A trip to Goodison Park is just the tonic needed following our recent troubles, namely a bizarre, referee-induced three-goal collapse at home against Manchester United.

Wait, what? We rarely win at Everton? Shit.

Mean muggin'

We have actually won at Goodison this season, a 2-1 victory in extra time in the League Cup.

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.

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?

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.

Come on everybody, channel your inner Piers Morgan. Throw your hands up in the air, aim for the hills and run with abandon. Just don't forget to unlock your wrists, so that the sprint for the horizon seems that much more fueled by pure terror. And remember to shrill.

Wayne Rooney, his sidekick hair transplant and his nefarious Mancunian buddies traveled to the Emirates on Sunday.

Ricardo FTW!

The US's January Cupcake Campers took on Venezuela's B-minus side Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona.

And while the run of play favored the States, it was unlikely former scapegoat in Rico Clark who provided the only nail in the coffin as the US opened their pair of camp-closing games with a 1-0 victory.

Let's get this out of the way right at the beginning: Christian Sivebaek sees himself as a wide midfielder. During our relatively brief conversation, the 6-foot-3, soon-to-be 24-year-old made that point abundantly clear. Sivebaek said he could play on the right or on the left, but indicated he's never played as a central midfielder and left little doubt that he felt his skills were being wasted as a right back.

Frustration is boiling over at the Emirates- an underperforming squad has started 2012 in a well documented poor fashion.

Sadly the return of the King Thierry Henry has been tarnished by some mindless fans at Swansea on Sunday aggravating the Frenchman.

The Gunners have now lost two league games on the bounce and languish well behind their title rivals and crucially are four points behind Chelsea in forth.

Wallowing in the glory of Henry's movie-moment comeback was not meant to last all week, but for me it has. The YouTube video I breathlessly uploaded at about midnight on Monday has now had about 37,000 hits (and Analytics tell me 90.6% of those who watched it were male, with 9.7% female how do they know this I wonder – though my brother did confidently predict that he had watched it "about 28,000 times" so maybe there's some truth in that).

There are only four days left until the 2012 MLS SuperDraft gets underway. It will be televised on ESPN 2 and 3 at 9a or Noon if you happen to be on the East Coast. The next few days will be crucial for draft hopefuls as it's a time when their stock can rise or take a trip to the garbage pit.

In a interesting turn the Guardian over in the UK, decided to let the supporter groups for all 19 MLS sides do the heavy lifting when it comes to this years SuperDraft.

Part 3 of the review, coming right at you.

Aaron Ramsey
Stats: 22 appearances (3 sub appearances), 6.71 average rating, 2 goals, 6 assists, 2 yellow cards.

On his first full season since coming back from the Shawcross Special, Ramsey found himself as our main playmaker with Wilshere's injury and Cesc's and Nasri's exits.

Arsenal 1-1 Wolves

Twenty-seven attempts on goal, eleven attempts on target, thirteen corners, one goal. Frustrating, to say the least. The goals have dried up again at home (three in three league games – conceding two in the process), giving Wenger a fresh headache to mull over as we head into the New Year.

To lose all four of our first team fullbacks at once to long-term injuries really is unfortunate.

As an example of serious bad luck it's right up there with Wayne Rooney finding himself at Grab-a-Granny night in the local nightclub with both arms in plaster; or Harry Redknapp taking a wrong turn into an auction house and accidentally winning 53 bids on account of his twitch.

Andre Villas-Boas attempts to shake off the haters, as well as an unforeseen run of truly shit results, on Tyneside. This isn't go to be easy. Four defeats in five? I can't go for that (no can do).

Not available

Who: Newcastle United (est.

(Photo: Paul Rudderow)

Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of "Raves" about our favorite Philadelphia players. They need not be the team's best players, but they're guys and gals we like. Over the next two weeks, we continue the series again with some of the PSP writers' and contributors' favorite players of 2011.

