Can't tell you proud I am of Everton today. A supposed top 4 side and we took them to the cleaners. Denis, who we all know is a limited footballer, caused MAYHEM against their weird, lopsided 3-5-2 formation with Cole as a left winger and Luis as a left half.
Everton by comparison knew what they were about from the off, set the tempo and got in amongst them at every turn.

Hey, at least this guy isn't going to torment us today.

Team news and the like from 2:30pm EST.

Team sheets
Everton
Howard; Neville, Heitinga, Distin, Baines; Donovan, Gibson, Fellaini, Pienaar; Cahill; Stracqualursi.

Less than a week after bringing American Edson Buddle back to Los Angeles, the team has bolstered the roster further by unveiling two Brazilians.

Earlier this week, the Galaxy officially announced that the club had reached an agreement with Brazilian club São Paulo FC, allowing midfielder Juninho to return on loan for the 2012 season.

Saturday is going to be a hard game, it always is at Goodison. Everton boosted by the signings of Donovan, Gibson and possibly Jelavic making his debut will be up for this one after we beat them earlier in the season at Stamford Bridge.
The big questions will be over AVB's team selection.

Thank you very much, Gareth Bale, for your midweek performance, now let's take a look at the weekend's fixtures and continue with our assault to the top of the Fantasy Premier League table... With over 2.7 million players, we hope ... Continue reading →

As hinted at in last night's post it felt like a good night to be a blue from the word go.
City always seem to fall foul of Everton's superior workrate and commitment. Players like Aguero, Villa and Nasri have added real class to go along with the brawn but where is the steel that side will need to win a title?

Photo by ISIphotos.com

It is a wild day across England, with the rapid-fire closing of the transfer window being accompanied by a full slate of mid-week matches. While the transfer window doesn't figure to include any more Americans making moves to England, there could be some notable performances by U.

Fulham departs the Cottage and heads south to Goodison to face David Moyes bunch of not so merry men.

The so-called #LDvsCD battle. Donovan vs. Dempsey.

TSG is not buying the hype, but nice to watch one game in England instead of two to see the US's top field players....and leading striker Tim Howard.

Jurgen Klinsman, Jermaine Jones and Ricardo Clark. The first a German, and famous at that. The second a mix of American and German, currently playing his club ball with Schalke 04 in der fatherland. The third born in America, a defensive midfielder in the 2nd Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt. Could it be some hidden understanding from this shared German-ness that pushed Klinsman to pick Clark off the bench, and for Jones to find the late substitute with a perfectly dipped cross?

The January friendlies are usually for the hardest of die hards. Being held outside of a FIFA sanctioned window means that player pool is reduced for both sides, and tonight's game isn't against the highest profile of opponents. Venezuela is decent, currently ranked 31st and slightly ahead of the United States by ESPN's Soccer Power Index.

Jon Levy The national team hasn't even suited up in 2012, but it's already been an encouraging year for American soccer. Dempsey and Donovan (for two months, at least) are both leading the line of attack for their respective English Premier League teams, the Women's National Teamers avoided a would-be tragedy in their Vancouver hotel [.

Their Words "Speed is our main weapon. As our defence is pretty solid, when we play as a compact unit, we can launch some pretty effective counter-attacks." Jamaica goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. Other Sources Michael Bradley in Italy: ‘He's Bravissimo' - from The NY Times' Davidde Corron: "All I've ever wanted to do is play well and give everything I have for the national team.

Remember when Brad Friedel made those comments about Landon Donovan? Well, today is the day Donovan can make his former teammate eat those words.

Donovan and Friedel are set to square off on Wednesday afternoon when Everton visits Tottenham in a game American fans have been salivating over ever since Donovan agreed to a loan deal with Everton.

Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur host Tim Howard, Landond Donovan, and Everton in a Premier League clash at White Hart Lane, while Jonathan Spector and Birmingham City face Ipswich Town.

It's been a week of news for America's soccer league, but, as fate would have it, most of it has taken place in the UK. With Henry making waves, Donovan about to face off against Dempsey, and Ream possibly about to make a move, the Combine has been more than overshadowed by MLS's action in Britain.

2011 was a pretty incredible years in a lot of ways. Here are a few of my impressions:
dN
My beloved Minnesota Stars won the re-inaugural NASL championship! I know most of you don't follow the 2nd division of soccer in North America, but it was a great year for many of the teams. The play on the field was arguably the best ever, and when your team goes on one hell of run and eventually wins it all, there is nothing better!

