World's worst room service Corinthians are keeping their biggest star (literally) under house arrest in a bid to halt the seemingly unstoppable expansion of his waistline. Former Inter Milan star Adriano is being kept under lock and key at a hotel after the club decided to show tough love to their striker to help his [.

Adriano is both one of the most gifted strikers of his generation and one of the most disappointing, ballooning to Ronaldo's late-career playing weight right smack in the middle of his prime, among other, non-gravitational-field-related issues (drinking, partying, shooting people, etc). Now at Corinthians and fresh off an Achilles injury and platter of Happy Meals, he's back in trouble for being fat.

Corinthians have finally settled on what must be done to get melt away all the fat and the craziness: lock him in a hotel and force feed him healthy foods.

It's been almost a full year since Adriano joined Corinthians after his three-year contract with Roma was terminated seven months in.

After my piece in defence of Aaron Ramsey on Sunday, it seemed only fitting that whoscored.com would publish this piece today, which looks at the Premier League's most creative players since 2007.
It divides the number of minutes played by the chances that a player created from open play, producing a mixture of expected and surprising results.

By DAVID GUBALA

The Chicago Fire are now a good two weeks into their first phase of preseason camp and have been making all of the necessary adjustments as the start of the new 2012 campaign nears. Part of the preseason activity, though, has included shooting down rumors of a superstar Designated Player acquisition.

Venue: Ewood Park, Blackburn Date: 1st February 2012 Kick Off: 8.00pm Referee: Phil Dowd. Don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of the sight of Blackburn Rovers! We've played them three times already this season and of course they were never off the TV screens during the really vicious fan protests against their manager [.

As we enter February, the shortest month of the year (let me be the first to remind you that this year February has 29 days), Valencia's coaching staff must think this is some kind of sick joke. 8 games in 29 days. It's been done before, of course. But not quite like this. To start the month, Valencia host Barcelona at the Mestalla in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.

Fans of the New York Yankees have made Jim Hendry jokes for years. The longtime general manager of the Chicago Cubs could never replicate the success of the Yankees. But now, the joke is on the Yankees fans because the team has hired Hendry to be an assistant general manager.

According to reports, Hendry was given a multi-year contract and his job duties will mostly deal with aiding Brian Cashman, the GM of the Yankees.

Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com

If Sebastien Le Toux makes an appearance at PPL Park this summer for his second MLS All-Star Game, he won't be representing the home team. He'll be doing it as a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Philadelphia Union officially announced that they have dealt Le Toux to the Whitecaps, acquiring an undisclosed sum of allocation money in exchange for its leading scorer and 2010 MLS All-Star.

The 4th round FA Cup tie vs Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday promises to be another classic to add to the list of FA Cup classics previously played out down the years between the two most successful clubs in English football. In thirteen previous ties, Manchester United have lost just three times to Liverpool.

There's a report in the Daily Mirror that Newcastle are after Dutch international winger Eljero Elia on loan. Dutch International winger Eljero Elia The 26 times capped Dutch International only joined Juventus from Hamburg last summer, but has only played three times for the Italian club. Italy doesn't seem to have suited the winger too much, and we suppose Newcastle [.

Former Liverpool striker David Johnson has questioned the club's tactical handling of 35m striker Andy Carroll. Speaking to LFC TV, Johnson - who won the European Cup three times at Anfield - argued that Liverpool had not done enough over the last year to intergrate Carroll effectively into the team.

Courtesy of Fox Soccer, USA midfielder Clint Dempsey scores three times as Fulham beat Newcastle 5-2 at Craven Cottage. Clint Dempsey is sensational

The MLS SuperDraft is a bit of crapshoot, almost no matter where you are picking. If you happened to catch my article at SB Nation Soccer (link here), I tried to illustrate just how much of a crapshoot the draft really is. The later you get in the draft, predictably, the more of a crapshoot it becomes.

Clint Dempsey had the standout performance for National Teamers Abroad over the weekend, scoring three times as Fulham advanced 4-0 over Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup. Playing at home, Dempsey had Fulham's first goal eight minutes in, adding a second in the 61st and converting an 81st minute penalty to finish off the hat-trick.

The Legend of Clint Dempsey continues to grow at Craven Cottage.

