Photo: Nate Monahan
Philadelphia Union
Gabriel Farfan
I don’t know about you but the Gabriel Farfan trade sure took me by surprise.
PSP editor Dan Walsh writes of the Farfan trade,
This trade is Hackworth’s most questionable decision yet…Gabriel Farfan will probably welcome the deal because he may get the chance to start regularly in midfield for Chivas, not far from his hometown. But he should be starting for Philadelphia Union. At the very least, it would make them more fun to watch.
At Goal.com, Kyle McCarthy says of the Garfan deal,
Chivas USA reinforced its oft-stated desire to think outside of the box by making its second controversial trade in the span of a week.
Philadelphia received the latest allotment of largesse from the Red-and-White when it sent reserve midfielder Gabriel Farfan to southern California on Tuesday. For its modest concession, the Union received the altogether disproportionate reward of Chivas USA’s natural first-round draft pick in 2014 and an undisclosed amount of allocation money…
Either one of those assets likely constituted a sum too great to exchange for a player perhaps ideally suited for a role as a spot starter (three starts for the Union so far this season, for example). The inclusion of both trade chips represents dramatic and inadvisable overpayment. In a league of increasing sophistication, it is just about as poor of a deal as one can reasonably conceive involving the exchange of a single player.
At Philly.com, Jonathan Tannenwald says of the trade, “[T]he short-term pain from dealing Farfan could end up leading to a much greater long-term gain.” At CSN Philly, Ryan Bright says, “On the surface, the move is viewed as an overwhelming win for the Union.”
More on the Farfan trade from PSP, Delco Times, Union Dues, Brotherly Game, Goal.com, and The Goat Parade.
Union v Galaxy
John Hackworth described a couple of factors that bring some extra motivation to the Union for tonight’s matchup against LA. First is the fact that the Galaxy are reigning MLS champions. Hackworth said, “It means you get to test yourself at a little higher level for sure. And it means a lot to play the champions and the kind of players that they have. Anytime that you’re facing Landon Donovan and company, it’s a huge honor. These kind of games, players look forward to and get a little more juiced for it.”
John Hackworth also said, “There will be a little bit of a feeling that people don’t give us enough respect right now. Even when we win games, it doesn’t seem like we get enough credit for it. Having an opportunity to play L.A. at home is a really good game to make a statement. There will be some extra motivation for sure.”
Hackworth added, “We want to show everyone that we are as competitive as any team in the league.”
We now know that Garfan won’t be playing left back against LA, so what about Bakary Soumare? Hackworth praised Soumare’s play on Saturday but wouldn’t commit to saying he would get the start tonight. Of a possible Jeff Parke return, Hackworth said, “We have to be mindful of a guy like Jeff having a hamstring injury pushing him too soon. It was definitely the right decision not to play him on Saturday, but we hope to have him available for these games. He trained full today, so that was a good sign.”
Hackworth said further on the selection process when the team is about to play the second of three games in a week, “In a very simple form, it comes down to individuals: What individual match ups do we think make the most sense for tomorrow, what individuals have recovered from our previous game, which individuals come back from injury. Guys that are playing really good in training and just deserve their chance now, trying to figure out the total load of where players are out, and that’s the thing we’re trying to balance. At the end of the day, you’re probably going to have to try to make some changes here and there, and that gives players some opportunities that maybe they would’ve have had.”
Jack McInerney spoke of some of what will be motivating him against LA. “Keane, I think his off-the-ball movement is probably the best in the league and he’s someone I try to mimic my game off of. And obviously Donovan has played at the highest level for the national team. I think it’s a good chance for me to kind of just prove myself.”
Sebastien Le Toux said of tonight’s game, “I think it’s big. It’s a big game for us. To beat them would be great. They are the twice defending champions, so it’s great motivation for us and I think we really want to do well against them tomorrow.”
