These days, Everton needs Landon Donovan a lot more than the Los Angeles Galaxy captain needs the Premier League club.
It would be easy for Zak Whitbread to look back at the last nine months and think about what could have been.With better-timed good health, the 27-year-old Norwich City center back may already be on his way to the international career that has yet to materialize.
The upset bug made its way around Europe over the weekend, with Mainz beating German power Bayern Munich and Getafe taming the all-mighty Barcelona, but for a few U.S. national team starters, their teams couldn't quite come up with the efforts necessary to stake claims to landmark Thanksgiving weekend victories against top competition.
The renaissance months for DaMarcus Beasley and Herculez Gomez have come to an abrupt halt.
We're a quarter of the way into the season, which seems a good time to raise a few points about some of the players who've been thrilling or spilling so far in the Barclays Premier League:
Josh Gatt wasn't on the field as his team cemented a monumental achievement, but that doesn't mean he won't be able to reap the benefits of his club's first league championship.
The last time Herculez Gomez was on this kind of a run, he ended up with a scoring title and a ticket to South Africa.
Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the only goal of the game against his Russian compatriots to give Tottenham a 1-0 win over Rubin Kazan and retain their unbeaten record in Europa League Group A on Thursday.
The UEFA Europa League is seen by some as a schedule-congesting, second-rate competition.
The rotating door at the U.S. Soccer infirmary, one that always seems to have high-profile inhabitants, keeps on turning.
Anticipated debuts, goal-scoring forwards and a potential renaissance.
If only Jozy Altidore and Robbie Findley had found this kind of form 15 months ago.
Hong Kong tycoon and Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung is charged with money laundering. Ramy Inocencio reports.
It is that time of year again, when more than 34,000 minutes of Premier League action has to be mentally sifted for gems and the season's best performers picked. In some cases, statistics bear out your feeling that one player deserves recognition over another; in others, a less scientific cocktail of impact, awe and admiration sways the decision. Somewhat inevitably, many of the names below represent teams in the top five, but I've "shown my working out" in recognition of the quality of some of the candidates.
Five things we learned from the final day's action in the Premier League:
Thoughts on the weekend's action in the Barclays Premier League:
On this week's episode of "The Transfer Season," one American gets his final clearance to go overseas, one gets freed from his manager's doghouse and a few more get their names on the transaction ticker.
During a weekend when most Americans were giving thanks, one soccer team in England once again showered thanks upon its star American.
BIRMINGHAM, England -- Part of Birmingham City's preparation for Saturday's match against West Ham will be a thorough fitness test on Roger Johnson. The defender hasn't trained since struggling through the closing minutes of last week's derby against Aston Villa, having taken a knock to the ankle; his leg is invisible inside a protective boot.
For at least one week, the discussion about the lack of U.S. goal scorers can be put to rest.
Notes from the weekend in the Premier League:
With just a few matches remaining of this Premiership season, the time has come for a spot of deliberation, cogitation and digestion. What's happened since last August to confound the surest of expectations and put paid to the sincerest of hopes? Quite a bit, is the simple answer; this season has provided a lasting ride for more than half of a league that has spent several years fending off accusations of soul-crushing predictability. Things we didn't expect:
Hats off to Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who surprised everyone -- perhaps even Didier Drogba himself -- by leaving his leading goal scorer on the bench against Manchester United and fielding the same starting 11 that had demolished Aston Villa the week before.
CNN's Andrew Stevens takes a look at the mystery man buying Britain's Birmingham City Football Club.
Awaking from our slumber after one of those tedious biennial summers without a showpiece international tournament, it slowly dawned on us: the Premier League is back at last! With only one week before the world's pre-eminent league kicks off, we headed for Castle Limey to dust down the dungeon-sized supercomputer responsible for our EPL predictions.
Sven-Göran Eriksson must be kicking himself for not surviving the sack at Manchester City. After being given a top-10 target after he took the job in July 2007, the former England manager steered the club to ninth place in the Premier League that season, his first in charge. Notorious City fan and Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher told the BBC that Eriksson "gave us a bit of style and dignity and grace. He bought some great players." It was "the best season I can remember."
Chelsea vs. Manchester United: They're now in a two-horse race to be both English and European champions. With only two games left in the Premier League season, they're tied on points and, once that's resolved, they'll contest the small matter of the European Cup final on May 21 in Moscow.
Manchester United is running rampant. Last Saturday, the Red Devils demolished eighth-place Aston Villa 4-0 at Old Trafford and remain five points clear of Chelsea in the English Premier League race. The standard of United's soccer was so sublime, the score line actually flattered the losers.
Like most English Premier League managers, Team Limey has been working off the excesses of Christmas and New Year to battle with a horde of like-minded bargain-hungry individuals perusing the January sales.
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