As you people know, I have been right behind AVB as our manager. I have said that it's a hard job trying to regenerate this team and build something new. We have heard the saying a team in transition alot this season but you need a base to build from and that base has to be a good team. As it proved today Chelsea are NOT a good team.

While the FM database let me down a bit with United's new Brazilian trialist, Alfredo, it appears to have a more fully-realized take on another forward trialist: youth US Nat Stefan Jerome. Though not all of his stats are defined in the database, most are, and that's enough to provide us a reasonable picture of where he's at now.

Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill admits that the Black Cats will have their hands full when they entertain Arsenal at the Stadium of Light today, particularly given the dexterity of Gunners youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The teenage sensation has quickly become a fan favorite at Arsenal, setting up Robin van Persie's equalizer in the 2-1 defeat against Manchester United and then displaying his scoring abilities by netting twice in last weekend's 7-1 destruction of Blackburn.

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].

Philadelphia Union

The Goalkeeper has a transcript of Wednesday's press conference with Peter Nowak. Among the highlights:

On Pajoy: "He's a guy who brings not only character but also a mentality to the game. He's very physical, and very fast as well. He can change the game, because he's a different option.

Ching squared off against his old club yesterday. (Photo via Montreal Impact)

As bad as it was back in November, both Brian Ching and the Houston Dynamo are ready to move past the whole expansion draft fiasco.

Ching now a member of the Montreal Impact played the Dynamo yesterday in a preseason scrimmage.

While I'm relatively certain that most dedicated followers of MLS will know what United are getting with the likes of Maicon Santos and Danny Cruz, there's still an element of mystery surrounding the acquisitions from the mid-tier Euro-leagues. Most of us see precious little from Swiss or Austrian clubs outside of perhaps the odd Europa League highlight.

The Philadelphia Union completed the long-rumored signing of Colombian forward Lionard Pajoy from Itagui Ditaires on Wednesday, adding a piece that can help fill the scoring void left behind by the departed Sebastien Le Toux. Pajoy has received his P-1 visa, according to a team release, and will be joining the club soon for preseason preparations.

After my piece in defence of Aaron Ramsey on Sunday, it seemed only fitting that whoscored.com would publish this piece today, which looks at the Premier League's most creative players since 2007.
It divides the number of minutes played by the chances that a player created from open play, producing a mixture of expected and surprising results.

The season is just over a month away and the roster is almost completely set. Of course there is still the possibility of adding a few more pieces or dropping a few of the newer players. For the most part the Timbers have the core of their starting line-up signed. With all the changes to the roster will John Spencer go away from the 4-4-2 formation or will he go with a different formation?

Looks like Mr. Backe has some decisions to make come opening day in Dallas. With a surplus of forwards and central midfielders, it'll be interesting to see what formation and personnel makeup the starting XI. With so many options and possible configurations at his disposal, how will Backe manage his depth?

Does this man have your goals?

So are they done?

United ticked one of the two big "need" boxes by acquiring Albanian international striker Hamdi Salihi as a designated player (wait, I thought Uncle Will wasn't going to splash the cash?). Given his impressive rate of return wherever he's played, he certainly seems to fit the poacher's bill, though he also has decent size.

The Fire have had a tremendous offseason so far. We have fortified our midfield, improved our defense in the SuperDraft, and even added some forwards to the mix. The Fire midfield is certainly the most populated on the team, and one I would definitely consider it a strength. It's credit to the front office for taking what was considered a big weakness last year and turning it into one of our strong points.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

By DAVE MARTINEZ

New York Red Bulls manager Hans Backe will be able to count on Luke Rodgers after all.

After suffering a lapse in his U.S. visa status that left his future with the Red Bulls up in the air, the English striker is no longer a question mark entering the 2012 MLS season after having his visa approved and renewed.

Photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com

While the Vancouver Whitecaps are busy stockpiling forwards, the New England Revolution's quest to find any reliable strikers continues.

