With Arsenal currently sitting 7th in the Premier League Table, it's now truly inevitable that Robin van Persie will choose a new club come summertime, barring some miracle. Because it seems so predestined, the notion doesn't trigger anxiety levels of Fabregas proportions in summers past, where you just really didn't know what was going to happen.

Difficult as this might be to swallow, one of the next big stories coming out of U.S. Soccer won't anything to do with Jurgen Klinsmann.

I know, I know ... it's all about Klinsi right now. Heck, I've written as much.

But here's what's right around the bend in U.

We're just catching up with this after the festive interruptions. Befuddled old man Roberto Mancini is certain that he's been mugged by Sunderland before, he just can't quite place the date. Cue an entertaining Match of the Day interview as the Manchester City gaffer spends most of the time correcting and re-correcting himself on whether [.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011 season.

The Freddy Adu redemption narrative began this year the same way such stories typically begin: At rock bottom.

We are only days from the opening of the January transfer window. The rumor mill has already been spinning out of control over the past few weeks but, of course, as the new year approaches the links with a Chelsea clearly in need of something special will reach new levels of absurdity.

So, with that being said, why not take the absurdity to new heights ourselves?

Transfer-fabrication websites like Sportsvibe and GiveMeFootball are having a field day today over speculation (i.e. LIES that they generated in the first place), that Liverpool plan to sign David Villa. Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has now publicly blasted the ongoing lies over Villa's future.

Got, Not Got: the unholy horror of the Frankenstein's monster football sticker

There aren't many things in life that can cause man or boy as much alarm as a hastily recoloured kit on a football card or sticker. For starters, there's the creeping sense of injustice as you see through the sticker company's little ruse – spotting the iffy, last-minute airbrushing and feeling soiled by the messy evidence of a crime.

By Chris Wright

A 3-0 win over Banfield at La Bombanera yesterday saw Boca Juniors secure their 24th Argentinian League title and their first for three years, with the three points giving them an unassailable eleven-point lead at the top of the Apertura championship with only two games left to play cue the madness.

Some interesting news coming out of Andre Villas-Boas' press conference post-Newcastle. The Portuguese confirmed that the club has received transfer requests from both Nicolas Anelka and Alex, and that both have been accepted. Cue more January transfer window speculation.

No more of this then.

Mou are ya? Jose Mourinho has got one-up on Barcelona in the build-up to the forthcoming El Clasico. A digital traffic sign warning of restrictions around Barcelona's ground referred to the stadium as the 'Mou Camp' rather than the Nou Camp. You would expect that a fit-fingered Spanish civil servant has merely pounded the wrong [.

Germany's Lukas Podolski was involved in a traffic accident yesterday, which left his car in such a bad state that it needed to be towed. Poor Poldi?! Absolutely not.

The family of three sitting in the wagon he accidentally rammed into at the traffic light had to be be admitted to a hospital.

File him under journeyman if you will; Paul Thirlwell's career hasn't exactly hit stellar heights anywhere. Decent spells at his hometown club Sunderland, Sheffield United and Derby were flecked by seemingly the only consistency of his career – injury. Ask any fan of his current club Carlisle to define Thirlwell in a single word and the wags will chorus on cue – ‘injured'.

File him under journeyman if you will; Paul Thirlwell's career hasn't exactly hit stellar heights anywhere. Decent spells at his hometown club Sunderland, Sheffield United and Derby were flecked by seemingly the only consistency of his career – injury. Ask any fan of his current club Carlisle to define Thirlwell in a single word and the wags will chorus on cue – ‘injured'.

Well, well... what do we have here? It's Babbo Natale of course! Everyone wishes it were Antonio Cassano in that brilliant get-up, but it was just a club representative (probably moonlighting as the overworked club mascot) who worked the crowd at San Siro last night.

By Alan Duffy

Ronaldinho having some 'me time' whilst training with the Brazilian national team

One of football's more colourful characters, Brazilian legend Ronaldinho, must be feeling rather embarrassed right now, after an x-rated webcam video of the star erm, giving himself a 'helping hand', was leaked on the internet, in true Dirty Den/Leslie Grantham style.

God this Interlull is boring.

For us supporters, Arsenal news is as vital to our souls as water is to our bodies.

Like a thirsty man crawling through a desert we are on our knees, parched and desperate.

And like that thirsty man we are prone to seeing mirages: images that might be an oasis (or, in our case, a genuine Arsenal news story) but turn out instead to be no more than a trick of the Sun.

As you well know, Frank Lampard captained England today versus Spain. It was his second time leading the Three Lions, and I'd say he did fairly well for himself.

Super Frank scored the only goal in a solid if unspectacular 1-0 win over the European and world champions at Wembley. Cue the Euro favorites headlines (ridiculousness).

Six of our boys yes, Bob was in the house participated in EA Sports' official FIFA 12 Pro Player Tournament on Wednesday at Cobham. Cue the inevitable trash talk and the birth of Romelu "I love the silence" Lukaku.

That's right. Our young Belgian enforcer emerged from the wreckage triumphant, topping fellow 18-year-old Josh McEachran by a 4-1 scoreline in the final.

Cue up the Nellie McKay, I'm almost out of here.

I love doing interviews with Seattle writers. They're all so naive and when they think they're asking hard questions, they're lobbing softballs. So you know, it's all good in the land of My Little Pony Sing Along Blogs. Anyway, I talked to Joshua Mayers and a bunch of other jackals yesterday, hopefully for the last time in a while so I can forget about what transpired this year.

What the hell?

What the hell.

Winless in three! A wretched second half in Belgium follows our absolutel capitulation after halftime against Arsenal. Cue the crisis talk, my friends.

A decent enough first half ravaged with wastefulness gives way to a phoned-in final 45 minutes that cost us the points in Belgium.

