Photo: Nick Waters

Philadelphia Union

Porfirio Lopez describes what he will bring to the Union: "Having a winning mentality is the most important thing in soccer. I'm going to try to bring my experiences and positive attitude into the group. Without a doubt, winning championships is the priority.

Ryan wrote yesterday about the formation likely to be the most common in 2012, based on John Spencer's almost exclusive use of the 4-4-2 in 2011. It's true, Spencer likes the direct approach to the attack, a strategy that uses lots of speed and doesn't require much in the way of possession.

But part of me wonders if Spencer felt limited in choosing his formation because of a lack of depth on the bench.

Arsene Wenger was allegedly seen loading briefcase after briefcase of unmarked bills into each of the Blackburn players' cars at precisely noon today in every time zone.

The 7-1 home exhibition match between Arsenal and Blackburn in the early kickoff Saturday contained everything anyone could ask for in a match.

A delighted Alan Pardew was full of praise for his players last night, after the lads had won 2-0 and beaten Blackburn for the third time in four meetings this season. Alan Pardew congratulates goal-scorer Obertan last night Standing just outside the tunnel of Ewood Park last night after the game, this is what Alan Pardew told nufcTV: "I felt we [.

Clint Dempsey was once again the goal scorer for Fulham putting them in front in what turned into a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion at Craven Cottage. Dempsey's 69th minute opener was cancelled out in the 82nd. With Bobby Zamora transferred to Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday, Dempsey was used as a striker.

Everton boss David Moyes was a busy man in January, signing the likes of Darron Gibson and Nikica Jelavic, loaning former Toffees Steven Pienaar and Landon Donovan, and offloading Louis Saha to Tottenham.

All that activity is seemingly about to payoff, with the traditionally slow-starting Merseysiders back in the top half of the table following last night's famous 1-0 win over league leaders Manchester City at Goodison Park.

Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com

If Sebastien Le Toux makes an appearance at PPL Park this summer for his second MLS All-Star Game, he won't be representing the home team. He'll be doing it as a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Philadelphia Union officially announced that they have dealt Le Toux to the Whitecaps, acquiring an undisclosed sum of allocation money in exchange for its leading scorer and 2010 MLS All-Star.

As the New England Revolution's search for quality and stability at striker continues, a significant horse in this offseason's race has bowed out of the running. Reports in Denmark have surfaced and indicate that Rajko Lekic has agreed to terms with relegation-threatened Superliga side Lyngby BK. Apparently he's being hailed as a "savior" and saddled with the expectation of bringing the club out of the basement.

And then there were two Scotsmen! While we were still wrapped in all the controversy and tension from the Valencia fiasco it seems like the Timbers FO was able to quietly get the third designated player deal all wrapped up in a nice little package. In an abrupt press announcement today, the Timbers announced that Kris Boyd will join the team as the third designated player, joining the likes of the Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls as having used all three spots.

It was concerning to read that Liverpool were planning to offer Andy Carroll in a direct swap deal with Carlos Tevez at the weekend.

At £35 million it is quite clear as far as the best bookmakers are concerned that the former Newcastle forward has not lived up to what might have been expected of him at Anfield in the year he has been with the club, but it is important to remember that he is still young.

The bench-bound scoring "siren"....

John Nyen on the enigma that is Sir Carlos Tevez

The man on the keyboards pounds out the rhythms to the beat as the two brothers swap verses.

Of the two front men, one is a skinnier kid, while the other is dressed in a soccer kit.

Ducky's Note: Rathna Prashanth looks at a novel way to solve Torres' striking problem. By getting rid of Drogba!

Legend, proven goal scorer, leader on the pitch- these are some of the terms that describe the powerful Ivorian Drogba, aka the Top Dog of the Bridge. At 150 goals and still counting, not only has he been an amazing goalscorer for Chelsea, he has also been a tremendous athlete.

Silly season continues to go on around the world, and today Sporting KC was named in the silliness. Sky Sports is reporting that the "Kansas City Wizards" are interested in Scottish international striker, Kris Boyd. The 28 year old striker was most recently with Eskisehirsqor in Turkey, where he recently had his contract canceled.

