Chelsea lost the chance to consolidate their fourth place position in the league yesterday after they were humbled 2-0 by Everton at Goodison Park. Goals from Steven Pienaar and Denis Stracqualursi condemned Villas-Boas to his 6 loss of the season and saw Arsenal overtake them into 4th place after a 2-1 away over Sunderland.

I posed some statements to the other writers of Stumptown Footy and asked them to buy or sell the statement with a brief explanation. Here are our answers:

Kris Boyd will score 10+ goals this season. Andrew:

Sell. I've held this opinion close to my chest. I want to believe that Boyd is going to be the goalscorer the Timbers organization has cast their lot in, but to me there are still just a few too many questions.

Co-hosts Gabon looked like it was going to be headed to their best showing in any ACN when Eric Mouloungui shot them into the lead in the 55th minute. But Mali had other ideas as Cheick Diabate equalized in the 84th minute. At the end of extra time, with the two teams deadlocked, the fate of the match was decided on PK shootout.

Manchester United head into Sunday's fixture at Stamford Bridge off the back of three consecutive victories in the Premier League and an opportunity to back on level points with City.

Penalties from Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov either side of half time on transfer deadline day lead Manchester United on their way to 3 points as Manchester City were being beat at Everton thanks to a strike from former Red Devil Darron Gibson.

Why Fernando Frequently Fails to Fire - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Useless. Flop. Goddamn waste of money. Adjectives are not too hard to come by when Fernando Torres is the topic of discussion. Few footballers have fallen as far and as fast as the former Liverpool hit man has in the past 2 seasons.

The Dynamo continued their preseason undefeated with another convincing victory over a college side. Several trialist played well as they try to convince Dominic Kinnear to offer them contracts for the 2012 season.

Press Release

HOUSTON, TX (Saturday, February 04, 2012) -- The Houston Dynamo defeated Houston Baptist University 4-0 on a wet Saturday morning at Houston Amateur Sports Park.

One thing I have noticed in recent weeks is the lack of real chances we are creating for ourselves. The thing is, because of this happening, the likes of Danny Sturridge (as he demonstrated yesterday) have taken a selfish approach to his game and is shooting whenever he gets the ball in or around the box rather then lift his head up and look for a killer pass or to create a chance for someone else.

Coach Tozer thanks the fans after his 700th victory. By: Brandon Arendt
On a day that saw literally everything go Milwaukee's way, history was made. Wave Coach, Keith Tozer, became the first coach in American Soccer to reach a historic 700 victories. All on the legs of a dominating 25-10 performance by the Wave over Syracuse.

Some quick news notes:

• Oh Boy, Oh Boyd!

holla'Portland...

Kris Boyd he of the recent excursion to Dynamo country is not earmarked for Stumptown USA, the Portland Timbers. Boyd will join as a designated player.

The flip from Boyd to Cooper will be contrasting for P-Town fans as Boyd's game more closely dovetails with Diego Chara's a little bit of nastiness and a whole lot of go-go-go.

Norfolk SharX Press Release:
Norfolk, Virginia – In a game that saw 23 fouls called and play stopped a dozen times for injuries, the Rochester Lancers literally outlasted the Norfolk SharX 17-8 at Norfolk Scope Arena Sunday afternoon. The SharX lost their third player for the season tonight when Brady Bryant was helped off the field with a torn ACL.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

It looked to be another long afternoon at the Emirates after Arsenal found themselves down two to Aston Villa at halftime and on the verge of going out of the FA Cup. Relief came quickly, however, as the Gunners scored three goals within 10 minutes to move on to the fifth round.

photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

In a week that saw several young and inexperienced players make their cases for more playing time on the U.S. men's national team, it was the veterans of the United States who shined brightly.

Landon Donovan was one of those players, as he inspired Everton to victory by setting up both of its goals in a 2-1 win over Fulham in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday.

It may have have happened in a loss, but Fabian Johnson scored his first goal for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday.

Johnson opened his account with the club he joined last summer by netting in the second half of Hoffenheim's 3-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund. Johnson got on the end of a low cross and one-timed a powerful shot into the back of the net to prevent Hoffenheim from getting shut out for a second consecutive game.

