Daily news roundups / Featured

The Union playoff picture, more news

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union will win the Eastern Conference today if they beat Toronto and if Sporting Kansas City loses to New York. If the Union draw, they’ll clinch a playoff spot.

You’ve probably already read PSP’s preview of the Union-Toronto game, and here’s the Union site’s scouting report on Toronto. Here’s a preview of the KC-NY game. A win gets KC into the playoffs. 

Houston’s 2-0 win over Portland last night means Portland can’t nudge the Union out of the playoffs.

Here’s the playoff picture. It would take an epic collapse for the Union to miss the playoffs. DC United would have to win all three of its final matches, the Union would have to lose both its matches, and DCU would have to close a 10-goal differential in order for the Union to be knocked out.

The Union’s starting goalkeeper will be a game time decision for Peter Nowak, the Delco Times and Inqy report. Of course, so is half the starting lineup, so there’s no surprise there. Everyone should be happy Zac MacMath may have made it a difficult decision, but it is an interesting question: How do you bench the hand right as you go into your playoff run? On the other hand, how do you keep your captain off the field if he’s healthy? Expect Mondragon.

Elsewhere in MLS

Seattle has sold a staggering 62,000 tickets for its final regular season home game, also goalkeeper Kasey Keller’s last game before retirement. Wow. That place is amazing. Especially since the Union walked out of there with a win.

Business is booming in Kansas City since their terrific new stadium opened this year. To think, they almost moved to south Jersey before the Union became an expansion team.

Abroad

The U.S. Men’s National Team will play France in Paris on Nov. 11. Look for David Beckham at that game if the , as he says he’ll decide around Christmas whether to sign with Paris St. Germain, stay in Los Angeles, or go elsewhere when his contract expires after the MLS season.

How valuable is injured Stuart Holden to Bolton as a central playmaker? His very good coach, Owen Coyle, might get fired while Holden recovers. That’s something to consider when thinking about the US National Team’s lack of offensive punch.

Another CONCACAF official has been suspended in the Jack Warner bribery case. (Yes, I’m referring to it that way.)

LeBron James was headed to Liverpool to watch the Liverpool-Manchester United match.

The London Guardian has a good feature on Joe Cole’s experience in France.

Now go play soccer. It’s nice outside.

4 Comments

  1. 62,000 fans for an MLS match. Think about that. 62,000 is more than we had for Real Madrid. To come out for a regular season game like that is simply wonderful. Big up Seattle.

  2. Kansas City maxes at 51 pts. The U need to win and KC need to lose or draw today to win the Eastern Conference, correct? It’s not an and/or scenario.

  3. Columbus also has to lose/draw to New England as well long throw.

    If Faryd goes today, a MAJOR thank you to Zac MacMath for a job extremely well done. Let’s face it, if he pulls a Seitz we’re not even discussing these scenarios and we likely go the way of DC the last few weeks.

  4. Yep, that’s corrected. Meant to write that, but … That’s what happens when you write while watching Liverpool-Man U. 😉

Leave a Reply to Dan Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*