Beckham to Return to MLS

Milan Fail to Agree Terms with Major League Soccer David Beckham is to return to LA Galaxy after AC Milan and the California club failed to agree a deal before the MLS deadline. Milan had bid $7.5m for the 33-year-old Englishman but this was rejected last week and MLS ordered the clubs to agree a permanent move by Friday. LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said in a club statement that no acceptable offer had been received. The club says offer made after the deadline would be considered. His current deal in Italy ends on March 8th. The England international equaled Bobby Moore’s England record of 108 caps for an outfield player on Wednesday in a 2-0 humiliation Full Story

Schmetzer Pays Tribute to Danny and Leighton

Tough Decisions and Sheer Plethora of Talent was a Factor A day after Seattle Sounders legends, Danny Jackson and Leighton O’Brien were released from pre-season training camp, Brian Schmetzer talked openly to Prost Amerika about the thought processes that led to the decisions. Schmetzer is currently Sigi Schmid’s assistant coach at Sounders FC, but was the head coach at the Seattle Sounders in past years and goes back a long way with both Jackson and O’Brien. Read the full story including hope of a last gasp reprieve

Danny Jackson and Leighton O'Brien Leave Seattle Sounders

End of an Era? Sounders coach Sigi Schmid today made what may be among the hardest decision he will take in his tenure as Sounders chief. Earlier today, he released Danny Jackson, Leighton O’Brien and Adam West from pre-season training, signifying the end of their hopes of securing a place on the MLS roster. Danny Jackson, a native of Leeds, joined the Seattle Sounders in 2003 and was the club captain in the USL. A staunch and reliable centre-half, he formed half of a successful centre back pairing with Taylor Graham Full Story and Special Comment

Kinnear Will Need Eight Weeks Off

Newcastle United Manager’s Heart Condition will Require Recuperation Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear will need to rest for at least two months after undergoing triple heart bypass surgery last Friday. Kinnear fell ill before Newcastle’s match at West Brom last Saturday and was taken to hospital. Ten years ago when Wimbledon manager, he suffered a heart attack and was out of the game for several years. Full Story

Chicago, Salt Lake City And Washington, D.C. to Host Final Qualifiers

Chicago, Salt Lake City And Washington, D.C. To Host U.S. Men’s National Team’s Remaining Home FIFA World Cup Qualifiers The USSF has announced its venues for the remainder of their home qualifiers in the World Cup CONCACAF Group. They will play Honduras at Soldier Field, Chicago on June 6, El Salvador at Rio Tinto Stadium, Salt Lake, on Sept. 5 and Costa Rica at RFK Stadium in the nation’s capital on Oct. 14. Soldier Field and Rio Tinto Stadium will be hosting World Cup Qualifier for the first time. (more…) Full story

Ventura County Fusion 1 : 6 Sounders FC

Third Successive Win for Sounders as Four Get on Scoresheet Goalkeeper Chris Eylander was the only player to play the full game as Sigi Schmid once more rung the changes at half time in a training game. Two goals each from Steve Zakuani and Nate Jaqua and one from Fredy Montero gave the Sounders a 5-1 half time lead with Arthur Aghasyan scoring for the Fusion. A second half goal from Roger Levesque competed the scoring. Full details and line ups

USA Off to Winning Start as Bradley Nets Two

Sam’s Army off to Great Start against Ten Man Mexico The USA got off to an impressive winning start in their CONCACAF Qualification match in Columbus against a disappointing Mexico side. Goals from Michael Bradley separated the sides in front of a 23,776 crowd at a wet and windy Crew Stadium in Ohio. Bradley struck first just before half time when a right wing DeMarcus Beasley corner found Landon Donovan unmarked at the far end of the six yard box. He cleverly headed the ball horizontally across the face of goal, where a second unmarked forward, Oguchi Onyewu, headed goalwards. His effort was stopped by a diving Oswaldo Sánchez in the Mexican goal but the rebound went right into the path of a third unmarked American, Michael Bradley, who scored from 6 yards out. It was a defensive nightmare for El Tri and Sánchez ... Full Report

