When Cesc Fabregas betrayed Arsenal to return to his boyhood club, many thought it would spell trouble for the Gunners as they had lost their inspirational skipper. Then, Van Persie stepped up. Goals, assists, flair and leadership were provided by the Dutchman. More importantly, Van Persie gave Arsenal his heart and loyalty.

Bobby Convey is headed to KC. (Getty Images)

You have to like what some clubs are doing right now. This week has been a big week of trades as clubs get ready for the First Stage of the Re-Entry Draft next week. Today another trade came down the pipe and while others haven't been as big this one certainly has the makings of being pretty huge.

The Revolution used its second overall pick to select former University of Rhode Island midfielder Danleigh Borman from Toronto during Stage 1 of today's Re-entry Draft. Since Borman is out of contract, the league will extend a Bona Fide offer to him to play for the Revolution.

Borman played in 21 games for the Reds and recorded three assists in 2011.

With all the Development Academy coverage lately, it's exciting for us to learn that an Academy product has signed a professional contract. Kyle McLaughlin, who played two seasons at FC DELCO and just wrapped up his first season at Colgate, has become the Philadelphia Union's second ever Home Grown signing.

After months of speculation, it is finally official: Mauro Rosales has re-signed with the Seattle Sounders. Exact terms of the deal were not released, as this is MLS, but the team has confirmed that Rosales has signed a multi-year deal that could make him a Designated Player. Rosales will be announced as the team's newest signing as the first order of business during Tuesday's End of Year Business Meeting

Rosales' contract would qualify him to be categorized as a DP, but the team is holding off on finalizing that part until they determine if the required allocation dollars would be better used elsewhere.

Mauro Rosales enjoyed an outstanding first season in Major League Soccer, leading Seattle's high-powered offense and earning MLS Newcomer of he Year honors in the process.

The Sounders rewarded Rosales outstanding debut, and secured his services in the process, signing the 30-year-old playmaker to a multi-year contract.

There has been some talk of late about Jose Enrique, and in particular there have been questions asked as to whether his form has dipped after a flying start to the season that saw him make a strong case for being the league's best left back—and possibly even its best fullback. Previously we looked at his numbers for the club after the first eight games and felt that as he was the only player to be clearly amongst the top three in both attack and defense, the numbers appeared to fully support the idea that he was the best in the league.

UW-Whitewater senior forward Kevin Kron was honored as the Offensive Player of the Year and UW-Oshkosh senior defender Will Chaney (Cedarburg) took the defensive award on the NCAA Division III men's All-Wisconsin State team, selected by the state's National Soccer Coaches Association of America members.

Newcastle Manager Alan Pardew has heaped praise on Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy ahead of his side's clash with Liverpool on Friday evening.With 3 goals and 4 assists so far this season, Bellamy has been something of a revelation for Liverpool, and Pardew believes he's up there with the very best.

Breakers' midfielders Meghan Klingenberg and Keelin Winters were among 31 players called into U.S. Women's National Team camp by head coach Pia Sundhage on Wednesday. The camp will run from Dec. 3-20, and will take place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Klingenberg started in 10 games for the Breakers in 2011 after the team acquired her from the now-defunct magicJack squad on June 1.

The Major League Soccer re-entry draft will take place on Monday and there are plenty of players available, many of whom you have probably never heard of before (a full list can be found here and our discussion to date can be found here). Selections in the 2010 edition of the re-entry draft were rare with only two players going in the first round.

Maxi Rodrigues scored his second goal in nine days against Chelsea on Tuesday night as Liverpool recorded a comfortable win at Stamford Bridge, yet despite his fantastic record over the last nine starts, the Argentinean still struggles to get into the team.
Let's look at the facts: In the last 9 starts, Maxi has scored 10 goals and provided 1 assist.

Aaron Ramsey has been a prominent figure for Arsenal this season. With a staggering 12 appearances already in the Premier League (out of 13 matches), he has proven to be the key creative force in midfield. Providing a good haul of 1 goal and 4 assists so far in the league, his incisive passes and [..

By JOHN BOSCHINI

It's the kind of stuff Hollywood was built on.

Last season, a staggering nine goals were produced in a snowy quarterfinal clash between then-No. 1 Louisville and No. 8 UCLA, as the Cardinals squeaked out a 5-4 victory on their way to a runner-up finish.

