Union

While there has still been no official announcement that Faryd Mondragon will be joining the Union, this news from Germany seems to be another unofficial confirmation: former FC Köln keeper Markus Proll is on trial with the club to see if he is a suitable replacement for Mondragon.

my 100% rumor starting record if they take Angel in the draft.

WV Hooligan reviews MLS Eastern Conference offseason moves and says of the Union, “There are plenty of things they can still do to improve going into their sophomore campaign, “ such as continue to draft well, build up the defense, build around Le Toux and sort out the goalie situation. “We know Chris Seitz, a guy tabbed as a big part of their franchise is no longer with them.” We do?

The Union website profiles Brian Carroll. In addition to the usual fluff about how eager he is to help the team (“I’m excited to get (to Philadelphia) and join the guys on the team and see if I can help us take the next step and hopefully make the playoffs”) and what he thinks about Philadelphia (“I grew up around D.C. and I have heard the stories of Philly fans”), the opening of the piece confirms early reports about why the Union decided to sign Carroll at the expense of leaving Shea Salinas unprotected: “Manager Peter Nowak decided to pull the trigger anyway for one reason in particular: his newest acquisition is a proven winner.” Fair enough.

The piece notes that the Union is already “stocked with natural holding midfielders like Stefani Miglioranzi, Amobi Okugo, Andrew Jacobson and Eduardo Coudet, but Carroll figures to be inserted as a stalwart in front of the backline.”

Congolese side TP Mazembe are the club punching above their weight at the Club World Cup, having first knocked out Pachuca and then defeating Internacional of Brazil to become the first African team to make the finals. Danny Mwanga, for one, will be cheering them on.

The Union have hired Group ESP, “to serve as a strategic consultant in developing the positioning and engagement of the Union brand within the corporate community.” This means Group ESP will “counsel on a go-to-market commercial strategy,” thus developing “the most compelling value propositions for corporate brands” to partner with the club and will “concept custom activation strategies for existing and prospective partners” and “develop proprietary programming extensions.” Corporate-speak, ya gotta love it.

MLS

A spat between the Seattle Sounders and the Emerald City supporters club may be brewing due to the refusal of Sounders majority owner Joe Roth to increase the allocation of tickets for traveling supporters. The Sounders supporters group has enter into an alliance with Portland’s Timbers Army and Vancouver’s Southsiders supporters groups to increase ticket allocations to promote the Pacific Northwest derbies. Roth says he’s worried about how empty seats might look on TV.

In related Seattle news, this piece wonders how the return of an NBA team could affect support for the Sounders.

Keeping with the Pacific Northwest, Portland have signed former Arsenal defender Kerrea Gilbert.

Sporting Kansas City and US international striker Teal Bunbury scored for Stoke City reserves against Wigan on Tuesday. Bunbury has been training with Stoke “to gain further experience.”

Will Fulham be competing with Everton to get Landon Donovan on loan?

Will Newcastle be competing with Fulham and Everton to get Landon Donovan on loan?

Thierry Henry on a return to European play: “You won’t see me in the colors of a European club ever again.”

Kathy Carter has been named President of Soccer United Marketing (SUM), MLS’ commercial subsidiary. In addition to MLS, SUM manages the commercial activity of  U.S. Soccer and all of its national teams, the Mexican National Team, Chivas de Guadalajara, “and multiple CONCACAF properties.” Goodness gracious—you go, girlfriend!

WPS

One local casualty of the folding of Chicago Red Stars is Vineland-native Jillian Loyden.

The new majority owner of Washington Freedom is Dan Borislow, the founder of internet phone company magicJack. He is considering splitting home games between DC and South Florida and changing the name of the team to magicTalk FC, “or something like that.”

US

It’s official: The USMNT will play Egypt on February 9 in Cairo.

The US is tied with France for 18th in the current FIFA rankings.

Elsewhere

Argentina has surpassed Brazil as the largest exporter of football talent. This piece from Reuters considers why that may harm their domestic game.

The Australian A-League is in dire financial straits, leading to calls for a lowering of players wages. The median wage there is AUS$135,000. In comparison, the median wage for MLS players is AUS$89,000. That’s $88,000 in ‘Merican money.

Sam Allardyce, just fired as manager of Blackburn, may have a new job as manager of West Ham.

Fox Soccer Channel has extended its contract to broadcast the UEFA Champions League through 2015.