Taylor Graham Interview

Taylor Graham was the centre half for the USL Sounders last season and previously had stints in MLS for Kansas City and New York. The 28 year-old native of Fairbanks, California, was named on the All-USL-1 team last year and made the finalists for defender of the year. He has played four times for Puerto Rico’s international side. He was awarded an MLS contract recently and spoke to Prost Amerika from training camp in California. Taylor Graham Interview

Hiddink Appointed Chelsea Coach

Dutchman Will Combine Role with Russian National Side Chelsea FC have announced that Guus Hiddink will take over as temporary coach until the end of the season. Hiddink, will combine the role with his tenure at the helm of Russia. Chelsea have confirmed that he will meet the players later this week after many of them return ironically from international duty. “The club would like to take this opportunity to thank the Russian Football Union for their understanding and cooperation,” said a statement released from Stamford Bridge. Read the full article

Tyrone Marshall Signs for Sounders

Sounders Acquire Jamaican International Sounders FC have procured the two-Time All-Star Defender, Tyrone Marshall from Toronto FC. Seattle Sounders FC acquired defender Tyrone Marshall from Toronto FC in a trade for an undisclosed amount of allocation money, it was announced Tuesday. Marshall, 34, started 39 games at central defender for Toronto since being obtained from the L.A. Galaxy midway through the 2007 Major League Soccer season. He is currently playing with the Jamaican National Team in England. Jamaica plays Nigeria in a friendly on Wednesday night (February 11) in London. Full Story

Sounders Beat Galaxy in First Ever Game

LA Galaxy 1 v 3 Sounders FC (Result) Sounders FC beat LA Galaxy in their first ever competitive game, a closed door friendly at the Home Depot Center in California. A penalty from Fredy Montero in the first half enabled the Sounders to go in level at half time. Roger Boosts His Chances with a Goal Full story

Scolari Fired at Chelsea

Draw with Hull City was Last Straw for Abramovich The world of football has now been rocked by the news leaking out of West London that World Cup winner, Phil Scolari has been fired from his job at Chelsea FC. Chelsea drew 0-0 at home to Hull City on Saturday and having lost 2-0 tamely at Liverpool the week before, their league title challenge is more or less over. It seems that with only the FA Cup and European Champions League to play for, Roman Abramovich and Chief Executive Peter Kenyon have decided that enough is enough and sacked the Brazilian. Read the story as it develops

Tony Adams Fired from Portsmouth

A Step up too Large too Early for the Centre-Half? Portsmouth manager Tony Adams has been fired after winning only two of the 16 Premier League matches since he took over on 28 October. First-team coach John Metgod has also left the club. The 42-year-old Adams took over when Harry Redknapp departed for Tottenham late last year. Portsmouth lost 2-3 at home to Liverpool on Saturday despite leading with just five minutes to go. It seems that those five minutes cost Adams his job. Read the full story

Sounders Kick off Week of Friendlies in California

Galaxy Training Game Today First Test for Sounders Sounders FC have completed their first week of their California training camp and start a busy week today with a training game against the LA Galaxy BigSoccer Topics at Home Depot BigSoccer Topics Field. Tomorrow they play Chinese side Shandong Luneng BigSoccer Topics at Oxnard and Ventura County Fusion BigSoccer Topics and the San Jose Earthquakes BigSoccer Topics make up further opposition later this week. “It’s just training, but you picture in your head what the combinations will be like and they look good on paper, but it’s all about finding that chemistry,” Technical Director Chris Henderson BigSoccer Topics told the Sounders FC website. “Give credit to the coaching staff because they are creating an atmosphere where that can happen. It was fun to watch some of those goals a .... Full story

Liverpool Return to Top

But Chelsea Falter Again In an incredible finish to the game, late goals from Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres propelled Liverpool back to the top of the table after a 3-2 win at Fratton Park against Portsmouth. Luckily for the home side, all four teams below them also lost on a day which saw more league games than normal reflecting the league table. One exception was at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea drew 0-0 with Hull. Chelsea have now won just three of their last nine league matches and their championship talent lies in tatters with Aston Villa read full story

Weekend EPL Preview - Spurs Keane on Derby Win!

