Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com

Planning for summer friendlies is already in the works, and it appears that the New York Red Bulls will be welcoming one of the Premier League's top sides to Red Bull Arena for an exhibition.

According to the New York Post, the Red Bulls will play against Tottenham either July 31 or Aug.

As our own malcontentjake and countless others have demonstrated repeatedly, the numerical shorthand for soccer formations which we're all accustomed to (e.g. 4-4-2) is almost completely useless. Whether you have a 'band of 4' defenders or a 'band of 5' is much less important than what those defenders are doing at any given time.

James McClean's Ireland international career has been given the green light by FIFA.
The move clears the way for the Derryman to be included in the Ireland squad to be announced by Giovanni Trapattoni tomorrow for the upcoming friendly against the Czech Republic In Lansdowne Road on February 29th.

During the past five seasons, Manchester United's full-time left-back/part-time captain/wannabe winger has played more minutes than any other outfield player. Now though, the effects of all the...
Continue to the full story

The winning goal for the Taranga Lions was all Gervinho in the 44th minute. The Arsenal winger robbed the ball well behind the half line, and then turned on the burners to blow past the Malian defense down the left channel, cutting in for a superb finish.

Arsenal cannot wait to have him back.

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott has dedicated his team's recent 7-1 mauling of Blackburn Rovers to their under-pressure manager Arsene Wenger.

The Gunners dominated the relegation-threatened side last weekend, which was the first time that they collected all three points this year. The lopsided victory means that Arsenal are now just three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who threw away a three-goal advantage against Manchester United on Sunday.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Even though TSG 1899 Hoffenheim was unceremoniously dumped out of the DFB Pokal quarterfinals by second-tier Greuther Furth on Wednesday, the match carried significance for one American.

U.S. Under-23 winger Joe Gyau, made his first-team debut for Hoffenheim, entering as an 80th-minute substitute for U.

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

By ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif. – The Colorado Rapids squeaked past Chivas USA, 1-0, in a physical preseason scrimmage between the two sides on Tuesday.

Second-half substitute Quincy Amarikwa put the Rapids ahead in the 85th minute.

By Chris Wright

"There's contact...juuuuust...hold on...wait a second...there."

Ne'er does a week go by without some dime-a-dozen pundit rolling it out. That sodding word. 'Contact'. A word which is quickly becoming the bane of my very existence.

Some areas of the press are suggesting that it hasn't been such a stellar year for Gareth Bale in comparison with last season. Those reports tend to just point to the winger's hat trick in the San Siro but they conveniently forget that this has been a much more consistent campaign for the Welshman.

...well that's according to our favourite newspaper the Daily Mail anyway!. Being a Chelsea fan, hardly a day goes by without reading a ridiculous headline from this lot as they look to fill their pages and websites with headlines to grab peoples attention with little basis for the story!.
In this instance, they claim the following:

Chelsea face a battle to keep Daniel Sturridge after Arsenal took significant steps towards a shock summer swoop.

Former Liverpool winger John Barnes has agreed to manage one of the 'franchise' teams in India's first professional football tournament. The tournament - scheduled to begin on th 24th March — will contain six 'franchises', and will be organised by Celebrity Management Group and the Indian Football Association.

Pepe wished he hadn't pulled Gareth's finger
Monday night was not Gareth Bale's.
While a 0-0 draw with Liverpool at Anfield is a good result for Tottenham, and the match itself was arguably one of the better stalemates you're likely to see in terms of energy and commitment, it is a game Bale might soon wish to put behind him.

Newcastle have been linked with at least two young players at Crystal Palace over the last six months. Nathanial Clyne excellent young full-back One is Wilfried Zaha, the 19 year-old Ivory Coast born winger/striker that Newcastle showed interest in during January, and it would not be surprising if Newcastle go after the player in the [.

After a disappointing start to this calender year, Arsenal were finally able to secure their first Premier League win of 2012, picking up 3 vital points against Blackburn Rovers in a 7-1 demolition at The Emirates.

