Chelsea new boy Fernando Torres said he left Liverpool because they were a club in transition and a long way from delivering the success he craves.
Torres, 26, signed for a British record £50m on Monday, said: "Things had changed a lot in the last year.
"I think they have great ambition and they are doing the right things to get back, but it will take time.

By Dominic Vieira, writing from Lancaster, England

Messi. The back of the shirt says it all, Messi + 10, that's FC Barcelona. A world class team, there's no doubt about that, 8 of the starting players are World Champions and both fullbacks are quality. But the real difference about this side will be that short and shy, highly talented Argentinean walking onto Wembley tomorrow night.

I have to say, I have empathy with the looters. When you see no other option for survival, I totally understand the mindset of trying to obtain what you need to live. Of course, I'm talking about those who tried to loot food and water in Somalia not the idiots in London right now who are stealing televisions, clothing and anything else they can get their hands on.

While the sight of Ledley King in a Spurs shirt once again will have delighted some supporters, his return to first team action may prove to be the last straw for Sebastien Bassong.

Both players featured in a Spurs XI game at the Lodge last week but it was Ledley who was brought straight in to the first team to replace the injured William Gallas despite severe doubts over his own fitness.

Is it really that much of a ‘shock' to see Jermain Defoe linked with Spurs when the same story was doing the rounds around 3 weeks ago?

As far as Spurs headlines are concerned, there's not much beyond Luka Modric, but a couple of old rumours have started to gain some more momentum today and the Defoe link is just one of them.

Maura Gladys returns with Part I of II on the USWNT moving forward

Out with the old, in with the new? Yeah, um, not so much....

It's tough to derive meaning from last week's U.S. Women's Soccer Celebration Series in an on-field context. With nothing at stake, and with the purpose of the two game series against Canada clearly stated as a celebration, the squad was under no obligation other than to entertain fans.

At £27 million, he is not the most expensive player in the Premier League. However for Manchester City, Edin Dzeko can only be seen as the possible final piece of the Citizen's objective to dominate the Barclays Premier League. And why not, Dzeko is the complete forward that City lacked.

Development Academy Alumni Chris Agorsor and Korey Veeder signed with Major League Soccer and were allocated via a weighted lottery Monday, Feb. 14, and Tuesday, Feb. 15, respectively.
Agorsor was the 2007-08 Development Academy U-17/18 Player of the Year and led the Baltimore Bays to the first Development Academy U-17/18 championship, in which his team defeated LAFC 4-2 in overtime in Carson, Calif.

When reigning MLS MVP David Ferreira went down with a broken ankle, 2010 Western Conference champion FC Dallas figured to struggle while finding a way to replace the catalyst for the team's attack.

Instead, the Red Stripes found their groove.

FC Dallas went 4-0-3 in the month of May to easily capture SBI's Team of the Month honors.

He has the hair. The charisma. And, yeah, the game. Bob runs away with the voting for readers' signing of the season in what was hardly a surprising turn of events.

Readers' signing of the season voting results (2010-11):
Total votes: 389
David Luiz 199 votes (51.

"Just don't pass. Just don't pass. Just don't pass."
Few would have guessed that yet another mediocre Alen Stevanovic performance would have been the catalyst for a recall to parent-club Torino. Yet, when the enigmatic Swiss-Serb was subbed off against Seattle in the 2nd Half yesterday, he was leaving the BMO Field pitch for the last time.

As the Women's World Cup is about to begin, the international governing organization for soccer launched a new initiative aimed at inspiring women and girls all over the world to participate in the game.

Featuring some of the stars of this summer's FIFA Women's World Cup™ in Germany, "Live Your Goals" will target the next generation of women's soccer players around the globe.

Bolton fans, players, and manager alike all expect a number of new players at The Reebok by Summer's end. The first will likely be Darren Pratley who is said to have agreed personal terms with the Wanderers and will be officially announced on July 1st, coinciding with the calendar start of the silly season.

Editors's Note: The US Women are about to kickoff their World Cup, TSG guest columnist Maura Gladys concludes the positional review with the forwards. This piece written last week.

Part I: Defense: USWNT positioning more core US backline success than experience.

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

By AVI CREDITOR

CARSON, Calif. -- A game of word association to quantify David Beckham's five years in Major League Soccer certainly arouses a wide range of responses depending on which part of the Beckham Era is being discussed.

Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Aurelio
Kuyt Meireles Lucas Maxi
Ngog Torres
Goals:
K Davies 43'
Torres 49'
Cole 90+2'
Improved tactics and hard work lead to the right result. It's the first time this season that Liverpool have gone behind in a league match and went on to win.

Although Kenny Dalglish has been out of a managerial job since 2000, he has stated that he feels ready to deal with the 'pressure of management' but is he able to adapt to a quicker and more technical league?

Dalglish may feel that he has some unfinished business at Liverpool.

Ipswich v Arsenal. Carling Cup semi final first leg. Arsenal have once again given themselves an opportunity to wipe away the now accentuated saying of 'five years without a trophy.' From the first day of the Carling Cup Arsenal's attitude to the competition has been to win and to win in style.

Midfielders Jamie O'Hara & Niko Kranjcar both seem almost certain to be headed for the exit door this month, either on a temporary or permanent basis.

Over the weekend, the Teamtalk website first announced that Kranjcar had confirmed his desire to leave the club. The catalyst seems to have been the arrival of Steven Pienaar.

To say it was never in doubt would be unfair on Ipswich, the Championship side put everything into last night's game and held out for a long period. However once the first goal had come, that was it, they collapsed under the tide of pressure, but it could have been very different had Bendtner not put his finishing boots on for the excellent opener, it was the catalyst.