In the wake of their widespread criticism in the press following their 2-1 defeat at home to Liverpool, Chelsea's visit to Germany to take on Bayer Leverkusen tonight has much more attention than their manager would like, and a result will prove crucial for a boost in morale.

The Blues have not won since their 5-0 smashing of Genk over a month ago, and though they currently lead second-placed Leverkusen by 2 points, another defeat would give the Bundesliga side and Valencia (in third spot with 5) hopes of topping the group themselves, and make the rumors about Guus Hiddink's potential arrival a bit louder.

I can understand protecting Charlie Davies if you've got a rumor of trade interest that you think might enable you to significantly improve the team1. I can even plunge past the mystifying decision to protect a well-past-it Simms if a pay-cut or trade are on the horizon.

But Korb and Woolard?

Photo: Earl Gardner

Not to sound too surprised, but when the Union released their Protected List for Wednesday's Expansion Draft, I joined in the shouts of delight that reverberated around the greater Philadelphia area. The Union got this list exactly right. All of the veterans who helped lead this team are safe.

With the announcement of the twelve players protected from selection in the Montreal Impact's expansion draft there are a few players that could be labeled as "key" to the strong 2011 who were left available for selection. The protected list is heavy on players up the spine was well as wide midfielders but leaves three fullbacks available as neither of the left backs (Tyson Wahl or Leo Gonzalez) nor iron man James Riley are protected.

An ice age ago Arsenal played their last game, would I be correct in thinking we beat WBA? And our last away fixture was .... remind me?

Before the Interlull

Very excited to see us back playing Norwich. Lovely town, good beer and pubs, beautiful countryside.

When I saw the MLS Best XI the other day, what first struck me wasn't that Kasey Keller made the list, or Osvaldo Alonso didn't, or that there were 4 Galaxy players. Actually, my first reaction was "wow, I would NEVER field that XI in an actual match!"

This has nothing to do with talent, of course, but more to do with structure and roles.

As many successes as Year 3 had for the Seattle Sounders, just about no one involved in the team was satisfied. More to the point, they know that a similar result next season would be considered a downright disappointment. While we shouldn't expect massive off-season changes, it would be naive to think that this team will come back looking exactly the same.

Throughout the history of Manchester United Football Club, we have been blessed with great fullbacks on both sides of the pitch. While we have enjoyed watching numerous players in the right back berth, the selection of Gary Neville was hardly a surprise. The left-fullback position, however, is a much more difficult decision.

When the dust had settled on Arsenal's tragic summer transfer mess, this team became an enigma. Gone were their two best playmaking midfielders. Gone were two fullbacks and a plethora... Read more »

(Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz)

What: Philadelphia Union v Houston Dynamo

When: 8:30pm EST

Where: Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX, USA

Why: GAME ON!

TV: ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN-Deportes

Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Messing with Texas

Despite the number of times Texas has rudely suggested we not mess with it, Thursday, November 3, 2011 needs to go down in future Union lore as the day the Union went down to Houston and messed up Houston's game plan, ultimately stealing victory on the road.

We need a proper winger! came the constant refrain. Kuyt may have been a lock on the right for years, and before him Steven Gerrard may have had his best statistical season cutting in from the flank, but neither was a proper winger. Meanwhile on the left, be it Babel or Benayoun or Garcia, it seemed a role largely filled by default, a place to dump an extra creative player who couldn't quite manage to get a game anywhere else.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

When asked on MLSsoccer.com's Extratime podcast what he thought when Peter Nowak introduced the five man backline to the team, Danny Califf said, "To be honest, you know, I was a bit surprised. Most of the time, come playoff time, it's not the time to be experimenting and trying out new things and new personnel and things like that.

When the dust had settled on Arsenal's tragic summer transfer mess, this team became an enigma. Gone were their two best playmaking midfielders. Gone were two fullbacks and a plethora of their team's depth. As Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Eboue, Bendtner, and more players departed, the media vultures gathered round and prepared to strike.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

There is no other way to look at it: it is halftime, and the Union are down one goal.

