After a red-hot start to the season, Jozy Altidore had lost his starting role for AZ Alkmaar and was mired in a bit of a scoring slump.

At the very least, that slump is now over.

Altidore scored twice in a four-minute span as a substitute in AZ's 6-0 rout of ADO Den Haag on Wednesday to break a two-month scoring drought.

In the modern game of football, 600,000 Euros is an extremely insignificant price to pay for a player. It is a low risk, high reward situation for the club. If the player ends up as a failure then the loss was very minimal. However if the player goes on to be a success, than it looks like a genius move.

It has been an up and down season for Juventus striker Alessandro Matri. There have been times where it seems that every time he touches the ball it ends up in the back of the net while at other times there have long absences of his name on the score sheet. When he is hot, he has been praised uncontrollably, even once being compared as the next David Trezeguet.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has called on his team to raise their game as his club pursue victory in their League Cup campaign and continue to cling on to their fast fading hopes of Champions League qualification. Gerrard's side have struggled in recent games in spite of heavy investment in the squad by manager Kenny Dalglish at the start of the current campaign - and even a recent return to fitness and form of the talismanic Gerrard has not been enough to stop the club sliding to 7th in the Premier League table.

Liverpool forward Luis Suarez has insisted that, although he trusts his teammates, he can't wait to get back playing again after seeing the Reds slump to a 3-1 defeat to Bolton.
The Uruguayan, who is currently serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra, watched on as Kenny Dalglish's side were well beaten at the Reebok Stadium but the 24-year-old is adamant he is still very much behind his teammates.

Newcastle started the season in great form and were unbeaten in their first 11 game of the season, which equalled a Newcastle record. Davide Santon - has looked good in last few games But then we went into a bit of a slump with six games without a win, although in three of those games we were up against both Manchester clubs, away from home, and Chelsea at home.

The departure of Neil Warnock has shocked many QPR fans, who consider his dismissal to be an unjust, knee-jerk decision, based solely on their recent slump in form. Remember of course that it was Warnock who, within just over a ...
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There is one thing you have give to the Philadelphia Union, so far during this and the previous off season they've had needs on the team and pretty much filled them up. After the inaugural season it was painfully obvious to anyone that wasn't Helen Keller that Chris Seitz was not going to be the answer at Goalkeeper.

The MLS offseason has certainly been interesting recently. Whether it was the Lee Nguyen lottery, the on again/off again Beckham to PSG debate (rumored to net Beckham 1 million dollars per month on an 18 month loan), or Americans to Europe talk, there hasn't been a shortage of news lately. A recent deluge of stories have come out recently linking Americans with moves to Europe.

Looking around this morning, it's probably best to start with positive injury news, which unfortunately comes almost exclusively in terms of Villa missing players.
It seems that Bent, Heskey, Herd and possibly also Collins are out for Villa.

While the economy in Italy lurches from one crisis to another, there is an export market which shows no signs of a slump. Across Europe, it seems, there is a prized product of the peninsula which never sees demand dry up. An unerring rule of the football market appears to have been established: if you seek success and tactical acumen go out and hire a Italian coach.

What a result that was just when we needed it. I had said a week or so ago that the next three games could make or break our season just as everyone was writing Chelsea off, stating we were in a slump and a shadow of the side we used to be.
Three wins out of three against Newcastle, Valencia and last night against Manchester City has firmly put our season back on track!

Jozy Altidore and AZ will try to break free of their growing slump when they welcome struggling De Graafschap while Charles Kazlauskas and Helmond look to end their three-game slide at Volendam.

There are three reasons as to why Chelsea's form has improved in recent weeks and they are:

• Picking a settled side
• Playing a deeper defensive line
• Oriol Romeu

I guess it's always difficult at a big club like Chelsea to keep everyone happy. We have some big names here that would walk into other Premier League sides to command regular first team starts so it's always going to be hard and it would be easy to rotate players.

The Yanks at Rangers will look to bounce back from their current slump while Dominic Cervi and Morton visit second-place Falkirk.

OK let's get this going early this morning. Chelsea are in a slump, badly need a win, getting criticised all over the place, reports that the players are turning against AVB, we are asking to play a deeper defensive line and for now, AVB seems to be sticking to his guns.
So with the news that it appears Didier Drogba is ahead of Fernando Torres to be selected for this game tomorrow lunchtime, I am asking who YOU THINK, as the Chelsea fan reading this, needs to start the game to give us the best chance of getting a massive three points.

As usual after a defeat and lack of Chelsea goals, you can imagine reports, headlines and comments that people are making about Fernando Torres and it's doing my head in, it really is. Even Chelsea fans are having a pop and stating that he is "dried up" and not the player he used to be.
You see, he hasn't been the player he used to be because he is constantly having to drop deeper and deeper to get the ball because he isn't getting the service he needs.

Two things happened yesterday at the Bridge which hopefully will be a sign of things to come for the reason of the season.
I wrote earlier last week that in order to stop the rot and the supposed slump we were now in, AVB had to decide on the best eleven and stick with them and play them week in, week out.

(Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz)

Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of raves "Raves" about our favorite Philadelphia players. They need not be the team's best players, but they're guys and gals we like. Over the next two weeks, we continue the series again with some of the PSP writers and contributors favorite players of 2011.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has conceded that his side must return to winning ways quickly as their title hopes are quickly vanishing with each unsuccessful outing.