If January's transfer deadline day was football acting in a deep recession, the mind boggles at what will unfold should the good times roll once more.

Two British record transfer fees within minutes in a blur of aircraft and fast cars travelling between Tyneside, Merseyside and London as Liverpool and Chelsea sent the markets into a frenzy.

It was the biggest story of January's transfer window with enough columns being filled about Torres' proposed move to Chelsea to compete with the Colosseum in Rome. Rumours started circulating in the summer and a deal was on the cards a long way off, even before Torres himself came out and informed the Liverpool owners he wanted to move on.

Predictably all today's headlines are dominated by tomorrow's game in the San Siro and much of the talk is about Gareth Bale. Meanwhile, another player who will definitely miss the match is Jermaine Jenas.

JJ is missing through suspension and admits that he is gutted to not be involved.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By ADAM SERRANO

Hard work, dedication and a flair for the unexpected.

These traits have been the basis for Anthony Ampaipitakwong's game in his rise from youth standout in his native Texas to four years at Akron.

The Chicago Fire enter 2011 coming off one of the worst seasons in club history. For only the second time since its debut season of 1998, the Fire missed the playoffs. That disappointing performance might have led to some other coaches being given the boot, but head coach Carlos De Los Cobos is back to try and improve on a sub-par first season.

A Woman's Game is a post from: Just Football

A decline in prestige in the women's game in the US has coincided neatly with an upturn in the women's game in Europe, writes Ryan Keaney:

Women's football in America is forced to live with a rather depressing notion.

Those of you who have a certain grasp of our history will understand the relevance in the title of this post.

I truly believe tonight will be one of those special games at the Lane.... Newcastle's performance to cost United 2 points last night should be the catalyst to fire our gunners right up for the Derby scrap tonight.

Two of Spurs' fringe players are being linked with moves to Italy today with both Wilson Palacios and Niko Kranjcar supposedly on their way to Serie A.

Kranjcar's departure certainly wouldn't be a surprise after two winning goals against Bolton and Sunderland weren't enough to give him a place in the starting line up.

John Terry has revealed the key conversation between Carlo Ancelotti and his Chelsea players that seems to be the catalyst of our great run which has taken Chelsea to within the summit of the Premier League with a win against Manchester United on Sunday. He said:

"Carlo was as disappointed as anyone after that defeat.

Week Seven of the MLS Season won't go down as one of the prettier weeks the league has ever endured, but it had its share of memorable moments.

The New York-LA Galaxy match was entertaining, Charlie Davies put on another show at mid-week, and the Joao Plata coming out party for Toronto FC was promising, but three scoreless draws and Javier Morales' broken ankle put a damper on things.

Photos: RevolutionSoccer.net
New England 1, Vancouver Whitecaps 0
It is becoming standard that any game involving the Vancouver Whitecaps will be exciting. This game was no exception. However, it was the home team, New England Revolution who provided much of the excitement. Much of this was due to new acquisition Benny Feilhaber, who appears to be settling in well with his new team.

1. As you would expect, the Stretford End were showering Edwin Van der Sar with attention in the first half. On one particularly occasion, with his name being sung louder and louder as he went to collect the ball for a goal kick, he looked up to the crowd and grabbed his badge. We love you too, big guy!

According to Marca, Real Madrid will announce record club income and profits next week.

Real Madrid is expected to report income of over 442 million euros for last season, which is a world record for a football club. Those record revenues translated into a pre-tax profit of around 30 million euros, which will be a record for the Spanish top club.

In 1990, Walsall became one of the first clubs of the modern era to leave their home for pastures new, when they departed Fellows Park for the Bescot Stadium. Tom Lines tells the story of their original home. If you support a club that has moved home and fancy writing about its old ground, feel free to drop us a line via the Contact page.

PHOTO BY ISIPHOTOS.COM

BY ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif -- The Chicago Fire earned their MLS' leading 12th draw of the season in a thrilling 1-1 draw against Chivas USA.

Speedy Ghanaian forward Dominic Oduro opened the scoring in the first half for the Fire and midfielder Nick LaBrocca equalized just seconds into the first half in a lively draw.

PHOTO BY ISIPHOTOS.COM

BY ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif -- The Chicago Fire earned their MLS' leading 12th draw of the season in a thrilling 1-1 draw against Chivas USA.

Speedy Ghanaian forward Dominic Oduro opened the scoring in the first half for the Fire and midfielder Nick LaBrocca equalized just seconds into the first half in a lively draw.

On this week's Gadsby's England, some positive news: young Englishman Dale Jennings is signed by Bayern Munich. Could this be the catalyst for other young English players? And the British government finally talks the talk: a select committee says withdrawal from FIFA should NOT be off the table.

On the tail end of their busiest stretch of the season, the New England Revolution will need to find the energy to do something they haven't done in over nine years if they are to build on Wednesday's win over D.C. United, their first victory since mid-May.

A.J. Soares and the Revolution defense will have a tough task Saturday against Colorado's speedy offensive line.

Over the last few weeks, I have received some e-mails and comments asking for more detail on certain topics, more coverage of certain issues and requests for interviews with front office and sponsor representatives. Let me say that I really appreciate the feedback and I will try and add those items (and more) over the coming weeks.

Wow. After three months of wondering if Arsenal will ever jump into the transfer market, the Gunners officially landed FIVE new players today.

What is surprising is the 180 degree change in Arsenal's transfer philosophy that today's moves reflect. The Gunners new signings; Santos, Per Mertesacker, Park, Benayoun and Arteta.