Against Ipswich, Arshavin picked up two assists. Here is what he said of his own performance,

It wasn't a supermatch for me. But I'm satisfied with the result. I'm glad that I was useful to the squad.

I don't think he could have said it any better even with the help of the best PR agents in the world.

*Neither the Galaxy nor MLS have responded to a report Sunday that had leading scorer Edson Buddle rather embarrassingly snubbing a new contract with MLS for a struggling second-tier German outfit.

It's hard to blame Buddle, who turns 30 in May, for wanting to make some serious coin if reports of his likely paycheck are accurate.

Gameweek 24 is soon upon us and this is the gameweek to succeed. Fantasy Premier League has 6 teams playing double gameweek, so make sure you have as many players as you can from these 6 teams. Which are of course: Blackpool, Man Utd, Wigan, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Fulham.
This weeks all the hottest tips come from these teams.

Since I posed the question in one of the posts yesterday, I was curious to determine how much of an impact Chicharito has had in terms of points won so far this season. Clearly, his impact is more than just goals and assists. But the intangibles are obviously more difficult to really measure. For the purpose of this exercise, I just went with a simplistic approach looking solely at the goals/assists stat and figuring out how many points he has won us because he scored/assisted.

Two Minnesota U-14 players have just returned from a very successful trip south of the boarder.

Minnesota boys make Top Drawer Soccer's list of Top Players to Watch.

Luke Haakenson to travel to West Ham in London to train with academy.

More photos » Victor Decolongon - Getty Images

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It's now official. Freddie Ljungberg will not be a part of the Chicago Fire next season.

Adam Cristman is heading west to be with the Galaxy. (Getty Images)

After losing Edson Buddle to a German side yesterday (good for you Edson), the Galaxy are starting to sound like a desperate team here. No knock on this deal today but they have gone out and traded for striker Adam Cristman from D.

By AVI CREDITOR

Hope and promise surround Toronto FC after the revamping of its coaching and techinical staff, but those good feelings have been tempered by the word that homegrown player Nicholas Lindsay is expected to miss the entire 2011 season with a knee injury.

Anthony Ampaipitakwong, or Ampai for short, and Stephen Lenhart are the newest members of the Earthquakes following today's SuperDraft.

The Quakes decided to trade away their number 15 draft spot and allocation money to Columbus for a player that would be revealed later.

Diego Maradona and Carlos Valderrama stole the show during an indoor game between former stars from Argentina and Colombia. Maradona was good for a goal and two assists. Valderrama, still holding his great head of hair, provided the assist for the great bicycle kick of Aristazabal and scored as well.

Arsene Wenger is no longer hiding his interest in the Southampton teenager Alex Chamberlain, which may be pushing Andrey Arshavin right out of the Emirates door. All signs point to the 17-year-old winger making a move to Arsenal for around £10m this week, as the U-18 international has apparently decided to snub the Manchester City jersey and Newcastle United for a move to the Gunners.

My last post on Wayne Rooney got me thinking about shooting efficiency.
As supporters we want our club to have players that maximize use of chances, in effect, score goals. Goals are delicious not in the same way that aged cheese is delicious but in the way in that they lead to wins and make us happy.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE JUST JOINED US: CONCACAF doesn't actually give out this award. Nor do Mexican, Central American, Caribbean, Canadian, or Yankee Imperialist Running Dog journalists. Nor, obviously, do players, coaches, administrators, or federations. This is something I do. Because (1) it's funny if it's just me, and (2) it shows how much CONCACAF sucks that they can't even organize or sanction cheap publicity like this.

Talk about being spoiled. Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers have paraded the last two summers as their team won NBA championships. This season, going for three championships in a row, the Lakers are having some issues. On Sunday, the Lakers were pounded by the Memphis Grizzlies at home by a final score of 104-85.

UPDATE: According to the Revolution, official word is still that he has decided to pursue opportunities abroad and not sign with MLS to play for New England. We'll keep you posted if anything develops.

Brazilian International Fred, who was selected by the New England Revolution in the second round of last month's MLS Re-entry Process, appears to be on the verge of signing with the club, according to his Twitter feed.

The Colorado Rapids announced their first roster move of the New Year on Monday by signing defender Tyrone Marshall. Per club and league policies, financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Marshall is officially added to the club's roster after being selected by Colorado with the 16th pick in Stage 2 of the 2010 Major League Soccer Re-Entry Process on Dec.

Midfielder Andy Adlard (Brookfield East) was invited to this week's Major League Soccer Player Combine, the official Indiana University men's soccer Twitter feed reported Monday.

Adlard was a third-team selection on the National Soccer Coaches Association of American All-Great Lakes Region team as a senior last fall.

Watch out, NBA. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are starting to play well at the same time. No longer do they have to take turns carrying the Miami Heat. The latest example was on Monday night when LeBron and Dwyane combined for 69 points as the Heat tamed the Charlotte Bobcats by a final score of 96-82.

In light of the news that Michael Tetteh signed with MLS under the Generation Adidas program leaving UC-Santa Barbara with one year of eligibility it should be noted that the draft got a touch deeper today. The left-footed left midfielder/left wingback is a native of Ghana who played high school and college ball in California.

1. Well done Chris Smalling. Ahead of the game there were worries that our 21-year-old new signing was going to struggle with the height and strength of Kenwyne Jones, who scored at Old Trafford with Sunderland last season. The lad didn't put a foot out of place though. I don't mean to get carried away with myself but right now, Smalling has all the makings of a Rio Ferdinand replacement.

Photo courtesy of Duke Sports

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Cole Grossman is ready to move on.

After four up-and-down years at Duke, the senior midfielder has set his sights on the MLS and the challenges that lie therein.

"It's an incredible learning opportunity," Grossman said.

