Daily news roundups

Recaps & reaction to Saturday’s draw, Academy results, MLS wrap, more news

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

All of us at PSP heartily congratulate PSP contributor Jeremy Lane and his wife on the birth of their son, Robin. Jeremy assures us that his Robin is not named after Manchester United’s Van Persie.

Philadelphia Union

Asked after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Montreal if he was disappointed with the result, John Hackworth’s response was simple and direct: “Extremely.”

The disappointment was felt throughout the locker room:

  • Zac MacMath: “It’s very frustrating for the whole team, the fans. It’s a game we dominated and had full control of. Obviously, we gave up a goal late and up a man. It’s something we need to sort out.”
  • Amobi Okugo: “Once we get the first goal we can’t step on the other team’s throat. Four games, four goals isn’t good enough. We’ve had chances for wins but we keep other teams in the game.”
  • Aaron Wheeler: “It’s a problem. It may be unrealistic that we shouldn’t allow any shots on goal but we have to do something. We shouldn’t be getting just one point from a game where we come out and dictate the pace. It doesn’t seem like we can catch a break. Two chances last week, one this week and one goal.”

Once again, the Union created plenty of chances with 13 attempts on goal and five shots on target. But, John Hackworth clearly felt more could have been done with those chances. “I thought we could’ve been more selfish. We could’ve taken on guys one-v-one in many chances today. It wasn’t our midfielders specifically. A lot of players were reluctant to go one-v-one. That hurt us a little bit. We passed the ball an awful lot, but we passed it when we should’ve taken a guy on the dribble and getting a cross off. We have to have more variety in our attack.”

He continued, “I think the players need to take responsibility for when they have [the ball]. When they have it, they have to go for it. There were clearly a lot of situations when guys could’ve taken shots or gone one-v-one.”

Consider this: The last time the Union scored more than one goal in a MLS game was on August 10, 2013, in the 2-0 win over DC United. That’s 14 games in a row that the team has scored no more than one goal.

Brian Carroll said, “It’s up to us to be smarter and out-work the other team. Whether that’s possession, scoring a goal or just being stout defensively, we need to find a way as players and the group on the field to get the job done.”

Maurice Edu said, “We’ve gone through some tough times so far, had some positive results and other that weren’t as good as we’d like. But it’s a long season. For us, it’s more important we have these mistakes early in the season so you can learn from them. Then later on down the road, in a similar position, we can deal with them better.”

Okugo added, “It’s still early. I feel like we’re taking the right steps but we’ve got to pick it up sooner than later because those points are going to catch up to us.”

At MLSsoccer.com, Matthew Doyle is not impressed with the play of Cristian Maidana, which he describes as “very, very bad,” and “just bad, sloppy, indifferent soccer.” Doyle notes that of the 12 times Maidana touched the ball in his final 20 minutes in the game before being replaced by Leo Fernandes in the 57th minute, “Ten of those times resulted in the Impact heading in the other direction.”

Recaps from PSP, Philadelphia UnionMLSsoccer.com, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly.com, Delco Times, CSN Philly, Delaware OnlineThe News of Salem CountyPhilly Soccer News (1), Philly Soccer News (2), Brotherly Game, Zolo Times, Montreal Impact, Montreal Gazette, Mount Royal Soccer, SBI, ProSoccerTalk, Goal.com, The Sports Network, and The AP.

Postgame video from PSP and Philadelphia Union. In addition to our photo essay of the game, USA Today and South Jersey Times have photo galleries from the game. At the Union website, a Storify stream from the game.

After another strong performance on Saturday, Aaron Wheeler said, “I don’t want people to look at me as a converted forward. I don’t want that judgment. I want you to judge me as a center back. That’s the position I’m playing. As far as that converted stuff or picking it up, I’m a center back. Judge me off how you would judge any other center back in the league.”

Maurice Edu credits his Union teammates for his USMNT callup. “I always felt confident that if I was playing well and I did that, an opportunity would come up. It’s a credit to my teammates here. It’s a credit to the staff here and the club here, they’ve all helped me to get back to my best, and now I’m in a position where it’s all up to me to get there.” He added, “It’s a nice feeling to be a part of a team where you’re respected, and guys can depend on you, and when you have that position to where the chips are down, or things are against you, guys can sometimes can look to you to be that guy to lift them a little bit.”

Brotherly Game names Vincent Nogueira Stat Hero of the Week and notes that Jack McInerney and Conor Casey recorded no shots in Saturday’s draw while Marco Di Vaio took 9 shots, 8 from inside the box.

Crozer Keystone and the Union are having a poster contest open to all Delaware County students between the ages of 7 to 12, as of May 17. Winners will receive tickets to the game against New England on May 17.

