Juninho proved to be a handful for most MLS sides in 2011. (Getty Images)

I said a few weeks (or maybe just a couple weeks) back that the biggest thing that the LA Galaxy needed to replace this winter was Juninho.

Well, what better way to replace him than with him.

The LA Galaxy announced on Tuesday that the club has reached an agreement with Brazilian club São Paulo FC that will allow midfielder Juninho to return to the Galaxy on loan for the 2012 MLS season.

Well, what a difference a day makes.

Emotionally we've gone from disappointed and disillusioned to euphoric over the result of one game. Beating Blackburn 7-1 was the sort of result we needed to awaken our supporters.

Arsenal played the sort of football that we all love to watch and for once the end result substantiated the level of our overall performance.

The Last Post
This will be the last post on European Football Weekends. But hey, don't be shedding any tears - it's been a thunderously good ride. At the start of 2012 I decided to take a little break from EFW, and see how things panned out. I've enjoyed that freedom so much that it now feels right to hang up the old keyboard.

Yeah, Becks own underwear designs, part of H&M's David Beckham Bodywear collection will feature in a 30 second ad in the second quarter of this years Super Bowl, which will not feature the Green Bay Packers. Will it drive you to encase your goolies in a Becks underwear or will you come up fourth and inches?

Mail: Jose Enrique hails Kenny Dalglish

Liverpool defender Jose Enrique believes the freedom manager Kenny Dalglish gives to the players helps makes them a better team. The Spaniard has been Dalglish's best summer recruit.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2012-01-11 08:19:39 from: The Mail

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

Something has been bugging me now for a couple of months and I still cannot see why AVB hasn't decided to implement this ever since we lost at Old Trafford!.
Remember how we were being battered by United and then made a switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation that literally changed the game for us?

The big names didn't dominate the league this weekend and it gives a chance to assess what is going on for the rest of the league. It is BEAUTIFUL! Football won out as freedom of the pitch was granted to ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article

OK let's get this going early this morning. Chelsea are in a slump, badly need a win, getting criticised all over the place, reports that the players are turning against AVB, we are asking to play a deeper defensive line and for now, AVB seems to be sticking to his guns.
So with the news that it appears Didier Drogba is ahead of Fernando Torres to be selected for this game tomorrow lunchtime, I am asking who YOU THINK, as the Chelsea fan reading this, needs to start the game to give us the best chance of getting a massive three points.

Now Kean must forfeit his job if Blackburn are to survive

After saying Blackburn "forfeited" their Carling Cup defeat at Cardiff, it's time for Steve Kean to step down. The fans deserve a refund, his players deserve an apology and Kean deserves to go. It may have been a clumsy and badly-chosen phrase but it is the final straw for a club which is in crisis and going down fast.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Does anyone ever really pay much attention draft picks after the first round? Maybe in the NFL where there is real depth from a wealth of college talent and combine hype. But in the MLS SuperDraft? Does anyone after the first dozen or so selections really matter?

Eric Giardini takes a look at where some MLS players might fit in Serie A

Beckham, no surprise, leads the list...

With the end of the MLS playoffs and the beginning of the January transfer window upon us sooner than we realize, this seems as good a time as any to put together a list of current MLS players I think could play, and even flourish, with a move to Serie A.

Well I must say I was a little surprised when Ben Buckley called last night to offer me the job of Socceroos' Head Coach, starting immediately.
Of course I know when the time for my national duty has come, and I accepted. But not before I had a long talk with Buckley in which I said I would be making a number of changes, some of them which will shock some people and many fans, and he guaranteed that I would have complete freedom and control over the roster.

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway believes a new role behind the strikers is bringing out the best of loanee Jonjo Shelvey.
The Liverpool midfielder is on loan with the Seasiders until the end of December and has so far netted five goals in seven games.
This included a hat-trick against Leeds United while playing in a more advanced role.

By Alan Duffy

Kuszczak begs for his freedom

Poor old Tommy Kuszczak the Polish goalkeeper has slipped down the pecking order at Manchester United, and now finds himself behind David De Gea, Anders Lindegaard and even Ben Amos.

Eager to stake a claim for a place in the Polish squad for the Euro 2012 finals, Kuszczak was hoping to move to Leeds United on loan until the end of year, but according to the 29-year-old, Sir Alex Ferguson blocked the move.