That quest became a bit more difficult after definitive word that Rajko Lekic has returned to his native Denmark to join Lyngby after spending the 2011 season with the Revs.

Philadelphia Union fans have endured a roller coaster off-season, first with Sebastien LeToux's trial at Bolton, then Monday's sudden departure of goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon. Now it appears that after initially thinking LeToux would wind up staying with the Union, the French striker looks set to depart.

We've got to post a quick recap of what we watched this past weekend but first, very briefly, here are two games today that you could tune in for, in case you're looking for something to watch this afternoon/evening (depending on your timezone):

African Cup of Nations, Côte d'Ivoire vs Angola (1pmET, Al-Jazeera Sports / Eurosport International): The group stage of AfCON2012 wraps up over the next couple days.

With the January camp behind us we take a look at the 21 players on the roster and give you our winners, losers, and those that maintained the status quo.

Forwards

Agudelo, Juan
Agudelo injured his right ankle during a scrimmage on Jan 13 and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

If you had asked any Stevenage supporter a couple of weeks ago who Gary Smith is, the majority would have replied 'Who?' It would have been a justified reaction because until his name began to be linked with the vacant managerial position, Gary Smith's reputation within this country was, well, non-existent.

BY ADAM SERRANO

The San Jose Earthquakes believe that they have found another compliment to Chris Wondolowski with the signing of Turkish forward Sercan Güvenışık.

The 31-year-old German league veteran impressed the Earthquakes during a two month trial with the club last season, which included scoring two goals in a reserve match against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The beep test is a progression of short runs where the testee is to pace themselves to turn on the beep, not faster, not slower. It tests not speed, but endurance and today a few players showed quite well. Andy Rose and David Estrada each won their heats, while Mike Seamon and Cordell Cato came in second in their rounds.

Some good things; some bad things...

The United States went south to Panama Wednesday night and came away with a win against a CONCACAF up-and-comer and little else.

The small margin of victory came early in the contest as Zach Loyd lofted a ball into the box. Chris Wondolowski challenged his defender for it as it skipped (or grazed) past their heads.

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.

The Rapids signed Jaime Castrillon this morning, their first major player move of the offseason. As is typical terms were not released but those will leak out eventually. Castrillon is expected to be an immediate starter in the midfield, and Pareja has talked recently about playing a 4-3-1 or 4-2-1-3.

Mario Balotelli never seems to stop making the headline as despite being Manchester City savior in previous match against Tottenham Hotspurs, Balotelli caught himself involved in another case on that game.

The Italian striker was caught stamping Spurs' midfielder, Scott Parker, on Sunday and now are facing a disciplinary act by the English FA, who already confirmed their stance, only waiting for the forward to respons.

The defending Eastern Conference champion Dynamo began preseason camp for the first time in franchise history without the services of club icon Brian Ching and Eddie Robinson. It was definitely odd not to see those important players running around. Speaking of forwards, the Dynamo are still trying to lure a veteran forward in Great Britain [.

The storm is over, but the need to dig my car out meant I missed session one. If you want a report on that group you will have to go to the Seattle Times or The News Tribune as they were the only print media there today. Most notably was the arrival of Supplemental Draft pick Jason Banton. Banton was still on a London schedule so he did not participate fully.

So, sitting here this afternoon thoroughly enjoying the Bundesliga back in action after an interminable winter break, I have come across a series of stories that might just warm the hearts of us Houston Dynamo supporters near and far.

First comes this excellent piece from Soccer America about Geoff Cameron in USMNT camp.

And now, the resolution of The Bent Musket's 2011 season grades for the New England Revolution! Corey, Matty, and I have looked at the four major areas of the team - goalkeeping, defense, midfield, forwards - and assigned our grades on a 4.0 scale.

Unfortunately for the New England Revolution, we don't curve based on the rest of the league.

