One Shot. One Goal. One Loss.

... or the "Sigil" (Shot. Goal. Loss), as it's known.

Tim Howard shows you how it's done:

A classic example. The platonic ideal, even.

Barn Door Team

Not that sticking with my Barn Door team last week was very successful -- or successful at all! -- but here's this week's version:



Concerns:

• Howard. What's the opposite of what you are looking for in a fantasy keeper?  That would be THo this season.  Everton haven't been consisten winners, which hurts your keeper's value.  But even when they win, Howard has a knack for letting in the soft goal.  Or more than one.  He's been in the red (minus points) more weeks than he's earned points.  Of course, that's why he's cheap.  And cheap is very attractive in a keeper.  And he's playing at Wolves, who have lost their leading scorer and just got hammered by Newcastle United.  So hope springs eternal, but I'm really not sure that this is a good pick
• Valencia and Hernandez.  Am I buying a false view of these players based on West Ham's ineptitude?  I'm probably only owning them for a week as they have an FA Cup semifinal the following week instead of a league match, but they are home to Fulham.  They are also in Champions League action against Chelsea on either side of this match, which could easily become a trap game.  Valencia's barn door price makes him an attractive midfield option, and the other best opition at Hernandez's price range is Sturridge who also misses the following week for an FA Cup semi.
• Lampard.  See above re: the Champions League.
• van Persie. Have Arsenal just collapsed?  Is it redeemable?  If so, it's going to be against Blackpool who are increasingly vulnerable.  At 9, returning 7 per week would be acceptable.  At 18 it really isn't.  He's probably staying in the team because the matchup is just too good, but also because I can't quite get to Nani without making other sacrifices.  But I will admit to have looked at what to do with the $10 that RvP to Sturridge would net.  For instance, maybe a real goalkeeper.

Season Preview: Everton

Overall Outlook - I'll start the preview with the fact that I like Everton.  They have a quality team that tries to play entertaining football.  They manage their team within a budget that is supported by the revenue the club can generate.  They have a few of my favorite players in Tim Howard and Mikel Arteta and gave credibility to Landon Donovan's career which previous had "big fish in a small pond" written all over it.  It pains me to say this but last season was about as good as it is going to get for Everton in the current Premier League climate.  They'll likely finish somewhere between 6th and 9th depending on how Liverpool, Villa, Citeh, and Spurs perform against talent and expectations.  The chances of them taking the next step up the table when even a player like Donovan is out of their financial reach seems pretty slim.  Basically, expect more of the same from Everton unless something dramatic happens.

England vs. USA Part 4: This Time It's Personal...

The Spirit of '50

You may have read somewhere in your history books that the US has faced off against England a number of times throughout history.  In most of those encounters, the Yanks have been prohibitive underdogs.

The Revolutionary War (1776) - granted we had home field advantage in this one but if there were bookmakers in international conflicts at this point in history we would have looked a lot like North Korea going up against Brazil in the opening round of this World Cup.  No chance.  As it turns out, we did slightly better than expected.

The War of 1812 (well, 1812) - Washington, DC was burned to the ground and my soon-to-be hometown of Leesburg, VA (a bucolic town about 30 miles up the Potomac River) was briefly the center of government for the United States.  That said, home field advantage still held and we actually built a winning steak against the highly favored Brits.  Let's just say that we became their "bogey team" well before they started losing grip of their empire.

1950 World Cup - Could the magic hold when we didn't hold a decided home field advantage? Well, in 1950 we produced an incredible upset that, until we hosted the Cup in 1994 and started what I like to think of as the modern era of US involvement in the world's game, was without question the high water mark for US Soccer.  It may still be the single greatest accomplishment in the US game but since 1994, we've certainly had our share of moments that at least approach it (draw vs. Italy in 2006, beating Spain in Confederations Cup, etc.).

Since 1950, there have been friendlies between the two countries but there haven't been many moments that mattered.  The friendly matches have, as you might expect, been dominated by the more talented English squads.  So, where does all of this leave us? Well, I'm not a huge fan of sequels but let's see how this one is likely to play out...

Our Man in South Africa, Part 1 - USA vs. Australia Warm-up

Like all great news organizations, we here at the blog have a worldwide network of reporters and affiliates dedicated to bringing you the best from the world of soccer.  With fantasy and/or the Premier League usually being our major focus, that usually means that we have people stationed in front of televisions and computer screens in the US (birthplace of fantasy sports) and the UK (home of the Prem).  With the World Cup the major event of the day, we have spared no expense to bring you live coverage from the venues.  This coverage comes in the form of one Jamie Harper, a business school classmate of Neal's, member of the legendary Emory business school intramural-championship winning squad of 1997-98, soccer fanatic, and ex-pat living happily in South Africa.

Given that you can get a run-of-the-mill match report from the Associated Press or Reuters anywhere on the web, I have asked Jamie to give his impressions of the things you won't likely get from those match reports.  His impressions of the crowds, the flow of the match, the manager's decisions, and the overall experience.  So, with that typically lengthy introduction, here we go with our first installment of our live coverage from South Africa.  Take it away Jamie...

Birmingham City poised to sign Ben Foster

Birmingham City poised to sign Ben Foster from Man Utd

Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster is set to move to Birmingham City for £4m, BBC Sport understands.

Foster, 27, has only played one Premier League game since October after falling behind Edwin van der Sar and Tomasz Kuzczak in the United pecking order...

He started the season as United's number one but high-profile errors against Chelsea in the Community Shield, against Manchester City in the derby and Sunderland led to reports of a fallout with manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

This is probably a good move for all parties. Birmingham need a number one as Joe Hart returns to Manchester City. Ben Foster needs a new start after failing under the pressure of the ManU number one jersey. That's not as damning as it sounds. Look at Tim Howard. He's established himself as a top-class keeper after being judged not good enough for the Red Devils. Birmingham will be hoping that Foster can repeat Howard's arc.

And behind Dann and Johnson in a defence that I believe was the stingiest outside of the top teams, especially if they can recruit some new full-backs in the off-season, Foster may represent great value for fantasy managers come the 2010-2011 season.

Blog Roundtable

In which we discuss Fabregas, Aston Villa and their upcoming double match week, and look at keeper choices for the remainder of the season.

Everton v Zenit St Petersburg

Everton have fitness doubts over defender Joseph Yobo and goalkeeper Tim Howard ahead of their crucial UEFA Cup group A clash with newly crowned Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg.

Yobo has an ankle injury while Howard has been suffering from sickness this week, leaving boss David Moyes with concerns as he plans for a match that sees Everton needing just one point to qualify for the next stage.