While I'm relatively certain that most dedicated followers of MLS will know what United are getting with the likes of Maicon Santos and Danny Cruz, there's still an element of mystery surrounding the acquisitions from the mid-tier Euro-leagues. Most of us see precious little from Swiss or Austrian clubs outside of perhaps the odd Europa League highlight.

Morning all, some interesting quotes from Arsene Wenger appeared in a Belgian newspaper yesterday. For those that wish to cream yourselves on the bits about Eden Hazard, he had this to say:

I like him a lot, and for several reasons. His creativity, his ability to unbalance the opposition, his vision and his consummate art of giving the final ball make him a player coveted by many.

The Return of Luis Suárez - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Ahead of the Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur match on Monday night, we look at the return of Luis Suárez and how Liverpool have fared in the Premier League in his absence.

Luis Suárez returns to the Liverpool squad for Monday night's game at home to Tottenham Hotspur following a much publicised eight-game suspension.

Don't just sit there Robin. Get a fourth

That's our first rout of the season. The first of which we won and not the other way around. You can count the Chelsea game as one but then it was not as one sided as this was. Blackburn tormented us the last time we met and this was sweet revenge being exacted.

What an improvement on recent league games, we finally clicked into gear and destroyed the opposition, and frankly thank goodness for that. defeat today would have been an utter disaster. A mixture of better finishing and some more incisive play in the final third catalysed by some key players returning to fitness helped us win this one so convincingly.

The Galaxy scored seven goals in their win at Home Depot Center, while Chivas USA managed five goals. Both wins came over minor league opposition. More on the Galaxy game is here. Chivas USA beat Conejo Valley-based FC Hasental 5-0 with goals coming from Michael Lahoud in the 22nd minute

Against Wolves, Jordan Henderson only misplaced four of his passes from open play for a completion rate topping 90%. He may not have connected on any of his seven attempted crosses, which does rather drag down his overall numbers, but it is nonetheless an impressive statistic. As for how he achieved such a high completion rate, the answer is a fairly simple one: He kept it simple.

photo by Rick Osentoski/ISIphotos.com

It appears U.S. men's national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is making a concentrated effort to get to know CONCACAF teams prior to World Cup qualifying.

According to a report, the United States will travel to Canada to take on its northern rival in a friendly before World Cup qualifying begins in June.

It's been awhile since I trawled through the Guardian chalkboards for interesting items. I know, we all missed it.
I remain convinced that Liverpool changed tact in midfield during the interval. The key seemed to be Spearing, more willing to stay in his own half and shield the defense rather than pressing higher up the pitch and leaving gaps.

Wolverhampton 0
Liverpool 3 Carroll 52′, Bellamy 61′, Kuyt 78′

It was another chance for a struggling club to inject some life into their season by facing a Liverpool side unable to find consistent results against opposition below them in the table. Unlike Liverpool's last opponents Bolton, however, Wolves never really threatened to take control of the match, though it nevertheless seemed to be going down a familiar path for Liverpool for the first fifty minutes as chances were wasted and midfield devolved into an indecisive muddle.

Here we go again. Last day of the transfer window and we're all waiting for at least a striker after offloading Vokes as a loan and sold Keogh. Surely 3M must bring in at least one striker, and hopefully one with som class and skills?! Well, that's very important of course, but of more immediate [...

Fulham are on the verge of signing 19 year old Argentine Alfonso Penne from Italian club Torino. Penne, known as "The Fonz", will be out of contract in the summer and is keen to test himself in the Premier League.

Penne rose to prominence last year as a 18 year old at Torino, scoring 47 goals in 15 U16 games for Il Granata as an over-aged player playing under a false passport.

by Maura Gladys

Five games, nine days and 39 goals. That's what it took for the U.S. women's national team to win the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying

One of the few negatives....

Tournament and book their ticket to this summer's London Olympic Games. The U.

