Thierry Henry added to his legend with the most crucial of goals for Arsenal yesterday, ensuring he bowed out of his return to the Premier League on a high note.

The French striker scored his 229th goal for the club in stoppage time at the Stadium of Light, to give the Gunners a crucial three points that saw them leapfrog Chelsea into fourth place.

Photo by Nick Turchiaro/ISIphotos.com

The pieces are in place for it to be the weekend of the landmark appearance for Americans across Europe.

After Tim Ream was named to Bolton's matchday roster and Charlie Davies was named to Sochaux's, West Ham announced that centerback George John will be part of the 20-man traveling party for the club's match at Peterborough United on Saturday.

The January window was pretty busy this year and three major transfers took place involving the national team. This is not too unusual as most players will be looking for more playing time ahead of Euro 2012 and the most unsettled are the likeliest to find new employers for the [read more]

photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

Gale Agbossoumonde has accomplished quite a bit in his young career. At 20 years of age, Agbossoumonde has already received his first senior national team cap, played in Europe and won a U.S.

Heading to DePaul University in 2006, Patrick Hopkins didn't have a scholarship, but that didn't stop him from walking onto his college team and earning playing time.

Well hello there.

I see you've caught me in your office, bearing the gift of my presence and my musky, Vin Diesel-like scent. ... Who am I? Judging by my decidedly unsexy lack of playing time, I thought you might have forgotten. I am Dimitar. Dimitar Berbatov. Or, as all the Berba-babes call me: "What Are You Doing Under My Sink?

Arsenal's massive 7-1 victory was highlighted with another special performance from Robin Van Persie, who bagged a hat-trick on the night, but it was youngster, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The youngsters scored two goals on the match and once again provides an important contribution for his club, leaving his manager, Arsene Wenger in awe with Oxlade-Chamberlain speedy development.

The Chicago Fire take on Honduran side Real España in an international preseason friendly at New Orleans' Tad Gormley Stadium today, Saturday, February 4, at 5:00 p.m. CST. This whole trip has been in conjunction with the Youth Development Program, the Chicago Fire Juniors - Louisiana. Earlier today, fans had the chance to meet and greet Fire players at three CFJ-LA campuses: Audubon Park, City Park and Lions Park.

Kofi Sarkodie wants to succeed with the Dynamo this year and garner more playing time with the U.S. Olympic team.

The Philadelphia Union have officially completed a trade of Kyle Nakazawa to the LA Galaxy. Nakazawa will be sent to California with a second round selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft for one of the Galaxy's international roster spots.

Nakazawa was reported to be on his way to the Galaxy early this morning, when the Brotherly Game published a storywith information from a source knowledgeable on the situation.

Photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

U.S. Under-23 national team defender Gale Agbossoumonde is set to finalize a loan move to the NASL's Carolina RailHawks today, sources told SBI.

The 20-year-old Agbossoumonde has been on a constant quest for consistent playing time for the better part of the last three years, having stints with Sporting Braga in Portugal, Djurgardens IF in Sweden and Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany yield few first-team minutes.

Arsenal starlet Francis Coquelin has hailed the locker room impact of legendary on-loan striker Thierry Henry, insisting that the veteran does not need to be on the pitch all the time to offer his leadership.

Henry's two-month spell at the Emirates began with a bang as his decisive goal knocked Leeds United out of the FA Cup but the Frenchman has since been sidelined with injury concerns.

Another Philadelphia Union player is on his way out of the club, as Kyle Nakazawa will be traded, the Brotherly Game has learned.

Sources tell the Brotherly Game that the Nakazawa will be moved to the LA Galaxy in a move that one of the sources said will be announced tomorrow. The trade has been in the works since sometime last week.

Benfica 21 year old striker Nelson Oliveira could be moved out on loan as the Eagles are said to be offering his services to French clubs Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne. The Portuguese U21 year old international is not currently getting much playing time at the Luz and with the signing of Djalo will have even less first team action.

