Kritik und Lob » turning around just outside the crease, saw the lo

Arsenal - Reports linking Arsenal to 20-year old German midfielder Julian Draxler of Schalke excite. Arsene Wenger reportedly wants to convert the player into an attacking force, much like he did with Robin Van Persie. Draxler could very well fit the mold but such a transition takes time. Arsenal has legitimate title aspirations this campaign and a more mature, ready-made attacking option is required. Will Wenger swing for the fences for a short-term push? Aston Villa - Lose a big striker, sign another. With Libor Kozak out for the season (broken leg), Villa reunites manager Paul Lambert with former Norwich City striker Grant Holt. Its hardly the move Villa supporters are looking for. The positive; the team adds more size and strength up front, which could bode well for a side desperate for goals. Villa has only scored four in their last seven league matches. Nickel and diming will only get the team so far. Cardiff City - Somehow, some way the Blue Birds are in the relegation zone. Its tight at the bottom with only five points separating 13th from 20th. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer doesnt have time to find his way, so hes bringing in young players he knows. Hes landed Norwegian midfielder Mats Moller Daehli. Cardiff has reportedly turned their sights to Manchester Uniteds Fabio and Wilfried Zaha. Both players need games and fill roles of need in South Wales. Seems like a win-win. Chelsea - The Blues spent £21 million on a player they once had. Its hardly good business, but irrelevant for an owner flush with cash. Serbian Nemanja Matic will slot into a midfield pivot role; a position of weakness for Jose Mourinho. Frank Lampard cannot play there. Michael Essien is on his way out. Marco van Ginkel would have filled the role if healthy. Its a big ask of Matic to make the quick transition to Premier League football in the middle of a title race. Good news for Chelsea, team defensive play has been outstanding, conceding just twice in their last six. Crystal Palace - The Eagles are in trouble. Help doesnt seem on the horizon in the transfer window for the last place team. Palace is playing much better under manager Tony Pulis. If it werent for a dreadful penalty miss by Jason Puncheon last weekend, Palace could have taken points from Spurs. Palace was the better side to start. There is simply no room for error for this team on a weekly basis. Everton - Ross Barkley will only miss three weeks with a broken toe. It was feared the injury was the dreaded metatarsal. More good news with reports Leighton Baines is prepared to sign a new long-term deal to stay at Goodison, fending off interest from Manchester United. Keeping the core together is essential for a team on the rise. A January purchase of another striker is required for a true push for Champions League qualification. They are perilously thin up front behind Romelu Lukaku. Fulham - A striking fall from grace for Bryan Ruiz who moves from Craven Cottage to PSV Eindhoven. Ruiz looked to be a proper Premier League attacking talent. Thankfully for the Cottagers, they have attacking talent to spare. Fulham are in desperate need of defensive help in their relegation fight. The team has conceded a disturbing 20 goals in the last six games. And yet Fulham have reportedly moved for West Hams Ravel Morrison? Strange. Hull City - The Tigers splashed £12 million in transfer fees for mediocre-at-best strikers Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long, signaling intent to stay in the BPL. Its over-spending at its finest, but I actually like the moves - a good gamble for a team playing above expectations. In Jelavic, Steve Bruce is hoping a similar return to the impressive nine goals in 13 games after his move from Rangers to Everton in 2012. The Croatian needs to impress ahead of FIFA World Cup 2014. Long is a useful player, bringing some necessary steel to the front line. Liverpool - Its been a wonderful season at Anfield, but an honest assessment of where the team would be without Luis Suarez and his 22 goals suggests they lack top-level talent across the midfield. More is needed behind him and Daniel Sturridge. A 5-3 win at the Britannia continued to expose midfield and defensive frailties. Brendan Rodgers has work to do. Will there be money for a significant January purchase? Manchester City - Huge loss for Manchester City losing Samir Nasri to a knee injury for eight weeks. Nasri has been on sensational form. The Frenchmans absence opens up a starting role for Jesus Navas, who continues to impress. Navas adds more speed and natural width to a side often playing narrow. Thats not criticism; the tactical shift will simply change the approach for a team lethal in attack. The return of Sergio Aguero also softens the blow. For all the accolades Suarez receives, Aguero has been every bit the player as the Liverpool man this season. Manchester United - Darren Fletchers return is a significant upgrade in Uniteds midfield. Tom Cleverley has proven not good enough; a passenger and non-influential in a position crying out for a difference-maker. The all-action Scottish international has shown signs of his old self, working his way back to fitness. Fletcher can fill the short-term void in the middle until United likely land a top central midfielder player (or two) in the summer. Newcastle United - In a day managers are reprimanded for any discretion, Alan Pardew has escaped FA punishment for his rant/actions during last weekends 2-0 defeat. Pardew lost it on City manager Manuel Pellegrini in a tirade not safe for print, while lashing out at referee Mike Jones for his egregious decision, disallowing Cheick Tiotes wonder-goal. Soccer is a game officiated based upon interpretation of the rules. Jones biggest wrongdoing was overruling his linesmans decision. His hasty decision was a black-mark on a game with direct implications on the title race. Another example BPL officiating simply isnt good enough. Norwich City - Three goals in their last six, the struggles continue at Carrow Road. The Canaries get more experience in the side as Jonas Gutierrez joins on-loan, but that doesnt solve issues in attack. The next three weeks (Hull, Newcastle, Cardiff) are critical. Its more than Chris Houghtons job on the line. Its Premier League survival. Southampton - Executive chairman Nicola Cortese leaving raises questions about the direction at St. Marys. Highly regarded manager Mauricio Pochettino publicly remains committed. That