LA’s Mike Magee said of the Union, “We have to match their energy. They’re a team with good energy and we tend to be too. We’re a team that tends to fight and battle and never lack effort but the last few games, for whatever reasons, we’ve let ourselves down in that aspect. If the rest of us pick it up and do our work off the ball and support each other, battle and fight, then the soccer is always pretty good.”
Match previews from PSP, MLSsoccer.com, CSN Philly, Delco Times, Philly Soccer News, David Murphy’s Union Blog, LA Galaxy.com, Angel City Brigade, Goal.com, and The Sports Network.
Kevin Kinkead has a quick reference. From an LA perspective, Adam Serrano has three key points ahead of tonight’s game and there’s this from Union Dues.
Zac MacMath has been named to MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week in recognition of his outstanding play in Saturday’s win against Chicago. He was also named to SI’s Team of the Week.
MacMath also comes it at No. 7 in the Castrol Weekly Top 20. In the Full Castrol Index, the top five Union players are Jack McInerney (No. 1), Conor Casey (No. 33), Sebastien Le Toux (No. 70), Amobi Okugo (No 82), and Danny Cruz (No. 83).
More power rankings! MLSsoccer.com keeps the Union at No. 11, as does Goal.com and ProSoccerTalk. At SBI, the Union move up one spot to No. 8 while at SI they move up one spot to No. 9.
Local
Reading United and Ocean City Nor’easters were both victorious in US Open Cup first round tournament play on Tuesday night.
Ocean City defeated New York Red Bulls U-23s 2-0. Ocean City coach Tim Oswald said, “We’ve only been together since last Thursday, so this was a great start to the season. Our kids are still coming in after their (college) exams. It’ll be great to have another week to practice before our next game.”
Ocean City will host USL PRO club Pittsburgh Riverhounds (May, 21, 7:30pm at Carey Stadium; Ocean City, N.J.). Pittsburgh defeated USASA side RWB Adria 1-1 (4-5 on penalty kicks) on the road after extra time in first round play.
Reading defeated 2012 NPSL champions Lehigh Valley United Sonic 2-0. Reading coach Brendan Burke said, “There’s a little more intensity because it’s win or go home. I was extremely pleased with our work and intensity from start to finish.”
Reading will now host Harrisburg City Islanders on Tuesday in the second round of the tournament (May 21, 7:30pm at Exeter High School’s Don Thomas Stadium, Reading Pa.).
At the Upper 90 blog, Derek Meluzio looks at the City Islanders past success in the US Open Cup.
Greg Jordan and Sainey Touray have been named to the USL PRO Team of the Week. Leo Fernandes and Morgan Langley both received honorable mentions.
At Penn Live.com, Michael Bullock looks at how depth and flexibility are paying off for the City Islanders.
MLS
LA Galaxy is officially pursuing a trade deal with Chicago for Robbie Rogers.
The LA Times wants everyone to know that, even without David Beckham, the Galaxy are still a team to watch.
According to league guidelines, the ballboy who refused to handover the ball to Chivas USA’s Mario de Luna on Sunday was right to do so because it went out for a Portland throw-in.
The Minnesota Vikings are still interested in bringing a MLS team to Minneapolis.
NWSL
Abby Wambach has been named NWSL’s Player of the Week. ESPNU will be airing a documentary about Wambach tonight at 8pm.
US
At SI, Grant Wahl reports that Landon Donovan will not be on the US roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in June.
Jurgen Klinsmann is expected to release the roster for the upcoming friendlies against Belgium and Germany on Thursday.
At Goal.com, Seth Vertelney has six players the US should cap-tie with the Gold Cup roster.
Jozy Altidore is the first American to be named to the Eredivisie Team of the Season.
This wrap of Tuesday’s US Open Cup play notes that there were four hat tricks in the 17 games that took place on Tuesday night. Three of the games were decided by penalty kicks.
ESPN will launch a new daily soccer show, ESPNFC, on Aug. 11. The year-round show to air Sunday-Friday, mostly on ESPN2.
