Daniel Taylor: Carlos Tevez paying a heavy price for living in his own universe

In the real world, if Carlos Tevez worked for a company the size of Manchester City and disappeared for almost three months he would get sacked and his belongings would follow in a crate.

Fantasy All-Time Soccer Draft

Imagine you and nine rival managers/sporting directors are putting together soccer teams from scratch. Every current or former player is available to draft, each in the prime of his career. How would you construct a 16-man squad? Would Pele be the surefire No. 1 player on your draft board? If you had a full list of forwards from which to choose, how would you decide among Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Johan Cruyff and Alfredo di Stefano? Where would you slot Franz Beckenbauer and Franco Baresi? Zico and Michel Platini? How would you balance stars and role players, or pioneers versus today's greats? These were just some of the questions facing the 10 writers -- Jen Chang, Steve Davis, Raphael Honigstein, Ben Lyttleton, Iain MacIntosh, Gabriele Marcotti, Rob Smyth, Georgina Turner, Grant Wahl and Jonathan Wilson -- who participated in SI.com's Ultimate Soccer Draft. Below you can see the pick-by-pick results of the draft. You can view a complete analysis of each team by clicking on the writers' pictures or on "TEAMS" above. Disagree with the picks? Weigh in with your thoughts on the draft's hottest debates. Who drafted the best team? For one answer to that question, SI.com asked Sports Interactive, creators of the best-selling Football Manager simulation, to design a realistic representation of what might occur if these 160 players all played at the same time in this 10-team league. We present the standings, league leaders and player-by-player stats from the balanced, 18-game regular season. (A recap of the season is chronicled here.) Each former player’s best season and overall career performance was used as the foundation for creating his data ratings for the simulation, with current players assigned their default ratings in the latest version of FM2012. A group of writers convened (Wilson, Marcotti, Lyttleton, Chang and Honigstein) to reach a consensus rating for each of the former players and assign the values for their individual attributes. Players are geared toward a starting lineup based on the writers' preferences, but playing time and number of starts are handled by the automated computer coach in the simulation, with each writer assigned a well-known current manager as his assistant. Injuries come into play like in real life, as does the possibility that some players will have off years or exceed their usual productivity. Now, on to the draft ...

Steve Davis: Jones and Cameron impress for U.S. team in pair of January friendlies

Always, always keep in mind: Results in January friendlies don't mean a thing in the big picture. They can, however, tell us something about personnel, once properly strained through all the relevant filters. So, allowing for watered-down opposition and for the difficulties associated with performing alongside other "B" and "C" team types, here's how the U.S. player pool may have shifted based on recent 1-0 wins over Venezuela and Panama.

Dominic Raynor: Off the Ball

Keeping Prince off the pitch...?

Off the Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories. This week, AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng is sidelined by too much sex, a Brazilian goalkeeper turns up "too drunk to move" at his new club, the video fake that fooled Liverpool's top brass before Stewart Downing's £20 million move, Bayern Munich's "spectacular" own goal and full-contact 'bubble football'.

England: FA Cup Weekend Previews & Predictions

Liverpool's visit of fierce rivals Manchester United takes centre stage as the FA Cup resumes with a jam-packed weekend of fixtures. The glamour tie of the fourth round will take place on Saturday lunchtime with Anfield as the stage, with the Reds having already booked one Wembley visit after advancing to the Carling Cup final with a win over Manchester City in midweek. The clubs have joined forces in calling for both sets of fans to act responsibly, with the clash marking the first time the teams have met since Luis Suarez was banned for eight matches for racially abusing Patrice Evra in October, but tensions are expected to run high in a fiercely-contested affair. Two Friday games are scheduled, one of which will see Tottenham make the short trip to Championship opponents Watford, with Harry Redknapp set to return to the dugout. In Friday's other encounter, two top-flight opponents go head-to-head when Everton host Fulham at Goodison Park, with in-form Cottagers striker Clint Dempsey seeking his third hat-trick this month.

Preview

Watford vs. Tottenham: Preview


Brighton vs. Newcastle: Preview


Liverpool vs. Manchester United
Preview
Alan Hansen's Preview


Lawro's Predictions

The Mill +

Friday's Rumours






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Jack Wilshere hands Arsenal and England a fresh injury scare

Jack Wilshere has given Arsenal and England a massive injury scare after suffering a recurrence of the ankle problem which has kept him out this season, the Guardian understands. In what will come as a significant blow to both his club's efforts to secure a Champions League berth, and the national team's preparations for Euro 2012, Wilshere suffered a breakdown just at the point when he was set to return to first-team training for Arsenal.

