As our own malcontentjake and countless others have demonstrated repeatedly, the numerical
shorthand for soccer formations which we're all accustomed to (e.g. 4-4-2) is almost completely
useless. Whether you have a 'band of 4' defenders or a 'band of 5' is much less important than what
those defenders are doing at any given time.
Photo by John Todd/ISIphotos.com
United States fullback Eric Lichaj has completed his return from a hip injury that kept him out
of action for the better part of the last five months, making the bench for Aston Villa's first
team in its last two matches. Despite Lichaj being a candidate to go on loan upon his return, Aston
Villa appears to be remain committed to seeing what he can do for the club, even if that means
moving him to a new spot on the field.
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.
Still no left back, but the slight defensive midfield depth issue has been addressed with the
signing of Brazilian journeyman Marcelo Saragosa. Given that Kitchen will surely miss time for
Olympic qualifiers (and the big show in London if we qualify) and isn't exactly a sure thing as he
steps into his first year in the role for which he's being groomed, depth was a concern.
Could this Kiwi have clipped United's Canuck quotient?Between trips to sunnier climes, United did a little trialist-pruning, releasing journeyman
veterans Zayner and Svard along with the Suppie pickup Charles Rodriguez (conveniently just
after the last Roster Reset...sigh). Kasper promises more trialists for the Arizona jaunt,
but what I really want to see are (a) game time for Salihi against the MLS opposition on offer
there and (b) a left back, any left back.
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.
So you guys might have seen the Fanpost here already, but I figured a full blown post was in
order considering the weight of this rumor. According to Colombian site FutbolRed.com, the 20 year
old Colombian national team player is apparently just waiting on a visa before he can be officially
announced and brought into the team.
Duque deal finalized...waiting on visa
Looks like the Colombian connection continues. Glad to have some more depth at fullback.
One of the least edifying spectacles in modern football is that of managers attempting to
deflect criticism for a defeat by making spurious attacks on the opponents who beat them.
I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of this phenomenon, having watched our own otherwise
distinguished coach, a certain Mr Arsène Wenger, pull the very same trick on numerous
occasions.
One of the least edifying spectacles in modern football is that of managers attempting to
deflect criticism for a defeat by making spurious attacks on the opponents who beat them.
I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of this phenomenon, having watched our own otherwise
distinguished coach, a certain Mr Arsène Wenger, pull the very same trick on numerous
occasions.
Quite an entertaining story circulating from Sky Sports today stating that the Liverpool
chairman Tom Werner has denied that winger Stewart Downing was signed from Aston Villa based on a
fake YouTube video in which Downing is shown kicking balls into 5 different wheelie bins.
The video is so fake its quite unbelievable, so its surprising to even hear the Liverpool
chairman commenting on the matter.
The boxes are being ticked, slowly but surely. With the addition of central defender Emiliano
Dudar, the depth acquisition project seems all but complete. Still, the two biggest needs, left
back and finisher the ones we've been pointing to all offseason, remain frustratingly unfilled.
Stefan Jerome, recently arrived on trial, would be a nice project up top (can't believe he's only
19 my memories of him as a U 17 seem distant), but isn't the finished product.
Chasing the Big Leagues Deportivo La Coruna (Spain Segunda) is a post from: Just Football
Just Football's Tales from Tier Two series
continues now with a look at the promotion chances of Deportivo La Coruña in
Spain's Segunda Division:
Deportivo La Coruna
Deportivo have a three point lead on Valladolid and Hercules going into week 22 as the
blanquiazules aim to bounce back to La Liga at the first time of asking.
With the first friendly of 2012 producing a thrilling, though somewhat disappointing 1-0 victory
against Venezuela on Saturday, the U.S. men's national team is now in Panama preparing for the
first tough road match for this young group.
Jurgen Klinsmann scheduled this Panama match with the expressed purpose of testing inexperienced
players in a hostile environment, and the opponent is one who should provide a tougher test than
the one provided by Venezuela.
