1. Eddie Johnson will not make the bench.
2. Second-tier leagues are their own worst enemies and will always implode.
3. Freddy Adu will be passed around Europe like a joint at a Phish show.
4. DaMarcus Beasley will be injured regularly as long as he stays with Rangers.
5.

This Zlatan Ibrahimovic character is having quite the week for a substitute. After playing the hero in a substitute's appearance against slightly disliked opponent Real Madrid, he was left on the bench for the midweek trip to Andalusia and the fixture against Xerez, which is Spanish for "how are they in the top division again?

Both Stoke and Fulham have a double header on Gameweek 20, after missing out on Gameweek 17. Arsenal and Bolton are the other teams that gameweek who benefit from the revised fixture list.
The tricky part for a lot of players is that by now many have shaped their teams into something close to what they would like, making the dilemma not so much about who they should transfer in, rather who they will transfer out.

Are Tomasz Kuszczak's recent performances a sign of better times to come for the current Polish nr 1? At least Tomek is currently winning the rivalry with the English national team hopeful Ben Foster. However, the moment Edwin van der Sar returns he'll be relegated to the bench once again. Will Franz Smuda still trust him then?

Redknapp will only accept good offers for Spurs pair.

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Harry Redknapp insists Spurs have no plans to let David Bentley and Roman Pavlyuchenko leave for knock-down prices when the transfer window reopens.

Chamakh

Its Official folks. Arsenal are in a state of mini-crisis. 3 defeats in a row, the last two being 3-0 hammerings courtesy the Blues & the Sky-Blues. Injuries to Van Persie, Bendtner, Walcott & indifferent form of both Eduardo and Vela, has meant Arsenal are playing all their games with practically no strike ammo.

In April 2009, Holland coach Marco Van Basten criticised Rafael Benitez's handling of Ryan Babel, noting that the player had taken a step backward since his arrival at Anfield. This week, Babel has once again expressed his dissatisfaction with the way he is treated at Liverpool. Has Babel failed or is Rafa Benitez to blame for not giving the player a consistent chance?

The Official Liverpool club site reported that Alberto Aquilani will start tonight against Fiorentina in a meaningless Champions League match. Fernando Torres is also expected to be named on the substitutes bench. The initial reaction from me when I was told by a Red Devils fan was, "why oh why? Rafa has got things wrong yet again!

Has it really been 15 gameweeks already...Yes it has, and the Fantasy Premier League has already shown many tops and flops... Let's see who have been playing a great first half of the season.
TOPS
The number one goalkeeper is Stoke City's Sorensen with 71 points. Goalkeeper has been on fire the last three matches, and has saved 2 penalties and kept 2 clean sheets.

Could we see Landon Donovan in the EPL next month? (Getty Images)

A lot has been said last night and today about Landon Donovan's potential loan move across the pond this winter. First it was a possible move down south to Club America in Mexico but now it seems to be a loan to EPL side Everton.

When is Rafa going to play our newest signing Alberto Aquilani?The guy cost between £17 and £20 million from Roma.He arrived at Anfield as an injured player, his ankle being the problem.That meant he had to spend a while in the treatment room with the physios at Melwood as he underwent prolonged rehab and fitness courses.

With the changes this past offseason to MLS teams rosters, the draft this past year was a little bit different. Due to the smaller rosters, there were only 4 rounds in the draft. In those 4 rounds, the Wizards had 5 picks. So let's take a look at those 5 picks from this past year.
1(8) - Matt Besler - The local KC product, Besler had himself a solid first season in MLS.

Since Mr. Erik Soler is now the Sporting Director and General Manager Supreme, but is admittedly ignorant to the rules and nature of MLS, I figured I could start the good man off with a 5 point orientation plan before the start of the season. I mean, if it isn't me, then whom? Jeff Agoos?

Who is to blame for the average squad at Anfield.

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In light of a few of the articles posted on COS recently, I felt that I should cast a spotlight upon the inevitable discussion of Liverpool's strength in depth.

It was a deal that we saw coming for the last couple week and now it is official. Everton FC formally announced the completion of the Landon Donovan loan move on Friday, clearing the way for him to make his 10-week stay with the English Premier League side.

Donovan will join fellow US National Team member Tim Howard with the Toffees after the New Year, pending acceptance of his UK work permit application.

The agent of Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure has told Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal to make them an offer.
The midfielder, 26, younger brother of City's Kolo, has failed to nail down a regular spot in Barca's first-team this season and could be on his way for £10million.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez insists he will not bow to critics who want Alberto Aquilani to be rushed into the first team.
The Reds boss' tactics have been questioned as his £20million summer signing has remained on the substitute's bench over recent weeks and only earned a strange 30-second outing in the UEFA Champions League win at Debrecen.

Great news coming out of Anfield is that Fernando Torres has resumed full training with the rest of the squad.The talismatic Liverpool striker has been out for 4 weeks with a hernia, picked up on duty with Spain in a friendly match two months ago.In that time Liverpool have missed his firepower greatly.

In an interview with 'The Times' today, Rafa Benitez once again laid the blame for Robbie Keane's failure at Liverpool at the feet of the player himself, claiming that he was sold because 'he was not playing at the level we knew he could play'. In my view, Benitez's mis-managment was the real reason Keane did not prosper at Anfield.

Carlos Tevez has insisted that even if he scores against Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final, he will not celebrate due to the feelings he still harbours for our fans.

He used to grab our badge as he warmed up on the touchline, waiting to come off the bench, but hasn't seemed to find that connection at yet.

