Chelsea lost the chance to consolidate their fourth place position in the league yesterday after they were humbled 2-0 by Everton at Goodison Park. Goals from Steven Pienaar and Denis Stracqualursi condemned Villas-Boas to his 6 loss of the season and saw Arsenal overtake them into 4th place after a 2-1 away over Sunderland.

Spanish U21 striker Xisco is still on Newcastle's books. Xisco 11 appearances for Newcastle since September of 2008 And the Spaniard keeps picking up £50K/week from Newcastle, and still has almost eighteen months of his five year contact to run. He was signed on the last day of the transfer window in early September of 2008, and through no fault of his own, his signing led to Kevin Keegan [.

Fernando Torres at his best, was an absolute terror. Just ask Nemanja Vidic. Or even the whole Manchester United team for that matter. There is no fluke that El Nino became the fastest Liverpool player to reach the 50-goal mark. His searing speed, excellent touch and great dribbling skills made him a Kop hero as soon as he arrived at Anfield.

For much of this season, Spurs number one Brad Friedel has quietly gone about his business and at times, solid performances across the back four have provided him with little to do. When called upon, the American is an uncomplicated keeper who has brought calm between the posts where once there was chaos.

Over the weekend, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish publicly praised returning striker Luis Suarez, gushing that he is 'loved and revered' at Anfield. Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher aside, the last non-Liverpudlian player to receive such acclaim and adulation was (arguably) Fernando Torres, but legend Alan Hansen believes that Suarez has now eclipsed the Spaniard's popularity.

Manchester United once again showed their "Never Die" attitude after successfully coming back from a three goals down to hold Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, providing a confidence boost despite the result creates a gap again with league leader Manchester City.

Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez once again acted as the Red Devils savior as the former bagged a brace, both from the spot kick, while the latter scored the decisive equalizer, which rescued important points for Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

Why Fernando Frequently Fails to Fire - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Useless. Flop. Goddamn waste of money. Adjectives are not too hard to come by when Fernando Torres is the topic of discussion. Few footballers have fallen as far and as fast as the former Liverpool hit man has in the past 2 seasons.

Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was often criticised for his dispassionate demeanour on the touchline. The ever-studious Spaniard would never celebrate when Liverpool scored, preferring instead to stay calm and analytical for the entire 90 minutes of practically every game. Some might argue that this approach is counter-productive, but in Dietmar Hamann's view, being calm on the sidelines

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has dismissed suggestions that the club will part ways with either Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres in the near future, insisting that both will have roles to play at Stamford Bridge.

Torres has struggled for goals since his £50 million move from Liverpool a year ago and his goal return has not been improving while Drogba has been on international duty with Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez was left furious when Tottenham left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto was allowed to remain on the pitch despite a high tackle that forced forward Franco Di Santo out of the Latics' 3-1 defeat at White Hart Lane.

With his side firmly rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, the only positive Martinez could reflect on was the mild nature of Di Santo's injury.

Jose Enrique has been excellent for Liverpool football club since arriving from Newcastle United, and he has (arguably) proven to the most consistent of all Kenny Dalglish's summer signings. John Aldridge is a big fan of the player, but he believes the Spaniard's form has tailed off a little over the last few weeks.

Two goals from Fernando Llorente has given Athletic Bilbao a 2-1 first-leg advantage in their Copa del Rey semi-final against giant-killers Mirandes, and seriously dented the Cinderella dreams of the third division team.

Llorente scored twice in the first half to seemingly put Athletic firmly in control of this tie.

Still warm and cuddly after Sunday but a midweek trip to a freezing Lancashire is not what was wanted, particularly to a Lancashire team who are in the process of turning their season around.

The recent beatings of both Liverpool teams is evidence of Bolton's turnaround. Add in the Cup win over Swansea and we can see tonight's game will be a challenge.

Still warm and cuddly after Sunday but a midweek trip to a freezing Lancashire is not what was wanted, particularly to a Lancashire team who are in the process of turning their season around.