remains to be seen. This kind of disruption threatens mid-table teams with ambition. A potential club sale further complicates matters. Now all eyes are cast towards possible players leaving. Left-back Luke Shaw is the most desirable piece, with striker Rickie Lambert having short-term value. Sunderland - Credit manager Gus Poyet for getting the most out of this rag-tag bunch. The team is playing well and has just sold possibly the worst player in the league, Ji Dong-Won to Augsburg. Good riddance. Midfielder Ki Sung-Yeung is developing into a top player. Belief at the Stadium of Light is tangible. A team on the rise. Stoke City - The Potters in an entertaining match seems an oxy-moron. A 5-3 loss to Liverpool was as exciting as it gets (so much for the defensive wall at the Britannia). Mark Hughes team is showing willingness to attack; it just doesnt have the players. The loan signing of John Guidetti from City, however, is intriguing. Guidetti in attack adds substance to a team in need of goals. Swansea City - Injuries have ravaged the promising side. Although squad depth has been impressive, the lack of consistency in selection has hurt. The passing is wonderful, but team defending leaves much to be desired. The decision to allow Ki Sung-Yeung to stay at Sunderland shows long-term vision. Tottenham - Midfield competition has created apparent discontent. Lewis Holtby and Nacer Chadli are both reportedly seeking moves elsewhere to find playing time. Tim Sherwoods four-man midfield changes the landscape. Natural width is priority, with multi-dimensional players who can cover lots of ground. The evolution in the squad will continue. With Jermain Defoe moving to Toronto FC, another striker should be priority. Where Eric Lamela fits is unknown. West Bromwich Albion - Another squad in transition. Pepe Mel has taken over and a more continental approach, ala Swansea or Southampton is should follow. The spine of the team and youth remains impressive. Lets see how they adapt in the coming weeks. West Ham United - Last weekends 2-0 win settled the nerves at West Ham for the time being. Sam Allardyce looks set to stay. Andy Carroll has returned. And West Ham looks intent to add a striker in January. Will it all be enough to avoid relegation? The team remains a mess defensively. Cheap Jerseys .C. - Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says Danny Granger, Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem are still not ready to play and will miss Wednesday nights game against the Charlotte Hornets. Wholesale Jerseys . - Maynor Figueroa headed in a late goal to give Honduras a 1-1 draw with the United States in an international friendly Tuesday.WINNIPEG - Bryan Little had a hat trick as the Winnipeg Jets dominated the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 on Friday.It was the first hat trick for the franchise since Eric Boulton scored a trio of goals for the Atlanta Thrashers on Dec. 18, 2010, and fans at MTS Centre threw dozens of hats on the ice in celebration.Little scored two of the goals 32 seconds apart early in the third period and also had an assist. Blake Wheeler assisted on all three of Littles goals.Chris Thorburn scored his first goal of the season, captain Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for Winnipeg (14-9-4).Colorado (9-12-6) got a pair of goals from Jarome Iginla. Gabriel Landeskog assisted on both of them.Rookie Michael Hutchinson made 20 saves for Winnipeg, which has only had an overtime loss to Boston in its last five games.Semyon Varlamov stopped 25 of 30 shots for Colorado before he was replaced by Reto Berra after Littles third goal at 1:17 of the third period. Berra stopped six of the seven shots he faced.Colorado came off a 4-3 overtime loss to Calgary on Thursday.Thorburn netted his goal off a rebound from defenceman Paul Postmas point shot, sending the puck over Varlamov at 4:31 of the first period.Winnipeg has now scored first in its past eight games, and in 18 of its 27 games. Its record in those games is 11-4-3.The Avalanche didnt get their first shot on goal until almost nine minutes into the period.Their second shot resulted in Jerome Iginlas fifth goal of the season. It went over the glove of Hutchinson, who may have been partially screened by defenceman Mark Stuart, at 9:19.Littles 2-1 go-ahead goal was reviewed, with a ruling that his shot from a sharp angle was caught in Varlamovs glove behind the goal-line at 12:29.Winnipeg outshot the Avs 16-4 in the first.The second period featured missed opportunities by both teams until Ladd scored his ninth of the season witth 45 second left.ddddddddddddAvalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon had a breakaway, but fired his shot over the net.The Jets had a three-on-one, but Evander Kanes shot went wide of the net.Ladd tipped in defenceman Ben Chiarots shot for the goal at 19:15, giving Chiarot his first NHL point in his second career game. He was called up from the AHL St. Johns IceCaps earlier in the week.Winnipeg had widened the shot gap 26-9.Little scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season 32 seconds apart to open the third period.His first goal beat Varlamov 45 seconds into the period and his second came after a scramble around the net. Little was turning around just outside the crease, saw the loose puck and sent it into the net at 1:17 for the 5-1 lead.Tempers flared with just under 14 minutes left in the game, with an early tripping call on Winnipeg and roughing penalties from the dustups giving Colorado a two-man advantage for 13 seconds.Little had a chance for a fourth goal into an empty net midway through the period, but Avs centre Ryan OReilly was back and blocked the shot.Iginla scored his sixth of the season on the power play at 10:24 after Zach Redmond sent a pass across the crease as he was falling and Iginla popped the puck over Hutchinson.Byfuglien extended his goal-scoring streak to three games with an unassisted blast from the point that beat Berra on the glove side at 13:20.Winnipeg outshot the Avs 37-22.Injuries to three Winnipeg defencemen, including the top pair of Tobias Enstrom and Zach Bogosian, meant Byfuglien was back playing defence instead of the wing.Grant Clitsome (upper body) is expected to miss about two weeks, Enstrom (lower body) up to three weeks and Bogosian (foot) might be gone four to six weeks.Winnipeg hosts Anaheim on Sunday afternoon to finish a three-game homestand. Colorado returns home and doesnt play again until Nashville visits on Tuesday. ' ' '