By FRANCO PANIZO

One of the favorites to win this year's Africa Cup of Nations, Ghana opened its tournament with a narrow victory over Botswana that can best be described as a roller coaster for John Mensah.

The Ghana captain endured highs and lows in Ghana's Group D opener, scoring the only goal before receiving a red card and then picking up a hamstring injury.

photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com

Richard Eckersley will be calling Toronto FC home for the foreseeable future.

Eckersley was signed to a permanent move with the Reds after joining the club on loan from Burnley last April, the club announced on Thursday.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Mexico seemed ready to settle for a draw with Venezuela, but two late goals coming in a span of a minute lifted El Tri to a 3-1 victory over the South Americans.

Fielding a squad largely comprised of players competing for a spot on the Olympic qualifying team, the Mexicans won on Wednesday night courtesy of goals from Rafael Marquez Lugo and Oribe Peralta in the 88th and 89th minutes, respectively.

Four days after putting together an impeccable performance against Venezuela, the United States had to overcome a sloppy and disheveled showing to escape Estadio Rommel Fernandez with a 1-0 win over Panama Wednesday night.

Graham Zusi's ninth minute goal survived more than 85 minutes of as Panama squandered countless chances to equalize against a maligned back line during the international friendly.

If Paul Jewell were to be sacked today, I really don't think I'd feel any sorrow.
Don't get me wrong: I'm not starting any protests to demand he be removed from my club. (As I've long been saying - changing managers on a regular basis is not going to get us anywhere.) But I am rapidly losing patience with him.

By Chris Wright

If I was to tell you that FC Metalist full-back Cristian Villagra scored a direct free-kick from 70 yards against Dinamo Moscow yesterday, you'd probably be envisaging some kind of hit-and-hope effort that gets carried the length of the pitch by the wind, hits a divot, bounces twice over a stranded goalkeeper and nestles soundly in the back of the net.

By FRANCO PANIZO

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations got underway this past weekend, and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea opened the tournament in dramatic fashion.

Former Real Madrid player Javier Balboa scored three minutes before the death to give Equatorial Guinea a 1-0 win over Libya.

By FRANCO PANIZO

It took Clint Dempsey nine years to score the first hat-trick of his career, a feat he accomplished on January 7 in an FA Cup win over Charlton Athletic.

It did not take much longer for him to do it again.

Dempsey became the first American to net a hat-trick in the Premiership on Saturday.

Juventus have scored 29 goals in 18 league matches which is not very impressive but by no means is it a disastrous figure considering only two clubs in Serie A have scored more: Milan and Napoli.

The figures do not lie and a closer look reveals the Bianconeri have scored 10 goals in 3 matches meaning the club managed only 19 goals in the other 15 games.

Chelsea once again failed to maintain any consistency in their performance as they only managed a draw against Norwich City, despite controlling the match and created more chances especially in the second half but their inability to finish off their chances cost them two points.

The club's ineffectiveness in front of goal once again being noted by the Blues' manager, Andre Villas-Boas, as the cause of their current inability to stay close with the top three teams in the league.

By Alan Duffy

Norwich City 0-0 Chelsea Premier League 21 January 2012

Chelsea failed to make much ground on third-placed Tottenham at Carrow Road on Saturday, after playing out a rather disappointing goalless draw with Norwich City.

Why United, City and Liverpool should get three points this weekend - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

With United traveling to Arsenal and Tottenham going north to Manchester City, there's a lot to look forward to this week.

Here's a look at the top betting tips and the best matches this weekend.

United to travel to the Emirates this weekend to take on Arsenal, and they look a big price at 2.62 to beat the Wenger boys. The Gunners were thrashed 8-2 earlier in the season at Old Trafford, and although they have improved since then I can't see why they are virtually the same price as United in the betting to gain their revenge.

Liverpool are considering a January move to sign Swansea City attacker Scott Sinclair after a succession of glowing scouting reports left Anfield boss Kenny Dalglish readying a potential bid for the former Chelsea man.
Dalglish has been monitoring a number of prospective attacking additions as the Scot looks to beef up Liverpool's fire-power after seeing his Merseyside club struggle to find the back of the net.