Elsewhere
FIFA says that Sao Paolo could lose the right to host games at the 2014 World Cup if construction at Itaquerao stadium, which is due to host six matches, is not completed by December. Contractors have said that construction will not be complete until February.
CONCACAF unveiled its new Gold Cup trophy in Mexico City on Tuesday. It is shiny, has handles and a base, and is inscribed.
Three days after winning the FA Cup, Wigan Athletic were relegated when they lost 4-1 to Arsenal. Wigan manager Roberto Martínez said, “The FA Cup has really helped to give us that little bit of direction and confidence in the league. It is an achievement that we will never lose. It is just a shame we have won it in the same season that we lost our Premier League status. If you look at the history, it has never happened before. No team has been good enough to win the FA Cup and not stay up. That is why it is so difficult to take what has happened.” More on FA Cup finalists and relegation from the Guardian.
On Tuesday, a Seattle man who was on a fundraising quest to dribble a ball all the way to Brazil in time for the 2014 World Cup was struck and killed by a car on US Highway 101 near Lincoln City, Ore.
And I’m sorry, I am NOT going to let Hackworth off the hook that easily for this past draft.
If he overlooked as simple, painless and perfect a decision as drafting one of the MANY good LBs 3 times over, why would I give a damn about maybe a top 5 draft next year?
No, I am not going to forget so easily.
Many good LBs?? Outside of Cochrane, are any of them getting any playing time with their MLS clubs? And Cochrane is just filling in until Dunivant gets healthy. Nealis got cut by the Dynamo, Kemp is on loan to Richmond, and I’m pretty sure none of the others have made an impact.
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Considering they picked up Anding, who is apparently doing well in Harrisburg, it’s way too early to judge the results of the 2013 draft.
Cochrane may be filling in for Dunivant, but he is doing very well with the opportunity that was presented to him. It is a shame, because Greg could’ve been our starting left back from day one.
That being said, Reading United have a very talented left back named Ben Sweat, who appears to be as good or better than Cochrane was for us last year. Sweat is one of the top defenders in the country and his a highly touted MLS prospect. Fingers crossed, that with the extra pick we can land this guy next January.
Sure, Cochrane has done well filling in, but there’s this misconception that there were many great LBs in this draft.
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Yes, there were a good number of LBs in the draft, but it’s telling that almost all of them fell to the second round or later. Kind of strange when everyone knows that LB generally is a position of weakness in MLS.
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Cochrane may well become a good LB in the league, but it’s way to early to judge this draft. We’ll get a better idea once we see Anding suit up for the Union.
great win by the nor’easters last night. redbull was outplayed from the first whistle to the last
And by a bunch of kids finishing up their final exams!
So does Wigan go into the Champions League next year for winning the FA Cup?
They play in regular Europa league for winning the FA Cup.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013%E2%80%9314_UEFA_Europa_League
They slot into the Group Stage, Swansea into the Third ROund for the League Cup
Thanks! Who needs Google when I have you guys!
How much is Garfan? $50,000? I’m hoping they received a bit more in allocation money. In reference to the “SUPERDRAFT”, that entire entity is completely overrated imho. Many are in their early twenties that should have been in an academy system much earlier to be seasoned professionals at 21 or 22. I’m sad that he’s going to a clusterf*** like Chivas, but hopefully he’ll get the playing time he needs and deserves. It’s a push for me.
Starting to feel like the Garfan trade was really something Hack was counting on or already expecting. Why else would Gaddis get the job at the very beginning of the season after it seemed to everyone that Garfan was the shoe in after not aquiring a LB, even after some slow learning curves for Gaddis and not having a left foot when he is on the LEFT! Out of all the positions on the pitch to be talking about all season so far LB is the last thing i want to hear anything more about, seriously cant wait to see Hacks plan, and there better be a plan that takes less than 2 YEARS to find out about because im sure we all want this LB talk in the rear view
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