Hewerton scored four goals, and the Milwaukee Wave scored six straight goals spanning halftime as they remained unbeaten with a 24-18 victory over the Missouri Comets in a Major Indoor Soccer League game watched by 3,316 fans Friday night at U.S. Cellular Arena.

Player-assistant Giuliano Oliveiro added a goal and three assists – his first points of the season – for the Wave (5-0), while Nick Perera scored twice and Ian Bennett and Marcio Leite each had a goal and two assists.

I see my place in the centre

Hello and I hope you're having a super Saturday. There's Arsenal today and there can't be anything bad about that. Well, not if we win the game anyway. Today sees us visiting the DW Stadium to face Wigan, a team mired in the relegation zone. After the sacking of Steve Bruce at Sunderland, it would be fair to say that Roberto Martinez will be slightly worried about his position.

Liverpool is ready to up their interest in Crystal Palace youngster Wilfried Zaha after watching the striker put in a fantastic display against Manchester United.
The Reds have been linked with a move for the youngster for a number of months and in recent weeks have seen a host of clubs also register their interest.

Polling for the site 'awards' (no physical award actually given) for Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year weren't really close. It looks like Moment of the Year will see a run-off just like in 2010. Moving into the Young Player of Year the contest may be more about hope than performance. In the past there were a handful of players with large amounts of playing time that would qualify for a U-23 roster.

Liverpool left-backs from past and present come face to face at Craven Cottage tonight, and whilst John Arne Riise and Jose Enrique are both excellent players in their own right, who would you choose at left back for Liverpool if you had to make a choice?
Enrique has been a success story at Anfield so far this season; unlike others, he settled in five minutes after starting his first game for the club, and he's produced high quality performances ever since.

Andy Williams, the last remaining original member of the expansion Real Salt Lake's inaugural 2004 season, announced his retirement today. The 14-year veteran will join RSL as a member of its technical staff.
From MLSoccer.com:

Williams, 34, was the last remaining member of the original RSL team, joining the club with the first pick of the 2004 MLS Expansion Draft and spending the rest of his playing days representing the Claret and Cobalt.

Last season was a mixed campaign for many Spurs players and Aaron Lennon was one of those who ended the year with his Spurs career seemingly at a crossroads.

The season was punctuated with brief highlights including his winner over Liverpool while the low points seemed to start with his late withdrawal from the side to face Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

It has been a near foregone conclusion ever since he was first loaned out several months ago, but Miguel Montano officially signed with the Montreal Impact on Wednesday. The Seattle Sounders did not receive compensation for Montano, but GM Adrian Hanauer noted that his loan last year gave the team the flexibility to sign Sammy Ochoa.

Photo: Earl Gardner

Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011 season.

Justin Mapp heads to Montreal after an inconsistent one-and-a-half year stint in Philadelphia.

Liverpool have joined Spurs in the race for Marseille striker Loic Remy.
According to reports in France, Kenny Dalglish is interested in the French international striker but also faces a fight with Arsenal for the 24 year old.
Remy almost joined Liverpool in the summer of 2010 however the Reds baulked at the £12.

Four New England-based college players will be making the trek to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for the 2012 MLS Player Combine, which will run from Jan. 6-10, 2012.

The UConn duo of defender Nick Blake and forward Tony Cascio, as well as Dartmouth forward Luckymore Mkosana and Providence goalkeeper Jhojan Obando, are among 52 college seniors that will attempt to improve their SuperDraft stock during the five-day showcase, which will host a number of MLS coaches, general managers and scouts all hoping to get a glimpse of the country's best college-based talent.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By ADAM SERRANO

These days, Kelyn Rowe and Enzo Martinez have a great deal in common.

Both are playmakers for their teams with field vision that has pro scouts raving, and both are candidates for Generation adidas deals following this NCAA season.

Liverpool are ready to make an offer for FC Basel star Xherdan Shaqiri after watching the winger put in a man of the match display against Manchester United.
The Reds have been linked with the midfielder for some time after first becoming aware of the players talent when he scored a blistering goal against England in a qualifier earlier this year.

Well at least we'll be able to watch one Timber this off season as it looks like Rodney Wallace is off to represent Costa Rica once again. Both matches are international friendlies, but any national time he can get the better, in my opinion.