Liverpool are considering a January move to sign Swansea City attacker Scott Sinclair after a succession of glowing scouting reports left Anfield boss Kenny Dalglish readying a potential bid for the former Chelsea man.
Dalglish has been monitoring a number of prospective attacking additions as the Scot looks to beef up Liverpool's fire-power after seeing his Merseyside club struggle to find the back of the net.

Adu had some moments.The U.S. Men's National Team opened up 2012 with some very interesting talking points. Certain call ups, certain omissions, scrimmages and of course the obvious questions that accompany such things. First up would be the scrimmage between the full team and the Under 23's.
The senior squad paid a lesson to the U23 Olympic team with a 4-0 dismantling of their younger brothers.

Liverpool are now one step closer to reaching the Carling Cup Final after an impressive display at Etihad Stadium. Liverpool were by far the better team in the first half, keeping possession well and creating chances.

They were rewarded in the 11th minute when Daniel Agger was fouled in the box by Stefan Savic.

D.C. United U-15 Academy squad excels at Disney Soccer Showcase
United's U-15 squad finishes prestigious youth tournament unbeaten
Washington, D.C. (January 10, 2012) – D.C. United's U-15 Academy team recently traveled to Orlando, Fla. to participate in the annual Disney Soccer Showcase.

Spanish giants Real Madrid are expected to lose a number of key players this month as another of their brightest talents Angel Di Maria said to have welcomed offers from both Manchester United and Chelsea.

Along with Kaka and Esteban Granero, Di Maria is the third player who could possibly leave the Bernabeu this month.

By FRANCO PANIZO

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Dom Dwyer did not know he was heading to the 2012 MLS Combine until a day before the event kicked off, but that did not stop him from having a decent showing at the event that he capped off with a goal.

Dwyer helped adiZero (blue) to a 3-1 win over Prime (green) on Tuesday morning, scoring an insurance goal in the 52nd minute of the game when he pounced on a rebound and knocked the ball into the back of the net.

By Ulysse Pasquier

Anyone who follows football knows the amount of emotion that the sport can bring in a split second. From total despair to intense euphoria, every fan is ought to have experienced his fair share of hair-raising moments. What happened at the Emirates yesterday however transcended all these feelings.

It was billed one the homecoming for Thierry Henry and in the end, the ending matched the expectation at the start. A single goal separated Arsenal from Leeds United and advances us to the next stage of the competition. A home tie against Aston Villa is the prize that we got and it was a moment of history being reenacted that sent us through.

Now that the transfer window is open, I thought it was time to take a quick look at how Premier League clubs have been performing on various dimensions. Let's start with offense for today. Which clubs have been doing exceptionally well, and which ones seem to need some help, perhaps by finding a player or two?

By FRANCO PANIZO

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The second day of the MLS Combine was the first day for Ethan Finlay, who had arrived to the Sunshine State on Saturday. He had missed the first day of the event on Friday to attend the Hermann Trophy Award ceremony in St.

Changing coaches often means changing playing styles, and the decision to hire Oscar Pareja as head coach means the Colorado Rapids of 2012 may look quite different from the teams of 2010-11.

Giving Pareja the reins of his first MLS team is going to create a roster shakeup. The Colombian, a veteran of MLS campaigns from 1998 through 2005, has already talked about the need to find a Carlos Valderrama-type playmaker for the Rapids.

It's not all that surprising that an American scored at Goodison Park on Wednesday. After all, Everton's match against Bolton marked Landon Donovan's return to the Toffees. Thing is, Donovan wasn't the one to find the back of the net.

In open play, goalkeeper Tim Howard unleashed a long kick from his own box that took a perfect bounce from about 25 yards out and got carried by a furious wind over Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan into the goal.

Liverpool Lose 3-0 At Etihad

Suarez begins his 8 match ban... Manchester City put three goals past Liverpool on Tuesday night despite the away side retaining a lot of possession. A goalkeeping mishap and a dubious penalty helped City on their way but despite this, Liverpool still couldn't find a goal to put the pressure on Mancini's side.