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With Everton hovering just a few points above the dropzone, Manager David Moyes has turned his attention stateside in search of solutions. During Moyes’ reign as Everton boss, fans have become accustomed to a certain kind of success, which has been missing thus far this season. The weekend brought with it another disappointing defeat as 10-men Everton were trounced by a buoyant West Brom. Can a cross-Atlantic swoop stop the slump?

Moyes is keen to take on LA Galaxy’s Landon Donovan for a second loan spell at Goodison Park. He has also made it clear that he’s interested in taking on one of Donovan’s team mates on loan: David Beckham. “I hope that if David wanted to come, he would pick up the phone and call me,” Moyes told the Press. “I worked with David at Preston and if he wanted to come back to the Premier League, he would only need to phone me or Phil Neville”.

Of course, if Beckham were to head to Goodison Park, he would arrive with hefty wage-requirements. Can Everton afford to keep Beckham on the books, even if it’s only for half a season? Moyes seemed keen to impart that such a move would be financially viable for Everton. When questioned about the matter, he quipped, “I’d ask if we could make it work by selling enough shirts”. I’m not sure that it would be as easy as that. Becks arrival would put a great deal of financial strain on the club. Yes, he is an icon and his arrival would increase shirt sales and merchandise and the like, but it’s unlikely that this would be enough to cover his wages. I’m not sure that this is a move the Everton chairman will be keen to rubberstamp.

As of yet, Beckham has been somewhat tight-lipped about the matter. It seems that his foremost priority is to recover his fitness. The Brit ruptured his Achilles tendon in the build up to last summer’s World Cup. He told Sky Sports, “I’m just trying to make sure my body’s in the right condition and then I’ll think about it but I haven’t decided anything yet”. It’s clear that he’s not ready to retire and that he still holds hope for playing in England’s next major tournament. If he wants to do that, he’ll have to prove to Fabio Capello that he can still perform week in, week out at the top level. A move to Everton could provide the perfect arena for him to do just that.

Sadly, you can’t help but feel that Beckham must abandon his dream of playing for England again. He’s 35 now and is very much in the autumn of his career. I fear that a move back to the Premier League would only serve to underline how out of sorts Goldenballs really is nowadays. Everton are in genuine peril this season and need to find players who can really contribute to their cause. Whilst Becks has passion and desire, he’s never had to scrap it out in a relegation battle. Furthermore, Everton’s recent chain of bad results means that Beckham will not be viewing the club as a particularly attractive prospect.

Yes, the move would have an air of romance about it, but faced with the grim reality of the situation, I don’t think it would be a good decision for either party.

If you’re interested and want to hear more feel free to follow me on Twitter, where you can also keep up to date with the latest Everton news!

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If the lazy clichés of the press are to be believed, with Carragher joining Gerrard on the sidelines there’s very little lifeblood left flowing through the veins of the Liverpool right now. Perhaps Kyrgiakos provides an added trickle. After beating Chelsea the corner looked to be turned but two defeats in three games later and the Reds have meekly back tracked around said corner. Frustrations are growing again amongst the fans at the perceived lack of progression in the side’s performances but they will at least be thankful that this weekend’s game is at Anfield.

With several first-teamers being left at home and a Monday night kick-off there can be no nodding towards the Europa League trip to Bucharest if the players don’t perform for the return of Gerard Houllier with Aston Villa. Though few of the players were at the club during the Frenchman’s reign, the fans will remember the far more attacking style with which his sides played, especially before he fell ill. His current side share Liverpool’s away day struggles managing just four points from twenty-eight on the road. So with just a little confidence and some creativity going forward, there should be no danger in backing a home win at 8/13.

The return of Joe Cole will certainly aid the attacking end of things and he may be worth a small punt at 9/1 to open the scoring or 16/5 to score anytime.

Fernando Torres scored in both fixtures against the midlanders last season and though he hasn’t been at his sharpest or most enthusiastic so far this season, he’s a player who doesn’t need to be playing well to score. He’s the clear favourite to score first at 7/2 and even money to score anytime.

