Philadelphia Union

At the start of his weekly press conference on Wednesday, John Hackworth said, “We’ve got a lot to talk about today.” And so we do.

Hackworth said the team can only move on from the 5-1 drubbing in New England. “It’s tough to move on from that, but we do our video and then our process is that we do move on.”

Sheanon Williams said, “Just forget about it. It’s over. There’s no time to harp on it, to think about it. We’ve got eight games left — an important eight games left. And it’s going to be the difference between us in the playoffs and sitting at home…What happened in New England was something I’ve never been a part of. Almost going up 2-1 and to get it flipped on you like that is upsetting and bizarre. We’ve been good about battling back all year and I think we’ll do the same…It was bizarre. It’s best that the team forgets about it. It’s something that happened on the week, we know we can be better and know we are better. We will move on from it.”

Hackworth said of Amobi Okugo’s two-game suspension, “We’ll have to deal with it, but it’s a tough loss.” He continued, “Amobi’s been so important to everything we’re doing. We’ll have to have guys step up. The good things about any of these situations and for us, if you look at our whole season so far, any time we’ve had a guy go out — injury, call-up, yellow-card accumulation, red card — guys that are coming on have stepped up. I think that’s a positive sign for us.”

Williams echoed his coach’s belief that the team will pull together. “We expect to bounce back this week, we’ve done it all season. We have a group of guys in this locker room that won’t turn on each other after a loss. We’ll stay together, whatever happens down this last stretch. We’ll make sure that anything we do, we do together. It’s been good all year and I expect to continue that trend and do well on Saturday.”

So who will step up? Hackworth said his options include sliding Sheanon Williams into the middle or even Aaron Wheeler. The decision is made more difficult by the news from Hackworth that Ray Gaddis, who would slot in for Williams at right back, is still listed as questionable. That leaves options like Michael Lahoud and Matt Kassel at right back.

Williams said of partnering with Jeff Parke in the middle, “If that’s what needs to happen, we’re both comfortable with it. I’m comfortable doing it, I’ve done it before and it’s not something that doesn’t come natural. Regardless of where you are on the back four, you should be ready to play all the positions.”

Williams added, “[Practice] has been good, I had a couple days [at center back] already. Trying to see what’s going to work best for Saturday — see who is going to be healthy and ready to go.”

Okugo is understandably miffed by the suspensions. Willing to accept the first yellow, Okugo nonetheless said he’s “done that defensive move plenty of times and I haven’t gotten a yellow for it.” The second yellow made him particularly upset. “The second one, I don’t really know what happened. Before I even got there, he called a foul and gave me the second yellow.” He explained,

“I think Imbongo was trying to waste time and Sheanon had him covered, so I came over to help him. As he turned, I was there, then he fell and the next thing you know the ref wanted to make a name for himself and gave me a yellow card. In stoppage time. When the game’s already over…

“In those situations, you can’t give the ref a chance to make a name for himself. Unfortunately, I did that.”

Okugo’s disappointment at the two-game suspension is underscored by personal reasons when it comes to missing the game in San Jose. He’s from nearby Sacramento and expected many family and friends to attend the game. “Once I got the first yellow, I already knew I was going to miss the Montreal game. It’s not like I’m going to purposefully get a second yellow because the next game is San Jose, where my family would have been able to see me. I was actually trying to stay away from any scuffles or anything.”

Hackworth said Keon Daniel is still questionable for Saturday, which leads to the question of what’s up with Kleberson? Hackworth said, “Kleberson has done a good job in training, so I think he’s ready for an opportunity. But for him not to have played a 90-minute game for so long, it’s going to be really hard for us to in all ways think that it would be easy for him to come in…We have to pick the team that we feel from the start to the finish is going to give us the best chance to be successful.”

Will Jack McInerney return to the starting lineup? Hackworth said, “We’ll see. There’s some competition in training right now. Antoine [Hoppenot] is playing well, Jack’s playing well, Seba [Le Toux] had a good run when he was up there and he obviously creates some goal-scoring opportunities. We’ll just have to see.”

Hackworth said further, “[O]ur expectation is that anybody, whether it’s McInerney or Kleberson or whoever it is, who’s not playing, that they put themselves in a good position to be available once the staff calls on them and Jack’s been really good about that.”

In this audio report, KYW’s Matt Leon talks to Kerith Gabriel about what the Union will do against Montreal.

The Union will officially open the new YSC Academy in a ceremony in Wayne on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Freddy Adu had his first start for Bahia since joining the club in April on Wednesday, going 70 minutes in a scoreless draw with Portuguesa that saw his team advance 2-1 on aggregate in the Copa Sudamericana.

The Brotherly Game asks itself if sitting McInerney against New England was a good idea.

Philthy Brass believes “the specter of Fernando Torres looms” for McInerney.

The Brotherly Game has a look at Montreal from Impact blog LeFooty Daily.

Local

The 2-0-0 La Salle women’s team has been ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll.

Less than ten year’s ago, the Chadds Ford-based company Textronics released a sports bra that could measure a women’s heart rate, helping to launch the wearable technology boom. The company has since been acquired by adidas and is involved in the development of the miCoach system.

Princeton community newspaper Town Topics talks to former Montreal Impact coach Jesse Marsch, who has returned to his alma mater to work as a volunteer assistant coach for the men’s team.

MLS

The LA Galaxy announced on Wednesday that Landon Donovan has been signed to a “multi-year contract extension that will see him remain a member of the Galaxy for the foreseeable future.”

Donovan talks to SI about his decision to stay with LA.

SBI says that sources tell them that Donovan’s new deal could make him the highest paid player in MLS.

Was Manchester United interested in Donovan? Do you care?

Didier Drogba says he’s open to a move to MLS but right now he’s focused on playing for Galatasary.

Chivas USA finally has a TV deal. Seven of its nine remaining games will be broadcast in English, all nine in Spanish.

Guatemalan club Heredia defeated San Jose 1-0 at home in CONCACAF Champions League play on Wednesday.

NWSL

ProSoccerTalk has scouting reports on the two teams that will meet in Saturday’s championship final, Western New York Flash and the Portland Thorns.

Former Philadelphia Independence players Nicole Barnhart and Leigh Ann Robinson have been named to the NWSL Best XI. Former Philadelphia teammate Lianne Sanderson was named to the second team.

US

The USMNT roster for the upcoming qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico could be released as early as today.

The American Outlaws released a statement on Wednesday denying overnight reports that its Seattle chapter had been given control of organizing in-stadium support for all future USMNT games and that US Soccer would be paying for the travel of capos.

US Soccer spokesperson Neil Buethe tells Goal.com that there is no truth to the website’s earlier report that the federation and AO have given control of organized support to the Seattle AO chapter. “The reports that state U.S. Soccer and AO have put the Seattle AO chapter in charge of the supporters section for this game, or any in the future, is inaccurate.”

A post at Columbus Crew blog Massive Report, which first reported that Seattle AO capos would be leading supporters sections in Columbus during the upcoming qualifier against Mexico, echoes widespread concerns that a desire to ensure a consistent level of organized support and tifo displays at national team games could lead to homogenization that ignores local supporters.

Elsewhere

The AP reports, “UEFA says it has warned Champions League participant Shakhter Karagandy that it could face disciplinary action if it continues the ritual slaughter of animals before matches. The club from Kazakhstan killed a sheep last week at the Astana Arena the day before beating Celtic 2-0 in the playoffs.”

Get ejected from a game. Help save a man’s life on the walk to the players tunnel. It’s all a day in the life for a non-league goalkeeper in England.