NEW SHOW! We review this morning's fascinating Manchester Derby, Donovan and Dempsey's FA Cup contributions, break down Oguchi Onyewu's performance for Sporting vs Porto and play some FA Cup theme Wikipedia Game. LISTEN!

Was there really any doubt that Clint Dempsey wasn't going to run away with this award?
As some of our commentors pointed out during the voting, it seemed a bit one-sided. Not just because of their own qualifications, but the over-whelming case that could be made for Sir Deuce.
With nearly 40 goals for Fulham in the English Premier League and counting Clint Dempsey has made the biggest splash of any American aboard, ever.

Been on a nice self-imposed vacation from the interwebs over the last week and a half here in La La Land(on), which coincides neatly with the dog days of the MLS offseason. Sadly I was unable to see off Donovan to the land of Toffee. But I am preparing to eat a king's dinner of Indian food in downtown Pasadena tonight.

Happy New Year. Van der Vaart's hamstring. Scott Parker's knee. Rotation. Rest. It's that time of the year... Let's take a look at the upcoming Fantasy Premier League gameweek GW 20: our first "double gameweek" of 2012. I. Liverpool ... Continue reading →

Top 10 MLS loan stars your club could sign: Donovan, Henry, Shea, Ream and more

Click on the arrows to see which MLS players could join your club in the new year

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:01:00 from: Talksport

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

I sighed a little reading about the dust-up stirred up among fans when Brad Friedel made some remarks to the effect that Landon Donovan took "the easy road" by staying in Major League Soccer, as compared to Clint Dempsey, who plays in England for Fulham.
Friedel backtracked a bit by going on to explain his comments were not meant to disparage Landon or any other MLS player.

The Major League Soccer season's crescendo was a flat one, but there was barely a pause to reflect upon it before the "draft season" got under way and speculation on Beckham's future overshadowed his club's glorious present. All that, plus the US's first multi-goal performance under Klinsmann in this month's State of the States.

Does it make me a guy that after the game was over all I wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep? Okay, I stayed for a little bit of cuddling and pillow talk, but when it was over I was done.

In the last few posts I've talked about manifest destiny and how this was our time. But all along the way I have been bracing myself for the possibility it might not happen.

• Dynamo do things the right way, even in loss [Houston Chronicle]
• In losing effort, Dynamo full of praise for LA's Donovan [MLS Soccer]
• Donovan's goal downs Dynamo in MLS Cup [Houston Chronicle]
• Kinnear: Dynamo never get a handle on it in loss to LA [MLS Soccer]
• Costly's time with Dynamo at an end after Cup loss [MLS Soccer]
• Cameron's injury the turning point in Dynamo's Cup loss [MLS Soccer]
• No Rest for Dynamo As Expansion Draft Beckons [Houston Chronicle]
• Dynamo feel Davis absence in final [Houston Dynamo]

In Other News:

• As Twitter Reacts To John Harkes, Networks Should Take Notice [GTTF]
• Strong signs for future of U.

It's a special MLS Cup edition of the Friday Five today, where we peer into the crystal ball to explore whether Brad Davis' absence has unofficially put the kabash on Houston's chances, whether Donovan has anything left to prove and if Jacob has the stones to pick against LA. Let's dive in, shall we?

Securing victory over Slovenia was nice. And scoring three goals was even better, but until World Cup Qualification begins, the results still do not matter. Rather, it is the performance of individuals and how they help to shape the team's formation and tactics that are most important to evaluate as the pieces come together for Jurgen Klinsmann's US National Team.

I was only able to watch part of the Slovenia game yesterday. I have been saying for some time that I like Altidore, but he is not good enough to be a lone striker. In theory Klinsmann's 4-3-3 should put more guys forward, but the reality was that the wingers played more defensive roles and Altidore was left to do the attacking work himself.

Ladies & Gentlemen, here they are:
The 2011 du Nord MLS Best 11
David Beckham - LA Galaxy
Nat Borchers - Real Salt Lake
Danny Califf - Philadelphia Union
Brad Davis - Houston Dynamo
Dwayne De Rosario - DC United
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy
Omar Gonzalez - LA Galaxy
Mauro Rosales - Seattle Sounders FC
Josh Saunders - LA Galaxy
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes
And the 2011 du Nord MLS Player of the Year:
Mauro Rosales

For TSG's USA Slovenia Preview, click here.

World Cup 2010 gave US fans four full games of drama. Group stage game two was of course against the relatively-unknown Slovenia. Charlie Brown put a hurt on the Yanks in the 1st half, but the States would storm back and make more than a game of it.