If Hodgson goes for Lucas in the holding role and allows Raul Meireles to play further forward, the ever improving midfielder could be a better bet than Cole to score first at 10/1 and 7/2 to score anytime. He’s been getting a lot closer to opening his Anfield account of late.

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Liverpool have enjoyed comfortable victories in their last three home league games and have started well and scored the first goal in all three and are rightly 4/9 to score first in this game. There have been three penalties over the last three meetings with Villa so the 3/1 on a penalty to be scored is worthy of consideration. There have been enough penalties awarded in Liverpool games this season to justify a bet.

From all angles this looks like a home win though they may make it more difficult on themselves with another display of second half nerves. So while 3-0 at 11/1 would be a welcome result, 2-1 at 7/1 may be a little more likely. Hodgson needs to be brave and if he is he’ll get his rewards, if not the fans will let him know all about it.

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Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, James Milner and Gareth Barry. All reasonable English, middle level Premier League players, never fail to deliver but never really excel. Steven Pienaar, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Mikel Arteta and Nemanja Vidic. Arguably the stars of their respective teams. Coveted by teams ranging from Inter Milan, Real Madrid and the big boys in the Barclays Premier League.

The former’s accumulated transfer value? £72 million. £18 million respectively for Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves, an extortionate £24 million for the workmanlike James Milner and £12 million for Gareth Barry, even with a mere twelve months left on his contract. The latter’s? £18 million. Everton spent £2 million each on Mikel Arteta and Steven Pienaar, Van Der Vaart went to Tottenham Hotspur for £7 million and Manchester United picked up the colossus that is Nemanja Vidic for the same price from Spartak Moscow in 2007. The reason for the huge difference in fees? The simple fact that Carrick, Hargreaves et al all hold an English Passport.

This ‘English Tax’ has again reared its head in the winter transfer window, with Darren Bent allegedly the subject of an initial £18 million bid from Gerard Houiller’s Aston Villa. Whilst Newcastle United’s Andy Carroll is interesting Tottenham, but another extortionate English fee seems to be getting in the way. Harry Redknapp explained, “[Tottenham Hotspur] are nowhere near getting Andy Carroll. How much is he? You are talking £30million to 40million.” For £33 million you could invest in an internationally recognized striker, who has scored twenty goals or more in each of his last five seasons. Or you could get yourself an international newcomer, who has had one good season at the highest level. Ask yourself who would you rather spend your money on; David Villa or Andy Carroll?

The same logic applies to Darren Bent, who is a very competent striker with a good goal scoring record in the Premier League. But is he really worth £18 million? Tottenham saw fit to pay £16.5 million for the Englishman but Bent failed to cut it at White Hart Lane and was swiftly dispatched to Sunderland. Another comparison again demonstrates the apparent lunacy of such money being spent, when the Uruguayan Luis Suarez is being touted across Europe for the same fee. Suarez is like David Villa, a prolific goal scorer at international and club level, with 80 goals in 108 games for Ajax, both in the Eredivisie and the Champions League. Darren Bent on the other hand has barely appeared for England and the closest he has come to European football is mainly on the substitute bench for Spurs.

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The obvious reason for this so called ‘Tax’ is the implementation of the requirement of eight home grown players within their twenty-five registered players. However as most football fans know, this rule is open to manipulation, with the likes of Cesc Fabregas and the Da Silva twins both meeting the specifications needed to be classed as home grown. English players also usually provide a safe bet, with a (very, very high) majority having learnt their trade in our game, therefore not requiring any potential transition phase as seen with numerous foreign imports. United’s Vidic and Evra both come to mind as prominent examples of this. In the cut and thrust world of Premier League management, managers simply cannot take a risk on a player that will not integrate into the squad immediately. Juande Ramos at Spurs lost his job after several of his new signings failed to fire immediately. Modric, Pavlyuchenko and Assou-Ekotto, were the guilty ones, the same players that now form part of the strongest Spurs team in decades.

