The GolTV website is carrying a story that says Chelsea's Arjen Robben is leaving the club for Real Madrid. There's been talk of a Robben exit for some time, although his preference was allegedly Barcelona. Perhaps he's going to Real in hopes of a swap later. In any case, I think Chelsea is stupid for letting him go. The games I've seen him play, he was one of the hardest working guys on the field, looking more threatening than most everyone else.

Speaking of Lampard, apparently he and John Terry are holding out for more cash. While I'm always quick to say something nasty about fat Frank, I think, their greed aside, the pricinpal is warranted. They are certainly far more valuable than Shevchenko, who's season was a complete disaster. Michael Ballack hasn't been the force that he was expected to be, either. Now, whether or not Lampard and Terry deserve more money is another matter.

Lampard's current salary of 70,000 quid a week is still an obscene amount of money, but this is football, and he deserves more than Sheva. If pay were based on performance, Shevchenko wouldn't deserve £121,000 for the whole year. About the only thing he was good for, if memory serves, was a couple of goals against Football League clubs in the Carling and FA Cup. Mostly he just wandered around the pitch, looking lost and frustrated. You could swear you could see the wheels turning in his mind: "This was so easy in Italy!" Welcome to England, mate. If I were Chelsea, I'd be unloading Sheva to the first reasonable bidder, and throwing a few more bucks Drogba's way to secure his future with the club. Because if they continue as they did last year, they don't have a prayer without him.

On another note, I watched the Houston v. Dallas MLS match this past Saturday, and it was a disaster. Most USL Division 1 games I've seen are better, both in how the game is played and entertainment quality. The whole game, it looked like everyone, save the goalkeepers, were moving in one big, disorganized mass in the midfield. I think I saw three or four plays down the wing the whole game, which were pretty much wide open the rest of the time.

It's sad to watch, because I wonder what this poor quality is doing to players that might be World class if given a good environment to flourish in. Dwayne DeRosario, for example. He's good enough to play in Europe, in my opinion. If nothing else, then in a strong second division like the League Championship. Maybe it was an isolated incident, I certainly hope so.

think the MLS needs to grow up if it's ever going to be taken seriously. Which means no more silly American-style drafts, no more teams with dumb names. Real Salt Lake? Does Utah have a monarchy I'm not aware of? Houston Dynamo? is Texas a Russian territory now? Wizards? No comment needed. Come on, people. You've got to be serious to be taken seriously. They need to make a relegation system a goal for the long term, too.

I'll give the MLS a few more chances but so far, when it comes to domestic football, I'm much more impressed by the USL.