Daily news roundups

Praise for Curtin, Unioners on TotW lists, power rankings, Blatter wants TV replays, Qatar, more

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

In the latest Daily Doop, Dave Zeitlin writes,

[Jim] Curtin made an interesting comment after the Union’s 1-0 win over Toronto on Wednesday, essentially saying how much he “hates” 4-2 games and that he prefers 1-0 victories. As a longtime MLS defender, it makes sense why Curtin would feel that way. But up until this past week, his wish for grind-it-out wins hadn’t necessarily manifested itself on the field with the Union still leaking goals as they had before Curtin took over. But after two shutouts this week, it looks like the team has bought into his style and is fully prepared to win “ugly” as they close in on a playoff spot. Former manager John Hackworth used to talk a lot about playing “Philly tough,” but it’s only under Curtin — a Philly native — where that philosophy is actually getting applied.

The Sports Network looks at the moves that Curtin has made since being named interim head coach and says, “Since Curtin was handed the reins, the Union have finally looked like the team everyone thought they would be at the outset of the season.”

Curtin led the Union Academy team that won the 2012 Generation adidas Cup, the club’s first — and, so far, only — piece of hardware. Curtin said, “That [Generation adidas] Cup team was really special. It was a good run, those kids were very good and we were proud of what we managed to accomplish that year. Winning a trophy though with the first team I know will be a lot tougher and it’s the most important one. I think we have put ourselves in a good spot, but we all know Seattle is going to be a heck of an opponent.”

He said of next Tuesday’s US Open Cup final, “This is No. 4 for me. I have two wins and a loss and you don’t want to be on the losing end of one of those, it’s a horrible feeling…we don’t want any parts of that especially in front of our fans. We know the atmosphere will be great and we are hoping for a sellout. But personally, this is my fourth one and I want to go 3-1 for sure.”

Maurice Edu and Sheanon Williams were named to MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week. Jim Curtin was named Coach of the Week.

At Goal.com, Edu and Zac MacMath were named to the Team of the Week with Williams and Conor Casey receiving honorable mentions.

The MLS Fantasy Dream Team for Round 26 on the league website features five Union players: MacMath, Williams, Ethan White, Ray Gaddis, and Casey.

Power rankings! SI moves the Union up two-spots to No. 9. Soccer America moves the Union up one spot to No. 10.

Brotherly Game has Monday Morning Game Changers from Saturday’s win over Toronto.

The Jamaica national team, which includes the Union’s Andre Blake and Brian Brown, take on Canada in Toronto tonight. Unfortunately, the game will not be broadcast in the US.

Zach Pfeffer and the US U-20 team face their Argentine counterparts today in Buenos Aires.

Brotherly Game looks at how Union Academy alum have been doing with their college teams.

Season ticket holders should check their email for access information to a presale of tickets for the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup qualification semifinals and finals at PPL Park that will run Wednesday through Friday. For more information on ticket sales, which will open to the general public on Friday at 10 am, see this post on the Union website.

Local

Harrisburg’s Jose Baril, who trialed with the Union in the preseason, has been named to the USL PRO Team of the Week. Jamiel Hardware, and Union loanee Jimmy McLaughlin received honorable mentions. More on the news from Penn Live.

The first Philly Soccer Six weekly awards of the season are out. Penn senior forward Duke Lacroix ((New Egypt, N.J./Lawrenceville) was named the first Philly Soccer Six Player of the Week of the new season. Drexel sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Afflerbach (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) received Defensive Player of the Week honors. St. Joseph’s freshman goalkeeper Bobby Edwards (Parsippany, N.J./St. Benedict’s Prep) was named Rookie of the Week.

In the first weekly American Athletic Conference Temple awards of the season, Temple forward Olli Tynkkynen was named Freshman of the Week and Jonah Williams was named Defender of the Week.

Penn freshman Austin Kuhn was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

Goalkeeper Evangeline Soucie (PDA; Milford, N.J.) and defender Shea Moyer (FC Revolution; Wyomissing, Pa.) have been called up for the US U-18 GNT camp in Carson, Calif., Sept. 13-20.

MLS

Columbus Crew have announced they will signe 31-year-old Austrian international defender Emanuel Pogatetz. The announcement states, “Pogatetz serves as the de facto replacement for Giancarlo Gonzalez, who recently departed to Serie A’s Palermo.”

