Daily news roundups

“Unacceptable”: reaction to Union’s 3-1 loss to DC in USOC, Anding impresses, more news

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

There are several words that begin with the letter “L” to describe the Union’s performance in Wednesday’s US Open Cup fourth round match against DC United: lethargic and lackadaisical are a two that come to mind. Certainly for the Union fans who made the long trip to the Maryland SoccerPlex on a weeknight, the Union’s performance was a letdown. Ultimately, losing is the word that matters, as in 3-1 losers, to be more precise.

Given the Open Cup history between the two sides, the pregame expectation was that the match would be “feisty.” It was not.

John Hackworth said of the Union’s performance, “It wasn’t good enough. Our start and our mentality, which was so good against Columbus, was equally as bad tonight.”

Hackworth continued, “I’m really disappointed in our performance, in particular the way we started that game. I think it was unacceptable on a lot of levels…I give full credit to D.C. tonight, and we knew they were going to bring it. But at the same time, I don’t think we brought our best, certainly not at the start of that game, and we’ve got to know that we’re not that good that we can do that.”

Conor Casey said, “We just came out really flat in the first half, the whole team. There’s really no excuse for it.”

Zac MacMath said, “Overall, we didn’t have the effort and the ability tonight.”

Amobi Okugo said, “We didn’t bring as much effort as we did against Columbus, we weren’t consistent. We just have to take these next few days off and then come out against New York, because the playoffs are a tight competitive race right now. One loss, you go back to seventh place, one win and you’re up to third. We know what we have to do, we have to stay consistent, and we have to wake up from the beginning whistle.”

One of the few bright spots was the play of Don Anding, who came on in the 74th minute. Anding said, “I’ve always worked hard and put the work in, and you’ll get good results from it. That’s what I tried to do tonight. Unfortunately, we went down a goal. I felt comfortable and that’s what we’re trying to do—bring that speed and that work ethic…I just tried to work hard, and I think that’s what they expected out of me. So, hopefully that’s what they saw out of me today.”

Match reports and recaps from PSP, Philadelphia Union.com, Daily News, DelcoTimes, CSN Philly, Union Tally, Philly Soccer News, Patriot-News, The Cup.us, DC United.com, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, District Sports Page, Black & Red United, and The AP.

The fun fact from last night’s game: of the 9 goals DC have managed to score in all competitions this season—that’s 16 games—5 of the goals have been scored against the Union.

US Open Cup

With the win, DC will host New England Revolution in the quarterfinals. New England defeated New York Red Bulls 4-2 in fourth round play on Wednesday. Current Cup holders Kansas City lost 0-1 to USL PRO partner Orlando City. FC Dallas cruised past Houston Dynamo, 3-0. Two goals in the first period of extra time saw Carolina RailHawks defeated Chivas USA, 3-1. Portland Timbers defeated Tampa Bay Rowdies, 2-0. Real Salt Lake rallied past Charleston Battery, 5-2. The match between Chicago and Columbus was postponed until today due to inclement weather.

 At MLSsoccer.com, Dave Zeitlin recounts the story of the 1999 Rochester Rhinos, the last lower division team to win the US Open Cup.

MLS

The league and MLS Players Union announced on Wednesday a partnering with the You Can Play Project. MLS president Don Garber said, “The diversity found in our League has always been a point of pride for us. Our MLS WORKS ‘Don’t Cross the Line’ initiative is a strong statement that we are a league that stands against discrimination. We are proud to partner with You Can Play to ensure that all of our fans and players know that MLS is committed to providing a safe environment where everyone is treated equally, and with dignity and respect.” The announcement notes, “MLS joins the National Hockey League as the second major male professional sports league to guarantee LGBT inclusion in all aspects of their sport through the work of You Can Play.”

Bruce Arena suggests the league’s disciplinary committee should have a mechanism for reviewing yellow cards. Makes sense to me.

US

The AP reports, “The United States’ 2-0 victory over Panama on Tuesday night was ESPN’s second most-watched and second highest-rated World Cup qualifying or international friendly game telecast.”

ProSoccerTalk looks at who may have locked up a spot on the USMNT if they qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Soccer America considers the uncertainty that is the lot of many on the squad.

At Goal.com, Zac Lee Rigg on DaMarcus Beasley’s club future.

ASN on the return of Stuart Holden.

Elsewhere

The Confederations Cup Cup kicksoff on Saturday. At ProSoccerTalk, previews from Kyle Bonn and Richard Farley. At Goal.com, an A to Z.

At SI, James Young looks at Brazil’s preparations to host the 2014 World Cup. The Guardian has a look of their own.

Grantland on Richard Swanson, who died after being struck by a car soon after he began his attempt to dribble a soccer ball from Seattle to Sao Paulo in time for the start of the World Cup.

7 Comments

  1. This is what happens when you run your starting XI into the ground and constantly put players in unfamiliar positions. YOU are unacceptable, John.

    • The Black Hand says:

      Hack has no ability, whatsoever, to manage his roster. His in-game adjustments are poor and his reluctance to change his XI is going to cost us in the long term. There was no reason to start Casey, last night. Starting Farfan and Keon, at the same time, was a mistake. It killed our midfield. The banishment of Roger Torres, who should have started or at least been the halftime sub, is beginning to look personal. Hack needs to go!!!

  2. Umm, what?
    .
    “… of the 9 goals DC has scored in all competitions this season – that’s 16 games – they have managed to score a grand total of 9 goals.”
    .
    You don’t say?! 😉

  3. Andy Muenz says:

    There were some fundamental soccer issues out there last night. It seemed like almost every time a Philly player tried to trap the ball, it went about 3 yards away from them (where it became either a loose ball or a direct DC possession) rather than down to their feet. There were passes being made directly to DC players (by the Union) when there was no Union player within about 20 yards.

    Don’t forget that those 4 goals in 14 games for DC that were not against the Union included being shut out for 120 minutes against Richmond.

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