King Kenny got his team selection and tactics wrong on Saturday afternoon against Man Utd.
He oped for a cautious, defensive line-up with Luis Suarez up-front as Kuyt lined up on the right wing and youngsters Spearing and Henderson were in midfield, bizarrely at the expence of Charlie Adam.

As expected Newcastle will start with the team that was on the field after Leon Best and Ryan Taylor went off injured last week in that first half against Aston Villa. So Papiss Cisse starts up front for Leon Best and will partner Demba Ba , and Gabby Obertan starts on the right wing in place [.

A piece I wrote for FCDallas.com is up. I examined the depth the club has at center back and the challenges they face at the right wing spot. Check it out.

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.

On this side of the Atlantic, the football news that received quite a bit of attention over past few days was Friday's FA Cup tie between Everton and Fulham, featuring Clint "Hat Trick" Dempsey, Landon Donovan, and Tim Howard. Everton won, and as SI.com put it,

Landon Donovan etched his name further into Everton lore with two assists in the Toffees' FA Cup victory over Fulham.

The Daily Mirror and other papers are reporting that Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye could face a three match ban. Yohan Cabaye - in collision with El-Abd Brighton defender Adam El-Abd was left with a slightly cut lip ( with the emphasis on slightly), after the second-half collision the two had down the right wing.

Yohan Cabaye starts this afternoon and Hatem Ben Arfa also gets a start today on the right wing at Craven Cottage, in the important game against Fulham. Ben Arfa comes in for Ryan Taylor out on the right wing, and it seems that Yohan Cabaye is indeed fit after sustaining an ankle injury last Sunday [.

Ryan Taylor has been little short of a revelation this season for Newcastle. A good action shot of Ryan Taylor The Liverpudlian has so far played in both full-back positions, out on the right wing and last Sunday he filled in for Yohan Cabaye in central midfield, when the French International had to leave the field with an injured ankle.

Ryan Taylor has been little short of a revelation this season for Newcastle. A good action shot of Ryan Taylor The Liverpudlian has so far played in both full-back positions, out on the right wing and last Sunday he filled in for Yohan Cabaye in central midfield, when the French International had to leave the field with an injured ankle.

Liverpool have been offered Serbia winger Milos Krasic by Juventus.
Krasic is not wanted by new Juve coach Antonio Conte and the Serie A giants have approached Liverpool because ex-boss Rafa Benitez showed interest in him.
Juventus have told the Reds they can have Krasic for the £12million they paid CSKA Moscow for him in 2010.

As we had expected, Danny Guthrie returns to Newcastle's starting line-up this afternoon against Queens Park Rangers at St. James' Park. The Shrewsbury-born player will start in central midfield alongside Yohan Cabaye, and comes in for 19 year-old Mehdi Abeid, who drops down to the bench. And Ryan Taylor replaces Gabriel Obertan on the right wing and Hatem Ben Arfa [.

Philadelphia Union have figured out the formula to the MLS amateur draft:

Be patient, wait for other teams to screw up, and draft the best player available. When in doubt late, take a guy who played for Reading United.

The Union did it again this year, so let's talk about it with the proverbial Five Observations About .

Newcastle have ended James Tavernier's loan at Sheffield Wednesday because the Owls were playing James out on the right wing. James Tavernier in action for Sheffield Wednesday Tavernier's stay ended on Monday, after he had been playing well out on the right wing, and he played a total of 7 times for the Sheffield club.

Ben Arfa is slowly but surely returning to his top form, and of course he scored a wonder goal for Newcastle on Saturday against Blackburn in the FA Cup. Ben Ara scores on Saturday the greatest goal ever seen at Newcastle? At the time Ben Arfa was playing on the right wing, and there's not too many many players who can [.

The 2011 season grades forge ever onward! Corey, Matty, and I have looked at the four major areas of the team - goalkeeping, defense, midfield, forwards - and assigned our grades on a 4.0 scale.

Unfortunately for the New England Revolution, we don't curve based on the rest of the league.

Without further ado, here are our grades for the Revolution midfield, which was strong on paper but still performed below expectations.

Despite the numerous struggles WPS was faced with in 2011, the Boston Breakers remained a solid squad. Thanks to an impressive post-World Cup run, the club earned its second-consecutive playoff appearance. Although they may have fallen short of the Championship game, 2011 was a remarkable year nevertheless for the Breakers.

Apologies for the tardiness – AANP Towers has been overrun by tiny people the last few days...

And it had all begun so well. Our lot spent the opening minutes pinging the ball between themselves with such dizzying rapidity that the only time a Chelski touched the thing in the opening ten minutes was that lad on halfway, who was promptly crunched by Sandro, releasing Bale to release Adebayor for our goal.

Of all Liverpool players, Stewart Downing was perhaps the most influential in Monday's draw with Blackburn Rovers. After the game, LFC supporters had plenty to say about the winger's performance.
To start, please don't mistake "influential" for a glowing review. It's more of a way of saying he was key to the outcome of the game.

With the loss of Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon on Sunday, Spurs lost much of the potency that had helped them climb the Premiership table and into third place.

Ultimately we won the game but if you saw a brief but apt Match of the Day package on Sunday night, you'll have seen where Bale in particular, was sorely missed.

FC Dallas traded Honduran winger Marvin Chavez to the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday, securing an allocation in the process.

The deal sent Chavez, who enjoyed a standout season in Dallas, to San Jose, where he should slot right in as the team's starting right winger.

Chavez delivered six goals and four assists for FC Dallas, providing a perfect complement on the right wing to Brek Shea's forays from the left flank.