The Blues have lost four of their last seven matches in all competitions and according to reports, Villas-Boas was forced to call an extended dressing room meeting to urge for unity in these difficult times.

The more I think about our "slump" and dip in form at the moment, the more I keep thinking about our rotation policy. Let me explain.
At the moment, things are against us and we need to stop the rot sooner rather than later. I wrote a earlier in the week about getting back to basics as far as our defending is concerned and I really think the constant rotating players in our defensive line isn't helping our situation either.

Like I said in a previous post, I got out my 2004/5 season DVD last night to cheer myself up and watch a Chelsea side that new how to defend. On the bonus DVD there is an interview with Jose Mourinho at the end of that season, looking back at some of the headlines and comments from the press also.
One particular moment in that interview struck a chord with me when Chelsea TV's Gigi Salmon asked him about the negative press the side was getting for winning games 1-0 and not having a lot of flair.

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has urged owner Roman Abramovich to be patient with him as he seeks to drag the Blues out of their slump. The Blues crashed to a 2-1 defeat at home to rivals Liverpool in Sunday's big match with further questions being asked about the future of beleaguered boss Andre Villas-Boas.

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 2: Johnson back to haunt Blues as Villas-Boas' slump continues

Glen Johnson's 87th-minute winner continued Liverpool's fine away form and consigned Chelsea to a third defeat in five Barclays Premier League outings.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-11-20 17:59:03 from: The Mail

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

Liverpool will put Kop-flop striker Andy Carroll in a 12-month boot camp in a bid to salvage his Anfield ­career.
The £35million star's diet and ­drinking will be closely monitored – and he is even prepared to ditch his ­trademark ponytail as worried Kop chiefs plan a new clean-cut image for him.

by serieaweekly guest writer Matthew Coccoluto This Sunday will see Juventus travel to the San Paolo to take on Napoli and as always there are some interesting story lines coming into this matchup. Juventus are coming off a strong win against Inter last weekend and are hoping to remain the leagues only unbeaten team.

Has our annual November slump started early again?

Did our defense even come out of the locker room? What was going on? Arsenal's defense were a shambles as well but at least they seemed to get it together a bit after the half. We got worse. Not used to playing with eleven on the pitch anymore?

Game Time!

It's come down to this for the New York Red Bulls. No cushy, concrete confines of Red Bull Arena.

On the road, in Frisco, in the rain.

Hans Backe's team is typically winners there in their last 4 (3 wins), but Dallas was missing some hands on deck.

Dallas will try to shake the slump and as we learned in today's column by Jeff Carlisle "momentum" going into the playoffs means little.

Manchester United could take advantage of cricket's slump in popularity to exploit more commercial opportunities on the Asian sub-continent.

Luke Rodgers is calling for a victory tonight. (Getty Images)

It comes down to one final week for Major League Soccer. Week 32 is already underway after last night's 1-1 draw between DC United and the Portland Timbers. The team from the Rose City continues to fight on for another game while DC United sees their season and their playoff dreams come to an end.

Unfortunately, due to midweek craziness of school and work I have been unable to do my usual interview previews with other bloggers. I know, I know... we all love them so much. So I do apologize for that. Still, at this point, I think we should all have a fairly good grasp on the team the Timbers will be facing tonight.

Stopping Suarez, resting Rooney & ending their Anfield slump why Manchester United's safety-first approach against Liverpool worked

The two teams cancelled each other out as the biggest game in English football ended as a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to set out for

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-16 08:32:00 from: Goal

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

Stopping Suarez, resting Rooney & ending their Anfield slump why Manchester United's safety-first approach against Liverpool worked

The two teams cancelled each other out as the biggest game in English football ended as a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to set out for

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-16 08:32:00 from: Goal

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

Stopping Suarez, resting Rooney & ending their Anfield slump why Manchester United's safety-first approach against Liverpool worked

The two teams cancelled each other out as the biggest game in English football ended as a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to set out for

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-16 08:32:00 from: Goal

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

Stopping Suarez, resting Rooney & ending their Anfield slump why Manchester United's safety-first approach against Liverpool worked

The two teams cancelled each other out as the biggest game in English football ended as a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to set out for

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-16 08:32:00 from: Goal

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

Stopping Suarez, resting Rooney & ending their Anfield slump why Manchester United's safety-first approach against Liverpool worked

The two teams cancelled each other out as the biggest game in English football ended as a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to set out for

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-16 08:32:00 from: Goal

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

Stopping Suarez, resting Rooney & ending their Anfield slump why Manchester United's safety-first approach against Liverpool worked

The two teams cancelled each other out as the biggest game in English football ended as a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to set out for

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-16 08:32:00 from: Goal

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

Stopping Suarez, resting Rooney & ending their Anfield slump why Manchester United's safety-first approach against Liverpool worked

The two teams cancelled each other out as the biggest game in English football ended as a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to set out for

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-16 08:32:00 from: Goal

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

Stopping Suarez, resting Rooney & ending their Anfield slump why Manchester United's safety-first approach against Liverpool worked

The two teams cancelled each other out as the biggest game in English football ended as a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to set out for

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-16 08:32:00 from: Goal

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

Stopping Suarez, resting Rooney & ending their Anfield slump why Manchester United's safety-first approach against Liverpool worked

The two teams cancelled each other out as the biggest game in English football ended as a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to set out for

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-16 08:32:00 from: Goal

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