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.

Could this Kiwi have clipped United's Canuck quotient?

Between trips to sunnier climes, United did a little trialist-pruning, releasing journeyman veterans Zayner and Svard along with the Suppie pickup Charles Rodriguez (conveniently just after the last Roster Reset...sigh). Kasper promises more trialists for the Arizona jaunt, but what I really want to see are (a) game time for Salihi against the MLS opposition on offer there and (b) a left back, any left back.

Does this man have your goals?

So are they done?

United ticked one of the two big "need" boxes by acquiring Albanian international striker Hamdi Salihi as a designated player (wait, I thought Uncle Will wasn't going to splash the cash?). Given his impressive rate of return wherever he's played, he certainly seems to fit the poacher's bill, though he also has decent size.

Venue: Amex Stadium, Brighton Date: 28th January 2012 Kick Off: 5.15pm Referee: Lee Probert It's the 4th Round of the FA Cup and we're still in it! Added to that some notable teams such as Manchester City have already left the competition, and the so-called "big boys" keep getting drawn against each other for a [.

The boxes are being ticked, slowly but surely. With the addition of central defender Emiliano Dudar, the depth acquisition project seems all but complete. Still, the two biggest needs, left back and finisher the ones we've been pointing to all offseason, remain frustratingly unfilled. Stefan Jerome, recently arrived on trial, would be a nice project up top (can't believe he's only 19 my memories of him as a U 17 seem distant), but isn't the finished product.

Domestic cup competitions in Europe typically feature David vs. Goliath stories, but Wednesday, it's all about the big boys.

Liverpool carries its 1-0 edge over Manchester City in the Carling Cup semifinals into the second leg at Anfield, where the Reds will try and hold on and advance to next month's title game against surprise finalist Cardiff City.

Despite the nonsense about some other matchup in the Copa del Rey right now can't quite remember the names of those rather insignificant teams at the moment the real story is not east, not west, but down. Way down in the third division. Mirandes, a humble little club in the north of Spain, knocked off their third yes, third La Liga opponent to get to the Copa del Rey.

Not a striker.

The fight is on for roster spots as half of last Reset's trialists are gone and new faces arrive for the Florida camp. I'm still not seeing the potential for significant improvement in the weakest areas (finisher, left back), but at least we're no longer stuck in stasis-land and the depth issues look like being addressed.

Missile Swap: Out with the Clydewinder, in with the Cruz?

Don't look now, but the glacial pace of United's roster assembly is starting to pick up. Hot on the heels of the Maicon Santos acquisition comes the signing of former Dynamo right mid Danny Cruz1, leaving the current roster + trialists looking like this.

Praying for goals.

Movement at last! Maicon Santos makes it 15 for Salary Budget players, and United drops a 14-trialist bomb as pre-season camp gets underway. Of course, the majority of the trialists are guys with limited to no MLS experience, but such was always going to be the major source to roster depth1.

By Alan Duffy

Blues Brothers...

All blessed with good footballing names, Rio, Cole and Jay Dasilva are the latest youngsters to be snapped up by the big boys, after the Luton Town youth players were signed up by Chelsea, each for a five-figure sum.

It's that time of the year again when local pride is at stake in the numerous state championships which are prevalent in the opening months of the Brazilian football calendar. From Amapá in the far north to Rio Grande do Sul in the south, from Acre in the west to Paraíba in the far east of the country, twenty seven regions of Brazil will be involved in their own local championship, mixing the big boys with the smaller village teams, with each club hoping to win their respective title and qualify for a place in next year's edition of the national cup, Copa Brazil.

With the departure of Cesc and Nasri, no matter what you think of the players, it's obvious that our goals from the midfield area have reduced. Whether this be down to the injury of Wilshire, or the lack of width provided by the full backs, I don't know. But, with Arshavin looking increasingly on his way out, what has become clear is that Arsenal are in need of an attacking midfielder/wide player who can create and score goals in equal measure.