Even that argument can be picked apart, with numerous English and British players taking months and in some cases years to fully settle at new clubs. Gareth Bale signed for £12 million in the same summer as Modric, was a much more prominent failure until last season. Failing to win a Premier League game in twenty-four attempts. Whilst his fellow Southampton academy product Theo Walcott has failed to make any form of significant impact at Arsenal after joining for a similar fee to Bale.

This ‘Tax’ is a strictly English phenomenon as Spanish, Italian and French players all moving between clubs in their respective league for much more modest and realistic fee. There is however a plethora of high quality players of these nationalities, the same can’t be said for any British players. There are about five world class Englishmen, any player who seems to be heading to a decent level of football is immediately seized upon by the big clubs. Driving the price up; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is another example of this strange ‘Tax’ with his fee looking to reach £10 million, twenty games into his fledgling career.

Quality Englishmen will always be hot property; no Englishman wants to go and watch their club and see none of their countrymen. Kids need to see local products and their compatriots wearing the shirt they so desire to wear. Although it doesn’t make business sense, it will continue until quality British players become the norm, rather than the exception

Written By Lee Wilson at the excellent ‘This Is Futbol’

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Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has backed his former club to win this season’s English Premier League title.The club’s record goal scorer also ruled out a return to the Emirates Stadium on loan and told Arsenal’s current captain, Cesc Fabregas, to forget about the critics.

Henry was speaking at the Football Writers’ Association dinner where he received a Tribute Award, and believes Arsenal can lift this year’s Premier League title – something they have not done since 2003/04.

“I do think they can do it with the style of football that they play,” Henry said.

“I don’t think it’s the only time they’ve had the chance to grab the title. It will be a great thing for the club if they can bring back some silverware, especially for the fans.”

The French international has been training with Arsenal lately but dismissed reports he was about to join them on loan from his current club New York Red Bulls, who he plays for in USA’s Major League Soccer.

“I enjoyed my time here but I’m over there now and I’m happy to be over there,” he said.

“I started to train with them, I had two months off and I’m a bit off the pace right now, and you know how Arsenal play sometimes.”

“I trained with the squad before the game that they played the other day against Ipswich and it’s quick, pretty quick, so no that’s not the plan (to join Arsenal on loan).”

Henry also offered advice and support to Fabregas, who had critics when Arsenal went through a bad patch earlier in the season.

“People are always going to have a go at Cesc, rightly so or not. He’s an amazing player, he won the World Cup, he won the European Championship, he’s the talisman of the club, he’s the club captain,” he said.

“The only thing I will tell him is to not listen, I’ve been through that and there’s nothing you can do about it and that’s the way the game is.”

“If Arsenal go on and win the title they will say he had an amazing season, and nobody will remember what happened at the beginning of the season.”

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Two of Henry’s clubs will face off in the Round of 16 in the Champions League when Arsenal take on current La Liga champions Barcelona and the striker rates the London side’s chances.

“I think (they are) probably the two best teams in terms of football, in the way the game should be played. I think for the neutral it’s going to be an amazing game,” he said.

“For me I don’t know, I’m an Arsenal fan and I have a lot of friends also at Barcelona so it’s going to be a tricky one, but as I said its going to be a very difficult game, but if a team can beat Barcelona then it’s Arsenal.”

Santos made it three wins from as many games in Brazil’s Campeonato Paulista with a 4-2 away victory at Gremio Prudente on Sunday.

Former Manchester City and Galatasaray midfielder Elano scored a first-half brace for Santos before Keirrison and Maikon Leite netted early in the second half to give their side a 4-0 lead.

Gremio’s Romulo pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the 71st minute, while Bruno Riberio added further respectability to the scoreline with his 82nd-minute goal.

Americana also maintained its winning record courtesy of a 2-1 triumph over Botafogo SP at Estadio Decio Vitta.

After a scoreless first half, Charles found an opener for the home side before Rafael Chorao doubled Americana’s lead in the 72nd minute.

Botafogo’s Rodrigo Pontes reduced the visitors’ deficit in the 84th minute, but the minnows could not find an equaliser in the dying stages.

