietmar Hamann is a contender to return to Liverpool as part of Kenny Dalglish's new-look backroom staff, Goal.com UK can disclose.
Hamann, who is mid-way through a one-year player-coach contract at MK Dons, has not played since October 30 because of injury.
He has ambitions to move in to coaching full time when he hangs up his boots and is believed to welcome the opportunity to be reunited with Liverpool.

Three days after Galaxy icon Cobi Jones announced he was leaving the club where he had spent virtually his entire career, the new employee of the New York Cosmos spoke with journalists today about his role with the club.

For now he plans to remain in Los Angeles, albeit doing plenty of traveling between the youth academies the Cosmos, who have ambitions of entering MLS as early as 2013, have established on each coast.

Done deal. Four and a half year deal.

Darren Bent has officially completed his move from Sunderland in what will be a record transfer deal for Villa (£18m rising to £24m the most popular claim) and will be eligible for Man City on Saturday. I think he'll probably play, don't you?

Bent brings undoubted quality exactly where we need it the most.

Gerard Houllier claimed the signing of Darren Bent is a "major milestone" that will send out a message about the club's ambitions.

"We are absolutely delighted to have him here and we know he will be a tremendous asset for the months and the years ahead," Houllier said. "His arrival sends out a clear message about the ambition of our football club.

My good old friends at Arsenal Brasil have done it again. Last time it was an interview with former Gunner Edu, this time around it's one of the first team squad, Denilson. They've given Arseblog an exclusive English translation.

He talks about life at Arsenal, his teammates, gives his thoughts on the issue of leadership, as well as his future plans .

Celtic 4 - Hearts 0Is that it then? Did Hearts title challenge amount to little more than a scrappy win over Rangers and three days of hope before a meek capitulation against Celtic?
That's how it will play in today's papers.
Maybe we were all a bit guilty of being overly optimistic.

A cold shower. That's about how I felt watching the Coupe de France game against Nice last Sunday. With the interest and hope aroused by the two previous Ligue 1 and Coupe de France games, we were prepared to celebrate a fairly easy win. I had draft text messages ready to send to the few Nice supporters I happen to know : "good game, too bad".