The recent beatings of both Liverpool teams is evidence of Bolton's turnaround. Add in the Cup win over Swansea and we can see tonight's game will be a challenge.

After having been reducing to a flapping and floundering wreck in the Anfield penalty area, David De Gea is likely to have spent much of Sunday in a darkened room shaking at the prospect of being confronted with any of the further tall, muscle bound players the Premier League has to offer. But a twisted ankle suffered by Anders Lindegaard means that Sir Alex Ferguson is likely to be left with no option but to force the young Spaniard to confront his demons in his sides clash with Stoke the evening.

They think they're experts. They think we think we're the experts. "He's rubbish!" they say. And us, the good ones we think to ourselves are summoned by our blind loyalty rational thinking to reply: "but he's good ... give him time." And we repeat this until we get exhausted.

They think they're experts. They think we think we're the experts. "He's rubbish!" they say. And us, the good ones we think to ourselves are summoned by our blind loyalty rational thinking to reply: "but he's good ... give him time." And we repeat this until we get exhausted.

Serbian World Nº1 Tennis player NOVAK DJOKOVIC starts the 2012 Tennis season as he finished last, winning the 2012 AUSTRALIAN OPEN 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 & 7-5 Spanish player & World Nº 2 RAFAEL NADAL is a historical match that lasted nearly 6 hours. Rafael Nadal The Spaniard started well to take the first set, but Djokavic reacted over-powering Nadal with his serve & stroke shots to take the

The Ox in the box will be quick as a fox to knock of Villa's socks

Jack Wilshere was set for a return mid February setting the medical world abuzz with his miraculous return. Then he suffered a stress fracture in the same ankle during training and now the story is he's lost for the rest of the season or at least a good portion of it.

By Alan Duffy

Considering all the pre-match hype concerning Anton Ferdinand and John Terry's long-awaited reacquaintance, you would have thought that the game itself might have fizzled a bit more. However, instead, it was a flat affair, with Juan Mata outstanding out for all the right reasons, and Daniel Sturridge making a name for himself for all the wrong ones.

The Spaniard Manuel Almunia has dropped to third-choice goalkeeper at Arsenal, but in a rare interview he has stated that he is simply keeping to his contract and has had no thoughts of leaving, in fact he hasn't even spoken to Arsene Wenger about his position at the club! The two Poles, Wojciech Szczesny and [.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina is never one to shy away from publicly voicing his opinion about the club, and his latest comments are no exception. The Spaniard is entitled to his opinion, but history shows that when things aren't going well for Liverpool, he starts making public statements about how bad things are at the club, and - indirectly - puts himself in the shop window.

Being blamed for some of the goals that Manchester United conceded in the last few matches, David De Gea doesn't only lost his starting spot to Anders Lindegaard but might also be asked by the club to do an eye operation.

According to the latest reports in England, the Red Devils are preparing a full-time optometrist to treat De Gea, who is actually having a problem with his vision as he always wears glasses since kids, only to replace it with contact lenses during matches.

By Chris Wright

"Umm...R?"

According to the Guardian, David De Gea may need laser eye surgery at the end of the season to correct his long-sightedness.

The Spaniard has worn glasses all his life and currently plays in contact lenses to correct his vision, though Manchester United's in-house optometrist has apparently recommended that he be pencilled in for surgery this summer after putting it off while still at Atletico Madrid last March.

Morning all,

let's start with early team news ahead of Sunday's game against United and there's nothing good regarding Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard will miss the game, Arsene says he has 'no chance' of playing and the earliest we'll be seeing him is against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Clearly that's a big blow.

The Manchester United goalkeeper seems set to undergo eye surgery in the summer, just after the end of the English Premiership campaign and just before Spain's Olympic football participation begins.

The goalkeeper is unlikely to be called up by Spain for the 2012 UEFA European Championships.

Fernando Torres has certainly been putting in the hard work on the training pitch for Chelsea, with this hard graft appearing to pay dividends in recent games during which he has almost been able to capitalise upon the absence of Didier Drogba by displaying a few good performances up front, but Torres has still failed to win over the Chelsea fans by doing the one job that is expected of him: scoring goals.