Photo by Trent Davol/ISIPhotos.com

Kristine Lilly, one of the most accomplished players in women's soccer history, has retired.

The world record holder for international appearances with an amazing 352, Lilly has decided to step away from both the U.S. women's national team and her professional career with the WPS Boston Breakers after spending parts of four decades playing at the highest level.

The Oklahoma City Thunder took advantage of an injury ravaged Dallas Mavericks squad on Thursday night, winning 99-95. The Mavs were without Dirk Nowitzki, Caron Butler and Roddy Beaubois arguably the team's three most explosive players. Kevin Durant did most of the damage, scoring 28 points on 11-for-22 shooting from the field.

Sidney Crosby, the best hockey player on earth, will be sidelined for the next week due to a concussion. The injury happened on Wednesday during the Pittsburgh Penguins 8-1 destruction of the Tampa Bay Lightning. These will be the first games the 23-year-old will miss during the 2010-11 NHL season.

COLUMBUS, Ohio Columbus Crew signed forward Tom Heinemann to a multi-year contract Friday. Heinemann joins the Crew after spending the last two years with the Charleston Battery of the United Soccer Leagues and Carolina RailHawks of the NASL. He trained with the Crew briefly early in the 2009 preseason.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

For the second-consecutive year, the Hermann Trophy is in the hands of a Zip and a Cardinal.

Akron junior forward Darlington Nagbe was voted the best Division I player by the National Soccer Coaches of America (NSCAA), beating out fellow forwards Will Bruin of Indiana and Colin Rolfe of Louisville.

Against the Boston Celtics, Derrick Rose was the best player on the court. And that's quite a feat considering the Celtics have at least four Hall of Fame players on their roster. But on Saturday, the game belonged to Rose, who finished with 36 points. When all was said and done, the Bulls had a 90-79 victory over the Celtics.

The Russian attacker Andrei Arshavin has looked out of sorts all season, and although he has scored a few goals (and quite a few assists as well) he has rarely looked animated in games except for short periods. The flashes of brilliance that the Arsenal fans expected to see last season are rarely seen this [.

A pair of assists from Jonathan Spector keyed a West Ham victory over Birmingham in the first leg of their Carling Cup semifinal on Tuesday night at Upton Park.

With the MLS Superdraft scheduled for tomorrow, there seems to be three main names popping up in mock drafts around the internet. Here's a closer look at Michael Tetteh, Zarek Valentin, and Corey Hertzog.

Michael Tetteh, defender, UC Santa Barbara

A defender who will turn 22 next week, Tetteh played in 15 games for UC Santa Barbara as a junior last year while working through a number of injuries.

On the eve of the SuperDraft, the New England Revolution re-signed versatile midfielder Chris Tierney to a long term contract. Tierney, entering his fourth year with the team, had a career year in 2010.

Chris Tierney had a career year in 2010. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

"Chris is a very versatile player and gives us a lot of options on the field," Revolution Vice President of Player Personnel Michael Burns said.

Blake Griffin is the real deal. The superstar rookie for the Los Angeles Clippers is slowly but surely turning his team into a squad no one wants to play. On Wednesday, the Clippers hosted the Miami Heat winners of 13 straight road games. With Blake Griffin leading the way with 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, the Clippers beat the Heat by a final score of 111-105.

BALTIMORE, Md. In the final round of the MLS SuperDraft, the Revolution addressed their offensive woes with the third round selections of forward Stephen Perry (39th overall) , midfielder/forward Ryan Kinne (42nd overall), and forward Alan Koger (54th overall).

Steven Perry (blue) was the first of three forwards the Revs selected in the third round.

Brandon Roy has notoriously bad knees. After sitting out a number of games due to knee pain, the star guard for the Portland Trail Blazers is undergoing surgery on both knees. The surgeries will be arthroscopic and will take place next week. When Roy will return to the Blazers is unknown. There's a rising chance that he'll be forced to sit out the rest of the season.

BALTIMORE, Md. The Boston Breakers added midfielder Keelin Winters, along with forwards Whitney Palmer, Katie Sheeleigh, and Tanya Taylor to their potent attack Friday afternoon at the 2011 Womens Professional Soccer Draft.

Winters, who was taken with the sixth overall pick, played collegiately at the University of Portland from 2007-2010.

The issue I spoke about yesterday was complacency, it spreads like a disease. From the training ground to the football pitch. The display of complacency we saw against Ipswich was nothing new really and had been seen on countless other occasions this season.

Take a look at Lionel Messi for example.

Despite the Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger announcing that he will not be bringing any strikers to the Emirates this month, the Mail reports this morning that Arsenal and Liverpool are both chasing the Hungarian winger Balazs Dzsudzsak who is currently playing for PSV Eindhoven in Holland.
Kenny Dalglish will definitely be reinforcing the Liverpool squad this month and there is every possibility that Dzsudzsak could arrive at Anfield to add some much-needed width to the Reds attack.

Lots happening over the last week or so it's time for Project 2010 to help you catch up:

The big move to report is Jermaine Jones to Blackburn. The American midfielder has joined the club on loan for the duration for the season, although Blackburn are supposedly saying they'd like to make the loan deal permanent at the end of the season.

Williamsburg, Va. - After a stellar four-year career at William and Mary, Tribe senior Alan Koger was taken in the third round (54th pick) of the 2011 Major League Soccer SuperDraft by the New England Revolution. With his selection, Koger becomes the ninth player in program history to be drafted in to the MLS.

Anyone who's been following the Premiership this year will undoubtedly have heard rave reviews about Bale. Many players divide opinions but it seems to be that the Tiny Tott winger has been universally lauded. Some have gone so far as to compare him with Messi!

Speaking of players dividing opinions while talking of Bale the name Theo Walcott comes to mind.