It's funny how the English media mock the quality of Major League Soccer, but guess where Premier League teams turned to this month to help their sides? Yep, MLS.

First we had the Galaxy's Landon Donovan going back to Everton on loan and then the NYRB's Thierry Henry returned to Arsenal, where he promptly scored the winner in their FA Cup tie against Leeds.

Jon Levy The national team hasn't even suited up in 2012, but it's already been an encouraging year for American soccer. Dempsey and Donovan (for two months, at least) are both leading the line of attack for their respective English Premier League teams, the Women's National Teamers avoided a would-be tragedy in their Vancouver hotel [.

By Alan Duffy

Phwoar!

He may be well and truly into the autumnal phase of his career, however, at 36-years-old, David Beckham still has a craving for footie with a place in Stuart Pearce's Team GB side at the Olympics top of his to-do list.

Inter Milan seems to finally have found its form, and after winning five straight matches and outscoring its last two opponents 9-1 and getting Wesley Sneijder back from injury, the club faces bitter rival and first-place AC Milan with a chance to make a statement in Serie A.

The Milan derby is the highlight of the weekend slate across Europe, one that also includes an Aston Villa-Everton game that will be of interest to U.

We are still a few days away from the Leeds game and I don't want to step on what will surely be another (auto paste here) splendid pre match from the master himself. But without wishing to step on toes I want to get some thoughts off my chest.

Having spent most of Christmas and New Year struggling to find the back of net I have started to change my mind about the importance of this game and who should be playing.

What would premier league teams look like if they became sovereign nations, with their size dictated by their net worth?

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The January 2011 transfer window was a blockbuster one as Premier League teams spent over £210 MILLION on transfers. Amongst the big spenders were Chelsea (David Luiz £21.4m, Fernando Torres £50m), Liverpool (Andy Carroll £35m, Luis Suarez £22.8m) and Aston Villa (Darren Bent £18m, Jean Makoun £6m).

Liverpool huffed and puffed once more but came up against another excellent goalkeeping display. A feat that Mark Bunn probably will and could not repeat even if he tried. The journeyman goalkeeper showed far better reflexes than Paul Robinson have had this season to deny Andy Carroll a confidence-boosting goal.

Boxing Day is one of the most exciting days of the year for soccer fans as all 20 Premier League teams take to the field over a two-day period and Monday's offerings did not disappoint.

Manchester United are now tied at the top of the Premier League title after a 5-0 destruction of Wigan.

The Sunderland fan on the train has low expectations but he's loyal and a long way from home on a cold Sunday afternoon. Spurs have more points, better players and better prospects but he has his devotion to his club, a precious commodity these days for any any fan as far as I'm concerned, so he expresses this in the time-honoured fashion: 'Where were you when you were s**t?

Sir Ferguson (Man Utd), born Glasgow.
Eric Black (Sunderland caretaker manager), born Bellshill, 9 miles outside Glasgow.
Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool), born in Glasgow.
John Colquhoun (West Brom Club Agent and Strategic Orchestrator), created in Stirling just 23 miles from Glasgow.
Alex McLeish (Aston Villa), born in Glasgow.

To satisfy the curiosity of some inquiring minds, here are the Top 20 best Premier League teams when it comes to goal difference per match. Unsurprisingly, Chelsea's 09/10 squad tops the list, in large part because of their amazing offensive output that year. And if you count carefully, you'll see that it's actually 21 teams because several were tied (e.

When Per Mertesacker arrived at Arsenal towards the end of the summer transfer window, he was thought to be the ultimate solution for Arsenal's endless defensive issues. Standing at 1.98m and possessing a great leaping ability, he can deal with the aerial threat of physical Premier League teams, which has been a constant problem in [.

At the onset of his tenure, it wouldn't have taken much effort to find predictions about the brand of football Alex McLeish's Aston Villa side were destined to serve up. None were particularly exciting or encouraging.

I prefer a 'wait and see' policy myself, but I think we're far enough into the season now to look at some statistics and draw some conclusions.

While discussing his future in football, David Beckham has played down reports that he will move back to England to finish his playing career.

Those who bet on soccer will note how the former England captain is out of contract at LA Galaxy this month, meaning that a move to a new club could be on the cards.

A battle of unbeaten English Premier League teams in November is the kind of match-up fans dream of, but the two teams ready to take part in that battle aren't the teams many would have envisioned before the season began.

First-place Manchester City takes on the biggest surprise of the Premier League season, Newcastle, in the weekend's most enticiing match-up.

Once upon a time Thailand stood imperious at the biennial SEA Games. They won the trophy eight years straight, they deemed it their own personal cup and winning was a right.
Not anymore. For the second successive competition the Thais failed to proceed beyond the group stage. Two years ago in Vientiane the vitriolic Thai media had Steve Darby to blame.

For Carlos Bocanegra and Tim Howard, the 2003 Confederations Cup in France was more than just another round of games for the U.S. It was the first major tournament overseas for both of them and led to huge opportunities in their careers. Since the U.S. Men's National Team is back in France, ussoccer.

He may have only made six first team appearances for the Gunners, but Emmanuel Frimpong is already attracting interest from other Premier League teams looking to add some clout to their midfield. Norwich City and Swansea City are among the main parties interested in the Ghanaian – who has chosen his African roots over his [.

Wow, that's really all I can say about yesterdays match between United and City in English Premier League. Manchester teams went against each other and boy did City come off victorious. The match was definitely most awaitened match this season in Premier League soccer, and it delivered. Fantasy soccer wise, it was also a lot better than expected.