In a sport desperate for stars, the two biggest, Beckham and Donovan, play on the same team. They get their second chance at a first title on November 20th at home (They lost their first MLS final to Real Salt Lake two seasons ago).
This match will likely exceed expectations on all fronts; ratings, coverage and sales of paraphernalia.

BREAKING NEWS:
LA Galaxy starting forward Chad Barrett suffered a dislocated ankle in training today and will miss the MLS Cup Final.
STARTERS
Official MLS Best 11 for 2011:
Kasey Keller - Seattle
Jamison Olave - Salt Lake
Omar Gonzalez - LA
Todd Dunivant - LA
Landon Donovan - LA
Brek Shea - Dallas
Brad Davis - Houston
David Beckham - LA
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose
Dwayne DeRosario - DC
Thierry Henry - New York
-7 of 11 are American
dN
Soccer By Ives announced their 2011 MLS Best XI.

I can't be the only one who still finds himself humming "This is LA...." every few minutes.

Sunday night was the most thrilling night I have ever spent at the HDC. I don't think I have ever heard the crowd louder. My favorite fans, pictured above, cheered their brains out, as it seems did 20,000 other fans.

Their Words FIFA's Regulations regarding Players' Equipment are that they should not carry any political, religious or commercial messages. FIFA has 208 Member Associations and the same regulations are applied globally, and uniformally, in the event of similar requests by other nations to commemorate historical events.

Their Words We will train the same way we will play in games, with high intensity and awareness. With every camp, they know exactly what to expect. US National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Other Sources Why madman Marquez would still have a place in my team - from The Mirror's Alexi Lalas: But I'm here to defend Marquez.

Here is the roster for the 2 upcoming USA friendlies against France and Slovenia-
G:Bill Hamid - DC UnitedTim Howard - EvertonD:Carlos Bocanegra - RangersTimmy Chandler - NurnbergSteve Cherundolo - HannoverClarence Goodson - BrondbyAlfredo Morales - HerthaMichael Orozco Fiscal - San LuisOguchi Onyewu - Sporting CPM:Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt LakeMichael Bradley - ChievoClint Dempsey - FulhamMaurice Edu - RangersFabian Johnson - HoffenheimJermaine Jones - SchalkeRobbie Rogers - Columbus CrewBrek Shea - DallasDanny Williams - HoffenheimF:Jozy Altidore - AZDaMarcus Beasley - PueblaEdson Buddle - IngolstadtLandon Donovan - LA Galaxy
Who is not on this list that should be?

• Rebuilt Dynamo bearing fruit for Kinnear [Houston Chronicle]
• SKC and Houston poised to advance [ESPN]
• Dynamo determined to keep all guns blazing [MLS Soccer]
• Dynamo know they must remain aggressive in home match against Union [Houston Chronicle]
• MLS Conference Semifinals: A Look Ahead [Soccer by Ives]
• 'D' capital for Dynamo during unbeaten streak [Houston Chronicle]
• Ching enjoys being part of deep forward corps [MLS Soccer]
• Dynamo assistant Ralston a candidate for Revolution job [Houston Chronicle]
• Academy Roundup - October 30 [Houston Dynamo]

In Other News:

• Sounders FC faces daunting task of winning by four goals [Seattle Times]
• Sigi Schmid Wants To Give Seattle An Epic Tale [Sounder at Heart]
• Donovan says Galaxy 'assuming' Beckham will stay [Sports Illustrated]
• MLS gauging interest in club playing in Baltimore [Washington Post]
• Tributes paid to Doncaster's Billy Sharp after baby tragedy [BBC]

• Dynamo escape Philadelphia with win [USA Today]
• Carr's goal gives Dynamo 2-1 win in playoff opener [Houston Chronicle]
• Dynamo stun Union at PPL 2-1 for first-leg win [MLS Soccer]
• Carr's timely goal part of a long journey back [MLS Soccer]
• Nowak: First-half mistakes doomed Union in 2-1 loss to Dynamo [Philly.

Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to rumble? After 34 weeks of ups, down, shots, goals, and more Adrian Healey than most can handle, we have finally arrived at the promised land of American soccer: the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.

This year will, as I'm sure you know, be different from those past.

Last week on the blog we mentioned the U-17s trip to Spain to participate in the AGS Cup. The team earned two victories and two ties to finish in second place. The team started off the tournament with a 1-1 tie against Mexico with a goal from Chris Lema (New York Red Bulls) before playing the United Arab Emirates to the same scoreline, courtesy of an Herber Mejia-Flores (McLean Youth Soccer) goal.