Once again, Robin van Persie showed just how important he is to this Arsenal side scoring three and making two others during a numbingly-cold afternoon in North London.

Josh Gatt is not a player many American soccer fans have seen play, but he is already considered one of the best young Americans playing in Europe.

The speedy Michigan native has enjoyed an outstanding start to his professional career, going from 18-year-old newcomer to 20-year-old transfer target, having already made one upward move from Austrian club SCR Rheindorf Altach to Norwegian champions Molde.

As a player, former Spurs and Newcastle winger Chris Waddle was on the winning side at Anfield only once during his entire playing career. The winger - nicknamed 'Magic Chris' by Marseille fans during his stint in France - hopes that Harry Redknapp's Spurs team can do the business in tonight's hotly anticipated game at Anfield, but irrespective of the result, Waddle believes Liverpool are moving

Well, we kind of had an idea that Arsenal were playing well but not getting the results. It was a matter of details according to Arteta, Wenger, and others. It all came good in this one as Blackburn were the hapless victims of a rampant Arsenal side.

Chance conversion was another issue which was put to bed, at least temporarily, with 7 out of 8 shot on target registering on the scoreboard.

By Alan Duffy

Wigan Athletic 1-1 Everton Premier League 4th February 2012

A late Victor Anichebe goal was enough to rob perpetual strugglers Wigan of a vital and rare victory. The defeat leaves the Latics bottom of the table and looking like dead certs for the drop.

By Alan Duffy

Stoke City 0-1 Sunderland Premier League 4th February 2012

Martin O'Neill's Black Cats continued their ascent of the table on Saturday against Stoke, although the very harsh sending-off of Robert Huth on half-time was undeniably a game-changing moment.

Henry to start?

Horrible is the word to describe our last meeting against Blackburn Rovers. Steve Kean's side only had two shots on goal and still managed to beat us 4-3. That was a dark day in our season but nothing compared to the run of form we are in now. The draw at Bolton was the first league point we picked up this season and we're now facing an uphill battle to find our way back into Champions League spots.

In the same way that a classroom descends into carnage when a teacher leaves the room for any extended period, the Tottenham dressing room has become a violent and confusing place while Harry Redknapp is away attending to his legal affairs. Yesterday, Spurs winger Danny Rose posted a video on his Twitter showcasing teammate Sandro's full range of high kicks and martial arts poses.

In our last poll, we asked whether the club needed to sign a striker, winger, attacking midfielder, or holding midfielder in the transfer window to shore up one of the areas of weakness that had become apparent over the course of the 2011-12 season. An overwhelming majority of nearly 70% said that what the club needed more than anything was a striker, while 17% said winger, 8% said attacking midfielder, and only 5% said holding midfielder.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish recently launched an impassioned defence of 20m winger Stewart Downing, arguing that he was a 'better player than he thought he was' when he signed for the club. Kenny's former team-mate Mark Lawrenson has a different view.Speaking on Today FM recently, Lawro was more truthful than Dalglish about Downing's impact at Liverpool so far:"The last few times I have seen

Sean Donahue issued a short announcement last night over at New England Soccer Today explaining that New England Revolution officials have denied the reports he gathered from his source concerning the way the Monsef Zerka contract situation was handled. Through the media relations department, the team asserts that they made efforts to keep the Moroccan winger at the club.

On Thursday, the New England Revolution contacted New England Soccer Today to deny the claim of the unnamed source contained in the "Zerka Not Returning" article published on Feb. 1.

In the aforementioned article, the source told New England Soccer Today that Revolution head coach Jay Heaps and general manager Michael Burns "never had serious discussions to try to bring [Monsef] Zerka back.

