We're a small city in a region of 700,000 people. Not a professional mens football team worthy of a mention, not now, not in living memory.
And yet we still produce quality - quality footballers and in the case of Joe Simunic, Carl Valeri who are both still playing, star Internationals.
Throw in excellent A-League stalwarts, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Matty Kemp and Brisbane Roars Kofi Danning and we've almost got a half a team.

FC Barcelona would belooking at a huge 10 point deficit with League leaders Real Madrid by the end of tomorrow night after going down 3-2 against osasuna. If the Villareal draw had put a huge blow to Barca's title hopes, then this defat at Pamplona virtually ends the league hopes. If Real madrid win against Levante at home tomorrow, the lead at the top will climb to a huge 10 points.

As you people know, I have been right behind AVB as our manager. I have said that it's a hard job trying to regenerate this team and build something new. We have heard the saying a team in transition alot this season but you need a base to build from and that base has to be a good team. As it proved today Chelsea are NOT a good team.

Goals:
Rooney 47' 50'
Suarez 80'
The worst possible result. Not just a loss, a deserved loss – self-inflicted thanks to a feeble 30 minutes after the restart – but continued, probably increased, focus on the Suarez-Evra contretemps thanks to each acting like spoiled children.

We've had a week to digest what happened against Manchester United. Plenty has been said and written about last week but now is the time to look forward and focus on Goodison.
Roman Abramovich has been at the training ground this week and it will be interesting to see the level of performance from Chelsea today, to see if his presence has given the players a kick up the arse to refocus their efforts on climbing up the table.

The big news ahead of this evening's game is that Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon are back in contention and with Rafael van der Vaart ruled out, both could play from the start.

"Jermain has trained okay in the last couple of days and Aaron Lennon as well, he's coming back, he's looked sharp," said Harry on Friday.

Nicks' note: This is a guest post. Like Ramires powering through the middle, straight-talking Sahil Dumir holds no prisoners and says it like it is. Small bio? He's a smug-smiling, hard-working, all-round good egg. He's also a Chelsea fan, which offsets all of the above.

Roster flux continues though all under contract players are still with the team, some of the Supplemental Draft picks and trialists are now in a different phase of their soccer journeys. Joshua Mayers, of the Seattle Times, compiled the list of missing names. Harlinton Guiterres, Real Espana reservist, is still in camp.

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.

Last time we see all 3 on the pitch at the same time?

Haven't written in a while, therefore this will be more of a short summation on things that have happened in the past week. No place better to start than with the players.

Emmanuel Frimpong will be out for the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

With the signing of Lionard Pajoy, the Union may just be nearing the end of their offseason transactions (at least for outfield players). In a set of three installments, PSP's Eli Pearlman-Storch outlines the most likely formations for the Union in 2012 and how the roster, as currently composed, is suited to play in each.

This is a bit delayed, but in case you missed it, earlier this week the Revolution welcomed 5 new trialists to training camp. Three of them are relatively unknown: Patrick Otte, Gabe Mercier, and Brandin McClay. Otte, a midfielder, currently plays for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the NASL.

Barcelona are through to the Copa Del Rey final where they will play Athletic Bilbao after a 2-0 win over Valencia at the Camp Nou. Goals by Cesc Fabregas and a late strike by midfield maestro Xavi helped seal a 2-0 win (3-1 on aggregate) for the Spanish champions. Pep Guardiola's men will now face [.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif. -- The rich got even richer on Tuesday as the Los Angeles Galaxy solidified their role as odds-on MLS Cup favorites by re-securing Brazilian midfielder Juninho on a year-long loan.

Juninho, who served as the Galaxy's midfield engine during the past two seasons, returns to Los Angeles after departing in December to return to Brazilian parent club Sao Paulo.

We have seen how Liverpool suffered this season without any pace and creativity from midfield. Dalglish's preferred midfield foursome of Downing, Adam, Gerrard and Lucas will pass the ball to death but neither is comfortable to run with the ball.
Against teams that park the bus, especially teams that come to Anfield, the lack of unpredictability in the Liverpool play has caused the mighty Reds dearly.

For someone who has been described this season as being controlled by a kid on a Playstation, David Luiz has taken all the flack on the chin, concentrated on his game and for me, has got better. It's almost as if someone has had a word with him and has asked him to concentrate recently on the defensive side of his game.

Tello scores goal in victory over Real Sociedad (Photo: AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Lionel Messi scored one and assisted another as Barcelona successfully fought off their San Sebastian rivals in a freezing, sub-zero encounter at the Camp Nou.

Pep Guardiola rolled out the reserves for this one, choosing to rest key starters ahead of his team's Copa del Rey semi final clash with Valencia on Wednesday.

Juninho proved to be a handful for most MLS sides in 2011. (Getty Images)

I said a few weeks (or maybe just a couple weeks) back that the biggest thing that the LA Galaxy needed to replace this winter was Juninho.

Well, what better way to replace him than with him.

The LA Galaxy announced on Tuesday that the club has reached an agreement with Brazilian club São Paulo FC that will allow midfielder Juninho to return to the Galaxy on loan for the 2012 MLS season.

The Los Angeles Galaxy's search for Juninho's replacement has ended with Juninho himself.