Former Barcelona player Zlatan Ibrahimovic has blamed Lionel Messi and Pep Guardiola for his failure at the Camp Nou, claiming that Guardiola used to ‘bully' him.

Ibra was an expensive flop at Barca after joining from Inter Milan for £40million plus Samuel Eto'o in 2009, but has explains why he struggled so much in Spain.

... and whinier than ever.
So, Ibrahimovic wrote a book in which he cries about how mean Mr. Pep bullied his existence and shattered his dreams. Because, you know, we can't expect him to be over it over a year later. Well I'm here to pick his whining apart quote by quote... starting from where he begins by pointing fingers at Messi (oh, this is going to be fun):
"Playing at Barca was a childhood dream and I was walking on air.

I am asking the question here because of our poor defensive displays of late. In my previous post where I have asked you to give your opinions on what you believe is our strongest back four, and this follows on from that.
We all know Roman wants to see attacking football and being honest AVB has delivered fantastic football at Chelsea.

Germany was lucky to survive Belgium's early pressure. Something which was also true for the Turkey game. Germany's back-line didn't look particularly composed, organized and fit to soak up the pressure. Germany benefitted from the lack of precision and punch of the Turkish and Belgian attacks, which made them easier to defend.

Brek Shea is a rising star in American soccer, and the 6'3" Texan has quite an athletic pedigree.
Shea's father played quarterback at Virginia Tech and Brek played quarterback and safety in middle school.
While at the U.S. training camp Brek explained to the Miami Herald's Michelle Kaufman why he chose soccer over football:
"Football was too much yelling, too strict, and soccer gave me more freedom and ability to express myself.

Pep Guardiola says that he will not sign a long-term contract at Barcelona to ensure he keeps his passion and motivation.

Guardiola has signed a series of one-year contract extensions since he was promoted from Barcelona's B team in June 2008 to replace Dutchman Frank Rijkaard in charge of the senior team and his current contract expires in June 2012.

Being played out of position can be a real problem for some players, including Tottenham Hotspurs' Rafael Van Der Vaart, who recently voiced out his disappointment of being continuously placed in a wider positions in recent matches including the London derby against Arsenal.

The Dutchman confessed that he doesn't like being played in a wider position as he felt that his best post is playing from the center.

It's all about VDV this morning with several quotes appearing concerning the Dutchman's displeasure at being played out of position and at being substituted in Sunday's win over Arsenal.

Last week, Spurs' manager Harry Redknapp claimed that Rafa sometimes asked to come off due to an on-going issue with his hamstrings but that may not be how the player sees it.

By Alan Duffy

Forget all the hoo-haa over Amanda Knox's new-found freedom, the big story of law and order on Merseyside today is the decision by The FA to rescind the red card that Martin Atkinson brandished in the direction of Jack Rodwell in the clash with Liverpool at the weekend.

Redknapp 'held back' Cole's career by giving him too much freedom Hislop

"Everything about his game on that side, when your team don't have possession, he simply wasn't good enough. Harry did not help him in that respect," says the ex-West Ham keeper

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-09-27 12:33:26 from: The Mirror

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

Harry Redknapp should have restrained Joe Cole at West Ham

Shaka Hislop believes Joe Cole's career faltered at Chelsea and Liverpool because Spurs boss Harry Redknapp let him enjoy too much freedom at West Ham.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-09-27 10:53:28 from: The Mail

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

Strong start. Eased off. Conceded a sloppy goal and some chances. Regrouped. Equalized. Pushed on and closed the game out by adding a couple more. Entertaining. Encouraging. Much needed.

It was a youthful line-up and an even younger bench. Le Boss also started with a fluid 4-4-2 giving Park and Chamakh having a great deal of freedom to move.

The big plus for this weekend as far as I am concerned is that Danny Sturridge is back and available for selection after his three match ban has now run out. Sturridge was by far and away our best player in pre season cutting in from the left hand side and being honest we have missed him.
Of course we now have the option of Juan Mata but I still believe Sturridge WILL command a start against Sunderland which could mean that we see Mata playing on the opposite side of Fernando Torres.

Their Words "The old sea dog, having broken his anchor chain, has hopped on a rusty freighter and set off for the open sea. Celebrate his freedom, for he is one happy sailor." quote from Emaharg Senoj used by Grahame L. Jones in his email announcing he's retiring from the LA Times where he's worked since 1971.

