These wins aren't to be underestimated. Stoke are a handful and we rarely thrive against them, but today, despite withstanding a lot of second half pressure, Fulham stood firm and deserved their points.

New players are traditionally given a time to adjust when signing for a new club, but today Pavel Pogrebnyak was thrown straight into the deep end.

First let me kill any hopes you may have for screenshots or comparisons with current or former players. You can safely rule out long-winded analysis as well. There won't be any for this one. Put simply: Alfredo Francisco Martins is a mere sketch of a player in FM. No size, no footedness, roughly a quarter of his stats defined[1].

How long have we been hoping for a result like this? We said for a long time that somebody will get a hiding from Arsenal sooner or later and today Blackburn – together with a handful of wasted bin bags, filled with nothing but hot air were taken to the Bin-Bangers.

How long have we been hoping for a result like this? We said for a long time that somebody will get a hiding from Arsenal sooner or later and today Blackburn – together with a handful of wasted bin bags, filled with nothing but hot air were taken to the Bin-Bangers.

Critics may already be writing off Arsenal's chances of a top-four finish after last night's goalless draw at Bolton but manager Arsene Wenger has evidence that his side his actually improving.

In his post-match press conference, Wenger was reminded that earning only a point in their last four fixtures had pushed the Gunners to seventh position in the Premier League standings.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits that going four games without a win is frustrating but believes that a top-four finish remains achievable as long as the Gunners make an early impact on their matches.

Last night's goalless draw at Bolton left Wenger's side in seventh place, five points behind fourth-place Chelsea and another seven behind bitter cross-town rivals Tottenham Hotspur in third.

bolton 0-0 arsenal by Futbol2101

What does it take for any other player other than RVP to score goals? It is now official, he's not pretending any more - Theo Walcott has a mind made of mush in front of goal. Always. Aaron Ramsey is another. The Ox too for all his brightness was presented with a clear chance.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted as his side's 2-0 win at home to Stoke was complimented by former United midfielder Darren Gibson's maiden goal in Everton's 1-0 win over league leaders Manchester City.

The result brings United level on top with the Citizens, leaving Fergie with no option but to praise the resolve of his injury-plagued side while also joking that the sequence of events surrounding Gibson's recent transfer to Goodison Park was planned out by him.

As Chelsea fans and especially in recent seasons, we are always interested in seeing some of our promising youngsters come through into the first team squad. The likes of Betrand, McEachran, Van Aanholt and Bruma have featured last season but we haven't really seen much of the youngsters this term.

Written by fatgingergooner

With 3 defeats in the last 4 games and an unconvincing win against Leeds in the last round of the FA Cup, Arsenal fans were feeling far from optimistic ahead of this 4th round clash against Aston Villa.

Rumour had it that the Gunners injury list was starting to ease, and so it proved with Sagna, Henry and Arteta all named on the bench and also the young Frenchman Coquelin was deputising at right back.

Written by fatgingergooner

With 3 defeats in the last 4 games and an unconvincing win against Leeds in the last round of the FA Cup, Arsenal fans were feeling far from optimistic ahead of this 4th round clash against Aston Villa.

Rumour had it that the Gunners injury list was starting to ease, and so it proved with Sagna, Henry and Arteta all named on the bench and also the young Frenchman Coquelin was deputising at right back.

If you carefully select portions of this game you can make a video highlighting many of Arsenal's major problems. With another selection you could also show the reasons that make the Gunners such a great team to watch and support. It was a classic Cup tie and one that will remain in fans' memories for years to come if it can spark a run of form.

There is a glimmer of hope amidst the sea of negativity that Arsenal have been swimming in recently. Some players are close to making their return after serious injuries. Of course, as we have seen with Wilshere recently and with others in the past, getting hopes up when it comes to injuries and Arsenal is not a smart choice.

Saturday afternoon is without question a huge game as we take on QPR in the FA Cup at Loftus Road. We all know the story that has made headlines from the previous game and the same story will remain the focus on Saturday.
It will be a time for cool heads, for composure and for assurance on the pitch for those players wearing that Chelsea shirt.