By "The Other 87 Minutes" /
Senior Unemployed English Major CorrespondentsFor today's
entry, we bring you the top ten things Ricardo Clark's 97th-minute winner against Venezuela made us
completely forget. 1. The entire 2010 World Cup, obviously. Welcome back Rico, all is forgiven.
Not a striker.
The fight is on for roster spots as half of last Reset's trialists are gone and new faces arrive
for the Florida camp. I'm still not seeing the potential for significant improvement in the weakest
areas (finisher, left back), but at least we're no longer stuck in stasis-land and the depth issues
look like being addressed.
Missile Swap: Out with the Clydewinder, in with the Cruz?
Don't look now, but the glacial pace of United's roster assembly is starting to pick up. Hot on
the heels of the Maicon Santos acquisition comes the signing of former Dynamo right mid Danny
Cruz1, leaving the current roster + trialists looking like this.
Praying for goals.
Movement at last! Maicon Santos makes it 15 for Salary Budget players, and United drops a
14-trialist bomb as pre-season camp gets underway. Of course, the majority of the trialists are
guys with limited to no MLS experience, but such was always going to be the major source to roster
depth1.
Osi for the Giants...
When the New York Giants take on the the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday, it will be a battle of
the defensive ends that is a key to determining the outcome, positively or negatively, for both
teams.
For the Giants, a return of a healthy Osi Umenyori to support Jason Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul
on the outside means that the Giants can consistently collapse the pocket from the flank, contain
lateral runs, and basically wreak havoc.
Levi Houapeu, Morgan Langley, Ryan Richter and Joe Tait will not be with the Philadelphia Union
in 2012 after the group's contract options were declined by the team. Only Langley saw action in
MLS regular season play last year, with Houapeu hurt most of the year, Richter learning how to play
a brand new position (fullback) and Tait a late signing for center back depth.
It was widely thought that after regaining his fitness following hip surgery American and Aston
Villa fullback Eric Lichaj would head on loan to Leeds United, where he enjoyed overall success in
his first stretch with consistent first-team minutes while on loan there last year.
The latest installment of disgruntled-fans-sell-overpriced-former-star-on-ebay has launched,
right smack in the middle of the January window, leaving some hope.
The gentleman in question is Amauri, man of more nationalities than goals for his current club,
Juventus. Fans saw fit to throw him onto ebay, where the bids got up to now sit down €10m.
In the wake of Saturday's match against Stoke, much was made of the draw representing a complete
tactical failure by Kenny Dalglish and Steve Clarke. The key failure in that larger breakdown was
meant to be the deployment of three centre backs in a formation nearly identical to the one which
had defeated Stoke at Anfield a year earlier, as in the eyes of many those three centre backs
represented an overly defensive approach when facing a club with so little attacking intent.
Patrick van Aanholt is off once again. Vitesse announced today that the 21-year-old fullback
will be joining the Dutch club on loan for the remainder of the season.
In need of games
This is pretty good news. While the Eredivisie is a clear step down in competition from the
Premier League, van Aanholt should have a chance to receive significant minutes after an egregious
loan spell during the first half of the season.
The Philadelphia Union select Raymon Gaddis with the 35th overall pick in the 2012 MLS
SuperDraft. This pick was originally acquired from Sporting Kansas City in 2010 in the Shavar
Thomas trade.
Gaddis was considered by some to be the best right back in the draft, even ahead of Aubrey
Perry.
The 2012 SuperDraft has been criticized as being a weak draft, but the positions that the
Brotherly Game feels the Philadelphia Union should target have plenty of options from which to
choose. Left back is one of the few positions that this SuperDraft has enough depth to wait until
the second round to take a player, but it also has a few intriguing first round prospects.
The Seattle Sounders continued their active offseason on Wednesday, officially announcing the
signing of 23-year-old fullback/midfielder Christian Sivebaek. The move has been rumored since late
December, and the player himself had even confirmed the deal.
"Christian is a player that we have been following for quite some time," Sounders technical
director Chris Henderson said in a team release.
