Photo by Earl Gardner

Acknowledging that "In this business, it is never easy to say goodbye," Peter Nowak confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday that the Philadelphia Union and Chivas USA have agreed on the terms of a deal that will see Danny Califf traded for an as yet unnamed player.

Still no left back, but the slight defensive midfield depth issue has been addressed with the signing of Brazilian journeyman Marcelo Saragosa. Given that Kitchen will surely miss time for Olympic qualifiers (and the big show in London if we qualify) and isn't exactly a sure thing as he steps into his first year in the role for which he's being groomed, depth was a concern.

Here is some team news for you Arsenal fans. Reports emerging claim that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is considering playing midfielder Alexander Song in defense. Wenger who is looking for the best possible formation to contain Milan, has been hit hard with injuries to key players in the past few weeks and is considering ausing his trusty anchor as a centre back.

Has this joke run its course yet? No? Good because we are not halfway done. The set will all be online before the season kicks off. Keep the comments coming as I've clearly learned that if I do these again next season, I will be sure to make the cards of all the obvious ones I missed this time around.

A half time formation shift allowed Shalrie Joseph to venture forward and score the winning goal against Boston College on Wednesday. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)

Those familiar with seeing Shalrie Joseph pushing forward and becoming heavily involved in the attack may see less of it in 2012, depending on the New England Revolution captain's midfield partner.

Kassey Kallman, the Woodbury, Minn. native who plays for Florida State and advanced as far as the NCAA semifinals, has been called up again to the U.S. U-20 Women's National team. Kallman seems to have solidified her job as anchor of the back line as the key central defender. Kallman and her teammates just came off [.

Almost across the line. United can add 6 more players before the roster spots fill up, and must add at least two to the salary budget roster by compliance day in order to fulfill the MLS roster regulations. Of course, it's impossible to tell (from the outside) just how much room remains under the cap, but I think it's fairly safe to say that we'll be adding two of the four remaining trialists and not pulling any surprise rabbits from Kasper-Payne's hat.

-Yesterday DaMarcus Beasley tweeted, "Would love to come back to the club that gave me my first chance! The Chicago Fire is like my family. #fireforlife". Many people took this tweet and ran with it. he was only responding to a fans question and that is it. I don't think that the Puebla winger is coming over any time soon.

No matter if it was right or wrong, Jamie Carragher was always going to start against Arsenal on Saturday. Legend to some, a man who in his prime fuelled dreams of a cloned brood of Carraghers all straining and screaming as they dragged the club to glory. To others a lately tarnished legacy of behind the scenes politicking, his local's influence and friends in the press helping him hang on to a starting role years after he should have joined Sami Hyypia in riding gracefully off into the sunset as a fondly remembered hero.

Arsenal Do Not Like To Defend By JG Arsenal really could have used Per Mertesacker against Norwich today. He would have provided the anchor in the defense that would have allowed Vermaelen to start attacks every so often, but instead we had Koscielny who is basically an exact copy of Vermaelen (without a killer [.

Michael Parkhurst will be reporting to U.S. national team camp Thursday as a champion.

Parkhurst's FC Nordsjaelland put the finishing touches on their Danish Superliga title on Wednesday, defeating Horsens 3-0 in the season finale to hold off FC Copenhagen and seal a place in the UEFA Champions League.

Some teams are defined by a key player or two, others by a system that lasts between coaches, in the Columbus Crew there is a team that was once a system/player team, but is now defined by its coach. No player sticks our as an anchor, particularly with their injuries. Robert Warzycha takes a little bit of tactics from his time with Sigi Schmid and supplements those with an attitude that is pure Crew - hard working team on a budget.