With the departure of Cesc and Nasri, no matter what you think of the players, it's obvious that our goals from the midfield area have reduced. Whether this be down to the injury of Wilshire, or the lack of width provided by the full backs, I don't know. But, with Arshavin looking increasingly on his way out, what has become clear is that Arsenal are in need of an attacking midfielder/wide player who can create and score goals in equal measure.

Goal: Wednesday's Bet of the Day: A low scoring match between Manchester City and Liverpool

After a correct tip in the first League Cup semi-final between Crystal Palace and Cardiff, Adam Bate doesn't see many goals between the two Premier League big boys on Wednesday

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2012-01-11 11:29:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

AS Lyon Duchère vs. Olympique Lyonnais

Coupe de France, Round of 64

Coupe de France greets us on the other side of the winter break, and OL travels to, well, Lyon. The fourth division team of Lyon Duchère, the youth club of Eric Abidal, hosts Olympique Lyonnais, the big boys this time.

By Alan Duffy

Newcastle United 0-0 Swansea City Premier League 17th December 2011

Newcastle have now gone five league games without a victory after failing to break down a stubborn Swansea side on Saturday afternoon.

Manchester United star Wayne Rooney was at the centre of an unlikely Twitter spat with The X Factor 'wildman' Frankie Cocozza. The reality TV star tweeted: "#CelebsThatLookLikeTheyStink not really a celeb but I bet his pits are stinking, along with his breath @waynerooney." You might wonder what Rooney would gain from rising to the bait, [.

Photo: Courtesy of FIFA

Philadelphia Union

A new article from Kerith Gabriel on Friday morning about a Gabriel Gomez to the Philadelphia Union deal is headlined "Panama's Gomez signs with Union" but the copy says "According to sources, the contract has been approved by Major League Soccer and awaits Gomez' signature before the Union can schedule an announcement, which can come as early as next week.

Two nearly naked footballers in one day? Our beakers runneth over! Thanks Stefan Nikolic of Steaua Bucharest. Image: REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel.

We realise we made a huge deal about not covering the Europa League last season. But obviously, recent events from in the Champions League have forced our hand and we thought we should show willing before the big boys come.

You know what they are going to do. You don't like it and wouldn't play that way if it meant 80 points a season, but that's what they are going to throw at us and if we're not prepared, it's down to us.

I don't like it but I'm not going to go on about it because then I'll end up like Arsene Whinger, always complaining about injustices that his precious little angels have to face when they play those awful big boys from up north.

Here's Dynaman HRH Kofi Sarkodie taking over Day 3 of the Generation Adidas European trip blog. I think it's nice that they surrounded Dynamo's four players with some nice supporting talent from a few other MLS sides. Kofi shows once again he's not afraid to mix it up with some big boys.

After 3 weeks of writing about what we could hope for against the 3 best teams in England, I thought I would have to find a different avenue this week. Hoping is ok against the big boys, but obviously after our difficult run of ‘hoping', I was fully expecting a strong Newcastle team to bounce back in style.

Liverpool have been drawn to face Manchester City in the League Cup Semi Final. This promises to be an exciting match after the two clubs recently played out a 1:1 draw in their Premier League meeting.

Cardiff City take on Crystal Place in the other semi, both clubs must feel pretty lucky after not being drawn against the Premier League big boys.

Liverpool's success in holding Manchester City in the weekend apparently gives a renewed confidence boost for the club's striker, Dirk Kuyt, who believes that they can really do well this season.

According to the Dutchman, the result again City pretty much confirmed the Reds ability in going toe to toe with the big boys as so far Kenny Dalglish's side have been picking up positive results against Premiel League top teams.

Once again we came out victorious after another hard fought win against West Brom. You'll be well aware that's nine wins out of ten now which has led to Redknapp and the media alike to start questioning whether or not we can actually win the league.
Arguments For
Although only just under a third of the season completed, Spurs' points per games stands at 2.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish is preparing to step up his interest in highly rated Crewe striker Max Clayton, according to reports in the Daily Mail.
The 17-year-old has been in impressive form for Crewe in their FA Youth Cup run and last weekend in the league he scored in Crewe's 2-1 win over Morecambe and has already represented England at Under 17's level.

