WHAT THE? is my weekly Premiership review column where I write about the crap I found interesting in the latest round of Prem games. This is about me, not you, so I don’t want to hear you bloody whine about it.

• Manchester United made up a Prem game against Fulham midweek. Man U won the game 3-0.

• Manchester United continued to win, and lead the Premiership with a 2-1 win over Blackburn. With the midweek game putting Man U on the same page as everyone else in games played, Man U is leading the table by 7 points over Liverpool. This season might be over in February.

• Aston Villa hit a bump in their great season with a 0-1 loss to Chelsea to fall 1 point behind the Blues to forth. Aston Villa is still 6 points ahead of Arsenal for the important 4th place to qualify for the Champions League.

• Arsenal laid another egg in a 0-0 draw with Sunderland.

• Tottenham continues their push away from the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over Hull. On the other hand Hull has slowly been falling down the Prem table as their great form at the beginning of the season has lacked. Hull went from 6th place to currently 13th.

• Liverpool’s chances of winning the Prem continue to get harder as the Anfield outfit posted another draw. A 1-1 tie with Man City is not the outcome Liverpool needs at this point in the season.

Wednesday night had the potential to be the greatest soccer match I have witnessed in my life. A home town match. USA vs Mexico. Life-threatening weather. Insanely good seats. Even Trecker remarked that the match “offers fans one of the purest and rarest soccer experiences: Real, unbridled menace”.  I live in a city where the drug of sports rivalry is laced through our water supply. I never drink water, so a rivalry on my terms sounds incredible. I even let myself half-expect something legendary, which may be the reason I was so easily underwhelmed by the event.

Cutting to the chase, Mexico looked absolutely terrible. Don’t get me wrong, I want them to lose. Always. But I also want to see a good game… and this time, they did everything wrong. The passes were off, the strategy was faulty, the aggression was misdirected, the spark was missing, the clutch moments were marred by nerves. Meanwhile, all the US had to do was recognize the mistakes and stay in synch. We had our shortcomings to be sure, but I never felt we lost control. I never felt the danger.

(Actually, I did feel the danger, twice. Within feet of me, fan fights erupted with enough fury to require handcuffs, and enough blood for me to feel actual concern for the well being of a stranger. I don’t know the details, but it doesn’t seem a far fetch that the frustration of an overhyped matchup could lead to fists and other potentially harmful objects taking flight.)

What all this means in my estimation is that the US is at risk for complacency and real trouble in 2010. The team needs real competition at the world level BEFORE the World Cup if we want to earn some respect. Mexico’s performance in this “rivalry” tells me that our last shred of challenge is gone from CONCACAF. If we really are that much better than Mexico now, we need to forget the rivalry and focus on pushing ourselves abroad in matches that will truly test our skills and improve our world game.

United States Head Coach Bob Bradley has named his 20-man roster for the upcoming World Cup Qualifier against Mexico on February 11th in Columbus, Ohio.

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Xerez C.D.), Brian Ching (Houston), Charlie Davies (Hammarby) Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Bayern Munich)

WHAT THE? is my weekly Premiership review column where I write about the crap I found interesting in the latest round of Prem games. This is about me, not you, so I don’t want to hear you bloody whine about it.

• Liverpool has continued to put pressure on Manchester United with a 3-2 win at Portsmouth. Torres scored another last minute goal (92nd min.) to get 3 points for Liverpool.

• Chelsea continued to slip with a 0-0 draw with Hull at home. Chelsea has now slipped to forth on the Prem table.

• A 2-0 win at Blackburn put Aston Villa in third place on the table. Villa is 2 points ahead of Chelsea and 3 behind Liverpool.

• Arsenal has fallen further behind the Top 4 with a 0-0 draw at Tottenham. Arsenal are now 5 points behind Chelsea and the forth place spot.

• Manchester United needed a second half Giggs goal to put them back at the top of the table with a 1-0 win against West Ham.

The United States has decided to throw their hat in for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The United States hosted its first World Cup in 1994 which saw Brazil beat Italy in California.

There are quite a few other counties in the running including; Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. Belgium and the Netherlands register to bid together, as have Portugal and Spain.

Since FIFA ended its rotation policy, the World Cup can move to any continent instead of a predetermined order . The only restriction is the World Cup can not be played on the same continent in 2 consecutive terms.

Lets hope the United States get one of the two years and Columbus gets to host a few games.

WHAT THE? is my weekly Premiership review column where I write about the crap I found interesting in the latest round of Prem games. This is about me, not you, so I don’t want to hear you bloody whine about it.

• Stoke jumped out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win against Manchester City. Speaking of Man City, without any major signings in the transfer window, it will be a long second half of the season.

• The Tottenham troubles continue with a 3-2 lost at Portsmouth. Tottenham is only sitting one point above the relegation zone. I like to make fun of Tottenham but it would be hard to believe a team like Tottenham falling into the Championship next season.

• Manchester United continued to lead the Prem with a 1-0 win against Everton on a Ronaldo penalty.

• Aston Villa maintained a 5 point lead over Arsenal for the critical 4th place spot in the Prem table as both teams drew over the weekend.

• The big game this weekend was Chelsea at Liverpool. With both teams chasing Man U at the top of the table, the points are critical. Torres scored in the 89th and 94th minutes to give Liverpool a 2-0 lead and regain 2nd place. Liverpool now trail Man U by 2 points on the Prem table.

Altidore was rumored for a loan spell to English Premiership side Everton. Then Villarreal, who is not given Jozy much playing time, decided that they were not going to make any loan deals during the transfer window.

It looks like Villarreal changed their minds and decided to loan Altidore to Spanish second division team CD Xerez. Villarreal decided to loan Jozy to get him some more playing time. Xerez is currently leading their league, which would put them in the Spanish top flight next season.

Why send a player to a subpar second division instead of the Prem? I assume for 2 reasons. First, Jozy will be less likely to get hurt in the Primera B. Second, Jozy will be less likely to want a permanent move to Xerez where he might be interested in a move to Everton.

Either way, Jozy needs more playing time and this loan will give him the chance.