Why? Well, in part, because it values winning over player development among our still-developing players. Read the following quote from Tony Carr, a coach at the West Ham Academy, that ran in the Guardian:

We like an expansive game, and try to encourage players to express themselves. We’re not team-builders, we’re trying to develop players – that’s the key element of what we do. As they grow older, you start to teach them about learning to win.

Counter to what you might think, me-first is best when it comes to teaching young footballers, not coaches who have to win to save their cushy college gigs.

But life in Europe (and by that we mean literal England, not figurative Greenland) wasn’t always tip-top for Dempsey. As he reveals in a few interviews released this week, the early days overseas were tough ones for him indeed.

In a great feature that ran in “The Australian“, Dempsey talked about the toll not getting regular playing time took on him:

“The first 18 months (in England) were a struggle,” he says. “They were dark times. For the first couple of seasons, it never felt like I had a spot in the team, it was always my spot to win, because they’d bought someone else. I never felt that if everyone was healthy, I was part of the strongest XI. That only changed in the last three years.”

Growing up in Texas apparently wasn’t any easier for Dempsey. Due to competitive issues, Dempsey apparently puched a teacher in the face at the age of six for “ensuring girls beat boys in a Nacogdoches kick-ball game.” Dempsey also didn’t have much money during his child and teenage years, something he still draws inspiration from:

“I guess I have always had that chip on my shoulder, that I’ve always been undervalued, underappreciated,” says Dempsey, with the lightest hint of Texan drawl. “Maybe that’s because I grew up not having a lot of money; I wasn’t the guy driving the big truck around, I was the guy with the beat-up car you had to put in neutral and crank to make it start. I wasn’t always shown a lot of love.”

Dempsey opened up further in his Goal.com diary (republished on Fulham’s official site), admitting that having a wife and children has raised his spirits immensely in England.

Having a wife and kids is great because no matter if you have a good or bad game, you come home and they’re going to love you the same. When I first came over, I didn’t have anyone to come home to. I was by myself. When you have a bad game or are going through tough times, you don’t have anybody to get your mind off of things.

It lifts your spirits to have your family around. No matter if you’re having a bad day, when you come home and your kids give you a hug. It changes the way you look at things.

It was difficult at the beginning when I first moved to England because my wife was still finishing her master’s degree at Appalachian State, so we weren’t able to be together and had to have a long-distance relationship. But we were able to figure out a way to make it work.

Getting married and having kids was always something I wanted to do in life. That’s mostly because it is what my parents did and their parents did and so on. It was all about people taking commitment very seriously and having to work to make it happen. And that’s what we had to do.

FIFA.com also caught up to Dempsey recently, where the Fulham player delivered a quote that might be just as appropriate getting inked onto his skin as it is being published on a soccer website:

“Life is short and I want to go as far as I can.”

Thanks to the dark days behind him, Dempsey might wind up going plenty far indeed.

Pulled from the pages of a recent Daily Mail column, here’s a bit of insight into just how Mario Balotelli’s dangerously inquisitive, skidmark-addled mind works.

From the Mail:

The other day at the Manchester City training ground, workers in the front office were surprised to see a familiar black sports car eschewing its usual parking space and heading towards the large glass frontage at a significant lick.

Just as those inside were preparing to dive for cover, the car halted, close enough for the automatic glass doors to part silently. And Balotelli’s curiosity was satisfied. As he explained to nervous staff afterwards, he knew the doors worked when a person walked towards them, but a car …

(Note: No idea whether that’s the actual sports car in question.)

We haven’t heard much from Robbie Findley at Nottingham Forest lately. His official club bio also seem uncertain about the former Real Salt Laker. “The US international is still something of an unknown quantity in England, despite the fact that he joined The Reds in January 2011, ” says the bio.

Unfortunately for Findley, epic misses like this one Tuesday in the FA Cup vs. Leicester will not help his stock. Oy.

And in case you were wondering (like me) who that old guy is on the Quaker logo? It’s not William Penn and it’s not Benjamin Franklin. It’s not even a real person actually: Read.

Anyway, solid shirt sponsor for the Fire who have been without one since Best Buy baled in 2010.

Peer a bit more closely, however, and there are reasons to be worried about what this transfer could do for Ream’s long-term development. Ream’s move to Bolton is likely to play out as a career-defining act, which is a bit unfortunate, as this is a club that’s currently trying to define itself as well.

Bolton is a team in drastic decline that’s going to have to scrape and claw to avoid relegation. Through 21 matches, the Wanderers sit one place above the bottom with a scant 16 points. There is already a bit of separation at the nadir of the table, as five clubs sit at 18 points or fewer, while the 15th place side, West Brom, has a four-point cushion over Wolves in 16th place, meaning the bottom fourth of the table isn’t likely to see much movement. Making Bolton’s quest of staying afloat even tougher is the fact that Queens Park Rangers — currently in 18th — could see a boost from new manager Mark Hughes and some aggressive spending in the January tranfer window.

