If you did not think MLS had a serious interest in luring Didier Drogba to North America this
summer, think again.Â
Speaking at a panel at the Bloomberg Sports Business Summit in New York on Thursday, MLS
comissioner Don Garber said that the league offered Drogba a salary of more than $10 million per
year, which would have been an MLS record.
It is a relatively light Saturday night of MLS action, but there are still plenty of storylines
to follow, with the Eastern Conference leading the way tonight.
Four all-East match-ups headline the schedule as teams jockey for playoff position, and scrap
for survival. In New England, the Revolution begin life without Shalrie Joseph as they take on a
Sporting Kansas City side that will try to avoid the distraction of playing a U.
It was another busy, crazy week in Major League Soccer. Loads of games that saw the home teams
go unbeaten. So with that there was plenty of movement in the rankings here. We have two new clubs
in the bottom tier and above that saw teams swapping places left and right.
Defending champions Manchester City brought back memorable celebrations of May 13 to Etihad
Stadium as they started their new Premier League campaign with a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind win
against newly promoted Southampton.
City dramatically came from behind to score two late goals in their 3-2 win over QPR on the last
day of the 2011-12 season, sealing a nervy title win at the expense of bitter rivals Manchester
United nearly 13 weeks ago.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has singled out young midfielder Jack Wilshere for praise,
insisting that the player's promising quality and uncompromising loyalty is exactly what the club
need in the future.
Henry's departure from the club in 2007 was followed by the exits of several key players such as
Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Hleb, Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri, and another former skipper, Cesc
Fabregas.
Liverpool's Joe Cole insists that despite the club's Premier League struggles in recent years,
they are ready to turn their fortunes around under new boss Brendan Rodgers next season.
Rodgers has placed his faith in Cole following the midfielder's disappointing 2010-11 campaign,
which led to last season's loan spell at Lille.
Bacary Sagna has reminded the Arsenal management that the club needs more new talent in order to
compete seriously for silverware next season. In particular, the right-back wants the Gunners to
place a bid for the services of Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila.
Sagna is one of the very few who are confident that skipper Robin van Persie will sign a new
long-term contract to remain a Gunner.
Departing Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has shed light on the manner in which former manager
Andre Villas-Boas was dismissed in March, reaffirming that senior players had no involvement in the
matter.
Villas-Boas was relieved of his responsibilities merely eight months into what was initially
intended to be a long-term project, with the aggressive changes he made to the team selection
policy identified as a key factor.
The study of football, and its players, is perhaps best accomplished by evaluating efficiency.
Of course there are many methods of such evaluation – ranging from weekly player ratings on the
typical "start at 6" scale to full scale statistical analysis.
In this article we look at football clubs in Europe's top four leagues the English Premiership,
La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga and analyse their offensive and defensive efficiency so far
this season.
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.
Manchester City top Premier League on Christmas Day stats of title winners
Man City top of the Premier League table on Christmas Day but fans should be careful not to
count their, erm, turkeys as leading the way at Christmas is not as reliable an indicator as many
think.
This season has been special for many reasons, one of which is the chance to watch Manchester City
emulate the great Arsenal "Invincibles" and get through the season undefeated. The second reason
has been the insane results, the 8-2 Red Devils win over the Gooners being the highlight. The third
reason and focus of this article is how some Premiership players have embraced the "Big Hair".
Manchester United stars in frame for FIFA World XI of 2011
Manchester United's stars are leading the way among Barclays Premier League clubs for places
among the FIFA FIFPro World XI for 2011, after six of their players were nominated.
View the full story here: The Mail
A news article on 2011-12-01 11:53:19 from: The Mail
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
D.C. United Women head coach Mike Jorden has been named a finalist for 2012
W-League Coach of the Year. Jorden will be leading his team in semifinals action this upcoming
weekend in Ottawa, Ontario.  D.C. United Women Head Coach Mike Jorden 
Brandon Barklage picked the perfect time to open his MLS scoring account, netting two beautiful
goals on Sunday night to vanquish the very team that waived him last winter.
D.C. United looked ready to steamroll New York after starting fast with a Chris Pontius goal
just 31 seconds into the match, but the Red Bulls took that early punch and kept on coming, with
Barklage leading the way.
The U.S. Women's National Team claimed a 3-0 Group G win over Colombia at Hamdpen Park in
Glasgow with Megan Rapinoe leading the way with a goal and an assist.
