Want some links?  Why not.

Stuart Holden is close to signing a new deal with Bolton Wanderers.  That article references an interview with ESPN and you can find that here.  And you may have noticed that Holden sat out of the mid-week game for Sheffield Wednesday after playing over the weekend, but there is some speculation that part of the loan deal was for him not play multiple games over a week.  Probably would be a smart thing.

Mikkel Diskerud took on some grand master in chess.  And lost.

On the USMNT friendly front, nearly 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the friendly against Germany in DC.  And the US are looking to play in Europe during the August international window.

Remember when I told you earlier this week that Freddy Adu went to a team who just fired their manager?  I guess Bahia have made 25 (!) managerial changes over the last 10 years.  Yikes.

Here is what Jozy Altidore will wear in home games next year if he ends up staying at AZ Alkmaar.  I like the Alkmaar flag in the V-neck.

J.R. Eskilson got some quotes on 17-year-old goalkeeper Aleks Gogic signing with Reading.  I know a couple people were wondering about the work permit, but it appears that his parents are Polish, which makes things easier.

US U-20 forward Danny Garcia is headed to Mexico to train with Club America.

Another youth product to keep an eye on in Mexico:  Herbert Robinson Garcia.  He is a 17-year-old Mexican-American at Santos Laguna who dressed for the senior team last weekend and is the captain of their U-17 team.

And another youth player who still has a ways to go to before ever playing for the US (a.k.a. he is not a US citizen but did live in the US briefly), but we can dream is Gedion Zelalem.  Zelalem made his debut with Arsenal’s U-21 team over the weekend.

If you are like me, you are probably being lazy on the couch and watching 2343254 different bowl games after a nice morning of soccer.  Here are a few links from the last couple days.

We already know the Camp Cupcake roster, but Tab Ramos has called in 36 guys for the U-20′s January camp.  Some of the “bigger” names consist of Sean Cunningham, Luis Gil, Tyrone McCargo, Caleb Stanko, Villyan Bijev and Omar Salgado.

Just when we thought Eddie Johnson had found a home, he has already been let go at Puebla.  The club is claiming that he is out of shape/lacking pace.

Steven Goff has has a couple goodies over the last week.  He has one post with a bunch of stuff that has been covered here already, but also has a bunch of new information like Diego Restrepo moving to Venezuela plus some little tidbits on Charlie Davies.  He also introduces us to Gedion Zelalem.  Zelalem is a 14-year-old who is a German citizen of Ethiopian descent who has lived in the States for more than five years.  Just someone to keep an eye on as he gets older and gets closer to US citizenship.

Yanks Abroad’s David Smith recently caught up with Benny Feilhaber about returning to the USMNT picture with January’s camp.

Landon Donovan recently did an interview with Colin Murray of the BBC.  You can listen to it right here.  Here are some photos of Donovan back in training with Everton.  I am eager to see him playing again on Wednesday.

Not that we needed it, but here is video proof that Freddy Adu is training in Spain with Rayo Vallecano.

And finally, nothing is official, but it looks like the USMNT will be headed to Genoa in February to take on Italy in a friendly.