Just over a month removed from eclipsing Brian McBride's record 36 career goals scored by an American in the English Premier League, the former Revolution midfielder pulled the trigger three times in a 4-0 FA Cup tournament victory over Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

United's under 18s fell behind three times but each time pegged their opponents back to earn a point and a few lessons against Bolton's under 18′s at Carrington this morning. In steadily worsening conditions throughout the 90 minutes, United failed to get into their stride and dominate possession like they had been doing in the [.

The Philadelphia Union has released its schedule for 2012. A downloadable file containing the entire schedule can be found here. With the addition of the Montreal Impact to the Eastern Conference this year, MLS has moved to a conference based schedule. Each team will play 34 games, but instead of the balance schedule we enjoyed last year, we will be seeing the following:

Due to the higher number of clubs in the Eastern Conference, each club will play a total of 25 conference matches.

United are 3.5 shots to gain their revenge on City in this weekend's derby clash at the Etihad and claim a place in the fourth fourth round of the FA Cup. Sir Alex Ferguson's side will be keen to banish the memory of their meeting in the league earlier in the season at Old Trafford which saw City register a 6-1 victory.

Liverpool play Manchester City three times over the next month, and the given the club's great recent record against the top teams in the league, fans will be confident that Kenny Dalglish's team can get results in all three games. Anfield legend Alan Hansen isn't so sure though, and he's predicted that City will knock Liverpool out of the Carling Cup.

Kenny Dalglish delighted with Liverpool's three goals from few chances

• Manager applauds Steven Gerrard's form against Newcastle • Dalglish denies return of Luis Suárez presents a dilemma Kenny Dalglish denied he will have a selection problem for Liverpool's next game, against Manchester City on Tuesday, with Luis Suárez available again after suspension, though he did concede it was ironic to score three times against Newcastle in a game where very few chances were created.

Back in November, Major League Soccer revealed they are shifting back to an unbalanced schedule for the 2012 season after using a balanced one for the past couple of years. Eastern Conference clubs will play seven of their conference opponents three times each (21 total games) and the remaining two conference opponents twice each (4 games).

It was all a bit of a rush. Fancy letting family stuff get in the way of football. What on earth is happening to me? Anyone would think it's Christmas or something.

So when I switched on the TV it took me a moment to get my bearings. First thing top left hand corner, read it three times just to make sure and remember to breathe.

Chelsea's £50million striker Fernando Torres has brushed off reports that the Blues could be looking to cut their losses and sell him in January.
The Spain international has endured a torrid time at Stamford Bridge since arriving from Anfield in January for a record-breaking fee, with goals and confidence in short supply.

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

West Ham are the latest club to be linked with a move for Crystal Palace's in-demand forward Wilfried Zaha, who has also been linked with a move to Liverpool in recent weeks.
The teenage forward caught the attention last season when he burst into the Palace first team and this season has once again proved his quality with a string of impressive performances.

By Alan Duffy

Yes it's a goal from practically the half-way line and yes it demonstrates impressive vision and technique from the goal-scorer. However, in this case, Ryan Jack's long-range goal for Abderdeen in their 2-1 win against St Johnstone is a rather tame affair, all things considered.

I write shortly before 3pm, the afternoon after the launch of So Paddy Got Up at the Tollington. My hands still tremble as I type. I've cleaned my teeth three times and had a tactical fry up yet still the sour taste of Wild Turkey trips off my tongue. It really was a pleasure to see so many of you and stop for a beer and a chat.

Winter is stupid. Why do we tolerate it? It's the John Terry of seasons. And I don't mean simply because it tries to make everything white.

I had the alarm chill problem this morning. The alarm went off. I stuck my hand out for another 9 minutes of blissful snooze which made me feel the chill in the air which made me want to not get up.

One of FIFA's 125 living legends of soccer passed away over the weekend to septic shock. He had been hospitalized three times in the past few months.At 57yo, the former World Cup star, had made 63 appearances for Brazil, notching 25 goals in that span. After his playing days finished, he went on to earn his MD, and spent time writing for the AP on social and political conditions as well as the
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Now that was the performance we wanted after a nervy week at Chelsea. We all knew that the next 9 days could define our season even at this early stage but we desperately needed a win. Newcastle away, especially this season is always a difficult game as I said in my match preview.
We got the win and I have to say, playing better than we have in recent weeks.