Rapinoe scored her first Olympic goal in the 33rd minute while Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd put
the game out of reach with strikes in the 74th and 77th minutes, respectively.
Celtic winning the title at Ibrox is an opportunity for Scottish Football - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
Has there ever been a season quite like it in Scottish football? By November 5thCeltic trailed
Old Firm rivals Rangers by 15 points and Neil Lennon was left considering his future.
Now that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has moved to Paris and the constant threat of being kicked has moved
on with him, the remaining Milan players seem to be in a jovial mood. At their Milanello training
complex, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Robinho and Rodney Strasser had themselves a little dance party,
with Boateng leading the way and keeping his Michael Jackson moves fresh.
The race for European Footballer of the year appears to be a two horse race: Messi and Ronaldo, but
maybe there is a third player that deserves a look.
Last season Andrea Pirlo left AC Milan to sign with fellow Italian League superpower Juventus. The
move paid off for the Old Lady and Pirlo.
After eight weeks of MISL action Baltimore and Milwauikee continue to reside at the tops of their
respective divisions. The Wave remain the lone undefeated MISL club at 7-0 while Norfolk continue
their inaugural season without a win at 0-9.
League-wide attendance has remained steady throughout the 2011-2012 campaign.
After four weeks of MISL action Baltimore and Milwauikee are the tops of their respective
divisions. Milwaukee are the lone undefeated MISL club at 5-0 while Norfolk are the only team
without a win at 0-6. Here is how the rest of the teams are stacking up in the divisions:
EASTERN DIVISION
Baltimore (5-1)
Rochsester (3-4)
Syracuse (3-5)
Norfolk (0-6)
CENTRAL DIVISION
Milwaukee (5-0)
Missouri (5-3)
Wichita (3-5)
After five weeks of PASL action Detroit and San Diego are leading the way in each of their
divisions.
Well, it only took a week longer than I had expected. The NASL playoff picture became a little
clearer this week, as the Rowdies and Islanders both clinched a playoff spot. The Islanders even
managed to do it while playing completely terrible this week, which I'm told, is not something
that's easy to do.
The middle class and education needs to move forward in this country, anyone thinking differently
shouldn't be reading this site.
It is like the Obama campaign says, the country needs to be built back up from the middle class
outward.
The top-down economics may have worked in the past because there was enough excess and enough
illegal immigration to make up for the needs of businesses.
Two games into the Summer Olympics and the USWNT have already reached the quarter-finals.
Earlier today, the United States took on Colombia, defeating the country 3-0. Don't let the score
fool you though, the Colombians gave the US a run for their money all match long. Despite a lack of
shots from Colombia, their squad played strong defensively, making tackles and blocking a barrage
of shots from the USWNT.
The Chicago Fire advanced to the championship game of the USL Super-20 North American Finals,
with a trio of University of Wisconsin players leading the way.
Badgers teammates Jacob Brindle, Chris Prince and
Trevor Wheeler and the Fire rolled through their three group matches and
Saturday's semifinal in Bradenton, Fla.
Continued investment in Android highlights future potential of platform
BETFAIR GROUP PLC (LSE:BET) has today launched a new native Android App that features a completely
revamped user experience customised to the Android operating system.
The launch of the Betfair new Android App highlights its continued commitment to enhancing its
mobile offering, and in particular improving the betting experience of customers who use Android
devices, the majority of whom currently use Betfair's web app on their browser rather than the
current native App.
The U.S. Women's National Team remained in the top spot in the most recent FIFA Women's World
Rankings, announced today, which means the Americans will head into the 2012 Olympics as world's
top-ranked women's soccer nation.
There was no change at the top of the rankings with the USA still leading the way ahead of Germany
and world champions Japan.
Clive Palmer is leading the way in terms of giving chances to younger players and Holger Osieck
looks set to play the good old 8-1-1 against Saudi Arabia. All this and more in this week's edition
of the Nearpost podcast, featuring Paddy Bordier, Aaron Walker and Nick Amies.
When it comes to flying first class in casual clothes, there were three distinct themes that a
few Barcelona 'ballers and their WAGs abided by during the all important procession in front of the
paps this morning.
Options for you to pick from are below, with the question being: which of these couples' looks
best describes your own airport arrival style?