While MLS has in the last few years reached a level of stability that will hopefully give us a break from our perennial worrying about "the future of the game", the women's pro game is still struggling for survival in this country. The Women's National Team is currently preparing for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament this month and the roster is officially listed as:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Nicole Barnhart (out of contract), Hope Solo (out of contract)

DEFENDERS (7): Rachel Buehler (Atlanta Beat), Ali Krieger (FFC Frankfurt), Amy LePeilbet (Atlanta Beat), Heather Mitts (out of contract), Kelley O'Hara (Atlanta Beat), Christie Rampone (out of contract), Becky Sauerbrunn (Sky Blue FC)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Shannon Boxx (out of contract), Tobin Heath (out of contract), Lori Lindsey (Western New York Flash), Carli Lloyd (Atlanta Beat), Heather O'Reilly (Boston Breakers), Megan Rapinoe (out of contract), Amy Rodriguez (out of contract)

FORWARDS (4): Lauren Cheney (out of contract), Sydney Leroux (Atlanta beat), Alex Morgan (Western New York Flash), Abby Wambach (out of contract)

That's 10 players out of 20 who don't currently have a club team, which is remarkable for a country that has dominated the sport internationally for decades.

Photo: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Union

Joining KYW's Greg Orlandini and PSP's Eli Pearlman-Storch on the latest edition of the Philly Soccer Show podcast is Philadelphia Union first round draft pick Chandler Hoffman.

The UCLA/Generation adidas forward scored 18 goals in 24 games during his last season with the Bruins, and hopes to bring that scoring touch to PPL Park.

With the excitement and craziness of the 2012 SuperDraft in the rearview, it's time for teams around MLS to get down to business. Camp opens tomorrow and the Revolution still have plenty of work to do. I figured that this frigid, lazy Sunday would be a good time to take a look at the Revs' off-season thus far and outline some of the storylines moving forward.

The draft is over and next Friday players report to Portland and the Portland Timbers are hinting they are not done adding to their roster. Rumors are swirling as to who and what position said player plays. All of these leaves us fans in what seems like an internal state of nervous energy.

So lets take a look at what the roster looks like and what we can piece together from tweets and quotes over the last few weeks.

Who was your sporting hero growing up?

My hero was Denis Law; as a player I loved Denis Law even though he is only a couple of years older than me. He epitomised to me everything about a Scotsman. He could start a row in an empty house, fight his own shadow, unbelievable courage, electric pace, exciting and dynamic to watch – I always loved Denis as a player.

Today at Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Sporting KC added two new players to their roster ahead of the start of preseason next week. Not needing to draft a specific player that would be required to come in and fill a need, KC was able to look a few different directions with their pick at number 16 and even at pick number 30.

With neither of Seattle Sounders FC's MLS SuperDraft picks being from Generation Adidas nor pre-signed seniors or internationals the two players are going to have to fight to make the tight roster. A roster than may get even tighter before they report as General Manager Adrian Hanauer said during today's conference call there are "other deals that are possibly pending or getting close.

photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

The New York Red Bulls' forward corps just got a little deeper.

The Red Bulls acquired Kenny Cooper from the Portland Timbers in exchange for a 2013 first round MLS SuperDraft pick and allocation money. Cooper joins the Red Bulls after a return season to MLS that saw him score eight goals and have two assists in 34 league games.

Photo: Michael Long

Midfielder Sinead Farrelly has officially agreed to terms to return to the Philadelphia Independence for the 2012 season. Farrelly was a standout at the University of Virginia where she was a second team All-American and a Hermann Trophy finalist. The Havertown-native was Philadelphia's first pick (second overall) in last season's draft.

By FRANCO PANIZO

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The 2012 MLS Combine has come to a close, but not before several players used the event to help their stock while others did not.

In a class dominated by attacking talent, several forwards and creative midfielders enjoyed strong combines, showcasing their goal-scoring and playmaking abilities.

The brain trust for Seattle Sounders FC's on field product went to Bradenton, Florida for the MLS Combine. Yesterday, the club provided a conference call with Coach Sigi Schmid and Technical Director Chris Henderson. Like many outside observers they see a deeper draft class than usual, but with top level talent stable in quantity and quality.