Easter greetings from Sheanon Williams.
No doop this weekend but @ChrisVito kindly points out that Seba Le Toux threw down another marker, giving him as many goals as the entire Union team.
MLS action was consistently awesome this weekend. If you missed any of it, here are full highlights from every match. Goal.com has a round-up. We have a helpful Best Of… for you.
- Best Cross: Ryan Smith, Chivas USA 2nd goal
- Best Union Alumnus Moment: Justin Mapp’s sweet ball sends Andrew Wenger to the races
- Best Argument for a DP: Thierry Henry nets his 6th and 7th of the year. Plus an assist.
- Best Impression of the Union: The LA Galaxy failed to register a shot on goal against Sporting KC.
- Highlight the Union and Andy Carroll Should Watch Together: Alan Gordon’s diving header gives San Jose three points
- Best Striker Link-up Play: Le Toux dummy, Hassli lay off, Le Toux first timer.
- Best De Rosario Free Kick: 89th minute, well over the bar. Maybe he can create a sad dance.
James Clark picks out Porfirio Lopez, Jack McInerney and Lionard Pajoy for criticism in his latest blog post. Lopez gets it the worst: “I’ve been watching MLS since its debut season in 1996, and I don’t think I’ve seen any player turn his back or shy away from contact as much as Lopez did [in Portland].”
The Brotherly Game wonders whether Peter Nowak has had enough time in charge.
Chris Edwards of BuzzOnBroad offers a great review of the PPL Park experience. He also writes, “Perhaps the best thing, though, is the coaching direction. Peter Nowak, the coach of the Union, has stated from the start that he molds his team based on the values and traditions of the sports teams already in place in Philadelphia.”
The Union Academy continues to receive plaudits. Pennlive reports that Colton Storm shot to the top of Carolina’s recruiting list after the soccer powerhouse watched him playing for the Union Academy.
SoccerByTheNumbers wonders about the utility of the Castrol Index, and comes up with some interesting results.
The week off gives us a chance to look around the league and see where the Union stand. The good news is that it looks like the Western Conference will be more competitive than it was last season, with Chivas, San Jose and Vancouver looking much improved. The Eastern Conference, on the other hand, looks like it could see a few teams separate from the pack early. Sporting KC is the only undefeated team in MLS, New York is going to ride its big money strike force and hope the defense holds together, and Houston will keep making Dom Kinnear look like he can do no wrong. After that, nobody is running away from the Union any time soon. A few strong defensive performances with an odd goal mixed in here or there and Philly can shuttle up the standings to the top half in no time.
Is Vito a reporter or a blogger?
Primarily a reporter, but he recently launched a blog as well. Not uncommon these days for newspapers to do that.
Why don’t Union promote their Reserve games this week? Great opportunity to see the “future”…..two or three times this week.
So far, only Monday’s game (10 am, Chester Park, 708 Ridley Drive, Wallingford, PA) is confirmed. The league schedule that came out a month ago or so is not final. For example, the Toronto game originally scheduled for Wednesday is now listed at the bottom of the schedule as TBD. The Columbus reserve game is still on the league schedule for Sunday, April 15 at 6pm but we’re waiting for confirmation from the Union.