Daily news roundups

Hack confirms U to pay part of Soumare’s wages, Montreal previews, Wheeler on loan to HCI, more

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

Soumare trade

In case you missed it, Bakary Soumare’s trade to Chicago is official. After trading a first round draft pick and allocation money to Vancouver in order to sign him last season in a deal organized by Peter Nowak and Diego Gutierrez, the Union receive from Chicago a second round draft pick and allocation money.

Dave Zeitlin sent out a series of tweets after speaking with John Hackworth following the Soumare trade, one of which confirms that the Union will be responsible for an undisclosed amount of Soumare’s salary at Chicago.

  • Hack confirmed the Union will pick up part of Soumare’s salary over the next two seasons but said it would be a ‘small amount’ next season.”
  • “On getting salary cap relief – next year especially – Hackworth said of the deal: ‘That’s the biggest part.'”
  • Hackworth: ‘We’re trying to get it so it’s much more consistent across the board where there’s not such a gap between player salaries.'”
  • Hack: “I don’t want to look at it like we spent a first-round pick to get him and didn’t get anything. I think we did get value out of him'”
  • “Hack called last 3 games a ‘showcase’ for Baky but said if Williams hadn’t gotten red card, ‘Baky might might have not gotten the chance.'”
  • “We already knew this but … Hack: ‘Those negotiations honestly to bring Baky here were made while I was still an assistant coach here.'”
  • Hack said ‘we’re good right now’ but there’s ‘cap space & roster spots where we can go out and try to find a player’ during transfer window.”
  • “I even asked Hack about trying to bring in Danny Califf as a backup but he said it would be improper to talk about a player on another team.”

Here’s the article that Zeitlin wrote after speaking with Hackworth.

Soumare told Delco Time’s Matthew De George, “I’m glad it’s finally figured out. It’s been a long time since I put in the request. I’m just glad it’s materialized…I’m really, really excited to go back home. Tonight I’m going to go to sleep, and it’s all going to be over.”

Soumare continued,

I have mixed feelings. I’ve gone through a lot, and it’s been a very difficult time mentally, especially these last few months…I’m leaving a locker room full of great guys, and that’s the one thing I’m really sad about. There are a lot of great guys, great teammates, that I worked with and traveled with every day, and now I have to start being on the opposite team as them…

Despite it all, my teammates and the fans made it easy to go out there every day. When I got out there to play, I was motivated to play for the guys next to me. That was all I cared about when I was out there.

Soumare says he’s ready to play for Chicago on Saturday. ““If Frank [Klopas] picks me on Saturday, I’ll be ready to play. The good thing is I’ve had a strong three games together and I’ve actually started feeling better game after game. I’ve started getting my rhythm back and right now I’m close to top form.”

At Union Tally, De George has some suggestions for defensive depth. Will we see Danny Califf back in the Blue and Gold?

Montreal and more

Oh yeah, there’s a game on Saturday. Check out PSP’s preview for, well, PSP, and our quick reference.

More match previews from MLSsoccer.com, Philadelphia Inquirer, David Murphy’s PUB, Goal.com, plus scouting reports from Kevin Kinkead and Union Dues.

Kerith Gabriel looks at what Kleberson brings to the Union midfield.

Sebastien Le Toux’s fight for a starting spot has resulted in some terrific play over the last few games. Le Toux said, “I was just expecting to play and just try to get back into the playoffs with this team. It’s my objective when I came here. I wanted to make this team successful. The coaching staff has lots of different options offensively, and I’m one of them. So they kind of decided to put me on the bench for a few games. I was not happy about it, but I was a good teammate and I tried to work harder to get back into the starting lineup. That’s what happened last week when I got two starts.”

Le Toux said of working with Conor Casey, “It’s easy. Conor is a great teammate and right now, it’s maybe him and me switching, but we are ready to play together, too. He’s a great partner to play with and I can have lots of success with him.”

Union Tally has a transcript of Wednesday’s weekly press conference.

We linked to a quote on Thursday from Nick Sakiewicz in which he said one of the great things about the NYCFC announcement is that now Union fans have a second team to have. Asked by Dave Zeitlin if he really hates NYCFC already, Sakiewicz responded with a laugh, “Absolutely. Why not? There’s a long history of Philly-New York rivalries and now we’ve got two of them.”

The latest “Final Whistle” open letter from John Hackworth to Union fans is now available.

Local

It appears Ocean City Nor’easters have conceded that their protest with US Soccer over the hosting site of Tuesday’s third round US Open Cup game against the Union has been unsuccessful. Ocean City are now offering tickets for specific sections at PPL for the game.

The Union’s Aaron Wheeler is on loan to Harrisburg City Islanders. If he plays tonight when Harrisburg is on the road against Richmond Kickers (7pm, USL Live)—read the match preview from Michael Bullock of the Patriot News—he’ll be the sixth Union player to appear for the USL PRO club.

At Penn Live.com, Derek Meluzio commends Reading United for their upset win over the City Islanders in the second round of the US Open Cup and has video highlights from the game.

Reading United are on the road to New York Magic on Monday for a 2:30pm league game.

West-Mont United’s 10th Annual Battle at Hilltop tournament will be taking place in August. Following the links for registration information for boys and girls teams U-9 -U-15.

MLS

The Manchester Evening News reports on newly announced NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna’s plans for the club.

At The Guardian, Graham Parker wonders how Red Bulls will react to NYCFC.

