Union
Everybody reacts to the Chris Albright signing. Albright himself says, “For me growing up in Philadelphia and loving the game and playing it all over the area, to have a cathedral for soccer in Philly, it’s special.”
CSN Philly: “This was definitely my first choice,” said Albright.
Philly Soccer News quotes Albright saying he’s a fan of all things Philly: “I understand what it is to be a Philadelphia fan. I am a fan of the Phillies, the Sixers, the Eagles and the Flyers, so I also sort of have that passion in me and understand what’s it like to be a Philadelphia fan, so I am gong to do everything to keep the Philly fans happy.”
Albright continues to praise Philadelphia at the Examiner: “Philadelphia, with that passionate crowd and all the sell-outs – that feeds the fire of the players and we’ll continue to work hard to grow the product on the field.”
Big Apple Soccer says the Albright signing shows that one man’s garbage is another man’s gold.
And Marc Narducci notes that Albright could become useful when Sheanon Williams goes to the Olympics moves up to midfield? Wait, what?
Peter Nowak is pleased with how things are going in training camp”
- “The rookies are doing very well. I believe we’re going to keep all five of them [Chandler Hoffman (already has a Generation adidas contract), Gregg Jordan, Raymon Gaddis, Krystian Witkowski and Antoine Hoppenot]. We’ll see how they develop, but they’re good guys, they work hard in training and they’re good soccer players.”
- The new international signings are “fitting very well…We’ve always to tried to mix it up, so it’s not going to be just one group of Spanish speaking players together. … Porfirio López speaks good English. Josué [Martínez] speaks very good English. So it’s an easy process for us to accommodate the needs that they have. Gabriel Gómez is doing very good.”
- Lionard Pajoy could arrive in camp as early as today.
- In addition to the unsigned rookies mentioned above, and goalkeepers Chase Harrison and Chris Konopka, Union academy player Christain Hernandez is still in camp.
The Sporting News quotes the Union’s Diego Gutierrez on Colombian players: “Obviously if Colombian players hadn’t done well in the past in this league, people wouldn’t go out and get more. They’ve proven themselves. They’re guys who are pretty flexible, obviously technical players but flexible in terms of their ability to acclimate to a new culture, to fit in nicely, to take directions well.”
Greg Lalas decides the Union’s offseason is important enough to warrant his attention, and shoots off a few words about having faith in Peter Nowak: “Lest any of the second-guessers forget, Nowak and the Union are still on the correct trajectory for a club born just two years ago. That is, in Year 2, they improved over Year 1, and even made the playoffs.” Greg, I don’t think anybody has forgotten the Union’s success. In fact, that success is why everybody is second-guessing all the offseason moves. You take the successful trajectory of the first two seasons and you remove some of the major pieces that contributed to that trajectory and you offer evasive generalities instead of honest reasons… this is why we question Nowak. And for you, as someone who is paid to give opinions on soccer, to say that Philadelphia Union fans should stop having opinions and just have faith seems a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it? Maybe you should just stop writing columns and have faith that people can get their reheated Lalas fix from ESPN’s halftime show.
Women’s soccer
ESPN-W is still following the development of women’s soccer in India. Former Philadelphia Independence players Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson recently completed a trip there promoting the sport.
On Wednesday, ASA Chesapeake Charge and Boston Aztecs announced they will join the WPSL Elite Division, bringing the number of teams so far committed to the proposed eight team league to six.
Jerry Zanelli, the commissioner of WPSL was a guest on the “Soccer is a Kick in the Grass” podcast.
Hope Solo and Sydney Leroux are joining the Seattle Sounders’ women’s team, which plays in the W-League.
Equalizer looks at where women’s soccer is now and where it’s going. Could freelancing be the immediate future for pro women players?
Other
At The Washington Post, Brad Plumer writes about the incredible effects of soccer on international stock markets. Stock trading fell all over the world during the 2010 World Cup. “Even the United States, not exactly the world’s most obsessed soccer nation, saw a 40 percent drop during its own games.”
Ken Sweda thinks MLS and Sunil Gulati aren’t doing all that much to advance the state of American soccer.
Landon Donovan says he’s definitely going back to the Galaxy, but that if he went abroad it would have to be as a member of Everton. Donovan also says he wants to play on the Olympic team.
Donovan was just named Everton’s Player of the Month.
British journalist Dan King talks about how MLS is perceived in England with Prost Amerika.
Tottenham’s David Bentley is interested in a move to MLS. The only reason I hope Bentley comes to Philadelphia is his striking resemblance to the Dread Pirate Roberts.
John Rooney, former NYRB draft pick and current brother of Wayne Rooney, is happy in Orlando City.
Re: Greg Lalas- i couldn’t have said it better myself, Adam!
+1 Maybe Greg Lalas should step off his brother’s coat tails…
The Union beat @UCFMSoccer 5-0 today. First half goals from Martínez & Mwanga, second half from @JackMcInerney9 & two from Hoppenot. #DOOP
LOL that should quell some fears.
Yea now all of those who doubted our ability to compete for the NCAA championship can now shut up.
Well played!
I was mostly referring to comments like this:
Yeah; colleges that should get (thrashed Iike Chicago did ….). Worrisome that none of the forwards scored … in https://phillysoccerpage.net/2012/02/12/union-draw-uswnt-wins-more-news/#comments.
So of course its OK to “worry” about not winning AND forwards not scoring in a meaningless friendly but when we do thrash them and 3 forwards score it’s nbd.
most interesting takeaway seems to be that martinez and mwanga were in there together. going to be fascinating to see how the young strikers end up shaking out.
also note that Pajoy (who is expected to play every game) has not joined the team prior to the match against the college powerhouse.