Arsene Wenger promised at the end of last season that he would be trying to add some height to the team for those awkward games against Stoke et all, who thrive on the big physical side of the game, and it looks like he is satisfied with his work. After the win against Norwich Wenger [...]

Earlier Scott Johnston and I debated the Old Firm leaving Scottish football. As a wee bonus here's Stewart Weir (@sweirz) with his take on the issue:
It's usually an argument made by those who don't support the Old Firm.
But if Celtic and Rangers (in alphabetical order only) departed Scotland and went elsewhere, Scotland wouldn't have the Old Firm.

Okay after all the anti-Dutch experts have lined up to bag the guy....dare I suggest he did his job! And did it pretty well.
I know his teams were pretty poor in the World Cup - only finishing around 16 or so, hey that's around the same World ranking as the big Socceroos - and I know it was grim to watch at times.

With everyone's skins a fair bit thinner in the 24 hours since yesterday's draw with Swansea, it's probably best to avoid reliving the collective disappointment. But you know, whatever. Watching Fulham do their best Liverpool impression in the dying minutes at Craven Cottage makes some sort of flashback unavoidable, so we might as well just go full-on exposure therapy.

By Chris Wright

While the big boys were off galavanting around Europe, there were heart-breaking scenes at the Keepmoat Stadium last night where Doncaster striker Billy Sharp, who tragically lost his two-day old son Luey on Friday, opted to play through the pain against Middlesbrough, led a minute's applause before kick-off and then scored a stunning volley in the 14th-minute before revealing a t-shirt that read 'that's for you son'.

The Best Things In Life Dukla Prague 1-3 Jablonec (22:10:11) So, things we learnt from watching football in Prague: Slavia Prague are the big boys but Sparta Prague are bigger. Bohemians 1905 are the cool guys - saved by fans who paid off a portion of the clubs debts - whereas FK Bohemians Praha are the villains of the piece; buying out the logo and using the name Bohemians even though court

With seven wins out of the last eight, four wins a row, (albeit some scrappy ones) and goals galore from our star player van Persie, it suddenly feels good to be an Arsenal fan again.

It even seems the majority of gooners making themselves heard on the internet via forums, blogs and Twitter believe we can beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

(Photo: Nicolae Stoian)

Our break down of the Philadelphia Union/Houston Dynamo playoff matchup continues. PSP's roving correspondent Adam Cann lays out the big questions and Eli Pearlman-Storch answers them. Today's topic, the Dynamo offense versus the Union defense.

Not there to finish

The Dynamo strike force accounted for only 17 of the team's 45 goals in 2011, and no forward had more than five.

Image Credit: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images Europe.

As much as we love it when ballers get heated (mostly because pushing and shoving can lead to flashes of skin exposure), sometimes things get a bit too intense for our emotionally frazzle and often drunk selves. Case in point: this past Saturday towards the end of Barcelona's 0-0 draw with Sevilla when things got heated between Cesc Fabregas and Frederic Kanute.

After defeating Napoli earlier this season, Michael Bradley and Chievo Verona continued to foil the big boys of Italian soccer last week as they scraped out a goalless tie against league leaders Juventus.

EXCLUSIVE: Prem clubs 'set to kill football's feeder system'

Big boys accused of bullying Football League into major restructuring

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-10-19 21:00:21 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

I think anybody who follows this blog on a regular basis will be current on what has happened in Indonesian football this year and certainly I have no intention of rehashing the year so far...again.
We've had the Liga Primer Indonesia start, go into a mid season break then end with a whimper, their slogan of Change The Game quietly shunted to one side when it was realised the only change was in the people running the game.

Liverpool desperately wants to regain its place as one of the big boys in the Premier League. They will have every opportunity to do so this Saturday when they host... Read more »