AS Roma captain Francesco Totti cemented his name in the Serie A record books by becoming the leading goal scorer for a single club with 211 goals. The Roma Captain surpassed the great Swedish and AC Milan forward Gunner Nordhals 210 goals.
Luis Enrique's side ran rampant yesterday in a much needed romp.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

After turning in a dynamic year for the U.S. men's national team, Clint Dempsey being named U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year should come as a surprise to nobody.

Dempsey turned in perhaps his finest year as a professional for both club and country.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that the club's 8-2 defeat away to Manchester United five months ago will have no impact on their preparation for this Sunday's rematch at the Emirates while skipper Robin van Persie strongly feels otherwise.

Speaking to the club's website ahead of United's trip to North London, Wenger explained that no matter what, his side cannot reverse the disaster that occurred in Manchester last August and hence, they must look at Sunday's match as a new opportunity altogether.

The Royal Blues have moved into the winter break as the number 3 in the Bundesliga. Schalke aims to win the title and Klaas Jan Huntelaar is instrumental in this quest. But the German club of the people fears an exit of their main goal scorer.

An interview....

Where will you play [read more]

While many Major League Soccer squads are starting their pres-seasons today, another player of note is looking to land a starting spot of his own. Edson Buddle is beginning a week long trial at Everton FC. Buddle left MLS in 2010 after a dream season in which he turned many heads for his goal scoring exploits, the same exploits that earned him a trip to the World Cup.

Barcelona looked like they were headed for a draw before Alexis Sanchez and Messi scored in the span of 10 minutes to hand the Catalans a much needed 4-2 win over Real Betis that reduced their deficit on Leaders Real Madrid to 5 points.

World Player of the year Lionel Messi scored a brace to bring his tally for the season to 19 goals, just 2 short of leading goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Let's play a little trivia. Name the Chicago Fire Career Regular Season Goal-Scoring Leader. If the name Ante Razov was not at the tip of your tongue, it's time to bulk up on your Chicago Fire history. Razov holds any kind of goal related record you can imagine; shots (617), hat tricks (2), offsides (184), game-winning goals (23), penalty kick goals (12), multi-goal games (16), and of course just goals (76).

Philadelphia Union have figured out the formula to the MLS amateur draft:

Be patient, wait for other teams to screw up, and draft the best player available. When in doubt late, take a guy who played for Reading United.

The Union did it again this year, so let's talk about it with the proverbial Five Observations About .

By AVI CREDITOR

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Generation adidas tag typically translates into high MLS SuperDraft position, but for three of this year's nine signings, that did not turn out to be the case.

Not like it matters all that much. All three fell into pretty ideal club situations from individual perspectives.

So, it's that time of the year again when the MLS superstars come back to the Europe. Last season there was talk of Thierry Henry and David Beckham returning to the Premier League but nothing came of it. As for this season, what a treat we have been given!

This blog was originally going to compare who would have the bigger impact between Robbie Keane and Henry during their two months back, but after Monday night's performance from the latter I don't think there's really much of an argument.

Oh SuperDraft Eve. You have to love the excitement surrounding a draft.

So many things can happen though between now and tomorrow afternoon. Teams will be wheeling and dealing all night in hopes of either moving up in the draft, finding some decent talent outside the draft in a trade, or just hoping that the one special player you've had your eye on since December is still available.

The MLS SuperDraft is a bit of crapshoot, almost no matter where you are picking. If you happened to catch my article at SB Nation Soccer (link here), I tried to illustrate just how much of a crapshoot the draft really is. The later you get in the draft, predictably, the more of a crapshoot it becomes.

In a game that was begging for a special moment, Thierry Henry stepped up to the task to resume his duties as Arsenal's king.

Ten minutes after making his return to the field as a substitute for Arsenal, Henry delivered a game-winning goal to lift the Gunners in the fourth round of the FA Cup via a 1-0 victory over Leeds United in front of a delirious crowd at Emirates Stadium on Monday.