Ituano’s Jefferson helped his side open their Paulista account with a 1-0 victory over winless Sao Caetano, scoring the decisive goal in the eighth minute.

Paulista got off to a dream start at home to Sao Bernardo by scoring in the first minute via Barboza, but were held to a 1-1 draw when Nena equalised in the 43rd minute for the visitors.

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Palmeiras’ Patrick was the hero for his side in their trip to Oeste’s Estadio dos Amaros, scoring the only goal of the game in the 86th minute.

Corinthians and Noroeste played out a 1-1 draw at Estadio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho.

There has been a lot of talk about loyalty in the modern game over the past week or so since the goings on in the January transfer window. Whether it was Fernando Torres’ departure to Chelsea or Andy Carroll’s arrival from Newcastle, the question of whether there will be anymore “one club” players has been raised this week. On his move to Chelsea, Torres remarked that romance in football was dead and that it has been replaced by the obsession of winning trophies. Loyalty has been effectively replaced by “Glory-hunters” in the modern game.

Of course, this is not necessarily a new phenomenon. For decades players have moved clubs to teams they feel they can have more success with. In recent years at Liverpool, players such as Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres and others arrived at the club in the hope they would replicate the great Liverpool teams of the past by winning Premier League titles and Champions League trophies. While Torres has moved to pastures new to find trophies sharpish, Pepe Reina has apparently stated today that he is impatient for success at the Reds.

Players moving clubs in search of trophies is pretty much part and parcel of the modern game in most player’s eyes. However, what Torres and others, do not take into consideration when they move clubs in search of glory, are the fans. Like many before him, on his arrival and during his stay on Merseyside, Torres preached loyalty to the club and stated that he would never play for another English club. He was stating what he believed at the time but when asked about this statement after his move to Chelsea he said:

“I said that at that moment, I didn’t think I would play for another club – because at that moment Liverpool were giving me what they promised … but not now.”

For him, circumstances had changed and therefore his future at Liverpool was also in question. From his point of view, it was a purely selfish calculation in which his own career objectives took priority over the feelings of the fans who had grown to love him as an idol. If he had stated on his arrival at Anfield that he had come to Liverpool to “win trophies or he would look to move on in search for winners medals,” then fans would not have grown so attached to him, and become so angry at his departure.

A player such as Torres would never have said such a thing though as it comes across as purely selfish. He would be perceived as player, playing for himself, rather than working and fighting for the team. How would that go down with his new team-mates and the fans? To ingratiate yourself to the club it is best to speak in the most reverential terms about both the club and the supporters. He may even mean many of the sentiments but at the end of the day, his priority is to be in a successful team. Personal glory looks to have sway in his mind above all else.

The same may go for Pepe Reina. People believe him to be an honorary Scouser as John Aldridge said in his column for the Liverpool Echo this week, but it’s again apparent that the desire for trophies and success are first and foremost in his mind. Hopefullly with Kenny Dalglish turning the club’s fortunes around, it will persuade the Spanish goalkeeper to stay, but what maybe now in question is whether he is staying purely for his love of the club or because there is a greater chance of winning medals. Certainly a player should not be criticised for wanting to win things. After all, players have short careers and they want to make the best out of them, but it is a shame that loyalty to clubs doesn’t stretch far these days.

Read more of David’s articles at the excellent Live4Liverpool

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Bolton Wanderers will be without Sam Ricketts for the rest of the season after he ruptured his Achilles.The injury happened as Bolton beat Wigan in an FA Cup fourth round replay on Wednesday.Full back Ricketts, who will also miss Wales’ European Championship qualifier against England in March, had surgery on Friday and faces up to six months on the sidelines.”He has been outstanding for us and our immediate thoughts go to him as we wish for a speedy recovery,” said Bolton manager Owen Coyle.”It was very innocuous as he sustained the injury by tracking their winger Victor Moses. He has put his foot down and stumbled, so it is very unfortunate.””Sam will get all the help from the club that he requires, but we will now have to get on with everything.”Coyle faces something of an injury crisis at the back, with Zat Night out for six weeks with a knee injury.Bolton take on Fulham in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday.

