Union

John Hackworth, again filling in on the sidelines for Peter Nowak, said after the game, “I think frustration and disappointment are the two biggest feelings we have right now. We feel we deserved three points in that game.”

Sheanon Williams said, “We gave up a goal in the 85th minute when we had the chance to go up two and lock the game up. It’s just disappointing; we need to finish our games. That’s what we were doing so well in the beginning of the season and we have to get back to that.”

The frustration is evident even on the Union’s website. Here are the titles of the four articles posted after the draw with Houston: “Union concede late in 1–1 draw vs. Dynamo;” “Union lament inability to hold lead against Dynamo;” “Union determined to bounce back from disappointing home draw;” “Scoring drought continues for hard-luck Le Toux.”

Le Toux on hitting the post. Again. “I was very disappointed. It would be 2-0 and the game would be done.” He added, “That was very hard to take. I felt it was my fault because we deserved to win.”

I thought Le Toux’s shot was going in. Everyone around me thought the same. So too, apparently, did the players on the field:

• “The ball was definitely going in except for the last little rotation. It’s a funny game sometimes,” said Hackworth.
• Justin Mapp said, “Everyone thought that was in. We were already celebrating.”
• “I thought it was in and all of a sudden it pinged the post and I still thought it was in,” said Danny Califf. “It’s just way the year is going for him. He can’t buy a goal. Maybe it’s a bit of a monkey on his back, but that’s way soccer goes.”

We at the PSP have long wondered just what kind of sacrifice needs to be made to lift the Le Touch. Maybe the Sons of Ben can request a midnight ceremony at PPL Park?…We can bury, I don’t know, a soft pretzel or a cheesesteak in the center circle…Just to be safe, it’d probably be best to bury both…Then we can pour a Kenzinger over the earth after we cover the offerings up…Yeah, that ought to fix it.

At least one scoring drought ended on Saturday. Said Jack McInerney on his goal: “It felt good to get it over with and finally score. I hope to score a few more this year.” We hope you do too, Jack, yes we do.

Make no mistake, the players may be disappointed, but they are tough and they will get past the frustration. Said Brian Carroll, “We all back each other up in this locker room. We have the right leadership and the players all look out for each other. I think we’re all confident in each other. We believe in each other.” Veljko Paunovic agrees. “Yes, absolutely, and it helps after a match in which you think you should have won. We’ll bounce back. I know that with this group, we’ll be ready. We know how important it is to get three points at home each time.”

Match reports from MLSsoccer.com, the Union website, CSNPhilly, Philly Soccer News, the Mercury, Delawareonline.com, Press of Atlantic City, the Phanatic Magazine, the Brotherly Game, Philly Union Talk, Dynamo Theory.

Carlos Valdes leaps 15 spots to no. 7 in the latest Castrol Index.

Fox Soccer sideline reporter Brian Dunseth told viewers during the broadcast of Saturday’s Real Salt Lake v New York that unconfirmed reports suggest that the Carlos Ruiz deal was worth $500,000. The Brotherly Game speculates, “With Ruiz’s $306,000 salary coming off of the Union’s cap, the team is left with approximately $720,502.50 of room without knowing how much Serbian midfielder Veljko Paunovic is being paid in 2011.”

Independence

A stoppage time goal from Lianne Sanderson put the Independence over Sky Blue FC for a here.

Said coach Paul Riley, “I didn’t think we were going to score, I’ve got to be honest with you. But the cardiac kids kept plugging away and in the end they got the three points.”

Lianne Sanderson tweets, “Felt so good to get the win and to score the winning goal for my team.you really can’t beat scoring a goal,that feeling xx”.

Jeff Kassouf tweets, “Hmmm. The power of DVR. Lianne Sanderson actually was offside. In fairness, the scrum in front of net probably made it impossible for AR.” Spoilsport. Read his match report here.

WNY Flash is level with the Independence on 36 points with a game in hand, followed by magicJack at 25 points and Sky Blue FC with 19 points. MagicJack will host WNY Flash on Wednesday and then the Independence on Sunday. If magicJack beat the Flash on Wednesday and the Independence beat magicJack on Sunday, the WPS Championship Final will be held at PPL Park.

Independence owner David Halstead also chairs the league’s expansion committee. Here’s an extended interview with him about the league’s prospects and what changes need to be implemented for the long-term survival of the league.

Montreal's new crest. The motto means "All to win."

MLS

As has happened several times this season, the impact of Union’s disappointing home draw was minimized after the teams closest to them in the table suffered losses over the weekend. In fact, in the Eastern Conference, only the Union, Houston, DC and Toronto picked up points, all a single point each from two draws. With a game in hand and 33 points, the Union are in second place, one point behind Columbus Crew, who lost 2–0 to Colorado on Friday. New York remain in third place with 30 points thanks to a 3–0 loss at Real Salt Lake. Sporting KC are also at 30 points with a game in hand after losing 2–1 to Seattle at home. The draw with the Union moved Houston into fifth place on 28 points, one point above DC, who drew 3–3 with eighth place Toronto at home on Saturday. New England is in seventh place after losing 3–2 to Chivas USA at home. Last place Chicago lost 4–2 in Vancouver on Sunday.

Prost Amerika writes that, according to the Points per Game table, New York “have dropped out of the top ten sides completely and on current form, will not even make the play in round.”

In addition to Jack McInerney, four other teenagers scored over the weekend: RSL’s Luis Gil, New England’s Diego Fagundez, Vancouver’s Gershon Koffie, and Chicago’s Orr Barouch.

US

Mark Narducci has some excellent quotes from Jurgen Klinsmann, who was at PPL Park on Saturday night ahead of preparations for Wednesday’s USA v Mexico match:

• “Two days of training gives us a little idea where we are at, how good they are physically, and you get to know them a little bit and build from there. It is not ideal, and it is what it is, and I never complain.”
• “Here [in the United States], the pyramid is upside down. The better the kid is, the more you pay as a parent, and it shouldn’t be that way.”
• “The so-called bigger sports have us on their radar screen…The Women’s World Cup was more televised in the U.S. than Germany, which is a soccer-crazy country, so you see where the game is going.”
• “Yes there is still a long way to go, yes there are a lot of things to be addressed, but I think a lot of things started already, and it means getting a lot of people at the table and discuss it and see where everybody can help in this process. I am excited that I can be part of this process.”

Oh joy! Robbie Rogers replaces Maurice Edu on the US roster. Edu injured himself in the Rangers v Chelsea friendly on Saturday.

Timothy Chandler was replaced on the US roster by Zach Loyd on Friday, the reason given on the US Soccer website being that Chandler was recovering from an injury. On Saturday, Chandler played the full 90 for Nurenberg in their Bundesliga season opener. Speculation immediate arose that Chandler might be considerig playing for Germany or that the Germans were trying to prevent him from playing for the US. Steven Goff explains that Chandler hadn’t actually been contacted before the roster was announced. It being the start of the season, when Chandler and his club officials actually spoke with Klinsmann, all agreed it was in Chandler’s best interest to stay in Germany.

Could Bob Bradley’s next post be the top job for the Egyptian National Team? This report says Bradley, along with Fancisco Maturana of Colombia, Zoran Filipović of Serbia, are under consideration.

Elsewhere

Some fifty international friendlies will take place on Wednesday. No one—national team managers, club managers, the players’ union—likes the idea of meaningless games just before the start of the club schedule in northern half of the world. FIFA’s response? “Ka-ching!”

Tottenham have closed one of their stadium ticket offices after it was damaged in the rioting that swept North London over the weekend.

Real Madrid have signed a 7-year-old prospect from Argentina.