Reports from the Daily Mail are out that Demba Ba could have a £10 million release clause in his current Newcastle contract.

This isn't really all that surprising if it is true as surely Newcastle never expected him to be one of the standout players of the season when he was signed.

Reports from the Daily Mail are out that Demba Ba could have a £10 million release clause in his current Newcastle contract.

This isn't really all that surprising if it is true as surely Newcastle never expected him to be one of the standout players of the season when he was signed.

It's official: Thierry Henry is going back to Arsenal.

The New York Red Bulls forward and his former Premier League club put the final touches on a short-term loan that has Arsenal's all-time leading goal scorer returning to the Emirates through the end of February.

Henry will be eligible for the club's FA Cup match against Leeds United on Monday.

Tottenham Hotspurs ability to stay close with the two Manchester teams, especially with the Lilywhites' latest victory over West Bromwhich Albiom, which continue to lift Spurs confidence in challenging for the title.

The London club's winning goal scorer against West Brom, Jermaine Defoe, revealed that his team will continue to provide pressure towards Man City along with Man United, who are currently ahead of Harry Redknapp teams in the table.

FC Dallas has emerged from its offseason slumber in a big way.

The club signed Panama striker Blas Perez and young Colombian defender Hernan Pertuz on Tuesday, addressing two areas of need with international-caliber talent. Neither deal was classified as a Designated Player signing according to a team release.

Man City 3-0 Liverpool Big Match Verdict: Reds need to sign a goal-scorer and not just to fill in for Suarez

It is tempting to suggest, with Luis Suarez embarking on a five-week holiday, that Liverpool will now require urgent transfer-window intervention. The truth is though, they probably needed it whether the South American was banned or not.

According to the Daily Mail, Darren Bent is on his way to Liverpool.
The £24 million pound man is rumored to be unsettled at Ville Park and would jump at the chance at joining Liverpool.
Selling Bent would be detrimental to Alex McLeish's plans but club finances dictate that should the Villa manager want to strengthen his side then almost every player is susceptible to a bid.

Time for another year of wishes for 2012. Here's a look of what I am wanting and wishing to see in 2012.
1. Silverware - Is anything else really that important? I want silverware, as Robb Heineman put it tonight on Twitter, #paintthewall. I want to add more stuff to the wall that shows our accomplishments.

Liverpool were desperate for a win after drawing 5 of their last 6 home games.

To make matters worse they had to lineup without top goal scorer Luis Suarez, after the striker received a one match ban from his finger gesture to Fulham fans. This could be a sign of things to come in the new year as his 8 match ban for racism is still under appeal.

Liverpool were desperate for a win after drawing 5 of their last 6 home games.

To make matters worse they had to lineup without top goal scorer Luis Suarez, after the striker received a one match ban from his finger gesture to Fulham fans. This could be a sign of things to come in the new year as his 8 match ban for racism is still under appeal.

Liverpool were desperate for a win after drawing 5 of their last 6 home games.

To make matters worse they had to lineup without top goal scorer Luis Suarez, after the striker received a one match ban from his finger gesture to Fulham fans. This could be a sign of things to come in the new year as his 8 match ban for racism is still under appeal.

Former Anfield star John Barnes says Aston Villa striker Darren Bent does not fit the bill for Liverpool, as the Reds consider goalscoring reinforcements in January.
The Merseysiders have scored only 18 times in as many Barclays Premier League fixtures this season and, with Luis Suarez set to begin an eight-game ban in the New Year, Kenny Dalglish has been tipped to bolster his attack.

The Old Firm derby didn't go the way of the Americans on Wednesday, with Celtic taking the lead in the Scottish Premier League. Joe Ledley was the goal scorer, converting in the 52nd minute at Celtic Park. Frasier Foster got the shutout in a game where Rangers only put two shots on target. However, replays showed that a sixth minute header from Lee Wallace crossed the goal line and should've counted.

Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain would be an ideal January signing for Liverpool, according to former Anfield star John Barnes.
The Reds have been tipped to reinforce their goalscoring department during the transfer window, having found the net only 18 times in as many league outings so far this season.