Photo: Paul Rudderow

All of us at PSP would like to wish you and yours a Happy Open Transfer Window Season.

Philadelphia Union

Chris Albright and Raymon Gaddis will represent the Union and the Philadelphia soccer community at the “Soccer Night in Newtown” event on January 7.

Topping this list of the the top three players poised to have a break out year in 2013 is Jack McInerney. Taylor Twellman says in the piece, “Next year is not the make or break year for McInerney. But it could be the springboard to being a very special forward in this league. He could easily score 12 to 15 goals, year in and year out.”

McInerney remains the top ranked Union player on the latest American Soccer Now list of the Top 100 US players at No. 57. He’s joined by Freddy Adu (No. 62), Michael Farfan (No. 98), Amobi Okugo (No. 95), and Sheanon Williams (No. 84). Despite none of these players playing a game since the last rankings at the beginning of December, McInerney, Adu, and Williams each dropped a couple of spots on the list while Farfan and Okugo return to the Top 100 for the first time since November.

Looking at the prospects of the nine MLS teams that did not reach the playoffs in 2012, MLSsoccer.com calls those of the Union, “surprisingly good.” The assessment concludes, “The Union took a huge step backward in 2012 after making the playoffs in ’11. But they corrected many things under Hackworth. They still need to figure out what to do with Freddy Adu and his gigantic salary, though.” Yep.

In a series on the New York Red Bulls website recapping some of the top moments of their 2012 season is this article remembering the regular season-sweep concluding 3–0 win at PPL Park. The opening sentence of the article reads, “It’s always nice to close out the regular season with a win, but it’s even better when it comes against a team like the Philadelphia Union.” May I suggest the Union coaching staff print out copies of the article to hang on each player’s locker?

JP Dellacamera offers a New Year’s Wish List.

MLS

2013 will be a very busy year for North American soccer and MLSsoccer.com has the calendar to prove it.

At ESPN, Jason Davis says of FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s recent critical comments about MLS, “peering through Sepp’s bumbling way of stating an obvious truth in a manner devoid of context, there just might be some value to the 50 seconds he spent denying MLS the status of ‘strong professional league.'”

The results of the fan vote at the league website for the Moment of the Year are in and Sporting Kansas City winning the US Open Cup final is the winner. I’m very happy the Open Cup is getting this kind of support but, man, that final sucked.

LA Galaxy have signed goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini on a free transfer from Tottenham.

Honestly, Thierry Henry will not go on loan to Arsenal this season. No, really, Wenger means it this time.

SBI talks to Gale Agbossoumonde about his arrival in MLS, the league he turned down twice before.

US

At ESPN, Jeff Carlisle offers ten US Soccer storylines for 2013.

Elsewhere

A Football Report presents a list of some of the best soccer writing of 2012. Bookmark the page for rainy days and time wasting at work.

The Huffington Post reports, “The Swedish Language Council have officially recognized the Zlatan Ibrahimović-inspired word ‘Zlatanera’, which in English means ‘to clear anything with force’ or ‘to dominate.'”

The Guardian has a slideshow of sketches of some classic footballing moustaches.