Instead of a preview, I thought I'd look at some classic Arsenal matches against this week's opponents. And when those opponents are Man Utd, there's a lot of games to choose from. So, rather than one game, I thought I'd look at a whole season: 2004-2005. That year, we played United in three games that can genuinely be described as epic (we also opened the season by beating them in the Charity Shield).

"Behind you Andy! Oh... never mind."A little bit of a shocker out of TFC's pre-pre-season today as the club confirmed that both Andy Iro and Peri Marosevic will not return to The Reds in 2012. "Both Andy and Peri declined our contract extension offers and now the club is ready to move on," were the words from the Dutch Master Aron Winter who is no doubt ready to welcome new recruits to fill their roles.

Is this David Cameron's 'excited' face or is this?

Who cares if England's Prime Minister supports Chelsea or not that didn't stop him from squealing like a giddy fangirl to the press after a recent run-in with Frank Lampard at an awards gala.

As he told Now magazine:

"I saw Frank Lampard last night at an awards even, which was exciting for me.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Pauno is gone. That much we know. Le Toux's status? Training with Bolton with the potential of a deal. Basically, completely up in the air. That makes this as good as any to look at the four strikers who will be battling to win playing time throughout 2012.

Suffering from two straight premier league defeats, Arsenal are eying to stop that negative trend when they're facing Manchester United this weekend as picking up another defeat would be bad for their morale.

This target is being set up by the Gunners' coach, Arsene Wenger, who insisted that his players must give their best this weekend and grab all three points against the Red Devils especially after the disappointment in their previous meeting this season.

Frustration is boiling over at the Emirates- an underperforming squad has started 2012 in a well documented poor fashion.

Sadly the return of the King Thierry Henry has been tarnished by some mindless fans at Swansea on Sunday aggravating the Frenchman.

The Gunners have now lost two league games on the bounce and languish well behind their title rivals and crucially are four points behind Chelsea in forth.

Mark Hughes' first game as Queens Park Rangers manager ended in defeat as Newcastle United strengthened their European hopes at the Sports Direct Arena on Sunday.
Leon Best's well-taken first-half strike was enough to see off the challenge of QPR and lift his side up to sixth in the Premier League table, level on points with Arsenal.

Of course Henry had to score didn't he? For all the talk about the return and the love for the club and the sheer timing of statuesque honours, of course he had to score. For all the French connection and the highest scorer title and the completely un-Wengeresque move to accept a deficiency in his squad, of course he had to score.

Ke-owned They really were rolling back the years at Arsenal last night. Thierry Henry was back on the scoresheet and Martin Keown returned to make an imperious defensive header. Sort of. The former Gunners defender got smacked in the face as he appeared on ESPN's pitchside pre-match build-up ahead of Arsenal's FA Cup tie with [.

It's been five years since the fleet footed winger arrived from Southampton on the promise of energizing the wide areas of the pitch and fulfilling what a homesick Jose Antonio Reyes failed to deliver. At 22 years of age, Walcott is now an exasperating muddle of intuition and speed spliced with dollops of bad choices and lack of composure.

Yes!

One of those epic nights by the Thames, an early fluke from the opposition setting up game-long persuit of justice.

That justice came with a late 1-2 from Sidwell and, thrillingly, Zamora, both goals coming after right-back Djourou had been belatedly dismissed. This red card changed the dynamic: we were looking at an unfortunate defeat until then.

Arsenal's competition comes from Galatasaray and Lazio who also desire the FC Koln striker in top form this season. However, Poldi has singled out Arsenal for attention saying they are a top club.

"Arsenal are a top club. They are a good team and play in England at the top with .

Another match, another dazzling display off the bench for Steven Gerrard. Only this time it led to three points, with the captain once again changing the complexion of a match with his introduction. Like the appearance against Blackburn, the boost was both sentimental and practical, with a notable change in confidence and quality in the side.