Rewind to 2002: Hiddink's winter of discontent

South Korea finished fourth at the 2002 World Cup as a nation turned red with excitement, yet just five months earlier, the team managed the same position at the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup while the country turned pink with embarrassment. In June, the Taeguk Warriors defeated Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain on their way to the semi-final; in January, they lost to the United States, Costa Rica and Canada while drawing with Cuba and Mexico. In June, Guus Hiddink was a hero; but in January, he almost lost his job.

Dempsey: I want to play in UCL

Fulham star Clint Dempsey has put the Premier League's top clubs on alert by revealing that he will not be happy in his career until he has played in the Champions League.

Dempsey: U.S. stars a major force now

David Conn: Onus on clubs to prevent ugly spectre of racism rearing its head again

If you had invited predictions a year ago about football's most combustible issue, it is unlikely that racism, the focus of sustained and successful efforts to kick it out, would have come anywhere near top of the list. Yet as Liverpool prepare to face Manchester United in the FA Cup for a match in danger of being more poisonous than for a long time, football's long, progressive battle against racism is suddenly spotlit again.

Rob Bagchi: For every prolific Lilian Thuram there's a wobbly Jonathan Woodgate

Thuram and some dude

There have been crimes committed against the fraternity of full-backs in recent weeks. Arsenal's spate of injuries has obliged Arsène Wenger to send out four centre-backs whose relative uniformity of size when strung in a defensive line has left them looking at times like table footballers – with the proviso that they lack the positional discipline compelled upon them by having a pole running through their ribs to link them together. Tony Pulis, who seems to have an aversion to orthodox full-backs, sent out Stoke City for their FA Cup third-round victory over Gillingham with the former England centre-halves Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson at right- and left-back respectively. Indeed he has persevered with Woodgate in the old No2 role despite evidence that suggests the defender is wholly unsuited to the task.

The Mill +

Wednesday's Rumours








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Charlton fans arrested over alleged racist chanting after Fulham game

Nine men have been arrested by police investigating suspected racist chanting by football fans. Police received reports of a group of Charlton Athletic supporters singing racist songs on a train following their FA Cup tie at Fulham on 7 January. Detective Inspector Ashley Cooper, leading the BTP investigation, said the suspects, aged between 20 and 30, were taken to a north London police station and are helping police with their inquiries. Cooper said: "We launched Operation Midas after a group of men, who we believe to be Charlton supporters, boarded a train at Putney and were heard chanting racist songs – something which was both offensive and extremely intimidating for other passengers on board.

USA: International Friendly Preview

Estadio Rommel Fernandez

Who: Panama vs. United States
When: 8:30pm EST
Where: Estadio Rommel Fernandez, Panama City
U.S. TV: Galavision, ESPN3
Preview

Spain: Wednesday's Copa del Rey Semi-Final Second Leg Preview

The Stamper

Who: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid (2-1 agg.)
When: 4pm EST
Where: Camp Nou, Barcelona
U.S. TV: GolTV, ESPN Deportes
Preview

England: Wednesday's Carling Cup Semi-Final Second Leg Previews

Yes, that's Lucille Ball

Who: Liverpool vs. Manchester City (1-0 agg.)
When: 2:45pm EST
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
U.S. TV: Fox Soccer Channel
Preview
Lawro's Preview

England: Tuesday's Carling Cup Semi-Final Second Leg Report

Cardiff City 1(3) - 0(1) Crystal Palace 
Dominic Fifield at Cardiff City Stadium

African Cup of Nations: Updates & Team of the Round

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations is well underway after three days of competitive matches that have done little to betray the tournament's reputation of being one of the most exciting and unpredictable events in world football. The tournament kicked-off in Bata, a port-city on the Atlantic coast of Equatorial Guinea, with an opening ceremony full of glitz and glamour that provided a stunning backdrop to the competition on Saturday evening. The ceremony was truly a spectacle to behold, but thankfully so far the tournament itself has provided entertainment to match.

Ghana and Mali came out on top as the Africa Cup of Nations completed its opening batch of group matches here on Tuesday. Ghana are with Ivory Coast carrying the tag of favourites on their shoulders and they duly earned the three points with a 1-0 win in their Group D clash with Botswana.

Jonathan Wilson: Ghana worryingly fragile

Team of the Round

Uli Hesse in Germany

They're trying to conceal it as best they can, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that somebody is scripting the Bundesliga. Last weekend, Germany's top flight returned from hibernation and the games involving the clubs in the title race produced the results required to create a rare and thrilling situation. For the first time in two decades, three teams are level on points at the top after 18 matches of the season. Not to mention that a fourth is trailing that trio by only one point.

Sid Lowe in Spain

The Portuguese wants to know who plunged the knife into his back after a training ground conversation was leaked to the press.

Mourinho meltdown and hints of civil war at Real Madrid.