On the face of it Liverpool have been granted a favourable draw in the FA Cup 5th round with Championship side Brighton having to travel to Anfield in mid-February.
Kenny Dalglish's men defeated the same opposition 2-1 at the brand new Amex Stadium earlier in the season in the Carling Cup with goals coming from Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt.

I have spent the last season and a half bemoaning the boo boys, this week I was not alone as Arsenal fans rallied round our beleaguered manager and club in an attempt to rid us of the discontented.

But today as we prepare ourselves for our pilgrimage to the red half of North London it is time to consolidate, stand side by side and live alongside each other in harmony.

I have spent the last season and a half bemoaning the boo boys, this week I was not alone as Arsenal fans rallied round our beleaguered manager and club in an attempt to rid us of the discontented.

But today as we prepare ourselves for our pilgrimage to the red half of North London it is time to consolidate, stand side by side and live alongside each other in harmony.

Juventus were crowned Serie A Winter Champions after one of their most controlled performances of the season on Saturday night. Atalanta have proven to be tough opposition for any team, especially at home where their only defeat prior was to champions Milan. But, the Bianconeri overcame early frustration to eventually overcome the Nerazzurri with relative ease.

Ahead of this weekend's FA Cup game against Liverpool, Andy Cole has reflected on his time playing for United at Anfield.

Cole scored at Anfield in our 3-1 win in the 1996-1997 season, scored two there the following season, and again in 1999.

"When I was in the team I used to love playing at Anfield," he told the official site.

No one can doubt that Swansea have attacked the Premier League with a refreshing desire to play 'proper' football, but despite impressing opposition fans with their measured approach and crisp passing, they are certainly learning exactly what the Premier League is about making money. Just two days after their defeat to Sunderland at the [.

One thing I have noticed on my blog and amongst Chelsea fans in general is a difference of opinion about our formation and who should be starting games. Of course we all know that for now AVB prefers the 4-3-3 formation as per managers before him here, but I just wonder what you the Chelsea fan reading this believes to be our better option(s).

Every person has a talent. Some have a talent with numbers; others are incredibly handy and can build whatever their hearts desire. Some people are intellectually gifted, while others are incredible athletes and invariably, the ones we love the most. It's easy to see why too, for an athlete's allure is a visual treat that invokes a sense of wonderment and a slight tinge of jealousy by the spectator.

I have spent the last season and a half bemoaning the boo boys, this week I was not alone as Arsenal fans rallied round our beleaguered manager and club in an attempt to rid us of the discontented.

But today as we prepare ourselves for our pilgrimage to the red half of North London it is time to consolidate, stand side by side and live alongside each other in harmony.

Substituted at half-time having inadvertently assisted the goal which gave the opposition the lead is not the debut Eduardo Vargas had in mind after making his £11.4m move from Universidad de Chile to Napoli. In the 20th minute of the last-16 Coppa Italia clash with Cesena ‘Edu' chased back to the edge of the area to help out defensively when an attempt to control the ball resulted in releasing.

Isn't it funny that although we were dire on Saturday and dropped two points away to Norwich, We gained a point on Spurs as they lost at Manchester City. Forget the league title, that's gone and has been for a while now, but it's important that Chelsea finish 3rd as a minimum this season. I think we'd all take that now with a decent run in the FA Cup and Champions League.

That's how we all feel mate...If i walked into a club, thinking and acting like i was better than everybody else, i'd most probably, within an hour and a half or so, get battered. Which is exactly what happened to Liverpool on Saturday. They walked into Bolton's club, acting like they were better than them, like the three points were theirs before they'd kicked a ball and then, they were battered.

Everybody knows by now that its like riding on a roller-coaster to be a fan of Wolves, but this game gave me a ride I'll never forget. I was totally exhausted afterwards and it felt like I'd been out there with the lads for 90 minutes. Already against Spurs there were two players that took [...]

Liverpool's 3-1 defeat over Bolton Wanderers, apparently gave more than just disappointment for the club's manager, Kenny Dalglish, as he was also infuriated with his player's poor performance and threatened to get rid of those who can't improve their performance.

