Union
Who will soon be leaving the Union? In a story that is otherwise a yawner—now that he’s actually gone, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Marc Narducci offers some criticism of Carlos Ruiz and says the Union are better off without him—is included a piece of very big news for Union fans. Describing the efforts the Union have underway to acquire a “young international striker” in the summer transfer window, a source tells Narducci that the Union “will make another move with one of their own players.” Who might that be? Who do you want that to be?
Kerith Gabriel previews Saturday’s home game against Houston, who are looking for some revenge.
Happy 19th birthday to Jack McInerney.
Dave Zeitlin looks at how five former Union players—Brad Knighton, Nick Zimmerman of the Carolina RailHawks, and Eduardo Coudet, Toni Stahl and Cristian Arrieta of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers—are faring in the NASL. Looking ahead to the clubs’ match on Saturday, Knighton said, “We were a good family in Philly. It’s crazy all of us are playing on the same field against each other.” Knighton said of his season with the RailHawks, “Everything’s been good. Getting released [from the Union] when I did, I didn’t have much of a chance to find another team in MLS…I was surprised to see that because I put a good string of games together. But I’m happy where I’m at right now. You can get knocked down but you can bounce back.”
Independence
Veronica Bouquete was named WPS Player of the Week for the third time this season on Thursday. Tasha Kai is the only other Independence player to be so honored.
Tickets for the Independence playoff match to be held at PPL Park on Saturday, August 20 at 4pm go on sale to the general public today. If the Independence finish the season in first place, they will host the WPS Championship Final at PPL Park on August 27. The team play Sky Blue FC on Sunday at Widener University in their final home game of the season before concluding the season on the road against magicJack on August 14.
Local
Several area teams competed in last weekend’s US Youth Soccer Championships, including YMS Thunder (U-18 Boys), Penn Fusion Celtic (U-17 Boys), FC Pennsylvania Strikers (U-17 Girls) and PDA Slammers (U-15 Girls). While Penn Fusion Celtic lost in the final on penalty kicks, YMS Thunder and PDA Slammers were named national champions. All of the teams have much to be proud of.
Medford’s 10-and-under boys REAL Soccer Club, which has eight players in the Philadelphia Union Juniors Program, is profiled in this piece.
US
MLSsoccer.com says Jurgen Klinsmann’s first roster is a hit with the fans.
Soccer America looks at the group of assistant coaches Klinsmann has assembled for his first USMNT game.
Mexico has announced its roster for Wednesday’s friendly with the US at Lincoln Financial Field. Yikes. Four of the players were among the five suspended during the Gold Cup for testing positive for clenbuterol.
The USWNT will play Canada in two friendlies, September 17 in Kansas City and September 22 in Portland.
Footy on the Telly™
Friday, August 5
Manchester United v New York Cosmos 2:30pm FSC
Borussia Dortmund v Hamburg 2:30pm GolTV
Uruguay v Cameroon (U-20 World Cup) 5:45pm ESPNU
USL, Wilmington v Los Angeles (USL) 7pm FSC
Colombia v South Korea (U-20 World Cup) 8:45pm Galavision
Colorado v Columbus 9:30pm FSC
Saturday, August 6
Stuttgart v Schalke 9:30am GolTV
Brighton v Doncaster 10am FSP
Southampton v Leeds 12pm FSP
Liverpool v Valencia 12:30pm FSC, Fox Deportes
Benfica v Arsenal 1pm ESPN Deportes
Paris Saint Germain v Lorient 3pm FSC
Barcelona v Club America 4pm ESPN, ESPN Deportes
Flamengo v Coritiba 5:30pm GolTV
Queretaro v Pachuca 6pm Telefutura
Cruz Azul v Atlante 6pm ESPN Deportes
D.C. United v Toronto 7:30pm Direct Kick
New England v Chivas USA 7:30pm Direct Kick
USL PDL championship 7:30pm FSC
Philadelphia Union v Houston Dynamo 8pm 6abc
Santos Laguna v Tijuana 8pm Telefutura
Chivas v Pumas 8pm Telemundo
Kansas City v Seattle 8:30pm Direct Kick
Saudi Arabia v Nigeria (U-20 World Cup) 8:45pm ESPNU
Real Salt Lake v New York 9pm Direct Kick
Monterrey v Morelia 10pm Telemundo
Los Angeles v Dallas 10:30pm Direct Kick
San Jose v Portland 10:30pm Direct Kick
Sunday, August 7
West Ham v Cardiff 8am FSP
Manchester City v Manchester United (FA Community Shield) 9:30am FSC, Fox Deportes
Hertha Berlin v Nurnberg 9:30am ESPN Deportes
Bayern Munich v Moenchengladbach 11:30am ESPN Deportes
Toluca v Atlas 1pm Telemundo
Puebla v Jaguares 1pm Fox Deportes
Bordeaux v Saint Etienne 3pm FSP
Paranaense v Corinthians 3pm GolTV
America v San Luis 5pm Univision
Philadelphia Independence v Sky Blue FC 6pm FSC
Vancouver v Chicago 7pm Galavision
Tecos v Tigres 7pm Telefutura
I really hope Garfan is not the permanent solution at LB. I mean he has been good but I really wanted to see a DP there.