NME Album of the Year: Nevermind by Nirvana Crufts Best in Show: Raycrofts Socialite Palme d'Or Winner at Cannes: Barton Fink Vice President of the United States: Dan Quayle By the time the 1997-8 season came round, two years had elapsed since Reading had lost so gallantly in the play off final against Bolton Wanderers.

To preface, I'm not wholly satisfied with the catharsis I've employed since Saturday. Seems my best efforts to cleanse the memories of what transpired have failed and I'm extremely fucking bitter. I'm usually glass-half-full, but I'd be lying if I said there was anything worth drinking at the moment.

Match Report | Highlights
So this is what it feels like to win in the first round.
Perth Glory thoroughly deserved to have the three points from yesterday but the 1-0 scoreline would suggest it was a close thing.
In fact Glory were dominate for about three quarters of the game, mounting attack after attack - like waves.

Crazy keeper The turncoat! After Montenegro dramatically snatched a point against 10-man England the story was all about how the minnows' had secured a Euro 2012 play-off spot. Cue jubilant scenes among the Montenegro fans, which spilled over into a pitch invasion. The broadcaster was focusing on the joyous celebrations when who should appear in [.

There's nothing that screams "German Simon Cowell!" more than this shot of Joachim Loew sitting comfortably at yesterday's German NT press conference. Yeah, it's totally normal to put a black sofa at the training ground my dad did it once, Dunga sat on it.

By Alan Duffy

Another example of how that heady mix of religion and football can go horribly wrong, a Bosnian Premier League game in Mostar between locals rivals Velez and Zrinjksi ended in rather frightening scenes last week.

Rijad Demic, playing for Velzez, a team from the Muslim side of Mostar, netted the winning goal in extra-time, a strike that the Croat fans of Zrinski didn't take too kindly too.

It looked like a massive Europa League could have been on the cards last night when Irish minnows Shamrock Rovers miraculously took the lead against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. The away side took an unexpected lead when Stephen Rice got a touch to a long-range effort from Gary Twigg. Cue pandemonium among the Rovers [.

Giving the captain a ride

It was another one of the those time during the final whistle where the points was more important than the performance. Too many times have we sat in this position thinking of dropped points and lost games but could still pride ourself with the wonderful attacking display which amounted to no points.

Cue the Heineken commercials, the unmistakable anthem, and the goosebumps the Champions League is here again. To be Manchester United is to be a perennial favorite in the competition, and that's no different this season, as United eye a fourth final in five seasons. And the first stop on the journey to next May's [.

Spectacular air kick The problem with being as quick as Dennis Rommedahl is that you always assume that you are faster than the ball. But sometimes that pesky ball just gets the better of you and runs away. That's exactly what happened when Denmark and Norway met this week. Cue a hilarious crossing fail from [.

Well, the last couple of days have been one of those stretches. First, the match yesterday gets switched to ESPN2. No worries I think to myself. I pull out my handy DirecTV phone app and DVR the game on ESPN2 just as the match is set to start. I was only able to catch bits and pieces of the game at work, so I planned on settling down to watch the full match last night and provide a full writeup.

It took 50 matches played by MLS clubs and the USMNT before victory came to an American team playing in Mexico. But it only took six days for the second U.S. victory. Following FC Dallas historic 1-0 win over Pumas UNAM last week, the Seattle Sounders took a cue from the Texans' performance and upset [.

News that we have all been dreading to hear...

Petr Cech has been ruled out for three to four weeks with a medial knee ligament injury suffered in training on Wednesday. Cue the "we're dooooooooomed!" shrieks from the Chelsea fans. But also keep in mind that Hilario did do pretty well in preseason if that makes you feel any better, which it probably will not.

Chelsea begin the Andre Villas-Boas era with a goalless draw on a not cold non-night at the Britannia Stadium. Well-earned, but there could have been much more. Still, I, for one, am not going to complain.

You be the judge

So we start the season with a point.

Jadson is on Wenger's wish list

Reports out of Spain indicate that Cesc Fabregas will be unveiled as Barca's newest player on Monday. He's expected to attend the Super Cup between Barca and Real Madrid tomorrow. However the backloaded 6m euros variable are said to still be holding up the deal.

romelulukaku Romelu Lukaku
Is going next to london for the medical tests... More news next week

That's Romelu via Twitter 57 minutes ago. Add to that an official piece on the RSC Anderlecht website confirming the deal, an article that cannot be accessed at the moment for sheer volume of hits, and we're thinking this particular transfer saga is done and dusted.

So I'm back. That's your cue to rejoice zealously (or brazenly gnash your teeth, whichever response seems most apropos). New Orleans nearly took my life twice and I shot a Romanian AK-47 at empty beer cans on a ranch in south Texas. 'Merica. With all-star week upon us, figured we'd get a midseason update on this list, and then we'll go back after the MLS Cup and dissect where we ended up.

This has been a hot-topic really since day one for Chivas USA, playing in the Home Depot Center. Most fans would love to see them get their own place which in a way would make the SuperClasico rivalry with the LA Galaxy even better in my eyes.

Chivas USA co-owner Antonio Cue confirmed Thursday to MLSSoccer.

BY ADAM SERRANO

Chivas USA co-owner Antonio Cué has confirmed that Chivas USA are in talks with cities in Los Angeles County for a potential move away from the Home Depot Center.

Chvias USA have shared the Home Depot Center since the club's inception in 2005 and have publically made it very clear that they have always sought to have their own residence away from the LA Galaxy.

This may not be politically correct, or supporter appropriate, but fuck it. This is a funny ass photo, and is due a hilarious caption.

Cue the Wayne Brady references.

Please, at least show some kind of restraint before posting. Now, have at it.