New Jersey State Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan has called on the Red Bulls to drop “New York” from their name and replace it with “New Jersey” now that NYCFC has been announced. Diegnan said, “A Hudson County-based team in a New Jersey publicly-financed stadium calling itself the ‘New York Red Bulls’ is a slap in the face to New Jersey residents and taxpayers who help support the team.” Diegnan added, “If MLS and the Red Bulls want to continue this charade, they should return the public financing they’ve received from New Jersey’s taxpayers.”

While discussion continues about the logistical nightmares that some say would accompany a MLS stadium in Queens, others suggest that, with the NYCFC announcement, the Queens stadium plan is dead. The Queens Chronicle says, “Build the soccer stadium in the Bronx.”

Time weighs in on why Manchester City and the New York Yankees are buying into MLS.

Gabriel Farfan says of the woeful play of his new team, Chivas USA, “It’s a challenge, obviously. I wanted to come here, but we’re not getting results right now. It’s just a matter of adapting as soon as I can to help out the team.”

Here’s a look at how former Union man Brad Knighton is doing in Vancouver. Knighton had his first start of the season last weekend.

ESPN has some thoughts on how MLS can “Americanize” soccer. It’s comedy, apparently.

MLSsoccer.com has an updated list of MLS players called up for international duty.

At Goal.com, Nick Sabetti talks to Ottawa Fury president John Pugh about the team’s preparations for entering NASL in the spring of 2014.

NWSL

The AP says the contrast between the success of Portland Thorns and the struggles of Seattle Reign “paint picture of NWSL’s mixed results in its opening season.”

The Oregonian looks at how Nike has been quietly outfitting NWSL teams, which stands in contrast to the marketing blitz that usually follows the sports apparel giant’s connections with individual teams or leagues.

US

Stuart Holden is excited to be back with the USMNT.

Megan Rapinoe’s heavily favored Lyon was defeated 1-0 by Wolfsburg in the Women’s Champions League final on Thursday. Rapinoe was subbed after the first half.

Elsewhere

Big game tomorrow at 2:30pm on FOX. Enough said.

Check out the latest Footy on the Telly for the upcoming week’s live soccer listings.

UEFA will give ten-match bans to players found guilty of racial abuse.

UEFA president Michel Platini has renewed his call for a European sport police to combat match fixing.

 

19 Comments

  1. Please, no Califf. That would be a total joke. He’s not good enough anymore and I don’t want them to insult our intelligent by bringing him back as a PR move.
    If they really care about depth, I’d rather them sign that kid we released for roster reasons. Schoel or something?
    Stop pulling our chains and bring in someone who actually has a chance to still be with us in a few years and develop into a good player.

    • McMohansky says:

      Agree.

    • While I agree with you 1,000%, I am not holding my breath. They did the same for Le Toux at an extremely inflated salary, so time will tell I guess.

      Hack, if you’re reading this, please don’t. We don’t want Kader Keita either, Hack…

    • EllisCarver says:

      Schoenle couldn’t even start in Harrisburg. He got beat out by one of our other prospects Greg Jordan.

  2. I disagree Califf for defenive depth and a good locker room presence would be great. I personally would love to see him back.

    • We will need someone in July, as either Okugo OR Parke (NO way he’s calling in both) will be out for Gold Cup duty, so Williams can move over and slow the leak for a few games, but then we’ll need a LB. So we’re still back at square one – the dreaded left back.

  3. Great One says:

    Hey maybe the deal works out so that we can sign 1 or 2 players (doubtful), but I just wish Hackworth wasn’t so full of crap.
    .
    Have such a large gap between salaries???? That should have zero influence on player personnel decisions.

    • That was… awkwardly worded.

    • The coach seems like a nice guy but I would like to hear him tell the truth on occasion. “We’re not a deep team but we have a solid starting XI and a few good subs. Possession is not our strong suit. We’re going to sit back, let our opponents have the ball to kick around, and wait for them to make a mistake. It won’t be pretty, but it will be effective against most MLS teams.”

  4. My hatred for ESPN was cemented further after reading that sad jingoistic attempt at satire.

    • Dan Walsh says:

      Read the comments. They’re hilarious. Readers ripped him a new one.

      • I think the comments on the article almost make the time I spent reading it, worth it.

    • Southside Johnny says:

      Ed. I really used to like you. The link to the ESPN article has changed all that. I can’t believe I read the whole thing. I have a headache now and creepy homicidal urges. I was simply hoping for some support for adding smokin’ hot cheerleaders to the game…

    • That actually offended me as a sports fan, let alone a soccer fan.

  5. It doesn’t look like that deal was very beneficial for the Union. A player wanted to leave and was given that opportunity. That’s good. However, the team has to benefit as well. Lets see what they come up with during the transfer window. If absolutely nothing, well then the trade is officially a bust like so many mismanaged trades at the front office.

  6. I found myself in the stands really enjoying watching Kleberson and how he brings a quality to the union team as a whole. There isn’t a chance in hell the union sign him to a new deal! SAD! What’s the Union’s business plan? Keep the team competive and people in the stands but never go out and make a splash in the transfer market? I’m not saying to spend like the RedBulls or LA. But when you see real DP quality and what the right move can do to an average team it makes you want more? Am I wrong?

  7. Thanks to PSP for the proper framing of the links in these news roundups. For example, I know that I need not click on the link to the ESPN story because it will be a waste of time. Not just because it contains the letters E, S, P and N, but because you already read it for me and confirmed my suspicions. Now I have an extra three minutes in my day!
    Graham Parker is required reading, always.

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