A few notes from around the club today, including the signing of another young talent (as seen below).

Window shopping

Mikel to be fit for Saturday, Lampard likely
• After some seven weeks on the shelf, John Obi Mikel is finally ready to resurface.

It was a quite transfer window for Liverpool by last season's standards, with Wrexham's teenage goalkeeper Danny Ward the only notable arrival. However, since the window was introduced 10 seasons ago, the Reds have made some excellent signings in what is usually a frenzied period littered with hit-or-miss transfers.

It was a quite transfer window for Liverpool by last season's standards, with Wrexham's teenage goalkeeper Danny Ward the only notable arrival. However, since the window was introduced 10 seasons ago, the Reds have made some excellent signings in what is usually a frenzied period littered with hit-or-miss transfers.

As we draw closer to the 2012 MLS Draft, Major League Soccer is moving closer and closer to trying to secure the services of the players who will make up its Generation adidas draft class, and things are still very much in flux with less than a month to go before the draft.

MLS is expected to announce the first of its signings in the coming week, and offers have already been sent out to most of the top targets.

Football Focus pundit Garth Crooks has praised the performances of Liverpool centre-half Daniel Agger this season.
The Danish international has been keeping Liverpool hero Jamie Carragher out of the side, with Kenny Dalglish persisting instead with a centre-back partnership of Martin Skrtel and Agger.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Having been beaten by Kilmarnock in shocking fashion last week, Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya enter their match against Dunfermline Athletic with one thing in mind: Winning.

Rangers is still four points clear of Celtic for first place in the Scottish Premier League, but the Blues need to bounce back from last weekend's defeat.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Brondby IF won its first game since early October in shocking fashion this past weekend, and it can partially thank Clarence Goodson for that.

Along with going the distance and limiting first-place FC Copenhagen to one goal, Goodson scored the opener in Brondby's 2-1 victory on Sunday.

Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland continued their strong run with a victory over SonderjyskE while Clarence Goodson netted Brondby's opening goal as they surged past league leaders Copenhagen.

Clarence Goodson got an 18th-minute goal in Brondby's 2-1 win over Copenhagen, one of two Americans to score over the weekend. Robbie Findley got the other goal, with Nottingham Forest beating Ipswich Town 3-2 in England's Championship. Findley equalized in the 42nd minute, with Joel Lynch getting Forest's second equalizer in the 84th and Marcus Tudgay finding a stoppage time winner.

Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland bested Koge to return to second place while Clarence Goodson and Brondby earned a tough point on their visit to Odense.

Jurgen Klinsmann continues to use his pipeline to Germany for talent with his latest roster selections for the United States games against France and Slovenia. No less than five players born in Germany are on the roster, including newcomer Alfredo Morales who received his first senior team call up.

Daniel Agger is hoping to keep his place in the Liverpool side after an injury-hit spell at Anfield.
The Dane, who has suffered from a number of injuries since joining the Reds from Brondby in 2006, has featured regularly for Kenny Dalglish's side this season and made his 100th Premier League appearance in Saturday's 2-0 win against West Brom.

Chris Rolfe continued his strong play for Aalborg with an assist on their lone goal in Sunday's draw against Brondby while Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland were brought back to earth by Lyngby.

Clarence Goodson and Brondby will try to stop the bleeding during their trip to Silkeborg while Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland face a tough visit to local rivals FC Copenhagen.

The Danish Cup fourth round was set on Friday, giving Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland a rematch of their last two victorious finals and a tough trip to Copenhagen for Clarence Goodson and Brondby.

By Alan Duffy

Former Danish international becomes the latest victim of a relatively recent trend of assistant managers getting the boot rather the manager.

The former Arsenal midfielder thus follows Rovers' chief scout, chairman, finance director and secretary out the Ewood Park door and one wonders if Steve Kean will be next.

A rough weekend in Denmark saw no Americans register a win, with Chris Rolfe playing a sub role in an embarrassing Aalborg loss to Lyngby and Clarence Goodson and Brondby rolling over to Copenhagen.

Image Credits: BT.dk, Sporten.dk.

Rate or slate Mr Thygesen, Kickettes, using the following key points as consideration:

The Good: His shaved head, strong square jawline and chiseled abdominals. He fills our Danish quotient now that Nicklas Bendtner has slowed his role.

Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland put on a strong performance to hand Chris Rolfe and Aalborg their first loss of the season while Clarence Goodson and Brondby inflicted a lopsided beating on Koge.

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard (Everton, England), Bill Hamid (DC United).Goalkeepers: Carlos Bocanegra (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Edgar Castillo (Club America, Mexico), Timmy Chandler (Nuremberg, Germany), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Clarence Goodson (Brondby, Denmark), Zach Loyd (Dallas), Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis, Mexico), Heath Pearce (Chivas USA), Tim Ream (New York)Goalkeepers:
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Denmark seem to be a footballing nation on the rise, with a stylish possesion/technique playing style, If things continue from there last two visits to away grounds at Iceland and Scotland, where in both matches they dominated long spells of the game, they could well be on their way to qualifiying for the Euro 2012 which will take part in Poland and Ukraine.