A full program of EPL matches takes place this weekend with Sunday’s North London derby between old foes Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal probably the highlight. They played out an absorbing 4-4 draw at the Emirates earlier this season and Spurs have been bolstered by the return of talisman and new skipper Robbie Keane. League leaders Manchester United visit West ham against whom they have occasionally struggled. United however are so in form that they are breaking EPL records every time they take the pitch. In addition, their chasing pack are falling apart. Chelsea lost 2-0 last Sunday at Liverpool and played as poorly as the result sounds. They entertain a Hull City side that’s dropping down the table after a wonderful start. Liverpool lost 1-0 to Merseyside rivals Everton in the FA Cup this week, had Lucas sent off and lost Steve Gerrard for three weeks. They make the longest journey of their season to the south coast where troubled Portsmouth await them. Chelsea and Liverpool may be very lucky that their weekend opponents are two of the most out of form sides in the EPL. Fox matches include Blackburn v Aston Villa, Portsmouth v Liverpool and West Ham v Manchester United, and ..........

European Lake Union?

Show de Cologne - Sounders to Have Strong European Influence With the official appointment of Tübingen born Sigi Schmid as Sounders head coach, the Sounders FC management team is beginning to take shape, and there is a strong German influence already at the helm of the new franchise. Although Schmid moved to Torrance California when he was nine, he proved his German language skills are as strong as ever at his press conference as he answered questions in perfect German with a strong Swabian accent. He stated that he still has good contacts in the Bundesliga, a quality that may yet prove valuable as he seeks to complete his playing squad. But Schmid is just the start of the German influence. Many of the USL Sounders hardcore were delighted to receive the announcement that he had taken on USL Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer as his assistant. Schmetzer is Seattle born but a first generation immigrant from Germany. His father Walter played lower league football in Germany’s third tier. Brian is a little more reluctant to “sprechen Sie deutsch” than Sigi but it is clear that they have a useful tool to communicate with when prying opposition ears attempt to overhear tactics. Brian’s brother runs a sports shop Germanically called called ‘Sporthaus Schmetzer’ which is a very loyal supporter of soccer in the Puget Sound area. There’ll Always Be an England But the German influence is not new. Last year’s Sounders captain Danny Jackson is a native of Leeds. Less well known is that he has a German mother and can speak the language fairly well when pressed. His extended family still live there and he travels to Germany twice a year, spending much of his summer and holiday time there. He says he has no problem conversing when over there, but gets little chance to speak now. Well, if he gets a MLS call up, he might find he has plenty of opportunity in the future. Of course the European influence doesn’t end at the Rhine. Sweden’s Freddie Ljungberg is ...... (read more)

Beckham to Quit MLS?

Statements in Glasgow from the Player Increase Speculation

Everyone knew he would be asked but nobody thought he would answer. Appearing in Glasgow for a friendly for AC Milan, the press asked David Beckham about his future intentions especially with respect to remaining in Italy for the rest of the season. Beckham has already contributed to Milan's title challenge with a couple of goals and he is receiving rave reviews for his performances at the San Siro.

"I Have Expressed my Desire now to Stay in Milan"

To the astonishment of the press pack, Beckham was quite forthright about his wishes. Read Full Story

The Wee CS

The Supersearch game at Tukwila may have been about a future star but it isn’t just on the playing side of things, that Sounders are looking to the future. The Emerald City Supporters welcomed their newest and by far smallest new recruit to their ranks on Saturday. In an attempt to broaden their outreach beyond those of drinking age, the ECS are to hold TWO USA v Mexico match viewing parties on February 11th. One will be at Fuel and the second at McCoys. The event at McCoys is family friendly and the ECS are looking forward to welcoming new and (very) young recruits to the Rave Green Army. Now, does the ECS have the wisdom to form a youth section called the “Wee CS”? Over to you Guys! Read on

