Photo: Donald Montague, courtesy of the Philadelphia Union.

Beginning on Tuesday, the PSP will begin running two article series. One series will examine possible tactical formations for the Union. The other is a series of interviews with some of the groups that, following in the footsteps of the Sons of Ben, have formed to support the Union, including the Tammany Saints, the IllegitimateS, the Corner Creeps and the Bridge Crew.

Union

The league has announced that the schedule for the 2011 season will be released on Thursday, February 10. It’s about time.

The Union’s first preseason exhibition match ended in a 1–1 draw against the USMNT U-17 team on Sunday. Sebastien Le Toux scored the first goal in the 9th minute.

Said Danny Califf after the match,

I thought it was pretty good for our first preseason match. We did a lot of things right…I think we had quite a few sequences where we moved the ball really well and had some good combination play. I think we varied our game from short to some longer passes, which was also good…As far as things we need to work on, we weren’t as sharp (as we’d like). The game was a bit sloppy at times with our passing and touches. We can still work on our organization because we were out of sorts on a few occasions when they counter-attacked. Overall, I feel pretty good about the first game.

Said Sebastien Le Toux,

It was nice to come back on the field and play a game. In the first half it was good to see how we were able to come back together as a team because we knew each other. It was also good to play with [Faryd] Mondragon in the goal and Carlos [Valdes] in the back. I think we found our mark pretty quickly, so it was a pretty good first game.

According to the Offside, the starting XI for the Union was Mondragon, Williams, Califf, Valdes, Harvey, Le Toux, Nakazawa, Carroll, Mapp, Mwanga and an unnamed trialist. The line up for the second half was MacMath, Noone, Arrieta, Orozco-Fiscal, unnamed trialist, Jacobson, Okugo, Miglioranzi, unnamed trialist, McInerney and Richter.

Who are the unnamed trialists? The Offside says one of them is Keon Daniels. Take a look at the match photos on the Union’s Facebook page to see if you agree and can identify the others.

The Union announced on Friday that Josh Walburn and Matthew Marcin, selected in the Supplemental Draft, are no longer training with the club.

“America’s Football Factory,” the article about the Sons of Ben recently published in the UK edition of GQ magazine, is now available online for your perusal. Match Fit USA has a very interesting response from Brody Chacha, one of the SoB members featured in the GQ article, in which he systematically demonstrates that Andrew Hankinson, the “journalist” who wrote it, might more appropriately be called a writer of fiction.

Says Portland Timbers coach John Spencer of Jorge Perlaza, long rumored to be linked with the Union before going to the Timbers, “he was never going anywhere else.” Spencer continued,  “We identified this player back in 2010 and obviously someone got wind of it, and that he was going to MLS and maybe it was Philadelphia, but he was our target. He was one of the ones we discovered on a scouting trip down there. He was always coming to Portland, there was no doubt about that.”

Natasha Kai in the new Independence kit. I believe the expression you are looking for, dear reader, is "badass."

The Patriot News has a Q & A with Kierstin Rowe, the general manager of Union affiliate the Harrisburg City Islanders.

Independence

Puma has unveiled the new kit of the Philadelphia Independence. I like it.

MLS

Goal.com has a comprehensive look at what the reasons behind the delay in the release of the 2011 schedule might be. Bottom line: the delay will hurt some clubs financially.

When the 2011 schedule is released on Thursday, changes in the playoff format are also to be announced. IMS wonders if MLS might not look to the lower leagues for a MLS Cup solution.

Here’s look at how Charlie Davies is doing with DC United.

Apparently, after Liverpool signed Andy Carroll, Newcastle made a move to sign Thierry Henry as a temporary replacement.

New England Revolution are reportedly interested in signing Benni McCarthy, out of favor at West Ham. (He ate all the pies.)

Sunil Chhetri made something of a splash when he signed with Kansas City last season as the first player from India to sign with MLS. Chhetri never broke into the first team squad and has been released by the club.

The Los Angeles Futbol Club has ended its affiliation with the New York Cosmos as their western academy. If you care, you might want to read this.

US

US Soccer hopes to integrate female referees into the upper divisions.

The USWNT is refocusing on player development.

This profile on former USMNT star Tab Ramos looks at how he has been busy making a career for himself in coaching.

Elsewhere

Saturday was a day for the ages in the Premiership.

Sian Massey, the female referee’s assistant whose presence on the sidelines at a Premiership match set off the Sky Sports sexism scandal, returned to officiating for the first time since the scandal on Saturday for a League Two match.

The owner of indoor soccer team Baltimore Blast has been charged with having a loaded gun in his carry-on luggage.

FIFA’s appeals committee has upheld the bans against executive committee officials found guilty of bribery in the recent World Cup bid scandal. Nigeria’s Amos Adamu, former vice president of FIFA, says he will take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Sepp Blatter says the 2022 World Cup will take place in the summer. FIFA has eleven years to continue changing its mind.