And a young, international striker is good. I like that move. I just hope his style fits with the Union more than Ruiz’s did.
I would be very happy with a stiker rotation of DP-Mwanga-Jack Mac. (yes I left Le Toux out. Dude needs to take a seat)
I don’t know that LB is the place we need to put a DP though. Agreed that we need something else there, but I’m not sure a DP needs to be it.
Are the Union in the market for a DP…that doesnt seem to be their style, they are too cheap of an organization to sign a DP. If they would I would hope they would sing a Lampard type midfielder. I was really hoping they would find some defensive help in this transfer window…
Honestly I think we have plenty of players in midfield capable of being good offensive players. The problem is that they either aren’t playing enough or are playing out of position.
The more I think about it the more I like this midfield:
Garfan — Torres — Carroll — Marfan. The Farfans clearly have skill going forward, and no one would be able to claim they would be defensive liabilities on the wing since they have the coaching staffs trust at FB as well.
I’d rather see Keon at LM. The guy owns the left side of the field and has shown good chemistry with Garfan at LB.
My ideal midfield…
Keon — Torres — Carroll — Marfan
OR
Keon — Marfan — Carroll — Mapp
I think Marfan has earned a shot at that attacking mid role…not to mention he can track back on defense when needed, which is an area Torres can improve on.
I respectfully disagree. The Farfans are slow (defensive liability), in general the Union is slow (Williams the exception) and Torres proved this past game that he is no midfield general against a poor team. However when Paunovic was healthy, he proved capable of running the midfield. My lineup would be as follows:
Williams, Valdes, Califf, Farfan
Carroll
Daniel, Paunovic, Mapp
Mwanga, Le Toux
Ideally I would have a better left back and faster outside mids…Mapp and Daniel are too slow and Farfan is just a temporary fix.
I totally forgot about Paunovic (Can someone tell the commentators how to pronounce his name? PAWN-O-VITCH not PA-U-NO-VICK)…definitely agree with him over Torres. I’d still like to see Marfan start a game over Mapp. If Nowak is going to screw with the line up every single game, why not give Marfan a shot?
I think Marfan looks slow at RB because he is tentative and unsure. He is not a defender, not even a little bit. He is quite quick and agile at his natural position though. And he’s a rookie. With an older head like Paunovic in the middle of the pitch, letting Marfan run wide on the right could work out nicely.
I have to admit I am dismayed at the Torres cynicism. We all know what he can do, and it’s obvious he has grown even from earlier this season.
And yet he gets a start in a terrible lineup, in a terrible system and all of a sudden we need to look in another direction?
I feel like the best lineup is screaming to be let out and this coaching staff just doesn’t see it.
According to Grant Wahl (SI), Michael Bradley is available. Is he not exactly what the U needs? Would he not be instantly embraced by the fans>
I doubt that anyone is leaving? I think the move with a current Union player is something like a permanent deal for Torres.
If the Union are signing a young international striker, is Neymar too much to hope for? (sarcasm)
the “other player on the move” is probably Juan Diego Gonzalez Alzate. He’s a 30 year old central defender, who now that Ruiz is gone I believe is the 2nd highest paid player on the team behind Mondragon and he can’t even beat out Miglioranzi (who is regularly a midfielder) as the first sub off the bench at that position.
We will probably just be selling him off, or getting something insignificant in return. Pretty sure it opens up another international spot too, so it makes a lot of sense if someone else wants to give him a shot, because it’s clear he’s not playing in a meaningful game here anytime soon.