Kenny Dalglish bemoans Liverpool profligacy as Norwich City hold firm

• Kenny Dalglish says Liverpool must learn to finish teams off • Grant Holt comes on to secure point for Norwich Screams from the front row of the directors' box told of a torturous finale for Delia Smith and the Norwich City board.

OTP Meets Miles Jacobson by Off The Post on Mixcloud Football Manager is a gaming phenomenon. Although it may keep divorce lawyers in regular work, the game successfully marries compulsive gameplay with colossal amounts of intensely researched data. And Premier League teams are taking note – whilst OTP likes to test the structural integrity of [.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images(Bleacher Report) The summer transfer window is officially over. This year proved to have one of the most exciting "finally days" in a long time as all the teams in the English Premier League were in the midst of chasing the sunset on new additions.
Some teams added major value to their club as they attempt to make up for injuries and horrid form to start the season.

Wilson Palacios was one of the standout players in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying
Luis Fernando Suarez has called in 22 players for Honduras' game against the USA on Oct. 8 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. Three players from MLS get the call: Marvin Chavez, Roger Espinoza and Carlo Costly.

The blog has been quiet for a few days, and for a reason. I´ve been busy working on a little side project. Before too long, I´ll tell you more about that, but one of the things that have come of out of it has been a more detailed look at various performance indicators across leagues with better and more recent data.

CARLING CUP LIVE: Manchester City v Birmingham, Brighton v Liverpool, Chelsea v Fulham

Follow Sportsmail's coverage of the Carling Cup third round where on the second night of action there are six Premier League teams amongst the six ties to be played.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-09-21 04:00:04 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

The English Premier League Social Media Report By Braveheart Sports Network for September 2011 shows that Arsenal and Manchester United are the two most popular Premier League clubs on the social media sites Twitter and Facebook.

Braveheart Sports Network looked at the number of Twitter followers and Facebook fans that every Premier League team has, to see who is winning the social media battle online.

Don't panic! City's super strikeforce will come good in Europe

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the reduced attendance at Eastlands last night, was that people weren't desperate to see this City side. Ignoring the team on the pitch for a second, the list of players in reserve would be enough to get the fans of most Premier League teams excited.

Emma, the star of Borussia Dortmund

Germany, Borussia Dortmund-Hertha Berlin 9:30amET (GolTV): Dortmund were the surprise stars of the Bundesliga last season, running away with the title. They did sell young Turkish-German midfielder Nuri Şahin to Real Madrid, but hung on to 19yo midfielder Mario Götze, despite interest from Bayern Munich and ManU.

The Carling Cup is not the most glamorous cup competition in the world but it is a great opportunity for some so called 'smaller' Premier League teams to have success and get into Europe.
For years there has been some discussion about the merits of the Carling Cup, with some managers putting out under strength sides, as they see the competition as a burden, have disrespected it to a fair degree.

Cardiff City supporter Neil Mace lives next door to The Cardiff City Stadium, so the Welsh Premier League isn't something that had previously occurred to him as a good idea. Last weekend, however, he took the plunge and this is what he found out.

As a Cardiff City fan, the Welsh Premier League has previously escaped my interest.

Lion of Vienna Suite Covering Bolton Wanderers Now On SBN

Another English Premier League teams gets a dedicated site on the network. Go say hello, maybe you're a fan.

Overrated. Flop. Failure.

These are words that many believe encapsulate the Manchester United career of the elegant yet frustrating Juan Sebastian Verón. Arriving at United in 2001 for a then British record £28.1 million pounds, the Argentine playmaker was consistently disappointing, the sea of mediocrity that was his United tenure only occasionally giving way to the moments of class and quality one might expect from one of such considerable reputation.

Liverpool offer £8m for the Nacional defender Sebastián Coates

• The 20-year-old also interests Manchester City and Arsenal • Kenny Dalglish may play Raheem Sterling against Exeter Liverpool have made an £8m offer for the Uruguay international Sebastián Coates but face competition for his signature as Nacional encourage an auction for the 20-year-old defender.

STARTERS
The 2011 Kicking & Screening Film Festival begins in NYC tonight. Make sure to get there if you live in the area.
-And make sure to read the daily blog. Some good stuff on there.
dN
Five MLS games will be played tonight - Wed Jul 20. See the full schedule below.

Wednesday night may be the first time this has ever happened. Across the United States, 25% of the Premier League teams will be playing in different friendlies. In the Pacific Northwest, Seattle Sounders plays Manchester United. Down the road in...
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Liverpool have reportedly joined the growing list of Premier League teams interested in AIK Solna strikers Teteh Bangura and Mohamed Bangura.
Scouts from Liverpool were at the game against Halmstad BK along with a reported 10 other representatives from other European clubs to watch the unrelated Sierra Leonean Bangura pair.

PREMIER LEAGUE NEW KIT SPECIAL: The strips for 2011-12

The smartest gear for next season will soon hit the shops and you can get a first look right here as the Premier League teams unveil their kits for the new campaign.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-07-11 09:04:00 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

The US TV schedule for most of this summer's preseason friendlies featuring Premier League teams has been announced. As expected, many of the games featuring Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City will be shown on US television...
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As Premier League teams have begun their summer training camps this week, we have quite a few links and bits and pieces of news to report from around the footie world. Here's what's going on in Butt's Brain: Samir Nasri ... Continue reading →