In the past four preseasons Lamar Neagle grew from trialist to veteran player for Seattle Sounders FC. In talking to the player who during the split sessions trained with the veterans Neagle smiled as he noted his path, his responsibility as a veteran and the need in every training session to compete for minutes on a deep squad.

Hector Rueda Lookalike Wilman Conde is New York Bound - FinallyThe New York Red Bulls, having just wrapped up Tim Ream's long-awaited transfer to Bolton, didn't waste much time in finding his replacement, announcing today the signing of Colombian central defender Wilman Conde. Conde was most recently on the books of Mexican club Atlas, where injuries limited his playing time in 2011 to just 13 games.

7 games, 3 wins, 4 draws and 8 goals allowed. These were rookie Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath's numbers after filling in for an injured Faryd Mondragon late in the 2011 season. Pretty impressive for a twenty year old rookie backup goalkeeper who's only playing time before Faryd Mondragon's injury was a second half start in a friendly against EPL squad, Everton.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hinted that Japanese starlet Ryo Miyaichi could be set for a domestic loan spell as the youngster seeks more playing time to further his development.

The emergence of 18-year old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has provided Wenger with more-than-enough options on the wings, which means that the 19-year old Miyaichi will need to look elsewhere to increase his football activity.

photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

In a week that saw several young and inexperienced players make their cases for more playing time on the U.S. men's national team, it was the veterans of the United States who shined brightly.

Landon Donovan was one of those players, as he inspired Everton to victory by setting up both of its goals in a 2-1 win over Fulham in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday.

One of the issues with depth charts and roster math is how to place players who can fill many roles. With Adam Johansson in Qatar for the opening of training camp, Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid gets to test a bunch of different options at the right back role. One thing quickly clear when asked was who the leader in that role is:

Obviously Zach Scott is somebody who can play there.

Giovani Dos Santos is no stranger to moving during the winter transfer window, but instead of what has happened in past years, he is on the verge of leaving club purgatory for good.

Forever glued to the bench at Tottenham, the 22-year-old Mexican star is on the verge of a full transfer to Spanish club Villarreal, according to reports from Europe.

It only took eight years for the Revolution to get Jeremiah White into preseason camp.

White, who spurned MLS for Europe shortly after he became New England's third round pick 2004, was long gone by the time the team opened camp that year. And even after his contract with Polish side GKS Belchatow expired in 2010, it appeared that the opportunity to don the paint-brushed stars and stripes had long since passed.

Taye Taiwo has finally been officially unveiled as Queens Park Rangers' new signing this January and the player express his gratitude towards the club's manager, Mark Hughes, who reportedly was then one asking for the Nigerian international.

The six months loan deal with possible buy out clause at the end of season was actually done few days ago, but it's just got active after Taiwo received his working permit, a basic conditions for foreigners to play in the premier league.

According to media outlet talkSPORT, cash-rich French giants Paris St. Germain are on the verge of a sensational swoop for Chelsea star Frank Lampard.

The midfielder has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in recent weeks, with Premiership Talk last week reporting of a possible move to Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy.

Arsenal's manager, Arsene Wenger, remains confident in his believes that splashing more money on the winter market isn't the best solution for his team, despite admitting that the current injury crisis are the reasons for their poor results in the last three league matches.

Speaking after his team's 2-1 defeat against Manchester United, Wenger stated that the results won't pushed him to commit in the market as he preferred to wait for the injured ones returning to action again.

The January friendlies are usually for the hardest of die hards. Being held outside of a FIFA sanctioned window means that player pool is reduced for both sides, and tonight's game isn't against the highest profile of opponents. Venezuela is decent, currently ranked 31st and slightly ahead of the United States by ESPN's Soccer Power Index.

It seems like it has been quite a while since the USMNT last played. They will shake off the rust and try to top Venezuela tonight. And let's hope Sean Johnson sees some playing time as well. Join us for the gamethread tonight to talk all things USMNT.