We all know that the best part of the week is when Saturday comes and we get that football feeling. What’s even better than that is actually going to a game. You get that buzz inside you, putting on your colours and eating the statutory pie and chips covered in either gravy or curry sauce, depending on which half of the country you’re from.

Other than watching your side, the best part about being at a game though is cheering your team on and laughing at some of the funny chants echoing around every ground in the country. I’m starting to think that football fans don’t get enough credit for our level of intelligence, because every season the new songs seem to get more ridiculous than the last. The top teams get a lot of stick for their home support resembling a library, but away from home even they know how to have a good time. Arsenal fans have been known to ‘go mental’ at half time at various stadiums and Manchester United make one hell of a racket on the road.

But with fans coming up with new chants about their favourite players and rival clubs, I started to wonder what were the funniest ones? For the sake of publication, I had to straight away discount any which used some choice language, and opted for 10 of the more cleaner songs. So here are my top 10 funny Premier League songs at the moment. The list doesn’t include many old songs or chants about former players (unless they really deserve it) as I’ve concentrated on the more modern of times. Feel free to add to the list at the bottom with some funny, but clean, songs from your club.

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Click on the fans below to see the Top TEN

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Beira-Mar ended a run of three straight losses with an emphatic 3-1 win over 10-man Pacos de Ferreira in Friday’s Liga Sagres action.The result leaves Pacos’ spot in the Europa League places under threat, with Vitoria Guimaraes and Nacional both able to leapfrog the fourth-placed side with victories this weekend.Beira-Mar provisionally improve to ninth on the table with their first win in two months, kicked off by Brazilian striker Leandro Tatu, who found the net in just the fourth minute.The hosts held their advantage through to the hour mark, but Venezuelan forward Mario Rondon scored in the 61st minute level the match for Pacos.However, Chadian midfielder Djamal Bindi wrested back the initiative in Beira-Mar’s favour with a goal 11 minutes later.Brazilian playmaker Leonel Olimpio was sent off with a straight red in the 79th minute, all but killing off Ferreira’s hopes of a late equaliser, and Renan rubbed salt into their wounds with another goal in injury time.

Relegation-threatened Blackpool had some good news ahead of Sunday’s clash against Fulham at Craven Cottage.Skipper Charlie Adam has shaken off the knee injury he suffered in Scotland’s 2-0 loss to Brazil last Sunday and will take his place in the crucial Premier League clash.

“Charlie had a clash of knees in the Scotland game but he hasn?t reported to (Blackpool physio) Phil Horner, so there should be no problems there,” assistant manager Steve Thompson told the Blackpool Gazette:

“Both Charlie and Stephen Crainey (who also played against Brazil at Arsenal) were a little bit stiff and leggy in their first training session back.”

“We are monitoring them, and (Wales?) David Vaughan, to make sure we get the balance between rest and work right.”

Meanwhile, Fulham’s Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has warned his team-mates they are in for a tough afternoon, in a fixture he describes as ‘huge’.

Schwarzer knows maximum points are needed with the Cottagers on 35 points, two ahead of Blackpool, who are only three ahead of cellar dweller Wigan.

“It?s a huge game but Blackpool have shown on their away trips that they are a very difficult team to play against,” he said.

“They have done tremendously well this season and we know we?re in for a very tough afternoon.

“But we believe we should be picking up three points, especially at home. It is imperative we get results at home and nick some away.”

Fulham?s defeat at Everton, their last game, was their first loss in six.

Blackpool, meanwhile, have gone three games without a win and have only one victory in their last 10 in the Premier League.

At Bloomfield Road in August Dickson Etuhu stole a late equaliser for Fulham to earn a 2-2 draw.

Blackpool have lost on their last four league visits to Craven Cottage and have failed to score in their last five. They last won there in April 1990.

Fulham are still without Steven Sidwell, Philippe Senderos and Matthew Briggs.

Blackpool have lost Paul Rachubka, Chris Basham, Matt Gilks and Billy Clarke, while DJ Campbell completes a three-match ban.