The Tweets

Carlos Valdes: "We have one more game. This is not over yet...DOOP"

Sebastien Le Toux: "Thanks for the great support tonight! You are the best! We still have 90 minutes to beat them.

Terry testing to see if the ground is soft enough for a tumble

There are ways to make this piece an epic one. Considering the result, it would not be too hard to do that but also because of the result, there's no need for any of that. The 5-3 drubbing we dished out to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge should take all the headlines and praises.

I woke up this morning after another miserable sleep (my entire family has been sick all week) and patiently waited for the alarm to sound at 0530 hours. I then proceeded into my methodical habits for early morning Arsenal matches of slipping on whatever clothing was lying around, and immediately making a strong pot of coffee.

Back in London for a conference and I could not miss an opportunity to see Arsenal play Bolton tonight at the Emirates. It might just be me, but there is something special going to a match at night. For some reason the atmosphere is also better under the floodlights. And tonight was no different.

Back in London for a conference and I could not miss an opportunity to see Arsenal play Bolton tonight at the Emirates. It might just be me, but there is something special going to a match at night. For some reason the atmosphere is also better under the floodlights. And tonight was no different.

A win, 1-0 over a second-tier CONCACAF side, and probably just about a deserved one, though by no means hugely impressive. The US showed well in patches against Honduras, and a couple of individuals can be proud of their performances, but collectively, the one word that consistently appears in my notes, often double- or triple-underlined, is sloppy.

When Joe Roth announced the Seattle Sounders Football Club he said that he wanted to compete on the international stage. In just two short years they showed up on that stage, and were crushed. Now, in just their third year the advance to the CONCACAF Champions League Championship Round after a 2-2 draw against CSD Comunicaciones of Guatemala.

Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia highlights the roster that Ecuador announced for its upcoming World Cup qualifier against Venezuela and friendly against the U.S. national team. Veteran midfielder Edison Mendez is also part of the group as is winger Jefferson Montero, a former teammate of Jozy Altidore at Villarreal.

Well we got back on track a little bit today, battling back from a one goal deficit to defeat Shrewsbury Town 3-1. Some of the same worries are still there, of course, but at least we can enjoy ourselves for now. Before getting into the recap, I want to apologize to the readers for a couple of things.

2:45pm ET, live in the US on Fox Soccer Plus
Last four head-to-head:
2-3 Liverpool (a; FA Cup) 01.30.91
2-2 (h; FA Cup) 01.26.91
4-0 Liverpool (h; League Cup) 10.29.85
0-2 Brighton (a; FA Cup) 01.01.84
Previous round(s):
Liverpool: 3-1 Exeter (a)
Brighton: 1-0 Sunderland (h); 1-0 Gillingham (h)
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 0-4 Spurs (a) 0-1 Stoke (a); 3-1 Bolton (h)
Brighton: 0-1 Leicester (a); 1-0 Bristol City (a); 2-0 Peterborough (h)
Goalscorers (all):
Liverpool: Suarez 3; Adam, Carroll, Henderson, Maxi, Skrtel 1
Brighton: Barnes 5; Mackail-Smith 3; Buckley 2; Harley, Hoskins, Noone 1
Referee: Michael Oliver
Youngest Premier League referee in history.

On a chilly night in Chester against a listless first place Columbus Crew team, a goal from the resurgent Sebastien Le Toux was all the Philadelphia Union needed to earn their first victory since July 17. In an effort to breathe life into his team, coach Peter Nowak rang in the changes, most notably bringing 16-year-old Zach Pfeffer into the starting lineup for his first MLS start.

I made mention of it in a tweet and the news actually broke earlier this week, but I feel like we should pay our respects to former FC Dallas striker Bobby Rhine who died suddenly at the age of 35. Joining the league in 1999, Rhine was amongst the very first crop of MLS players to help solidify this league during it's most turbulent times.