The first match will be against Cuba in Cuba... not many Americans can say they've been there.

Charlie Adam has been fantastic for Liverpool since his summer signing, and he's already contributed two goals and seven assists for his new team. The Scot is happy at Anfield, but in a recent interview, he revealed that he has regrets about how things ended at Blackpool.Speaking to the BBC, Adam outlined how he still feels a sense of personal culpability over Blackpool's relegation from the

At the end of Saturday's game, SZCZ fell to his knees and kissed Robin's boot. Whilst it's a manoeuvre many other gooners would probably replicate at the moment, a better one would have been to cover Robin's entire body in cotton wool.
We are not a one-man side. We have one of the best goalkeepers in European football.

A trio of U.S. internationals were part of the Nurnberg-Hoffenheim encounter this weekend, with Timmy Chandler starting for the hosts while Fabian Johnson lined up in the first XI for the visitors. Johnson delivered a pair of assists to Vedad Ibisevic, Chandler saw red in the 43rd and Danny Williams came on for the final 24 minutes to help preserve a 2-0 win for Hoffenheim, who picked up only their second win in the last 10 matches.

I know Major League Soccer Soccer-dot-com already ran a quick update about this in their new "Rumor Central" feature (which I kind of like, to be honest), but it's the kind of news that we should be reporting here. Trust me, if it weren't for the fact that I'm studying for my Civil Procedure exam and staring longingly at a bottle of whiskey, sleeping pills and a handgun I would have been on top of this the moment it came out.

Ben Speas scored the only goal in North Carolina's 1-0 win in the College Cup final against Charlotte on Dec. 11.
Youth National Team veteran Ben Speas, who played for the U-17, U-18 and U-20 Men's National Teams, scored the winning goal to help North Carolina beat Charlotte in the NCAA Division I Championship.

Kheli Dube -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
The Chicago Fire chose forward Kheli Dube with their selection in the second stage of the MLS Re-Entry Draft on Monday.
The 28-year-old Dube tallied 14 goals and eight assists in 72 games with the New England Revolution, and the Fire now begin negotiations with Dube on a contract.

One player who spent his summer playing soccer in Wisconsin is now a national champion.

Carlos McCrary came off the bench and played 11 minutes as third-ranked North Carolina tipped No. 14 Charlotte 1-0 in the NCAA Division I men's final Sunday in Hoover, Ala.

McCrary, a National Premier Soccer League All-Star after scoring five goals and adding two assists for the Madison 56ers last summer, was on the field for the lone goal of the match – an impressive curling, left-footed shot by Ben Speas from 25 yards out in the 65th minute.

Stewart Downing recently admitted that he prefers playing on the right wing, and the former Aston Villa man put in a good performances against QPR in that position at the weekend. However, a goal or an assists still eludes him, something he's painfully aware. Downing, who has now gone 16 games without scoring or creating a goal, said:"Our performances have been very good this season, and we have

Charlie Adam has been fantastic for Liverpool this season, and so far he's contributed two goals and seven assists to the cause. Despite this, there are still fans who argue that he was a bad signing (!), which is ridiculous given his Specific, Measurable Creative Contribution (SMCC), without which Liverpool would be floundering near the relegation zone.

Milwaukee Wave defender Joe Hammes (Cedarburg) was named the Major Indoor Soccer League Player of the Week.

Hammes scored seven points, netting two goals – including a 3-pointer – and two assists, to help the Wave (6-0) come back from an early deficit and beat the Rochester Lancers 24-9 on Saturday night.

Milwaukee Wave defender Joe Hammes (Cedarburg) was named the Major Indoor Soccer League Player of the Week.

Hammes scored seven points, netting two goals – including a 3-pointer – and two assists, to help the Wave (6-0) come back from an early deficit and beat the Rochester Lancers 24-9 on Saturday night.

Senior forward Kevin Kron, the leading scorer for the UW-Whitewater men's soccer team, and Carleton (Minn.) senior midfielder Ryan Cammarota (Neenah) were first-team selections on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America NCAA Division III All-North Region team.

Kron had 10 goals and three assists in 19 matches for the Warhawks, who won their third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in as many years, and was the WIAC Offensive Player of the Year.