Union Academy

The Union Academy teams spent the weekend in Virginia, facing Richmond Strikers on Saturday and Richmond Kickers on Sunday. On Saturday, the Union U-13/14s drew 1-1 with the the Strikers U-13/14s. Colin Brezniak scored the 19th minute equalizer. The Union U-15/16s walloped their Strikers counterparts, 5-0, with two goals scored by Derrick Amaniampong, and single tallies from Matthew Real, Abu Winter, and Isiah Young. The U-17/18s did much the same, winning 6-0. Three players — Matthew Greer, Brandon Levano, and Noah Snyder — each recorded two goals.

On Sunday, the U-13/14s defeated the Kickers 2-1 with goals scored by Kurtis Orsson and Juan Infante. The U-15/16s won 5-0 with two goals from Conor Bradley, and a goal each from Kevin Carvalho, Freeman Dwamena, and Isaiah Yong. The U-17/18s saw a small drop in form, defeating their Kickers counterparts, 5-0. Brett Glasco, Chris Gomez, Doyle Tuvesson, and Noah Snyder all tallied. I’m not sure who scored the fourth goal, the Academy Twitter account didn’t say and the match report was not available on the US Development Academy website at the time of this writing.

The weekend’s results see the U-15/16s in fifth place, and the U-17/18s in fourth place, in the East Conference standings.

Local

With only a few days to go before the season opener in Wilmington, NC, against the Hammerheads (7:30 pm, Harrisburg City Islanders You Tube Channel, nscaatv.com) the chemistry in Harrisburg City Islanders locker room is already strong. Head coach Bill Becher said, “What’s different right now is the chemistry is really good for this early in the season. We haven’t even started a game yet and it just seems like there’s a general trust and like with the guys right now, which has brought a lot of positive energy to training. It’s been pretty good.”

Soccerly previews the City Islanders season.

Harrisburg’s final preseason game, scheduled to take place on Sunday against University of Maryland, was cancelled because the weekend’s heavy rains made conditions unplayable. The City Islanders thus finished the preseason with a 1-0-1 record.

Reading United has an alumni report.

MLS

In the Eastern Conference, Columbus (9 points) remains undefeated and is in first place with a 2-1 win in Seattle. Sporting Kansas City (7 points) is in second place after a stoppage time goal secured a 3-2 road win in Colorado. Houston (6 points) is in third place after a 2-1 road loss to Vancouver. Toronto (6 points) is in fourth place after a 3-0 thumping on the road from Real Salt Lake. The Union (5 points) are in fifth place after the 1-1 draw with Montreal (1 point), who are now in ninth place. New England (4 points) ended San Jose’s 21-game unbeaten streak at home with a 2-1 win are now are in sixth place. Chicago (3 points) are in seventh place after a 2-2 road draw with DC (1 point), who are in tenth place. New York (3 points) are in eighth place after an equalizer late in stoppage time was enough for a 1-1 home draw against Chivas USA.

In the Western Conference, Dallas (10 points) are in first place with a 2-1 win over seventh place Portland (2 points). Real Salt Lake (8 points) are in second place after their defeat of Toronto. Vancouver (8 points) is in third place after their win over Houston. Seattle (6 points) are in fourth place after their loss to Columbus. Chivas USA (5 points) are in fifth place after their road draw against New York. In sixth place are Colorado (4 points) after their loss to Kansas City. Eighth place Los Angeles (1 point), had the weekend off. San Jose (1 point) is in ninth place after their loss to New England.

Toronto’s Jermain Defoe was subbed out in the 62nd minute of the 3-0 loss to RSL and may have a hamstring injury.

Player transactions:

  • Toronto have signed midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran.
  • The LA Galaxy have loaned former Union man Chandler Hoffman, along with goalkeeper Brian Rowe and defender Tommy Meyer to USL PRO side LA Galaxy II. Hoffman scored in LA Galaxy II’s 1-1 draw with Sacramento Republic on Saturday.
  • Colorado have signed defender Chris Klute and goalkeeper Clint Irwin to new contracts.

With David Beckham lobbying local and state officials to support a new soccer stadium in PortMiami, the Miami Herald examines the makeup and results of other stadium agreements across the country.

Kaka affirms that if he doesn’t stay with Milan, his future lies in the US. Apparently, there is a clause in Kaka’s contract that allows him to leave Milan if the team does not qualify for the Champions League. Orlando City is doing little to quell rumors that central Florida could be Kaka’s new home.

US

Jurgen Klinsmann has replaced Brad Evans with Tony Beltran on the roster for Wednesday’s USMNT friendly against Mexico (11 pm: ESPN, WatchESPN, UniMas). Evans suffered a calf injury in Seattle’s win over Toronto on Saturday.