Shenanigans in the delivery of a feasibility study on the proposed publicly-subsidized soccer stadium in Las Vegas?

US

Vice Sports wonders why Jurgen Klinsmann hasn’t fixed the development system yet like he said he would in his introductory press conference back on Aug. 1, 2011.

BloombergView hops on the MLS needs to align it’s schedule with FIFA international breaks train. Apparently, the author thinks Klinsmann couldn’t call up MLS-based players for the recent friendly against the Czech Republic because players “cannot skip out of their MLS commitments.”

Elsewhere

Sepp Blatter says he would like to see TV replays tested in a domestic league and at the 2015 U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

The AFP reports, “Qatar has confirmed it is holding two British researchers who had been probing the labour conditions of migrants building facilities for the 2022 World Cup, saying they ‘violated’ the emirate’s laws.”

In other Qatar news, the task force set up by FIFA to consider changing the schedule of the 2022 World Cup to take place in the winter held its first meeting on Monday. Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement, “This is the first meeting and there will be future meetings on this matter, As the FIFA Executive Committee has emphasised, the consultation process should not be rushed but instead be given the necessary time to consider all of the elements relevant for a decision. We have made progress at today’s meeting and will continue to work together to find the best solution for football.”

The AP reports, “FIFA’s executive committee should confirm the 2022 World Cup dates at its meeting in March in Zurich.”

The AP reports, “Top Guinean sports leaders were prevented from traveling to Uganda for an African Cup qualifier and players and coaches are banned from leaving the capital city during their visit because of fears over the spread of Ebola, officials in both countries said Monday.”

An opinion piece at The Huffington Post, concerned about the “bigotry, hatred, and intolerance” Muslim children abroad are exposed to on television, calls for the creation of “The Salaam Games:”

Imagine: A massive charity soccer exhibition or even a mini-tournament, bringing together players all over the Muslim world. Players from Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and other Muslim countries will share the field alongside their superstar brothers playing in Europe. Movie stars and music artists around the Muslim world will also be invited to attend and perform. Floodlights, camera, action: The Salaam Games.

My only question is how much time Rais Mbolhi will miss.

14 Comments

  1. The year Vegas gets an MLS team will be the year MLS flips to a winter schedule. Players will die playing there in the summer.

    • if they do get a team, will it be an all-night schedule? 8:00pm starts?

    • It’s not a whole lot worse than the humidity down in Texas. Ya know, the “dry heat” thing. Obviously dehydration would be a major factor, so I think water breaks would be utilized.

  2. It’s looking more and more like the Union will have to really tank the rest of the season for Curtin to lose the manager’s job. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the interim tag removed soon.The turn around is undeniable but I want the FO to keep all options open for now.

    • i still think they will wait until the season is over before they make any announcements; there doesn’t seem to be any reason to do it before then when ask has been saying all along that they aren’t planning on rushing the decision

    • I think that you’re underestimating the FO’s ability to ignore conventional wisdom and go against the grain (i.e. – M’Bolhi).

  3. I think Curtin stays. The front office will turn it sights to a restructuring that includes the hiring of a strong “general manager” type who will be in charge of the technical staff at all levels as well as the roster. Curtin will have a chance to prove himself to that hire, but his eventual fate will rest in those hands.

  4. That Vice article is super weak. Not much analysis beyond “He said he’d fix it, he hasn’t fixed it yet, why hasn’t he fixed it yet?” The author purports to acknowledge that any change is going to take time, but in the end retreats into impatience.
    .
    Also, I could be wrong, and the author doesn’t expressly say it, but I really detected an undertone in the writing that the dual-citizen players are at best a distraction from development of “real” American players (in particular this quote: “…if Klinsmann continues to poach players from other countries, many of whom will likely never play a game in the U.S. youth structure, then it seems almost inconceivable to believe that the national team can adopt any cohesive style of play.”) That sentiment, frankly, is garbage.

    • Other than the cool pic of Maurice Edu with Julian Green, I was also disappointed in the article and I’m not sure I want to click on any of their other stories. On the plus side, this week I learned that there are “Vice Sports” and “TMZ Sports,” so there’s that (Vice Sports – for example, jogging while smoking, cycling while betting).

  5. In other news, a meeting between Russia, Qatar and FIFA has a top official quotes as saying “nothing to see here folks move it along”

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjK2Oqrgic

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