By Chris Wright

This one's for JS; a GIF or two of Blackburn winger Junior Hoilett's awful, downright shameful attempted penalty con against Newcastle last night that eventually led to Ryan Taylor getting booked for having the gumption to be majorly pissed off by the Canadian's little flop.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

In the hours following the Union's official announcement of their decision to sell Sebastien Le Toux to the Vancouver Whitecaps, the French striker who leaves Philadelphia as the club's statistical leader in nearly every measurable offensive category, showed the professionalism, character, and emotion that made him such a beloved figure in Philadelphia.

Time for a rest?

Midweek Premier League match. Haven't had that in a while. Tonight, Arsenal travel to Bolton looking to capitalise on the yesterday's results. I say results when it's actually only a single result. That of Chelsea's draw away to Swansea. Effectively, they've gained a point over us, both by the result and the fact that we lost ours when we went to Liberty Stadium.

Arsenal's newest midfielder Thomas Eisfeld has made it known that he is proud to be chosen as a Gunner, particularly as he aims to strike a partnership with Tomas Rosicky a man he grew up watching at Borussia Dortmund.

The 19-year old Eisfeld arrived from Dortmund yesterday to complete his move to North London ahead of the transfer deadline and after being unveiled, the youngster pledged to make both his current and former club proud.

By Chris Wright

Here's Chelsea's latest acquisition, promising young Belgian winger Kevin De Bruyne (who definitely has a whiff of the 'The Sherminator' about him), holding his new uniform aloft for the cameras at Cobham after signing from Genk for £6.7 million earlier today.

By Chris Wright

The Sky Sports News 'Babelcopter' takes to the skies once again!

What with it being Transfer Deadline Day and all, we diligent folks at Pies are going to endeavour to keep you abreast of all the confirmed moves, rubber-stamped loans and the most goddamn ludicrous rumours that crop up until the window shuts tonight or at least until we can't be arsed any more.

Well after signing Gary Cahill, it hasn't taken Chelsea long to get their business done before the game tonight as the Belgian side have announced that we have signed Belgian International Kevin De Bruyne on a five and a half year deal for a reported £7m. DeBruyne will remain with Genk on loan until the end of the season.

The Arsenal winger Theo Walcott says that the comeback win was needed to cheer up the fans, and he is desperate to win his first trophy with the Gunners this season. He was actually asked if he would prefer that Arsenal ended up in the Top Four or to win the FA Cup. He replied: [...]

Quite an entertaining story circulating from Sky Sports today stating that the Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has denied that winger Stewart Downing was signed from Aston Villa based on a fake YouTube video in which Downing is shown kicking balls into 5 different wheelie bins.

The video is so fake its quite unbelievable, so its surprising to even hear the Liverpool chairman commenting on the matter.

Liverpool desperately need one or two creative attacking players and Werder Bremen winger Marko Marin is once again being linked with a move to Anfield. With only two days of the transfer window remaining, what are the chances of a transfer actually going ahead in January?One thing is for sure: Liverpool have definitely been interested in the played in the past, as Marin told Bild a few months

January was another interesting month at the Lamex Stadium. After an unbeaten December and with Stevenage now in the shake up for the League 1 play-offs, Graham Westley was a wanted man. GW and his team were snapped up by Preston North End after weeks of uncertainty over his future. A new era has begun at Stevenage with Gary Smith appointed as the new manager.

If you carefully select portions of this game you can make a video highlighting many of Arsenal's major problems. With another selection you could also show the reasons that make the Gunners such a great team to watch and support. It was a classic Cup tie and one that will remain in fans' memories for years to come if it can spark a run of form.

The Agent of Juventus winger Milos Krasic agent has reiterated that he wants to leave the club in the January transfer window. Krasic has been linked with a whole host of clubs over the last couple of weeks, and as usual, Liverpool's name has been in the mix. Kenny Dalglish's team could definitely do with another winger, but whether the interest is genuine remains to be seen.

By Alan Duffy

Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa FA Cup 29th January 2012

With Aston Villa going in at half-time two goals up, Arsene Wenger would no doubt have been preparing himself for a mountain of abuse from the Emirates crowd for the rest of the afternoon.