Daily news roundups

Fabinho earns praise, Mkosana loaned to Rowdies, more

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

Missed scoring chances yet stout defense: In the latest Inside Doop, Dave Zeitlin notes the three scoreless draws the Union have recorded since July 20 is as many as they had in all of 2012.

At The Delco Times, Matthew De George says that, while the Union’s sputtering offense is creating scoring opportunities that it isn’t finishing, the underlying problem is an over reliance on set pieces and crosses to the detriment of play through the middle. He quotes Jack McInerney, “I think one of our strengths is just getting out wide and putting balls into the box, especially with a guy like Conor in the box. I think we’ve learned just to play to our strengths, and playing through the middle of the field just isn’t something we’re good at. We’re good at getting out wide and creating chances that way.”

In it’s wrap of Saturday’s MLS games, Sports Illustrated named Fabinho its Player of the Day. The Brazilian was also named to SI’s Team of the Week.

Power rankings! Soccer America drops the Union two spots to No. 11 following Saturday’s scoreless draw with Montreal. SI keeps the team at ninth in the league. ProSoccerTalk has the club at No. 10.

The Brotherly Game reports Dane Kelly, a forward with USL PRO club Charleston Battery who scored 11 goals in 23 games this season, is on trial with the Union. The post notes, “Trials mean very little, and especially at this time of the season.”

The Brotherly Game’s weekly update on the fortunes of former Union players is available.

Local

Harrisburg City Islanders forward Lucky Mkosana was scheduled to play in a scrimmage with the Union on Sunday and then train with the team throughout this week. Instead comes the news that he has gone on loan to the NASL’s Tampa Bay Rowdies. More on Mkosana, who scored ten goals in the last eight games of the regular season, including two hat tricks, from Penn Live.com’s Michael Bullock.

In another article, Bullock describes how thoughts of “what if” will linger in the minds of the City Islanders. Head coach Bill Becher tells Bullock, “It’s hard. It ends so quick. Especially when you expected to go farther and you lose…I think we legitimately thought we were going to win this whole thing.”

Reckless Challenge compares the announcement of NYC FC and the new Bearfight Brigade team and observes, “The contrast between the clubs is stark.”

MLS

The Columbus Crew have fired head coach Robert Warzycha, who spent 18 years with the club as a player and later as a coach. Technical director Brian Bliss will serve as interim coach of the eighth in the Eastern Conference Crew over the remaining eight games of the season.

Soccer America says the firing was inevitable.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Kei Kamara has transferred to Middlesborough. The English second division club says it’s a two-year deal with an option for another year.

At Goal.com, Kyle McCarthy says Eddie Johnson’s “show me the money” celebration after netting the game winner on the road for Seattle against Columbus on Saturday only underscores the income disparity that too often exists in MLS between top earners and top performers in the wake of big payouts to Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan.

The Sounders’ ownership isn’t concerned by Johnson’s display. Adrian Hanauer said on Monday, “I’ve said it before, Eddie is underpaid at this point and we’ll address that behind closed doors…For me, as long as those sorts of things aren’t getting in the way of us winning a championship, I couldn’t really care less. When it becomes a distraction to the team, then it’s an issue with me. For now, we picked up a great win, Eddie was a huge part of it, he was great with his teammates, so for me it’s not an issue. A little controversy, a little interesting flavor to some of our games isn’t always a bad thing.”

US

The USWNT hosts Mexico tonight at RFK Stadium in an international friendly (8 pm, Fox Sports 1).

ESPNW profiles Leigh Ann Robinson, the FC Kansas City defender and former Philadelphia Independence player, who is with the national team for the first time. USWNT coach Tom Sermanni says he wouldn’t have seen Robinson play were it not for the formation of the NWSL.

The LA Times says the USMNT has plenty of options if Jozy Altidore, who missed Saturday’s game with Sunderland with a hamstring strain, is unable to go against Costa Rica in Friday’s World Cup qualifier.

ProSoccerTalk analyzes the right back situation at the USMNT following the call-up of Michael Parkhurst to replace the injured Brad Evans.

Elsewhere

The Guardian has a team-by-team analysis of how the conclusion of the transfer season went in the Premier League.

3 Comments

  1. You missed the biggest news: the end of FSC (the Fox Soccer Channel). As of now no more soccer 24/7 on TV and yesterday a lot of us missed Sky Sports with the minute-by-minute transfer news… Nice review of FSC here: http://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/thank-you-fox-soccer-rip.1993359/#post-28591458

  2. Jack sure tells it like it is, doesn’t he? I still think the most organized the Union offense has looked all year was that one half in preseason when that old Greek dude played.

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