On Sunday, a statement from US Soccer announced that longtime Klinsmann assistant coach Martin Vasquez was “transitioning…to other responsibilities” within the federation and would be replaced by Tab Ramos. The news came buried in a press release announcing that Berti Vogts, a member of the German team that won the World Cup in 1974, had been brought in “to be a Special Advisor to the U.S. Men’s National Team from now through the 2014 FIFA World Cup.”

At ASN, Blake Thomsen considers the importance of club form for US World Cup strikers.

The Democrat & Chronicle has a good Q&A with Abby Wambach.

At ProSoccerTalk, Joe Prince-Wright visits England’s new St. Georges Park training facility and wonders what US Soccer can learn from what the facility has to offer.

Bob Bradley became the first US coach to win a top flight game in Europe when Stabæk defeated Sogndal 3-0 in a Norwegian first division game on Sunday.

Elsewhere

A worker at Arena de São Paulo, site of the opening game of the 2014 World Cup, has died from injuries he sustained from a fall while installing seating. Four months ago, two workers dies at the stadium when a crane collapsed.

At SI, Jonathan Wilson tries to make sense of UEFA’s new Nations League. He concludes, “it’s perhaps over-cynical to view every development as another battle in the ongoing cold war between Platini and Blatter. This will reduce meaningless football, raise revenues and should help the development of the lower-ranked nations. It may be a very good thing. It’s just that this is UEFA.”

Although he has yet to decide if he will run for the FIFA presidency, UEFA president Michel Platini told Reuters last week, “There is only one person who can beat Blatter. Me.”

The Australian Associated Press reports, “Football Federation Australia has denied any wrongdoing amid allegations its 2022 World Cup bid team paid discredited former FIFA vice president Jack Warner almost half a million dollars in the belief it would secure his vote.”

Banned by Sunderland for allegedly leaking the starting lineup against Liverpool last week, The Sun newspaper now refers to the team as “Derland.”

In Sweden, Sunday’s match between Helsingborg and Djurgardens was abandoned after visiting fans invaded the pitch before the end of the first half. Before the game, a Djurgardens supporter was injured in clashes between rival supporters in the Helsingborg city center and later died of his wounds.

7 Comments

  1. “Consider this: The last time the Union scored more than one goal in a MLS game was on August 10, 2013, in the 2-0 win over DC United. That’s 14 games in a row that the team has scored no more than one goal.”
    .
    I have been saying all along that this is a major problem but most of you here have been living in hope that the scoring will come at the next game and the next game…. It will not unless we get a coach who knows how to deal with strikers. Just look at Lukaku and Sturridge who were useless at Chelsea and are now super effective under coaches who know how to get the best out of them.

  2. phillyboy1 says:

    Brian Carroll said, “It’s up to us to be smarter and out-work the other team. Whether that’s possession, scoring a goal or just being stout defensively, we need to find a way as players and the group on the field to get the job done.”

    The main problem is that you are on the field. You never get that job done, lets try passing the ball better, Brian. Ride the pine till we need ya!

    • Andy Muenz says:

      Based on Saturday’s game, I totally disagree. While not perfect, Brian made a nice FORWARD pass to Jack to set up the goal. On several occasions he teamed with Aaron or Amobi to help strip Di Vaio of the ball at the top of the box. I haven’t looked at the player ratings yet, but personally I thought Brian was the second best player out there for the Union Saturday (behind Nogueira).

      • Atomic spartan says:

        If bc continues to be our second best man on the pitch, we are indeed in trouble. Bad passing decisions that help erase 2 points late in the game are not what we should expect from a seasoned team captain.

  3. I don’t think it’s any stretch to say that Nogueira is the best player on this team. He may not be used to being as offensive minded from his days in France, but he’s top-level talent in this league. The team may benefit from him thinking a little bit more like a goal-scorer.

  4. Nick Sak was spotted in a private box yesterday at RBA near Andy Roxburgh; a trade in the works, perhaps?

  5. OneManWolfpack says:

    “All of us at PSP heartily congratulate PSP contributor Jeremy Lane and his wife on the birth of their son, Robin. Jeremy assures us that his Robin is not named after Manchester United’s Van Persie.” – WELL GOOD!! Ha! Congrats though!!
    .
    I agree with Doyle. Since after the Portland game Maidana hasn’t just been non-existent, he’s been a liability. He needs to get it together. Maybe sit a game or two. Must be better.
    .
    In contrast to that I feel Edu and Noguiera have both been top notch. Speaking of Noguiera, that little piece of skill he showed near the sideline to start the break (that he didn’t score on) was just phenomenal. I just wanted to mention that.
    .
    What’s the solution to the goal scoring woes? Maybe try a 4-4-2? Or is it just finishing?

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