Daily news roundups

Not satisfield. League plans. Marry a European. More news.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Union

Danny Califf and Sebastien Le Toux both agree that the hope among the players is that there will not be as much player movement in the closed season. Le Toux said, “I hope with the good result we got this year, we’ll get most of the guys back and move on and continue.” Califf added, “If there’s a possibility to add someone to help the team and make an immediate impact, I think steps are going to be taken. But I think we’re going to improve even if we keep the same group.”

Make no mistake, the players are not satisfied with the way the 2011 season ended, as Califf made clear. “I know none of the guys are satisfied. We’re stoked we were better than our first year. We grew and accomplished some things, but I don’t think anyone is satisfied with where we are. You don’t play to get into the playoffs; you play to win the championship. I don’t think anyone is going to be satisfied until that’s done.”

That weird and uncomfortable feeling of vague annoyance you woke up with this morning was the faint and hitherto unrecognized memory that the University of Delaware and Villanova American football teams will be destroying the beloved pitch at PPL Park this Saturday. Don’t get me started.

MLS

Voting is open for Goal of the Year and Save of the Year.

Don Garber talks to the LA Times about the league’s growth and future. He is happy but not satisfied, “[W]e want to be one of the top soccer leagues in the world. And we want to try to achieve that by 2022. We have a lot of work to do to get to that point. At the end of the day we want to be the league of choice for players, for sponsors, for fans. It’s fair to say that we’ve got a lot of work to do to even figure out what kinds of things have to happen to get there.”

ESPN has some ideas on how to make the playoff system better.

The Daily Mirror reports that Everton has joined the chase for Brek Shea.

Asked for his advice on what would be the best thing for an American player to do to play for a top European club, Patrick McCabe, president of Santio Sport + Entertainment,—the company that represents Brek Shea, David Ferreira, Brek Shea, Tim Ream, Teal Bunbury, Tally Hall, Zach Lloyd, Mike Fucito and our very own Sheanon Williams—answered, “Marry a woman from the European Union!” He continued,

“The reality is that it is extremely difficult for Americans to have any chance of playing for Liverpool or other Champions League teams. You either need a European passport or be playing for the U.S. men’s national team on a regular basis. The regulations for a work permit  are designed to keep the playing level very high. Many countries have limits for non-EU players and this does not help our American players. Each country may pose different challenges.”

Harrison, NJ is awaiting a decision from the courts on whether the Energy Drinks owe them $2.9 million in taxes. With its credit rating recently reduced to junk status, town clerk Paul Zarbetski wrote in a recent internal memo, “If we do not get the Red Bull tax money by the end of the year…the Town will face financial disaster.”

Goal.com looks at why MLS favors the 4–4–2.

Local

The La Salle women’s team was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA championship tournament by Maryland 5–1.

Villanova was defeated by St. John’s 2–0 in the Big East semifinal on Friday.

Connestoga topped Central Bucks East 1–0 on Saturday to advance to Tuesday’s PIAA Class AAA boys’ semifinal match agaisnt Council Rock North, 1–0 winner over Hempfield.

New Hope-Solebury edged past East Juniata 1–0 and will meet York Catholic in the PIAA Class A boys’ semifinals.

Holy Ghost Prep beat Moravian 5–1 to advance to Lancaster Mennonite in Tuesday’s PIAA state Class AA boys’ semifinal.

Villa Joseph Marie defeated Montoursville 2–0 in thePIAA Class AA girls’ quarterfinal.

The Pennridge girls’ team defeated Strath Haven 1–0 in Saturday’s PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal playoff game. They next face Council Rock North, who defeated Owen J. Roberts 1–0, in the semifinals on Tuesday.

After being down by two goals, Haddon Township defeated Maple Shade 3–2 on Friday for the South Jersey Group 1 title, the first sectional title in the program’s history. They will face Point Pleasant Beach in Tuesday’s state semifinal.

The Haddonfield boys’ team defeated Haddon Heights 1–0 on Friday to claim the South Jersey Group 2 title game. They will face Central Jersey champion Holmdel in Tuesday’s state semifinal.

Timber Creek defeated Ocean City 1–1 (5–4 APK) for the Group 1 section title. They face Princeton in Tuesday’s semifinal.

Cherokee defeated Tom’s River East 2–1 to claim the Group 4 title. They will face East Brunswick in Tuesday’s state semifinal.

Hill School won 2–0 over Lawrenceville to claim the Mid-Atlantic Prep league championship.