He may be racist, but he's cheap and in form (and Nicky Butt approves)
Most Premier League fans will forever remember Lee Bowyer for his famous on the pitch brawl with his own teammate Kieron Dyer a few seasons back. Bowyer is one of those players who statistics / trivia addicted footie fans (like myself) can always impress their friends with fun facts:
"Did you know Bowyer is Mark Noble's cousin?

Reds boss Rafa Benitez is believed to be after Spurs striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.
The Russian forward has found life difficult at White Hart Lane, spending the majority of time on the bench for Tottenham Hotspur as Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch hog the starting positions.
Pavlyuchenko is keen to leave North London, and the striker has been constantly linked with a move to Serie 'A' side Roma.

Everton came back from 2-0 down to draw at Goodison Park 2-2.
The result means Harry's Hotspurs stay in 4th on 27 points.
We currently lie in seventh on 24 points, three points outside the top four with Aston Villa and Man City ahead of us in fifth and sixth.
So, it ain't all bad, we are in touching distance of the top four despite being without Torres for ages now.

A "supersub" is usually a player that comes off the bench to impact a game. Think Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the late '90s. But Aston Villa's Steve Sidwell redefined the term on Saturday, when he influenced the game against Hull without leaving the warmth of his tracksuit . In the 29th minute, Hull keeper Matt Duke [.

Apologies for the lateness of this post, and the lack of anything else on the blog over the past couple of days. I've yet to get over this weekend's debacle, to be fair.

Anyway, we must move on to a seemingly meaningless fixture to close out a solid display in the Champions League group stages.

Belhadj is not a happy camper at Portsmouth

The Algerian wingback and a pivotal player in the national squad's entry into the World Cup is ready to quit Portsmouth, frustrated by his lack of playing time.

He has only featured in two of Pompey's Carling Cup fixtures this season.

I couldn't focus specifically to any of the points so they become part of a processed post. So, here they are, in no particular order as such.

1. Silvestre is fast becoming a player I appreciate. Not for his football ability per se but because of how he has handled unfair criticism and led inexperienced sides quietly without making too much of a fuss.

"Rafa, remember me?"

Alberto Aquilani has told the Liverpool Daily Post that he is desperate to play against Arsenal this weekend:

"I need to play, play, play because I'm in a new team, and I need games now. My ankle is fine now, I feel good, and now I need to work hard in training for my body.

Liverpool and Arsenal fans haven't had a lot to cheer about recently. After a great start to the campaign, we've fallen away with losses at Sunderland and, most painfully, at home to Chelsea, while Liverpool are out of the Champions League and struggling to ensure they appear at Europe's top table again next season.

The UEFA Europa League is down to its let week of group stage matches including Fulham v FC Basel on Wednesday, December 16, 2009. The teams are in Group E and currently 2nd and 3rd (8 and 9 points) with the match determining who will make the knockout stage. Fulham have to win to advance to the next stage while Basel will advance with a win or a draw.

There are various reports this morning suggesting that the Arsenal defender Phillipe Senderos will make a move to Goodison Park in January. Senderos seems to have a problem with Arsene Wenger as he continually refuses to even give him a place on the Arsenal bench, and he has admitted that after speaking to the manager he [.

What's the best move for Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark? (Getty Images)

I won't lie, I've been busy today with loads of last minute work at the office thanks to everyone taking their holiday breaks tomorrow and due to having to finalize all my Christmas shopping. Yes busy day and I'm partly to blame for the ladder of those two items since I put that kind of stuff off until the last minute.

He was a major doubt for the game early of the week. 24 hours before the game, he was declare 50:50 by the manager, and few hours before the match he was declare fit to sit on the bench; not in the starting 11.
First half of the game saw Villa defended well (as did Arsenal), but Arsenal failed to establish any goals although they did control the game.

Critics of Arsene Wenger often accuse him of having a utopian view of football which can never realistically be put into action. They point to events like our defeat to Chelsea and argue that this is evidence, that playing beautiful passing football does not work as it is 'powder-puff' and the bigger teams can simply bully Arsenal.

In our lone American Abroad game on Wednesday, DaMarcus Beasley wasn't in the squad and Maurice Edu was on the bench for Rangers 7-1 demolition of Dundee United. Kris Boyd already had a hat-trick when Damian Casalinuovo scored United's only goal just after halftime. Kenny Miller was sent off in the 51st-minute, reducing Rangers to ten men.

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Counting on Carlos and Jack

The first semifinal spot of the season comes into contention tonight for Arsenal. It is the quaterfinal of the Carling Cup and it is against our newest member of the clubs that we dislike. Now, I'm sure we all remember what happened the last time we visited Man City but I doubt that we will be able to witness any similar incidents.

Well, well, busy day today. Not only do we have a match, but I finally have a diagnosis as to why I've been walking like a drunk person for the past month. While it's good to finally know what it is, the fact that it means a lifetime of meds and the very real possibility of going deaf in my right ear doesn't make for the best start of the day.

AP Photo/Angel Fernandez

Barcelona took on bottom of the table Xerez with many starts including Iniesta, Messi and Ibrahimovic starting on the bench.

The first half for Barcelona was lackluster as the condition of the pitch and Xerez playing a mostly defense half kept the opportunities few and far betweeen.

Heaps of emails from FC BARCELONA fans asking for team photos.Here is that latest image, the "11 MAGNIFICOS" that defeated RealMadrid last Sunday.The only "stars" missing are Ibrahimovic who cameon in the 2ºhalf & Yaya Toure on the bench.The Best FC Barcelona side in all its history...enjoy!(courtesy: Mundodeportivo.