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?