Daily news roundups

Unflattering odds, Academy kids with last gasp win at GA Cup, more from Nashville

Photo: Courtesy of Paul Carr

Philadelphia Union

The Union begins play in the IMG Suncoast Pro Classic in Bradenton, Fla. on Wednesday when they face the Costa Rica U-23 team. The Bradenton Herald reports the the tournament’s games will be live streamed on the IMG website. We’re waiting for confirmation of this. Hopefully the streams will be available on YouTube so those who can’t watch the games live can see them later.

The article also notes that TP Mazembe, who the Union were scheduled to play on Saturday, “could not make the trip stateside” and have been replaced by London FC, “a group of players out of contract that are looking to latch onto a pro club.”

Las Vegas SuperBook has posted odds on this year’s MLS Cup winner, and ESPN’s Paul Carr has produced the graphic on the odds below. For the Union, they’re not so good:

LV SuperBook

 

Union Academy

A tweet from the Union Academy, and reports at Brotherly Game and fellow SB Nation blog Mane Land, say that the Union have advanced to the Generation adidas Cup finals in Dallas over Easter weekend with Monday’s last gasp, 1-0 win over New York Red Bulls Academy at the GA Cup East Region tournament in Orlando. However, the tournament standings at MLSsoccer.com have the Union finishing in third place behind New York on goal difference.

A Union Academy spokesperson told PSP, “MLS site we believe to be wrong. It goes to wins, then head to head.”

Hopefully, that is correct and the MLS site will be updated. In the meanwhile, enjoy the reaction on the sidelines when Raheem Taylor-Parkes scored the winner on Monday. UPDATE: The standings at MLSsoccer.com have been updated with the Union Academy now in second place and advancing to the finals in Dallas.

Local

The Tennessean notes the objections we linked to in Monday’s roundup from Nashville FC to the possible relocation of the Harrisburg City Islanders to Nashville. City Islanders owner Eric Pettis says,

I totally understand their passion for the game and admire it. But certainly, if this continues to move forward, they would be one of my first phone calls. It’s just been a little preliminary to reach out to these folks.

We’re looking forward to continuing the discussion and would really hope to be a value added to not only the soccer community, but the whole community.

A spokesperson for Nashville mayor Karl Dean says, “While the city is happy to talk to anyone who’s interested in using Greer Stadium, we’re nowhere close to making a decision on the future of the ballpark. We’ll be getting a lot of community input before we move forward.”

Forward Jose Maria Barril Barril trialed with the Union during the 2014 preseason.

MLS

In Stockholm, LA Galaxy fell 2-1 to sister club Hammarby on Monday. The team next faces Shamrock Rovers on Feb. 21 in Dublin.

ESPN reports, “Colorado Rapids claim to have rejected the chance to sign Cerezo Osaka striker Diego Forlan but are refusing to rule out a move for Wolves forward Kevin Doyle.”

New York Red Bulls have announced that recently retired center back Ibrahim Sekagya has joined the club’s technical staff.

Now with the Dynamo after his time with LA Galaxy, former Union man Chandler Hoffman is profiled at Houston Chronicle.

At Brotherly Game, Barry Evans considers the effect of big money TV deals.

Indiana’s House Ways and Means Committee has approved the plans to finance the proposed new $82 million, 18,500 seat soccer stadium for NASL side Indy Eleven. Debate on the bill now moves to the full house.

US

The prime national team topic on Monday was the release of the new US away jersey, which will be debuted by the women’s team at the Algarve Cup in March. Aside from having two stars above the crest signifying their 1991 and 1999 World Cup wins, the sock design of women’s kit is different from the men’s.

New US kit w socks 2015

I think I may prefer the women’s socks. Reports on the new kit from SIUSA TodayYahoo Sports, MLSsoccer.comSBI, SB Nation, ProSoccerTalkGoal.com, and New England Soccer Today.

The AP reports, “United States forward Julian Green may be sent back to Bayern Munich after refusing to play for Hamburg’s reserve side.”

At MLSsoccer.com, Matthew Doyle on the Tommy Thompson “hype train.”

The U-17 WNT defeated Japan, 3-1, to claim the 2015 U-17 Women’s NTC Invitational championship . The US had defeated Canada and Mexico earlier in the tournament.

Alexi Lalas and Eric Wynalda, demonstrating once again that, for far too many people, the history of soccer in the US apparently begins in the 1990s.

Elsewhere

the latest Footy on the Telly for listings of this week’s games (including Thursday’s Europa League contests).

The AP reports, “FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke insists Russia’s preparations to host the 2018 World Cup remain ‘on track’ despite delays to some stadiums.”

Are former owners of the San Diego Padres about to buy a 30 percent share of Premier League club Swansea?

Thomas Muller. Comedian. Who knew?

In related Cristiano Ronaldo-related news, ESPN reports, “The Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP) said on Monday it will mull a formal investigation over inappropriate chants of ‘Cristiano is a drunk’ from Camp Nou fans during the Barcelona-Levante match.”

17 Comments

  1. The fragile psyche of certain posters requires that you replace that odds photo with more positive images like puppies and kittens playing together, double rainbows and horses jumping fences. Basically only pictures you might find in a sanitized dentist office are acceptable.
    .
    “19 days til kickoff . . . do you know who your strikers are?”

  2. old soccer coach says:

    the bradenton newspaper gives the following as the place to watch the live stream: imgsuncoastproclassic.com You Tube has video clips of teams arriving for the tournament and commenting on it, so there might be hope for the games to be posted for delayed viewing. You lose nothing by making a search. Here’s hoping.

  3. “Never tell me the odds!”

  4. So you’re saying there’s a chance …

  5. Not that it shows confidence in the team, but 50/1 is actually pretty enticing from the betting stand point in a league where half the teams make the playoffs.

  6. As much as the relationship with Harrisburg is great I would love to see the Union house a team in USL. Until that happens the focus of Harrisburg will be to win the league. Would much rather be affiliated with a team that wasnt at the top of the league every year and developing the players that have the potential to make an impact on the first team someday. Would also help bridge the gap between the academy and the first team and allow the academy kids to get professional minutes without having to sign pro I believe.

    • old soccer coach says:

      Thought that was Reading, not Harrisburg?

      • That’s only in the summer for mainly the college kids that graduated from the academy. I believe the set up of LAII in USL is going to allow their academy kinds to play in USL games. Ultimately the more high level soccer we can get the younger players exposed to the better.

  7. old soccer coach says:

    In reference to the upcoming preseason tournament in Bradenton, the Bradenton paper also said that the side from the Congo has withdrawn and has been replaced by something called London FC, which the paper describes as a collection of players who are out of contract and hoping to attract attention. The paper said nothing about country or countries of origin or clubs of last employment.

  8. Betting odds don’t lie… It means maybe everyone is right to be worried

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