Germantown Academy defeated Penn Charter 1–0 for the Inter-AC girls’ championship.

The only PA-based players in the USMNT U-15 player pool are Cameron Keys and Sean Wilson. Keys (along with his two brothers, including his twin Garrett) is a part of the Union academy system at Players Development Academy while Wilson is on the St. Benedict team along with Christian Hernandez. They get an informative profile in the The Morning Call.

US

Soccer America says, so far, “the German pipeline isn’t delivering players significantly more promising than what can be found within U.S. shores.”

Elsewhere

Bob Bradley has his first test as coach of the Egyptian National Team this afternoon when Egypt face Brazil. Good luck with that, Bob.

In Bed With Maradonna looks at racism in the English game.

14 Comments

  1. In local news – Rutgers-Camden won the 2 games in the NCAA Div. 3 “Brackets” – and are now through to the last 16.

  2. Man, where to start, where to start…
    [W]e want to be one of the top soccer leagues in the world. And does this bum seriously think he can reach that point with some many (mostly convoluted) American concepts in his league? I understand the necessitates (clubs need to be franchises, no relegation is possible at all), but does he really think thinks like the playoffs, conferences, and inane roster rules are really going to help the MLS reach his ridiculous goal?
    best thing for an American player to do to play for a top European club, is marry a woman from the European Union Or how about we actually develop an American player good enough for CL football first, you bum? We don’t have a single player good enough for CL football. Dempsey and Donovan could MAYBE get on the bench for a mid level CL team, at best.
    so far, “the German pipeline isn’t delivering players significantly more promising than what can be found within U.S. shores.” So far, as in 4 months and 5 friendlies? What a wonderful sample size.

    • Actually, I think MLS rules WILL help the league reach that point in 10-15 years. Over time, as the league continues to gain more financial security, some of those rules will fade away. The playoffs and conference problems will probably get settled. Maybe I’ll elaborate at some point in a future post.

      • I would love to read a post on this. I always looked at this like the MLS is trying to draw in American fans by focusing on Americanizing traditional soccer concepts. I think this is misguided, as its not winning over people who don’t understand/misunderstand the sport itself. Basically, I think the MLS should focus on educating America about soccer instead of being like “Look, we have playoffs! Can Everyone please stop making fun of us now :?(“

      • Sure thing. I’ll put it on the offseason list (and hopefully get to it!). Much of it’s pretty and wonky, legalistic and business stuff, to be honest. I tangentially touched on some of it in in this 2010 post as well as this story I wrote for a magazine last year, but there’s a lot more than that. Long story short, the MLS model is the natural evolution of the socialist-like model of American professional sports, a model the NFL and other North American leagues wish they had and have progressed toward over time. The Euro leagues need something closer to it (on the business side) if they’re to survive economically long-term, though they’ll never have the actual model.

      • Dan, Im with you on this one. I have complete faith in the MLS and its decision makers. I dont agree with everything but totally think the MLS is in the right hands…and the league has grown tremendously since its inception and the quality of play has also bettered every year…league is gonna be huge! And the price of my second row seat is gonna get expensive…

    • Ed Farnsworth says:

      Here’s the line that stood out for me from the Garber piece:

      “The league continues to grow but it’s doing so carefully. We could be profitable in every market if we just changed our salary structure and decreased our overall expenses. We actually spend more on players that we’re required to in our collective bargaining agreement.” (Emphasis added. I’m assuming the “that” in the last sentence is supposed to be a “than”.)

      So, if the comparatively underpaid players in MLS were paid less, then the league would turn a profit “in every market”? How exactly is the league to be an attractive alternative to foreign players in their prime unless there are competitive financial incentives?

  3. I’m glad that they are confident, but a bit too confident. The Union is simply not very good.

  4. Oh jeez, as if we needed any more examples of incompetence from people involved in American soccer: http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/columnist/carlisle_jeff/id/7232853/us-soccer-honeymoon-jurgen-klinsmann-jeff-carlisle
    Just check out that clunker of a read

  5. Josh T. of Kensington says:

    Graham Smith scored the winner for New Hope-Solebery. Woot.

  6. Not sure if you guys have seen this, but the link at the bottom is to an interview with Roger Torres on Nov 1. Interesting to see his take on Nowak’s game plan and his part in it. Torres seems like he agrees with Califf on the constant roster changes.

    http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/torres-patiently-waiting-philadelphia-union-chance-2022481

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