Fascinating comments in the Mirror from former Chelsea boss, and new Paris Saint-Germain boss Carlo Ancelotti about Fernando Torres.

PSG is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority and have money to spend. They are in the market for a center forward and Ancelotti says that he has been offered many of Europe's top strikers including Torres:

"I have received hundreds of phone calls from agents offering me players ever since I signed with PSG.

With just two weeks of the January transfer window left, Tottenham Hotspur yesterday made their first signing. Iago Falque's loan from Juventus was made permanent for a fee rumoured to be around £1.5m. The young Spaniard was immediately sent out on loan to Championship club Southampton.

OK so it's not the major striker or defender signing that some have been looking for but the club announced its first deal of the year with the news that Yago Falque has signed on a permanent deal from Juventus.

The 21 year old Spaniard has been with the club since the start of the campaign with the intention of completing a season long loan.

It has indeed happened. We have reached the magical plateau of 40 points, and are thus unlikely to be relegated. Three cheers. As for this fixture, it was a right odd one, with the Chels looking equal parts sterling and benumb, particularly in defense. Chances, there were a fair few for both sides.

By Alan Duffy

Chelsea 1-0 Sunderland Premier League 14th January 2012

Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien returned to first team duty for Chelsea against Sunderland on Saturday, making a welcome substitute appearance after missing the first half of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.

Happy Friday the 13th to you.

Of course it's only unlucky if you're in certain parts of the world and if you believe in superstition. And the only superstition I believe in these days is the one Stevie Wonder belts out. Still, I hope your evening is filled with all the beautiful things this day brings: escaped lunatics wearing hockey masks and eviscerating people with a chainsaw.

Real Madrid will allow Esteban Granero to leave the Santiago Bernabeu on loan this month, with the midfielder a reported target for Liverpool.
The 25-year-old has made only five appearances for Real this season and is desperate for more regular first-team action.
According to SER Deportivos, Los Blancos are now offering Granero to potential suitors, with a view to a loan agreement for the remainder of the season.

Mail: Jose Enrique hails Kenny Dalglish

Liverpool defender Jose Enrique believes the freedom manager Kenny Dalglish gives to the players helps makes them a better team. The Spaniard has been Dalglish's best summer recruit.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2012-01-11 08:19:39 from: The Mail

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

Fernando Torres, Chelsea's No. 10.

The Spaniard again failed to find the score sheet, but provided the necessary creativity that resulted in a late torrent of goals and a largely flattering 4-0 victory over visiting Portsmouth in the third round of the FA Cup. We weren't anywhere near our best, but we'll take it.

Liverpool Lose 3-0 At Etihad

Suarez begins his 8 match ban... Manchester City put three goals past Liverpool on Tuesday night despite the away side retaining a lot of possession. A goalkeeping mishap and a dubious penalty helped City on their way but despite this, Liverpool still couldn't find a goal to put the pressure on Mancini's side.

Suarez begins his 8 match ban...Manchester City put three goals past Liverpool on Tuesday night despite the away side retaining a lot of possession. A goalkeeping mishap and a dubious penalty helped City on their way but despite this, Liverpool still couldn't find a goal to put the pressure on Mancini's side.

Most coaches, managers or buisness leaders offer the first level of experience in an orientation or apprenticeship by observing. Sitting on the sideline while watching a more experienced mentor often offers an initial level of insight on 'how to do things around here'.
As important as observation (sitting and watching) or theoretical experience (lectures or reading), there is no experience more valuable than practical experience - getting your hands dirty and learning from trial and error.

Liverpool's usually dependable keeper Pepe Reina could have guessed it wasn't his night when he let Sergio Aguero's effort squirm under his body to give Manchester City the lead in this evening's match. As if to reinforce the point, when the Spaniard attempted to blast the ball into the net in disgust afterwards, it his [.