Stefán Gíslason, a new Timbers trialist

Michael Orr, of Mao's Football Show, has confirmed that Icelandic international defensive midfielder, Stefán Gíslason is on trial with the Timbers this morning.

According to his wikipedia page, the Icelander spent most of his time with Brondby of the Danish Superliga.

Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland will try to momentarily forget their Europa League qualification campaign when they visit Midtjylland while Clarence Goodson and Brondby need to help their cause with a win at Aarhus.

Chris Rolfe and Aalborg have their eye on a jump into the Superliga's top two spots when they host Odense and Conor O'Brien will look to help SonderjyskE earn a result on their trip to Clarence Goodson's Brondby.

Goodson won't meet Mexico for the second time this summer
U.S. Men's National Team defender Clarence Goodson has been forced to withdraw from the U.S. roster for tomorrow's game against Mexico due to a strained left hamstring suffered in Brondby's 2-1 loss at Odense BK this past Sunday.

Clarence Goodson and Brondby will be desperate to stop their three-game slide as they visit Odense while Brad Rusin and Koge will have a hard time to stop the bleeding when they visit their rowdy neighbors FC Copenhagen.

Clarence Goodson and Brondby were knocked out of the Europa League in heartbreaking fashion, while Clint Dempsey made his return to Fulham's starting lineup as they secured an easy home victory over RNK Split.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Clint Dempsey may not have been on the U.S. men's national team's roster for its friendly against Mexico, but his season with Fulham officially begun on Thursday.

Playing in the third round of the UEFA Europa League, Dempsey helped Fulham advance as the Cottagers knocked off Croatian club RNK Split 2-0.

The U.S. v. Mexico rematch friendly is less than a week away, and today Jurgen Klinsmann unveiled his first list of call-ups as the head coach for the national team. The Mexico friendly comes at a tricky time for the U.S., as the bigger European leagues are kicking off this month and Klinsmann might have hesitated to call-up players overseas in these leagues.

Clarence Goodson and Brondby had a rough trip to Austria which likely put their Europa League hopes in danger while neither Jozy Altidire and Clint Dempsey were with their respective teams in their first-leg games.

Clarence Goodson went the distance for Brondby on a tough night in Europa League qualifying. Ried's Florian Mader opened the socring in the 33rd and Daniel Royer finished it off in the 46th at the Keine Sorgen Arena. The result means a tough second-leg at home for Brondby. Did Not Play: Clint Dempsey (RNK Split 0 - Fulham 0), Jozy Altidore (AZ 2 - Jablonec 0)

The Bantams have signed Liverpool goalkeeper Martin Hansen on a month's loan as Peter Jackson continues his attempts to freshen up his squad.
The Danish-born 21-year-old has been on the staff at Anfield since joining from Brondby in the summer of 2006 and he was part of the Reds' FA Youth Cup winning side a year later.

Hansen Set for Bradford Loan Deal

Liverpool goalkeeper Martin Hansen is set for a loan move to Bradford, according to Sky Sports. The young stopper is currently behind Pepe Reina, Alexander Doni and Brad Jones in the pecking order, and will drop down three divisions in the pursuit of first team football.

The silly season is still going on and more news is coming out with regards to Sporting KC players. While Shavar Thomas was on trial with Portsmouth, and Stephane Auvray looks to be on his way out of KC, other news is coming out. First is news that Sporting KC's lone Generation Adidas player, Teal Bunbury, has been attracting interest abroad still.

Our national champs, Ajax, has started its preparation phase with ambition. New striker Kolbeinn Sighthorsson scored his first goal for Ajax against Brondby IF. The Icelandic striker, coming from AZ, saw his new team mate Thulani Serero from South Africa score as well, as did left winger Ebecilio.

Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland will do their best to pick up their first points of the season against visiting Horsens while Clarence Goodson and Brondby will try to notch a win on their trip to Silkeborg.

The third round of qualifying for the Champions and Europa League was drawn on Friday, giving Maurice Edu and Rangers a likely Swedish matchup while sending Clarence Goodson and Brondby south for an Austrian encounter.

Player ratings for the United States 4-2 loss to Mexico.

(Scale is 1 to 10, with 1 being horrible and 10 being world class)

(Position) Player (Club) Rating

(GK) Tim Howard (Everton/BPL): 4
Had his worst game of the tournament. The United States need a big save from Howard and did not get one.

Player ratings for the United States 1-0 win over Panama.

(Scale is 1 to 10, with 1 being horrible and 10 being world class)

(Position) Player (Club) Rating

(GK) Tim Howard (Everton/BPL): 7
Steady as usual. Made a great fingertip save on a rising shot from Armando Cooper in the 70th minute that preserved the score line for the United States.

By Jon Levy The following is the second in a four part series comparing the 2011 Gold Cup rosters of the two "giants of CONCACAF." Defenders The Yanks: Carlos Bocanegra (St. Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (Tigres), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Oguchi Onyewu (Twente), Tim Ream (Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector [.