Welcome to Thursday, footy fans! We’re on the downhill slope of the week and it’s been a good one! We’ve got a slightly Yanks centric DKA today, from the USMNT getting their third win in a row last night, to Bolton signing Tim Ream to the rivalry between FC Dallas and Houston heating up, there’s plenty of news for you this morning! Here’s your Thursday edition of the Daily Kick Around!

U.S. Men’s National Team

Some U.S. fans might not believe it, but I hope we’re all smiling today after the third win in a row for Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad. The boys in red, white and blue took on Panama last night in their first international friendly with the country. And they came away with a victory! Check out my game notes here, along with Graham Zusi’s first international goal!

English Premier League

We’ve all pretty much known it was going to happen, but it was officially announced this morning that the New York Red Bulls and the Bolton Wanderers had reached an agreement for defender Tim Ream. The 24-year-old American had recently trained with the Wanderers, as well as West Brom and Arsenal. Congrats to Tim and good luck in England!

Speaking of Yanks in Europe, USMNT player Jonathan Spector says he’s ready to be back in the EPL with his current team, Birmingham FC. Despite many changes in the squad and the front office staff, Spector says the Blues are doing well and are coming together as a team to fight their way back out of regulation.

Are you a big Clint Dempsey fans? The ladies here at Aerys Soccer are; that’s why we were pretty interested in a tweet from footie news site, Goal. They tweeted this morning to be on the look out for the premier of a Clint Dempsey diary segment Friday. We’re definitely excited.

From Americans to Russians: after Arsenal’s loss to Manchester United this weekend – in which some put some of the blame of the loss on Andrei Arshavin – coupled with what seems to be an exodus of Russian players from the league, one has to wonder if EPL is favorable for Russian players as of late?

Major League Soccer

Did anyone else notice the fan at Camp Nou wearing the MLS Cup beanie during the CDR game between Real Madrid and Barcelona? We sure did.

So, not only did Geoff Cameron’s red card last night probably fuel the fires between USMNT and Panama, it’s also heated up the Texas MLS rivalry as well. Cameron, who plays for Houston Dynamo, was sent off with a straight red during the match after fouling Blas Perez, who was just signed by FC Dallas. The debate has been ongoing about this card and Cameron has even fired back, claiming Perez dived to draw the card. What do you guys think? Diving or fouling a player with clear goal scoring opportunity? Check out the highlights and you tell us!

La Liga

Barca may have beaten league rivals Real Madrid recently in the Colpa del Rey, but that victory didn’t come without a price. It seems the Catalans will have to face Villareal this weekend without Alex Sancehz and Andres Iniesta. Iniesta suffered a muscle tear and will be out for at least three week.

TGIF! It’s almost the weekend footy fans, rejoice! The US Women’s National Team Olympic qualifiers kick off today, the LA Galaxy have officially re-signed David Beckham but apparently have their eyes set on another English star, and Zinedine Zidane is speaking out in defense of Jose Mourinho and Pepe. All that and more, here’s your Daily Kick Around!

US Women’s National Team

The US women set out today on their journey to the London Olympics, with their first qualifier taking place in Vancouver. The USWNT will face the Dominican Republic today, Guatemala on Sunday and Mexico on Tuesday. Best of luck to the ladies of the USA!

Major League Soccer

Yesterday was a big day for the LA Galaxy. They announced the re-signing of English footballer David Beckham, who will be staying with the Galaxy for at least two more years. But that’s not what is buzzing around this morning. Now rumors that LA is interested in English star Frank Lampard are being reported all over the internet. While there is no way LA gets Lampard in the near future, it’s possible a few years down the road they could pick him up–I would have to imagine after Beckham’s career in LA ends. But for now, we’ll continue to feed the rumor mill!

The New York Red Bulls are preparing themselves to lose top defender Tim Ream, as he is expected to sign with a team in the EPL by the end of January. They also might lose striker Juan Agudelo, who’s future is also in limbo. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out over the next couple of weeks!

La Liga

Real Madrid star Pepe has apologized for stomping on Lionel Messi’s foot in their Copa del Rey match against Barcelona, saying the act was involuntary. I’m not sure if you saw the stomp or not, but I don’t know how something like that is involuntary, unless he had some kind of spasm–I guess that’s possible? I’m a Madrid fan and even I was not happy with what Pepe did. Who would be? That kind of act takes away from the beautiful game.

Well, apparently Zinedane Zidane disagrees with me, as he has come out in defense of Pepe and coach Jose Mourinho. He said, “Pepe is a player you almost never hear a squeak from off the pitch. He’s a charming lad, very polite. But when he goes on the pitch, he is obsessed with winning and this anxiety to win sees him make mistakes.” Not too surprising of a defense for a player who has also made mistakes on the pitch.

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I hope most of you had the chance to sleep in this Monday morning! Lots to talk about today, from defensive changes at Bolton to the “old boys” returning to the EPL and the role MLS plays in their successful return, here’s your Daily Kick Around.

English Premier League

After four years with the Bolton Wanders, England national defender Gary Cahill has completed his transfer to Chelsea. The 26-year-old cost about $11 million, and is clearly very excited about the move. “It is a club that looks to win trophies season in, season out, and it is a big opportunity for me to be a part of that. Opportunities like this you can’t turn down.”

The Wanderers are hoping to fill Cahill’s spot with American defender Tim Ream. The 24-year-old played for the New York Red Bulls in MLS last season, along with some USMNT playing time. According to manager Owen Coyle, Ream is “a player that we would love to bring to the football club, and hopefully in the next few days that can come to fruition.” The biggest challenge will be getting his international work permit, but I’m sure someone will pull some strings to make it happen!

Apparently Thierry Henry’s return to Arsenal hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies like it was his first game back. Henry was involved in an angry interaction with a Gunners fan after their shocking loss to Swansea on Sunday. A club spokesman said Henry made a comment to the fan about always supporting the team, but it sounds like he may have been a littler more enraged than the club would like us to believe.

Speaking of players returning to the EPL, ESPN UK’s “Pardon The Interruption” had some interesting insights into why these “old boys” like Robbie Keane and Henry were finding success in their return to the EPL. They even touch on Landon Donovan’s return to Everton. You might want to have a seat when you watch this…they actually give MLS credit for these players’ good form.

Donovan has been performing well since going on loan to Everton, but the Toffees are still desperately lacking attacking power. This week, former LA Galaxy player and USMNT forward Edson Buddle is on trial with Everton. Buddle had been doing well at German club Ingolstadt, but a coaching change resulted in an early exit from the second division side. Would Buddle be a good fit for the Toffees? I think he could be successful there, but he’s got to prove himself first!

US Women’s National Team

The roster for the USWNT 2012 Olympic Qualifying squad is out! Pia Sundhage doesn’t have any big surprises from the team we saw in the World Cup. All the favorites are back, including Hope Solo, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. Check out the full roster here!

Scottish Premier League

A man was arrested in Scotland after racially abusing two Rangers FC players on Twitter, including USMNT midfielder Maurice Edu. Good to see police cracking down on this unacceptable behavior. Racism has no place anywhere, and especially not in soccer. Twitter is a great tool for interacting with players, but it’s incredibly sad and disgusting to see it used this way.

The first week of the New Year is nearly over and what a week it’s been! From the fiasco of rumors claiming Rooney was leaving United, to Clint Dempsey joining twitter, footy fans have had their worth of news. Here’s your Daily Kick Around!

English Premier League

It seems that every time Wayne Rooney isn’t in the starting line up for Manchester United, the tabloids like to claim he’s leaving United. The rumors reached a fever pitch yesterday after United’s poor performance during the week and Twitter rumblings of a article from The Independent that claimed Roon was out. The club and player took action though, releasing this statement late yesterday reaffirming fans that club and player are committed to each other. Whew.

More Americans in the EPL? It’s good news if you ask me! Amid various rumors about Robbie Rogers, Brek Shea and Juan Agudelo, it’s now coming to light the Bolton Wanderers would like to add another Yank to their ranks in the former of NY Red Bulls defender Tim Ream.

La Liga

News is a little slow in La Liga this week. What we did find for you for today is a little article from Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets. In the interview, the midfielder talks about how the Spanish giants are not happy with always keeping things the same and are always looking to improve their style of play.

Major League Soccer

It was a rough week for L.A. Galaxy’s defender Omar Gonzalez. After finally getting a call up from USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, Gonzalez opted out in favor of a two-month loan with German side Nuremberg. But his first day of training ended horribly after a collision with fellow US International Timmy Chandler resulted in a torn ACL. Gonzalez was flown back to the US for surgery, ending the hopes of the loan. Here’s hoping for a quick recovery for Omar!

MLS SuperDraft is coming! Is this your first SuperDraft or do you need a little clue into what to expect this year? SB Nation has an in-depth look of what you can really expect to come out of the MLS draft this year.

U.S. Men’s National Team

In what some USMNT fans are calling the best news of the week, fan-favorite Clint Dempsey has finally caved – even after he said he wouldn’t – and made himself a Twitter account. In sight we’ve had so far? Clint has a nickname for EVERYONE, he really does love to fish and his children are so adorable. Check it out and follow him at @clint_dempsey!

Transfers, transfers and you guessed it…more transfers! As the new year approaches, teams across Europe are looking to shuffle their rosters to improve for the second half of their season. Here is Wednesday’s Daily Kick Around.

La Liga

Spanish newspaper Marca, which is not always the most reliable source for football news, claim that Barca super star David Villa may be made available for a January transfer.  Manager Pep Guardiola denied the report and I can see why, given Villa has scored 32 goals in 75 appearances since his move to the club in summer 2010.

Real Madrid seem to have recovered from their defeat against Barcelona over the weekend.  On Tuesday, they beat Ponferradina 2-0 in the 4th round of the Copa del Rey.

English Premier League

Czech Republic native Tomas Rosicky may make a move to Bundesliga Club Wolfsburg in January.  The 31 year old is currently with Arsenal but has only made three appearances with the Gunners.  His manager has played down the rumors, which have been circulating since summer.

Roman Pavlyuchenko, currently of Tottenham, has failed to secure a regular role in the starting 11 for his team.  His frustration led him to seek out other opportunities, which include a possible return to his former club Spartak Moscow.  Reports indicate he has been offered to Queens Park Rangers.

The biggest rumor out this week, although probably not too surprising, is that Chelsea are looking to rid themselves of the out-of-form striker Fernando Torres.  Chelsea stole the spotty Spaniard from Liverpool last January in a whopping £50million move, yet supposedly Chelsea is set to let him go for a mere £20 million.  Ouch!

Unfortunate news for Manchester United’s Darren Fletcher, who has been diagnosed with a chronic bowel disease.  The midfielder was out from March to September, due to complications from the illness, which has no cure.  His ailment went into a brief remission and allowed the midfielder to get back into the lineup.  However, Fletcher is out once again, adding to United’s already growing list of injured players, and is aggressively seeking a way to keep the disease from affecting his ability to remain an active player.

Major League Soccer

NY Red Bulls player Tim Ream has been training with EPL clubs West Brom and Bolton since the end of the MLS season.  Both teams are showing an interest in the young starlet for a possible spring transfer.  Erik Soler, sporting director for the Red Bulls, has clearly stated that Ream is not available.

Argentine midfielder Mauro Rosales is staying with the Seattle Sounders after signing a multi-year contract with the club.

Women’s Professional Soccer

Big news today as the U.S. Soccer Federation has given a provisional approval to WPS as a first division league come 2012.  The rules require a minimum of eight teams, but they are making an exception considering WPS has only five teams.  The approval will become final once undisclosed conditions have been met.

Serie A

 Inter Milan has moved up to 7th place, mostly due to Japan international Yuto Nagatomo’s spectacular performance.  His second half goal clinched the match against Genoa, pleasing the Nerazzurri manager Claudio Ranieri.

FIFA Club World Cup

Neymar, whose growing reputation as a formidable striker continues to impress, as he helped Santos defeat Kashiwa Reysol and advance to the finals.

It started quick and heated. Honestly, I felt like I had unpaused the game from Saturday when the U.S. Men’s National Team took on Honduras. When the USMNT took on Ecuador Tuesday in New York at Red Bull Arena, they came out hunger and looking fit.

Brek Shea, who is becoming the U.S. darling, was straight away causing trouble. And just like that, not even two minutes into the match, Shea and the U.S. boys had a look on goal as Jozy Altidore was on the end of some good passing, but the keeper was in the way of the first goal being notched.

Just as he had in the match against Honduras, Altidore was showing that constant play was doing him wonders. He was providing threats straight out of the gate.

I found myself stunned. It was the fourth minute and Danny Williams pushed up, laid a ball out to Shea and he tested the keeper with a cracking shot from range.  Whether he was prepared for it or not, the Ecuadorian keeper was getting his work out early.

Excuse me, who was this USMNT team and can we keep them forever?

The pressure continued and in the 12th minute, it started coming from both teams. Steve Cherundolo found himself chasing down a speedy Montero who broke free enough to test U.S. keeper Tim Howard. But it skirted in front of goal and no one was able to capitalize.

After that, both teams began to realize that slowing the game down would help. It didn’t stop the U.S. from creating chances though. Altidore and Dempsey continued to pressure the Ecuadorian back line, but there was still no finish.

Ecuador wasn’t so spectacular in the opening minutes of the game, but it doesn’t mean they weren’t still making impressions on the U.S. back line. But I just can’t ignore the fact that the USMNT were stealing the show.

In the 28th minute, Shea and Maurice Edu showed some great 1-2 movement in the box, but unfortunately Edu hit the ball straight at the keeper and it was collected easily.

Things lulled. Even the crowd started to simmer a bit.

There was a spark from Ecuador midway through, but the USMNT back line was cool and able to defuse attacks easily.

In the 40th minute, Altidore had a look on goal but was taken down in the box by what appeared to be an elbow to the head. It seemed to be pretty rough, but the ref said play on and the U.S. were denied what looked to be a deserved penalty.

But they wouldn’t let the call stop them from pulling the ball back and a great run of play from Chandler resulted in a corner for the U.S.  The dying minutes of the half saw a great counter from Ecuador but a bad pass from Manchester United star Valencia broke the play apart.

Tim Howard and Oguchi “Gooch” Onyewu provided the last great bit of defense for the end of the half and the game was tied 0-0.

Four changes were made at the half for the U.S. Michael Bradley seemed a bit livelier than he did Saturday and automatically had a great touch to Dempsey who tried to put the ball through to sub Juan Agudelo, but the play was shut down.

As exciting as the play was from the U.S. in the first half, that’s how boring it seemed to be getting in the second half. One could not help but notice that without Altidore and Shea, it seemed a bit flat.

Except for Dempsey, who seemed determined to try every trick he could to help get the U.S. a goal.

The USMNT started to show threads of slight disorganization near the 60th minute as Jonathan Spector seemed to be having a rough night. And a few times, he wasn’t the only one in the U.S. defense. Or in the midfield for that matter.

Old habits began to peak through and I personally found myself chewing on my nails and trying to not swear. But all was not completely lost. I might have started to panic a bit at some plays, but things seemed to be solid in the USMNT. Timmy Chandler continued to be a stand out and prove his worth in the shaky left-back position and DeMarcus Beasley was pushing up through the midfield to help create some needed chances for the USMNT.

But it would be all for not; a tune most USMNT fans are used to. In a move that caught the USMNT off guard in the 78th minute, Ecuador put a ball in and Tim Ream miscued, allowing Ecuador forward Corozo to head a solid ball past Howard. Once again, the U.S. had been fighting and had nothing to show for it.

It was a battle for the boys in red for the rest of the match; a battle of defense, possession of the ball and creating that needed chance to tie it up. But it was all for naught. Klinsmann’s record notched his third loss out of five games.

We could talk about the lapse in defense or the loss of possession in the midfield, but what is the glaring fault in the USMNT at the moment is lack of goals. Dempsey seems to be a one-man machine for the frontline and it’s clear that he can’t be our sole goal scoring opportunity. Hope lies in Altidore’s continued improvement and the star of the hour, Shea. But goals, goals and more goals need to be pulled out Klinsmann’s bag of tricks to help out the USMNT squad.

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