Steven Gerrard was fantastic when he came on against Newcastle last night, and his quality shone through and he inspired Liverpool to a well-deserved victory at Anfield. Liverpool legend Ray Houghton was delighted to see Gerrard back, and he urged the rest of the squad to learn from the captain's composure and influence on the ball.

Everything was set up for another Anfield disappointment. Liverpool had drawn 6 of their 9 home games so far this season, stumbling against the likes of Sunderland, Blackburn and Swansea, but on Friday night Liverpool went against their home form and produced a convincing display. Newcastle took the lead but Liverpool stormed back and equalised a couple of minutes later.

The result against Wolves has made this game bigger and tougher than it should have been as there will now be an added pressure on the Gunners. Liverpool's win over Newcastle has also put them above Arsenal in fifth and only a win will see Arsenal climb over the Reds. Arsenal's margin of error was miniscule after the poor start to the season but it's almost vanished now.

The result against Wolves has made this game bigger and tougher than it should have been as there will now be an added pressure on the Gunners. Liverpool's win over Newcastle has also put them above Arsenal in fifth and only a win will see Arsenal climb over the Reds. Arsenal's margin of error was miniscule after the poor start to the season but it's almost vanished now.

A genuinely poor performance it was not. It was, however, a rather terrible result.

A myriad of culpable parties

Chelsea again surrender a lead despite being in a position to record a comfortable win. First Wigan, and now Fulham. What the hell. More bemusing, the fact that this latest setback arrived just days after we put in an excellent shift at White Hart Lane in a game we easily could have won.

Thomas Rooney takes us through some of the candidates and they're not necessarily the ones you'd expect.

The FA have begun their annual search to find out who England fans rate as their player of the year for 2011. With the disappointment of 2010 well behind us, 2011 has certainly been a much brighter year for the national team, with renewed optimism about their hopes for Euro 2012.

Junior N'Tame (left) may be set to join the Revs after trialing with the team in October. (Photo by Art Donahue/artdonahue.com)

Despite trialing under former New England Revolution head coach Steve Nicol in October, Théophile Junior N'Tame may be a part of new head coach Jay Heaps' plans. According to a report on French site MLS-News.

It is not uncommon for teams to lose their composure when adversity strikes in a match. Whether it be conceding a goal at an inappropriate time in the match, an injury or a player being sent off.
The truly special teams are able to keep cool and stay in the moment when adversity arrives, and Barcelona's performance versus Real Madrid last week was a clear illustration of why they are the gold standard in world football.

By Elizabeth Cotignola

Globalization. Fandom. The Advent Of The Internet.

In his apartment in New York City, Marco, a devotee of the Church of AS Roma, sits hunched over his laptop, mesmerized by the match streaming from his screen - his beloved Giallorossi are playing.

I think it's fair to say that Andy Carroll has struggled at Liverpool since his 35m move from Newcastle. Things just haven't gone according to plan, and lately, he's found it increasingly hard to break into the first team. At Chelsea on Sunday, Carroll was given only three measly minutes of pitch time, but in that short period, he delivered a mini-masterclass of footballing technique, skill, movement, and composure on the ball, and offered a compelling reminder of why Kenny Dalglish handed over 35m for his services.

Dirk Kuyt draws Ashley Cole inside to cover for John Terry. Glen Johnson's run from deep catches Florent Malouda unaware. And Liverpool recover from a long stretch where they were outplayed by Chelsea to win for the second time in a row at Stamford Bridge under Kenny Dalglish. For some, Johnson's composure in the box and skilful, left-footed finish might seem one more reason to deploy the attacking fullback higher up the pitch.

NFL coaches have been under the microscope this season, and most of the attention has been drawn to their attitude and demeanor - both with their players, their own coaching staffs, and their peers.
Ashley Fox covers the NFL for ESPN, and writes about the ever-changing standards of professionalism and accountability among NFL coaches.

By ADAM SERRANO

It was a celebration three years in the making.

The Galaxy may have been crowned MLS Cup Champions with a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Sunday night, but it is the journey that they took to get to the summit that was truly special.