Daily news roundups / Featured

Redemption time in Houston, more morning news

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union

Look for PSP’s preview of Saturday’s game in Houston (7:30pm, NBCSN), written as usual by Adam Cann, later this morning. In the meanwhile, read his preview of the game in The Guardian.

The last time the Union played in Houston, Brian Ching flopped his way to a penalty kick win for the Dynamo. John Hackworth says the team feels it was an unfair result. “I always say we use everything we can to motivate our team and our staff to make sure we’re ready and prepared for the game. But we have a belief that when we went there, we deserved better. That belief doesn’t have as much to do with Houston as it does the circumstances that resulted in that loss. When you feel that way you certainly think that you want to go back and redeem yourself a little bit.”

Former Dynamo man Danny Cruz says, “I think we’re looking to hopefully continue to build on that and continue to play good football, which is what we’ve been doing these last few weeks. If we can continue to do the same things and continue to finish our chances, there’s not a doubt in my mind we can come out of there with a result.”

Michael Farfan says of Houston, “I think they are very good in the air. We’ve got to watch out for free kicks and any set pieces. It’s a very small field, so I think a lot of times they’re going to have those chances around the box and we have to just do well to defend those set pieces.”

Goal.com predicts a Houston win. The Goal.com preview notes that Houston is on a 24-game unbeaten streak at home in league play.

Union Dues predicts a Houston win.

Farfan talks to KYW’s Matt Leon about his emergence as a key player on the Union. Farfan says, “I think I’ve had time to grow throughout the season and kind of find my feel for my position. I think last year was kind of just trying to get on the field wherever I could and this year I was more in an exact role where I knew what I was going to be doing and I knew what position I was going to be playing. So I think it was just a matter of experience and playing game-in and game-out and learning more about the position and about the league.”

At the Inquirer, Marc Narducci wonders if Sheanon Williams could become the face of the franchise. (Right now, I’m more concerned with whether he’ll be able to play on Saturday.) One thing is clear, Williams likes playing for the Union: “I love it here, love our team and all our guys, especially on our coaching staff.”

Amobi Okugo talks about why he is an ally in efforts to end homophobia. MLS is a participant in Spirit Day, which takes place today and is aimed at ending bullying of LGBT youth.

Local

Jaylyn Thompson (PDA; Voorhees, NJ) and Jlon Flippens (FC Delco; Philadelphia) have been named to the US Girls National Team U-15 training camp to be held in Cary, NC from Oct. 20-28.

MLS

Montreal Impact will embark on an Italian tour at the end of the season, November 5-17. There they will play a minimum of two Serie A opponents, Bologna Nov. 8 and Fiorentina on Nov. 15.

Toronto FC is rolling back the cost of renewals for current and past season ticket holders to 2007 levels, the year the team entered the league. New season ticket holders will have to pay “a few dollars more.”

Says Tom Anselmi, president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns TFC, “Our fans have suffered through two tough years. We recognize that this is a real concern. If I’m a TFC fan, I’m upset, I get that, so this is really trying to recognize their support, their loyalty. They’ve done their job and we haven’t done ours. We’ve got to get it right.”

At the Guardian, Graham Parker looks at the reasoning behind the MLS PLayers Union regular release of salary information. “Such a degree of openness is almost impossible to comprehend within a European frame.”

Here’s an interesting look at the growing collaboration between MLS and the NASL. Here’s one quote that stands out about what might happen in the future: “One possibility is a full affiliate system like the kind found in Major League Baseball, where each MLS club would have a designated lower-division partner. Another could be a system whereby MLS clubs’ reserve teams play directly in the NASL or third-division USL Pro, much like the set-ups in Spain and Germany.”

More on the money being spent by the league on lobbying for the proposed stadium in Queens.

The dirt is emerging on the firing of Erik Soler as sporting director and general manager of the New York Red Bulls.

Happy birthday Justin Mapp.

Women’s soccer

The Goalkeeper catches up with former Philadelphia Independence midfielder (and all around awesome person) Joanna Lohman. In town to talk at Go! Athletes relaunch event, Lohman talks about her experience playing in Spain after the demise of the Independence, the prospects of a new women’s professional league, and being an out player.

US

US Soccer has confirmed that the USMNT will play Russia in a friendly on Nov. 14 in Krasnodar. The match will be live on ESPN2, ESPN3 and Univision Deportes at 10am.

If the US wins against Russia, it will set a new team record for best record in a single season.

SBI has a state of the USMNT after the last qualifying round.

ProSoccerTalk looks over the last two qualifiers and comes up with appraisals of which players saw their stock rise, hold steady, and decline.

MLSsoccer.com raves about Kansas City’s Livestrong Sporting Park as a “hub” for future US qualification matches. The article makes no mention of PPL Park. Unbelievable.

The USWNT Fan Appreciation Tour continues with two matches against No. 2 ranked Germany. On Saturday, the teams will face off in Chicago (7pm, FSC) and on Friday, they will meet in Hartford, CT (7:30pm, NBCSN)

Elsewhere

At Grantland, Graham Parker writes about why he hates international weeks.

The bidding for the the US broadcasting rights for the Premier League has begun.

While Serbia’s sports minister has called for “urgent action” to address racial abuse of players following ugly scenes at Tuesday’s U-21 European Championship qualifier between Serbia and England, the Serbian FA, which has denied there was any racial abuse, appears to have posted a video on YouTube that is a collection of edited clips from the game aimed at discrediting Danny Rose, the England player who was the target of much of the abuse.

Lazio have been fined $52,400 by UEFA for the racist behavior of its fans during the recent Europa League match at Tottenham Hotspur.

For listings of the week’s upcoming live matches on your TV and computer, check out the latest installment of Footy on the Telly.

 

7 Comments

  1. Like the NASL news, anything like reserve teams playing in that league, or an affiliation system will only help the sport. More chances for players to play, in better competition, etc.

    • I agree, I would love to see the reserves play in one of the lower leagues. It would truly make NASL seem like a 2nd division league, since they’d be playing MLS Caliber players, albeit ones that are younger or less experienced. It would increase the number of teams in the league, provide exposure to those teams (i.e. a double-header at PPL?) and allow MLS teams to grow their younger players without sending them to another franchise, which seemed to be a concern mentioned in the article. Ultimately, if NASL can continue their growth and sustain their competitiveness with the reserve teams perhaps it could pave the way for some type of promotion down the road, though I fully understand the unlikeliness of that occurring. Still a neat thought though.

  2. The team has a very capable substitute for the right back position. If Sheanon is not fit, he should sit.

    • Eli Pearlman-Storch says:

      I think the issue is more what happens if Gabe and Sheanon can’t go. Albright? Fropez?

      • If Lopez sees the field ever again for this team I will rip my hair out

      • Well, they need to figure out a good plan for the next three matches, not just one match, because they play three in eight. IMHO this team has not done a good job of managing the roster when they play multiple games in a short span. What good would it do them to put less-than-fully-fit players onto the pitch in Houston, just so they could limp into CHEATTOWIN Sporting Park in KC?

      • You mean the team that recently would have tied at Columbus but for a bad call, won in Chicago, and then beat New England in an 8 day stretch that ended earlier this month?

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