Philly Soccer Page will be part of a live, online roundtable chat with local soccer media today at noon at BrotherlyGame.com. Others taking part include Kerith Gabriel of the Daily News, Jonathan Tannenwald of the Inquirer, Dave Zeitlin of MLSSoccer.com, and the guys from PhillyUnionTalk and, naturally, The Brotherly Game. To join the chat, click here at noon.

The big news is that Chile announced its squad for the January 22nd friendly against the USA in Los Angeles. The Chilean football federation has elections January 7th, so this could be the last squad coach Marcelo Bielsa announces (before he becomes Liverpool’s manager).

ESPN’s Outside The Lines tackles serious topics that can’t be captured in soundbytes or solved through the pseudophilosophical meanderings of group punditry. Which makes it likely that ESPN brass meant to cancel the show years ago but forgot all about it when LeBron James got a twitter account. The latest OTL profiles Chilean mine disaster survivor Franklin Lobos, a former professional footy player.

Brad Guzan was sent out on loan by Aston Villa. It’s only a one month spell at Hull City (where Americans go to suck), but that could be the least of the issues for American goalies in the north. Gerard Houllier is reportedly looking at Rangers’ McGregor as a replacement for the over-40 Brad Friedel.

Staying in Glasgow, Rangers honored victims of the 1971 Ibrox disaster before the Old Firm match. That year, 66 fans were crushed to death during the Celtic fixture. The captains from Celtic and Rangers 1971 squads led the 2011 teams onto the pitch before a moment of silence.

Aron Winter has announced that he is Toronto FC’s new manager. The former Dutch midfielder is currently on the Ajax coaching staff.

Chivas USA is also expected to appoint a new manager this week, with Real Salt Lake assistant Robin Fraser getting the nod. Chivas has already been turned down by Juan Carlos Osorio of Colombian team Once Caldas, but there is no reason for Fraser to say no.

Tom Williams of Football Further offers this incredible list of the best quotes from French football over the past year. My personal favorite: “He sullied my name without trying to find out what happened. Lilian thinks he’s the new coach, the president of the federation and the president of the [French] Republic… Walking around with books on slavery in glasses and a hat does not turn you into Malcolm X.”
– Patrice Evra on Lilian Thuram, after the France 1998 stalwart called for him to be banned from the national side for life

Herbert Chapman was one of the first tactical innovators in football. Back when the go-to formation was the 2-3-5, he dropped a midfielder into the back to man-mark the other team’s center striker. This formation, the W-M, led to the emergence of wingers as the central attacking threats in the English game. The Equaliser reviews Arsenal’s golden age under Chapman in the 30s.

Blackburn Rovers are offering 7.2 million pounds for Ronaldinho. I repeat: Blackburn Rovers are bidding for Ronaldinho. Also: Locusts.

Tottenham striker/false nine Rafael van der Vaart’s wife Sylvie is a fashion model. And, without the aid of any movie tricks whatsoever, she is also an incredible footballer. Even if it isn’t real, it’s still hilarious.

Alexei Lalas blahblahblah David Beckham. Look, Becks doesn’t run all that much. Let him go play wherever he wants as long as it isn’t MMA. We wouldn’t want to bang up that glorious visage.