Schmid has to Prune Roughly Half the Camp

23 into 12 Has to Go February 4 There are 32 players in California currently training with the Sounders FC. Of them 8-9 seem certain of making the squad or have already had their places confirmed. Former USL players Sebastien Le Toux, Taylor Graham, Sanna Nyassi and Chris Eylander have already been offered contracts. Freddie Ljungberg and Kasey Keller have been drafted in as big name signings. Fredy Montero has signed but the deal is awaiting immigration papers. Of those acquired in the November draft, ten in all, we can probably assume a minimum of 2-3 and probably more will remain. MLS - The Case for England's Danny Jackson On a side note, USL Club Captain Danny Jackson underwent some immigration difficulties last year and the Seattle Sounders stuck with him and went to great lengths to get him back to Seattle. Full article

All the February Transfers on Prost Amerika EPL Page

A complete list of all the transfers that were completed in the last few days of the transfer window has been posted on Prost Amerika's dedicated Seattle based EPL page:

3 February 2009

Andrei Arshavin [Zenit St Petersburg - Arsenal] Undisclosed Shane Killock [Huddersfield - Oxford] Free

2 February 2009

Charlie Adam [Rangers - Blackpool] Loan Charles Ademeno [Southend United - Salisbury City] Loan Leon Andreasen [Fulham - Hannover 96] Loan Semih Aydilek [Birmingham - Motherwell] Loan Angelos Basinas [AEK Athens - Portsmouth] Undisclosed Christophe Berra [Hearts - Wolves] Undisclosed Chris Todd [Torquay - Salisbury] Loan Paul Caddis [Celtic -Dundee Utd] Loan Henri Camara [Wigan - Stoke] Loan Click here for the full list

Burnley Claim Another EPL Scalp

Burnley 3 : 1 West Bromwich Albion Burnley, who famously eliminated EPL sides Fulham, Arsenal and Chelsea in the Carling Cup, have claimed another EPL victim - this time in the FA Cup. They defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-1 at Turf Moor to progress into the 5th round of the cup. They will meet the winner of the replay between Arsenal and Cardiff City. Goals from Wade Elliott and Steven Thompson put the Clarets 2-0 up before West Brom pulled one back through Gianni Zuiverloon. Thompson scored his second in the 88th minute to put Burnley’s progress beyond doubt. Tomorrow’s FA Cup Ties: Aston Villa v Doncaster, R4, 19:45 Blackburn v Sunderland, R4, 20:00 Everton v Liverpool, R4, 20:10 Nottm Forest v Derby, R4, 19:45

Arshavin Finally Signs for Arsenal and Lampard News

Arshavin Finally Signs for Arsenal - Lampard's Red Card Overturned

Although the EPL deadline passed yesterday, the fate of Russian striker Andrei Arshavin wasn't decided until today after a day of high drama and changing stories.
Despite an initial report claiming the deal was done, followed by a denial from his club, Zenit St Petersburg, it seems that the deal is still on. This morning the deal for $22m plus compensation was officially announced.

Yesterday saw nine inches of snow in London and consequently only one of the EPL's transfer registration panel made it into work. As a result, the EPL extended the transfer deadline.

Arshavin posted the following on his website, "Negotiations over my move from Zenit St Petersburg "came to a close. Now I can say only one thing - that if I play for Arsenal, it will be at number 23," the 27-year-old said.

Arshavin's agent Dennis Lachter claimed he was "very confident" the forward's move from Zenit St Petersburg will be ratified by the Premier League.

"It was completed in extra time but we must wait for confirmation," he stated. That confirmation came moments ago and the Russian prodigy is now an Arsenal player.

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Lampard Wins Red Card Appeal

The red card Frank Lampard picked up against Liverpool has attracted much controversy. Angry fans have started Facebook pages vilifying referee Mike Riley, most press commentators opined that Xabi Alonso should have got the red if anyone in that challenge and Chelsea boss, Phil Scolari has had his obligatory moan about refereeing bias against the West London Blues.

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