Stewart Downing recently admitted that he prefers playing on the right wing, and the former Aston Villa man put in a good performances against QPR in that position at the weekend. However, a goal or an assists still eludes him, something he's painfully aware. Downing, who has now gone 16 games without scoring or creating a goal, said:"Our performances have been very good this season, and we have

Gabriel Obertan has come out today and said he is just loving life at Newcastle. Gabriel Obertan makes his 15th appearcne for the Magpies this afternoon Gabriel seems to have tied down a first team spot on the right wing, but the 22 year-old is still imp[roving and we think with more games in a black and white shirt [.

With Lucas out for the rest of the season and Jay Spearing suspended for the next three games, it is time now for £20 million Jordan Henderson to step up to the plate at Liverpool.
We face Neil Warnock's QPR at Anfield and its a game we simply must win to stay abreast of the top six in the Premiership.

It was obvious from the kick-off last Saturday that Chelsea were attacking sown their right wing as they had picked out Ryan Taylor as the weak link in Newcastle's defense. Jonas Gutierrez a big miss last Saturday And Daniel Sturridge gave Taylor a terrible time of it in that first half, and it's lucky that the 21 year-old England International missed a lot of the chances he carved out fro himself, and [.

by Adam Bate

Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't look like an underdog. He doesn't feel like one and he most certainly doesn't act like one. But this weekend he is the player more than any other who will be tasked with the role of challenging Barcelona's footballing oligarchy.
And yet, don't expect people to thank him for it.

We bought Bryan Ruiz from FC Twente for 10 million, or whatever it was. There's an element of food-chaining here, isn't there? We bought their best player; they didn't buy ours. Which ought to imply that we're a better team, particularly as Ruiz promising though he may be is not yet in Fulham's best XI.

By now we all know the story pretty well: the defense was crap at the beginning of the season, but by the end it was one of the Portland Timbers' strengths. Individual players improved, as did communication amongst them, and the front office augmented that development with a shrewd mid-season trade.

Harry Redknapp told us over the weekend not to expect any transfer activity at the Lane this winter but that was never going to stop the rumour mills from continuing to turn.

However, it may be as a result of the exit rumours concerning Vedran Corluka that Portuguese right back Joao Pereira has now been linked with a January move to the club.

According to one of the tabloids in the UK this morning, Danny Sturridge has been into see AVB and has asked that he is played through the middle from now on.
Sturridge is the one striker we have who is on form, playing well and scoring goals and I guess he has every right to ask the question.

Here's the report of the game as we saw it this afternoon. The game kicked off and Man United were immediately on the attack and good play down the right wing by Nani, but a good tackle by Coloccini cleared the danger, and the corner was cleared. It was all Manchester in the first [...]

Liverpool fans have been calling for Glen Johnson to be played on the right wing ever since he arrived at Anfield, and his excellent winning goal against Chelsea last week is a prime example of he type of impact the former Chelsea man could have in that position. What does Johnson himself think about the possibility?

Gabriel Obertan is back in the Newcastle squad for their tough game against Manchester United this afternoon. Gabriel Obertan - could start this afternoon Last Saturday at the Etihad Stadium Sammy Ameobi came in and had a good game on the right wing, and Sammy could keep his place for this afternoon's game.

Whether to start Sammy Ameobi on the right wing on Saturday is only one of Alan Pardew's selection decisions he will need to make this Saturday. Sammy Ameobi showing Gael Clichy his skills last satruday With Gabriel Obertan being fit again from his toe infection, Alan may prefer to start the former Manchester United player [.

There were some positive things to take out of yesterday's defeat at Manchester City. Sammy Ameobi move past Gael Clichy yesterday And one of them was the form shown by 19 year-old Sammy Ameobi, who didn't look out of place out on the right wing. Sammy got his chance because both Frenchman Sylvain Marveaux and Gabriel Obertan were out injured, [.

Here is the full match report of Newcastle's loss to Manchester City today, which we compiled as the game was being played. The game kicked off and Sammy Ameobi got involved well down the right wing. It was obvious the Newcastle were going to press Man City players when they god the ball. James Milner had [.

Liverpool are reportedly interested in Everton youngster Seamus Coleman and will hope to take advantage of their fellow Merseyside club's perilous financial position by making a significant January offer for the Irish international.
Anfield director of football Damien Comolli has earmarked a move for the right sided performer and boss Kenny Dalglish is also said to be a fan of the former Sligo Rovers man and could see the Everton man as a player who could ably fill a role out wide at Liverpool.

The Eden Hazard rumours persist this morning amidst claims that Spurs a preparing a £45m January bid for the Belgian midfielder and his compatriot – Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen.

Since the rumours started, prices for Hazard alone have varied from around £20m to £35m and while all the usual suspects – Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City etc etc have been linked, some of the stories suggest that Spurs are in pole position and that Harry Redknapp is trying to convince the board that Hazard is the man to cement Champions League football for next season.

As most of you no doubt know, Newcastle United suffered several injuries during last Saturday's early kick-off against Everton. Well before the game, Alan Pardew's usual right wing choice, Gabriel Obertan, had to pull out from selection with a toe infection. Then, during the game itself, Yohan Cabaye was the first to go down with [.

Reports surfaced this week in Spain that Malaga had approached Chelsea with a view to taking Romelu Lukaku on loan for the remainder of this season in January. Now, I was surprised with these reports as AVB had openly said that he wouldn't be going anywhere.
The reports continued for a couple of days and got so intense even AC Milan were rumoured to be interested in January.

Last year we started a little awards series. Rather than an "MVP" we separated that into "Offensive" and "Defensive" Player of Year. Unlike the official awards of MLS these are to recognize play in all competitive matches. Both by vote (2010 - 69%) and proclamation (2009) Fredy Montero won the award.