Unlike lavish QPR, Bolton’s own funds are reportedly lacking. The club was described as being in dire financial straits on a recent BBC 5Live podcast, so however many millions are being spent to bring Ream over from the MLS will be seen as nothing short of a generous spend. Which means, fair or not, Ream will immediately be expected to act as a defensive pillar for the Bolton defense.

And what a defense he’s joining. Bolton has allowed a league-worst 46 goals so far this season, and the club recently sold its top defensive player, central defender Gary Cahill, to Chelsea. Ream will have to fill in immediately for the brawny, celebrated English international, and with great effect. Anything less than a rejuvenated defense will be seen as at least a partial failure on Ream’s part.

This last point of Ream becoming the focal point of an EPL club will certainly be the most interesting, if not the most worrisome, test he will face. While his ball skills are of a level that put him among the top defensemen in England, Ream’s going to have to show pure grit and determination in fighting off some of the top attackers on the planet. This brand of at-all-costs defending hasn’t been a staple of Ream’s play thus far, however; one alarming case in point was Ream insipidly giving up the 79th-minute match-winner for the US against Ecuador in a friendly that took place at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. Moreover, Ream’s home-field lapse came while trying to impress new national-team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, leaving one to wonder that if Ream didn’t feel a strong sense of urgency to perform in that setting, then when would he ever?

Should he make Bolton’s starting 11, Ream would likely line up next to erratic veteran Zat Knight, a tall central defender who has stretches of solid play cluttered by moments of seeming indifference. This is not a dream pairing for Ream, although on the plus side, Knight’s height should help him in defending set pieces, as well as teams that rely on a more direct, “English” style of play, like, say, Stoke City.

Ultimately, there are myriad challenges to be faced by Ream, should he finally make the move to England. It would be very difficult to ever advise against him going abroad, as opportunities to make this much money can’t, and shouldn’t, be counted upon to pop up regularly, but it would also be difficult to say that Bolton is the ideal destination for him. Bolton are basically a club that seems destined for relegation, meaning Ream could be playing in England’s second tier, the Championship, as early as next season.

We at this site have long held that the level of play in the MLS spans a cluster of teams extending from the bottom half of the Championship to the top half of England’s League One (third tier). Barring a Bolton resurgence that sees Ream as one of the key saviors — something we’re certainly pulling for, though unfortunately not overly optimistic about — Ream and possibly fellow MLS’er Sebastien Le Toux (the French Philadelphia Union forward is currently on a one-week trial with Bolton) could be putting that theory to the test sooner than anyone might like.

Let’s just hope such a trip downwards wouldn’t spoil Ream’s future standing in English circles and beyond. Despite a lack of outward-facing toughness, Ream is still one of the most gifted back-line players in American soccer, so his development is a luxury we can’t afford to see squandered.

Arsenal vs. Manchester United will be broadcast live on FOX on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET. It’s the first time ever that an English league match will be broadcast live on U.S. network TV.

Really a shame Arsenal didn’t make good on all those Clint Dempsey rumors from this summer, huh?

But at least we’ll get Piers Morgan in the studio for the pregame show. Now that he’s been dubbed the official voice of mainstream soccer in this country, he’s been weighing in on everything from the state of MLS — “When I went to Shanghai in China, I went to see a match and what I saw there was not dissimilar from what you see in the U.S.” — to his Twitter feed being the ultimate source of soccer news for clueless yanks — “I would say Americans who are interested in soccer will probably get more information from my Twitter feed than from any other source on social media.”

Can’t believe I’m about to say this, but where’s Joey Barton when you need him?

If you want to read a proper English preview of the match, the Guardian attempted to put things in perspective. They also have a piece on why Lil’ Pea is struggling this season, which could easily be turned into a FOX feature that could air as a lead-in to the match given Chicharito’s popularity here.

Let’s just hope Michael Strahan isn’t involved in any way.

OK, you can stand up again. Go get back to your Gol TV or something; it’ll help remove the Piers Morgan scent you unfortunately now have about yourself.

I’m admittedly a bit of a mawkish sap, especially when it comes to the growth of American soccer, so take it with a leather, stitched-panel grain of salt when I confess to getting chills last night upon reading one of David Beckham’s quotes from the announcement of his re-signing with the Galaxy.

The specific quote (or “inverted commas” to the Brits) ran as such in the LA Times.

“I’ve seen first-hand how popular soccer is now in the States and I’m committed as ever to growing the game here,” Beckham, who turns 37 in May. “My family and I are incredibly happy and settled in America and we look forward to spending many more years here.”

And with that, I felt a touch of pride. Chilling pride, I suppose.

No, Beckham’s not the top player in the world. Not even one of the top. And sure, most of the European clubs were banging down his door as much for marketing purposes as they were for what he would’ve brought to the pitch.

But they still couldn’t pry him from our league. And while his reasons for staying certainly weren’t solely about soccer in America (not uprooting his family and the exposure Hollywood affords the Beckham brand obviously came first here), our rendition of the beautiful game did factor in to his decision. And sadly or not, that’s good enough for me.

Welcome back, Becks.

Only 873 days until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Get ready. Like now.