• Ailing Houston youngsters Bruin, Cruz ready to return [Sporting News]
• Bruin, Cruz could appear in reserve game [MLS Soccer]
• Dynamo not overreacting to Vancouver loss [MLS Soccer]
• Dynamo welcome back Cruz, Bruin for playoff push [Houston Chronicle]

In Other News:

• Myanmar Soccer Fans Given Freedom of Raucous Speech [NY Times]
• Minnesota Vikings owner wants an MLS Franchise [Pioneer Press]

I can absolutely understand why some people are extremely uncomfortable with banning EDL marches.
Why i feel banning the far right EDL would be a dangerous precedence to set
I know we must always beware the thin end of the wedge and I can totally understand quotes like this :
"i think if we allow them to march we can expose them for the racist nazi's they are, much like when the bbc gave nick griffin a platform to speak, many critisised that but after that his support dropped as people could see through him, much the same here i feel.

I want to start my view on the game on Saturday by congratulating West Brom on how they came here, approached the game and delivered the performance by playing the game exactly how their manager wanted them to. They took the lead, defended well for the most part and at times exposed some problems in our defence.

Here are the highlights.

You get freedom of the cottage for cup games and, for the sake of it, I got tickets right behind the goal in the Putney End. You can see me in red talking to Martin after AJ shot straight at the keeper in the first half.

Anyway, lessons have been learned about sitting too close: that shot, for instance, felt like a sitter from where we were.

As much as we don't seem to talk about English teams, many of you may know that we're covering Chelsea as part of our Futbolita.TV series, along with Arsenal and Liverpool, which were equally great experiences. The international attention from within the teams has also been overwhelming and we had a real exclusive glimpse into mannerisms and styles of some of these players and individuals.

Fabregas is threatening to do an Anelka and go on strike if Arsenal do not agree to sell him to Barcelona. The words did not come from Cesc but from one of his entourage and reported in the Catalan press.

Despite Cesc's protestations that he is happy at Arsenal and any move will be up to Wenger to decide, clearly he is lying and if he refused to return to training then he will join the likes of Anelka in the list of hated ex-Arsenal players.

It is being reported this morning in the respected English paper The Guardian that Arsene Wenger will only allow Cesc Fabregas to move to Barcelona if Sami Nasri re-signs his extension this week. Wenger is willing to let Nasri replace Fabregas as the highest paid player at the Emirates and allow him greater freedom on [.

One of the things that I love about football is the freedom for players to celebrate goals. I think it's ridiculous that removing your shirt is an automatic yellow, but fortunately, the multitude of other celebrations are allowed to occur without the insanity that breaks out during an NFL game when somewhere dares to show a little emotion.

Round 2 results were delayed a day thanks to a lightning storm in Madison which forced the Chicago Fire PDL team and the Madison 56ers to replay their match this afternoon. The Fire win continues the trend this tournament of a lack of upsets. The only team that can plausibly claim to have beaten a team in the higher division is USASA's New York Pancyprian Freedoms, who beat the NPSL's Brooklyn Italians in round one.

Three weeks ago the Phoenix Sport Club Majors team punched their ticket as one of the USASA entries in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Tournament. Tonight they get to show their stuff, as they travel to Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, NY for a first round tilt with the Rochester Raging Rhinos.

The match kicks off at 7:35pm and is being streamed live on Rochester ESPN 950 radio.

If you aren't familiar with how right fullback Tony Beltran plays, think Sheanon Williams. The Real Salt Lake defender took some time to talk to the Philly Soccer Page after Wednesday night's tough 2–1 road loss to Columbus Crew. You'll get a chance to see the UCLA product—Kyle Nakazawa played with him there—when the Union hosts RSL on Saturday at PPL Park.

I think Cesc Fabregas' time at Arsenal is nearing it's end. He has been a great servant since joining the club at age 16, but it may now be time to collect the fat check from Barcelona, allow Cesc to go where he wants, and use the money to move forward and improve the team as a whole. Sources say that Arsenal are looking for a fee of 35-40 million pounds for the captain, and if Barcelona, or any other club, meet that asking price, does anyone NOT think it would be in our best interest to take that kind of cash?