Let's calm down, it's only the FA Cup Third Rou-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
A game dominated by Arsenal but missing a special finish was effectively ended when Thierry
Henry made his return to Arsenal as a 69th minute substitute and scored a sublime winner 10 minutes
later.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
American players are not the only ones going abroad for training stints during the MLS
offseason.
In an effort to keep sharp and maintain fitness, Rafael Marquez has begun practicing with
Barcelona B.
The MLS Generation adidas class will feature nine players after the league secured the signings
of three players on Wednesday night.
South Florida striker Dom Dwyer, Creighton fullback Tyler Polak and UConn central defender
Andrew Jean-Baptiste were all signed to Generation adidas contracts after being made offers on
Tuesday.
photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com
We now know Omar Gonzalez's destination.
Gonzalez has been loaned from the Los Angeles Galaxy to FC Nurnberg until at least mid-February,
the German club announced on its website on Thursday. Nurnberg official Martin Bader said the club
had hoped to make a move for Gonzalez in the summer, but that the opportunity to acquire the
centerback came up.
Enzo Martinez has signed with MLS. (Photo via UNC Athletics)
The Generation adidas class for 2012 is nearly complete. UNC midfielder Enzo Martinez has signed
his GA deal with the league but his former Tar Heel teammate Billy Schuler declined his offer from
the league to go to Europe.
Reports out of Sweden say that Hammarby IF (yes, Greg Berhalter's new club) is close to signing
the Tar Heel to a deal.
And then there were six.
North Carolina playmaker Enzo Martinez signed has signed a Generation adidas contract, becoming
the sixth member of the 2012 Generation adidas class, but teammate Billy Schuler passed on the
final MLS offer, and ultimately signed with Hammarby.
Schuler's decision to bolt for Europe has opened the door for MLS to expand the class, with the
league extending Generation adidas offers to Creighton fullback Tyler Polak, South Florida striker
Dom Dwyer and UConn centerback Andrew Jean-Baptiste.
Losing to Fulham to start 2012 hurt but it has hopefully served as a wakeup call for Arsene
Wenger that his side cannot continue to challenge for the top four without recognised fullbacks.
The regulars are out injured and have been for a considerable time. Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos and
Carl Jenkinson are on the treatment table for the foreseeable future so now the January transfer
window is open, Wenger must invest.
FC Dallas was an up-and-down team last season, getting off to a slow start (remember Brek Shea as a
fullback) before surging in the summer then falling off a cliff in the fall. The team ended the
season on a ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
After reviewing the losses I decided to lump the remaining defenders together. Seattle Sounders
FC returns two fullbacks, three centerbacks and Zach Scott man-marker. These ratings add clarity in
the various authors' opinions about why Seattle is reinventing it's fullback positions signing Adam
Johansson, pursuing Christian Sivebaek and possibly adding more wide defensive talent either
through a young international or draftee.
It looks as if the Seattle Sounders may be close to adding another new name to their roster:
23-year-old Christian Sivebaek. According to a report out of Denmark, the team is close to signing
the midfielder/fullback, who is the son of former Manchester United and Denmark international John
Sivebaek.
Last year we started a project to talk about players based on their tools. The idea was to get
an outfield position neutral judgement of players based on seeing how they behave on or off the
ball when the team either possesses or defends as well as how they use their physical attributes.
The scale is an average starting center midfielder set at all 6s while a replacement level player
would be straight 5s.
Of all Liverpool players, Stewart Downing was perhaps the most influential in Monday's draw with
Blackburn Rovers. After the game, LFC supporters had plenty to say about the winger's
performance.
To start, please don't mistake "influential" for a glowing review. It's more of a way of saying he
was key to the outcome of the game.
* Due to a scheduling error, this piece will be published several days after Christmas.
Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy Hanukkah, everyone! Happy Kwanza, everyone! Joyous pagan
ritual, everyone! To help us celebrate, here are all 20 goals Robin van Persie has scored this
season:
On this lovely wet Christmas in Vancouver I find my mind wandering, as I think of times past and
times future (that works grammatically, right?