The Sao Paulo central midfielder is on his way back to Los Angeles for another loan spell with the Galaxy. Multiple reports out of Brazil say that Sao Paulo manager Emerson Leao had no plans to use the 23-year-old Juninho, who signed a new three-year deal with Sao Paulo during the MLS offseason.

For many, there has been a belief that in order to get the most out of Charlie Adam he must be played as part of a three-man midfield, alongside players who will be able to cover for his shortcomings and in doing so allow him to do what he does best—break down tough opponents and create scoring opportunities.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

By AVI CREDITOR

WASHINGTON -- Perry Kitchen had just about everything including the kitchen sink thrown his way in 2011.

As a rookie, Kitchen started 30 of a possible 34 games for D.C. United, splitting time across three positions.

What? ... No i'm not bloody offside! Meow...Liverpool fought hard on Monday night in an attempt to take three points from Tottenham Hotspur but with no goals from either side the highlight of the game ended up going to a little mischievous cat. The Reds played well but just couldn't find a goal as Spurs showed some staunch defending.

Fernando Torres at his best, was an absolute terror. Just ask Nemanja Vidic. Or even the whole Manchester United team for that matter. There is no fluke that El Nino became the fastest Liverpool player to reach the 50-goal mark. His searing speed, excellent touch and great dribbling skills made him a Kop hero as soon as he arrived at Anfield.

Sky TV were quick to give the champagne to Scott Parker last night and while it's hard to argue with that assessment, were there other, more worthy candidates at the heart of Spurs defence?
Speaking after the game, TV pundit Gary Neville pointed to a previous ‘soft centre' in the Tottenham side which would have seen us lose a match like that in the past and that's why he agreed with the Parker decision.

Alan Pardew has told French International Hatem Ben Arfa he will need to fight for his place at Newcastle United. Ben Arfa scoring that great goal against Blackburn After Hatem's mediocre showing at Blackburn last Wednesday night in the first half, he was replaced by James Perch in midfield, and James showed some steel and helped Newcastle get to grips with the game.

Liverpool will no doubt be dissapointed with the result given that they dominated the majority of the game, Spurs fans however, myself included, will no doubt be happy with a well battled away point.
Liverpool pressured us all over the pitch and hemmed us in forcing top backs to the wall defending throughout, mixed in with a helping of luck.

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.

The midfield. Currently viewed as the strength of the team. But is it really set right now? Let's break it down:

Defensive Midfielders: Pavel Pardo, Logan Pause, Daniel Paladini, Mike Videira

This is clearly the strength of the midfield. Pavel Pardo is in a class by himself.

In appreciation of the cat who made it onto the pitch at Anfield this evening I felt that it was about time I drew up another "Best XI". This time it's for players with "cat" in their name.

Cat XI

Between the sticks is Antalyaspor's 35 year old custodian Omer Catkic.

Keeping up with the many moves that have taken place with regards to D.C. United's roster over the last couple of weeks is no small task. Each day it seems as if United are releasing another press release regarding a new player signing or the release of a player. Instead of posting each individual press release here is a recap of the roster moves from the past week up to today.

It's widely expected that Louis Saha will make his Spurs bow this evening as there are injury doubts concerning Jermain Defoe, Rafael van der Vaart and Emmanuel Adebayor. However, these are only doubts and as we've seen before this season, these worries have a habit of failing to materialise.

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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.

Well, we kind of had an idea that Arsenal were playing well but not getting the results. It was a matter of details according to Arteta, Wenger, and others. It all came good in this one as Blackburn were the hapless victims of a rampant Arsenal side.

Chance conversion was another issue which was put to bed, at least temporarily, with 7 out of 8 shot on target registering on the scoreboard.

By Alan Duffy

Wigan Athletic 1-1 Everton Premier League 4th February 2012

A late Victor Anichebe goal was enough to rob perpetual strugglers Wigan of a vital and rare victory. The defeat leaves the Latics bottom of the table and looking like dead certs for the drop.

I felt that recently we had quite good performances but did not get the results. Today we got the performance and the result, which is ideally what you want.

- Arsene Wenger, post-match wibbling session

Arsenal's January has been like the ice-skating learning curve from hell.

I 7-1 to be a Blackburn fan? No, it doesn't quite work, does it. One day we'll get to the promised land of an 8 goal victory, and all the wonderful pun-based jokes this allows. For today, I think 7 will do. My thoughts as follows:
* We started brightly, and scored after only 2 minutes.

Looks like Mr. Backe has some decisions to make come opening day in Dallas. With a surplus of forwards and central midfielders, it'll be interesting to see what formation and personnel makeup the starting XI. With so many options and possible configurations at his disposal, how will Backe manage his depth?

You have to fill a 25 man squad with somebody and given the three major loan departures and one permanent sale earlier this week, perhaps it's no surprise at some of the names being included by Spurs this week.

In addition to those departures, Tom Carroll and John Bostock also went out to Derby and Sheffield Wednesday respectively so are David Bentley, Bongani Khumalo and Simon Dawkins literally there to ‘make up the numbers?

Soler Swag for days

After what can only be described as a highly disappointing season in 2011, the Red Bulls, and more importantly their front office, certainly had their work cut out for them. A roster filled with so much talent but woefully underachieved had to be revamped somehow. And it was Erik Soler's job to fit together the right pieces to assert New York as a top team once again.