Dalglish was so furious that he doesn't really want to give much credit for his opponent as he really felt that it was the Reds' poor performance which cause that defeat.

2.7 million players play Fantasy Premier League football. 6% of them own Leighton Baines. That's about 162,000 frustrated owners this evening after Everton (again) failed to keep a clean sheet at home against inferior opposition drawing 1-1 with Blackburn ... Continue reading →

Saturday morning. South London is grey and gloomy.

It's always exciting to have a game after a bit of a break. Back into your regular seats to see the Whites playing against an intriguing looking Newcastle side.

In a way it's a shame that Tiote and Ba will be absent always nice to see the opposition's best players close up.

A blogger friend of mine reports unrest among the Wolves fans and some of my friends are past the boiling point aswell. I suppose that it's not totally fair though if they measure the strength of Wolves from a couple of cup-games with our second tier, but those games didn't leave much to rejoice about [.

A Valencia supporter found himself missing some of his side's match against Levante last night after being escorted out of the stadium by police. His crime? Bouncing the ball off the head of Levante goalkeeper Gustavo Munua. The fan 'returned' the ball to Munua when he came to retrieve it from fans behind his goal.

There is, perhaps, little surprising in the fact that the most confusing tie of the Third Round of the FA Cup should involve Wrexham. The Blue Square Premier club the last non-league club still involved in this year's competition have had possibly the most convoluted twelve months of any side in the entire English league system, and this extended into the arrangements for this match against Brighton & Hove Albion, following their 1-1 draw at The American Express Community Stadium a week and a half ago.

The FAI today officially confirmed that Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland will play the Czech Republic in a friendly in Dublin on February 29.
They said the friendly will be the first of two home matches to be played in the Aviva Stadium before Ireland go to the Euro Finals in June. The second friendly will take place at the end of May and the opposition will be revealed by the association soon.

Suffering from two straight premier league defeats, Arsenal are eying to stop that negative trend when they're facing Manchester United this weekend as picking up another defeat would be bad for their morale.

This target is being set up by the Gunners' coach, Arsene Wenger, who insisted that his players must give their best this weekend and grab all three points against the Red Devils especially after the disappointment in their previous meeting this season.

... and I missed the Knicks game, too. Oh Arsene, my Aresene. God bless you. After a thoroughly forgettable weekend in the Premier League, you gave us the gift that keeps on the giving -- the ArseneFAIL -- losing 3-2 at Swansea City Sunday. Problem is, this one is hard to laugh about. There are no referees to yell at or cynical tactics by the opposition to blame.

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre insists any perception that Liverpool's handling of the Luis Suarez affair means they take a soft stance on racism is "totally and utterly rubbish".
The Reds have come in for criticism in recent weeks for the way they have behaved during Luis Suarez's unsuccessful defence against allegations he racially abused Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

Right then,

Swansea away today and a chance to keep pace/claw back some points on those above us in the table. The importance of the game can't be understated. The FA Cup game against Leeds provided us a fantastic moment and a talking point/feel-good factor that lasted all week, but at the same time seemed a bit surreal.

We're not gonna do this. Not right now. Just go read the Blackburn recap. Or the Swansea recap. Or any other match in which Liverpool never really looked like doing something worth watching, subtract any chances that were created but not taken, punch yourself in the face for watching the whole thing, and then go back to drinking yourself into oblivion.

Sunderland's experienced Ireland international defender John O'Shea has spoken of the positive impact James McClean has had on the team since emerging on to the scene as a substitute in the 2-1 win over Blackburn on December 11.
McClean's impact has gradually increased and he has started in each of Sunderland's last three games.

This afternoon is a must win game for Chelsea and it really is as simple as that. We cannot afford to drop points over the next few weeks as we need to try and close the gap to the sides above us now in the league.
AVB and his Chelsea players have a job on their hands this afternoon as a rejuvenated Sunderland side under new man-manager Martin O'Neill travel to the Bridge with nothing to lose and everything to gain.