Agudelo: One Foot Out the Door?When the New York Red Bulls' disappointing 2011 season drew to a close, both Hans Backe and Erik Solér assured fans that they had identified the team's main weaknesses and would be taking steps over the winter to address them. But with 2012 preseason training camp having opened this week, the RBNY roster is still a work in progress, with question marks hanging over the heads of several players and doubts remaining about key positions and bench depth.

It looks like it could be a race between Sebastien Bassong and Giovani Dos Santos to be the first through the White Hart Lane exit door this month with our defender being the first dissenting voice of this transfer window.

Bassong could have gone to Bolton as part of a Gary Cahill deal in the summer but a more likely destination could be QPR, who have been linked with most of the fringe defenders in the Premiership.

Philadelphia Union

Sky Sports reports that Bolton manager Owen Coyle "claims no decision has been taken as yet regarding a permanent deal" for Sebastien Le Toux.

Jonathan Tannenwald tweets, "A Union source says the team 'would not use Tim Ream as a benchmark' in any negotiations over Le Toux regarding transfer fee.

KICKERS SEARCH FOR STAR
Players From Across the Globe Attend Open Tryouts this Weekend
RICHMOND, VA - (Thursday, January 19, 2012) – Over 70 players will attend the Richmond Kickers 14th annual player combine this weekend, January 20-22 at the Kickers state-of-the-art sports complex, Ukrop Park.

Amobi Okugo has had a busy offseason, shuttling around the world playing for various US youth National team squads and MLS special tournament teams, but it appears to have all worked out for the midfielder. The 20-year-old is ranked eighth on ESPN on a list of under-21 US soccer players, and is one of three of those players on the list that are on the sports site's front page.

It's no wonder why Pepe is nicknamed "The Butcher."

The Real Madrid defender, who is either known for physical play or malicious attacks on his opponents depending on who you talk to, could face disciplinary action for deliberately stomping on Lionel Messi's hand during yesterday's Clasico.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Pauno is gone. That much we know. Le Toux's status? Training with Bolton with the potential of a deal. Basically, completely up in the air. That makes this as good as any to look at the four strikers who will be battling to win playing time throughout 2012.

U.S. Under-23 national team defender Gale Agbossoumonde has endured a rough road in his quest for regular playing time since turning pro two years ago. With a recent stint at Eintracht Frankfurt failing to deliver him playing time, Agbossoumonde looked poised for a move to Major League Soccer.

Fox Soccer is reporting that Union striker/top scorer/face-of-the-franchise/fan-favorite Sebastien Le Toux began training with the English Premier League's Bolton Wanderers ahead of a transfer that will be completed by the end of the week.

As of 12:40 PM, no sources have confirmed this news.

Photo: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Union

Joining KYW's Greg Orlandini and PSP's Eli Pearlman-Storch on the latest edition of the Philly Soccer Show podcast is Philadelphia Union first round draft pick Chandler Hoffman.

The UCLA/Generation adidas forward scored 18 goals in 24 games during his last season with the Bruins, and hopes to bring that scoring touch to PPL Park.

Patrick van Aanholt is off once again. Vitesse announced today that the 21-year-old fullback will be joining the Dutch club on loan for the remainder of the season.

In need of games

This is pretty good news. While the Eredivisie is a clear step down in competition from the Premier League, van Aanholt should have a chance to receive significant minutes after an egregious loan spell during the first half of the season.

Despite already making a move in the January market by grabbing Thierry Henry on loan until February, Arsenal's manager, Arsene Wenger, still doesn't really show much enthusiasm about this winter transfer window.

In his thought, this month isn't really the perfect time to acquire players especially since the ones available are usually those who are looking for a way out from their club and didn't really have much playing time.

The Quakes had 3 picks in the 2012 SuperDraft. In their first pick they selected a Generation Adidas forward from UC Santa Barbara, Sam Garza (seen above), with the No. 6 overall pick. The team picked up Jacob Hustedt, midfielder, from the University of Washington with the 25th pick (6th in round 2) and Chris Blais, goalkeeper, from the University of South Florida with the 33rd pick (14th in round 2).