Daily news roundups

Union bits and more news

Photo: Daniel Studio

Philadelphia Union

Jim Curtin’s weekly press conference is scheduled to take place today at 12:15pm. Brian Carroll is scheduled to precede him at noon.

From Kevin Kinkead:

Andre Blake is up for Save of the Week. Voting is open until Thursday at midnight.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s game in San Jose, the San Jose Mercury reports on how the Earthquakes are looking to cover the absence of four players called up for international duty.

Acknowledging “it’s a thorny proposition to put that into the appropriate context in a league where a minimum of two-thirds of teams made the playoff through its first decade,” Matthew De George looks at the company the Union will share if, as seems certain, the team misses the playoffs for the fourth season in a row at Union Tally. Ugh.

At the Sporting Kansas City website, a quick look back to the team’s 2012 US Open Cup winning campaign ahead of this year’s final. Noting Kansas City defeated the Union in the 2012 semifinals, this year’s final is described as “A rematch three years in the making.”

Philly Soccer News talks to Sebastien Le Toux about his love of playing in Philadelphia and his hope that better days will soon come for the team.

Brotherly Game looks at Union players under the age of 24 and review’s the team’s performance in August.

Power rankings: At MLSsoccer.com, the Union drop one spot to No. 18: “How long will Cristian Maidana be suspended, and will whatever ban he’s handed include the US Open Cup final?” At ESPN, it’s a four-spot drop to No. 20.

Brotherly Game has a recap of the friendly win over Harrisburg City Islanders. Philly Sports Cave has a recap of Saturday’s loss to New England.

Local

Harrisburg City Islanders are in Kentucky tonight to face Louisville City (7 pm, YouTube). Harrisburg needs to win to keep their playoff chances alive while a Louisville win will see them clinch a playoff spot in their inaugural season. Harrisburg was defeated 5-1 at home the last time the teams met. Previews at Harrisburg City Islanders, Louisville City, WLKY, and Louisville Coopers.

Harrisburg’s Jose Barril and Craig Foster have been named to the USL Team of the Week. Barril had three assists, and Foster a hat trick of goals, in the 6-0 win over Montreal last weekend.

Villanova’s men’s team came from behind to defeat Drexel 4-3 in their home opener on Tuesday. Recaps at Villanova, Drexel, and the Villanovan.

The Daily Pennsylvanian looks at some of the club connections among new players on Penn’s women’s team.

Carli Lloyd will speak at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, which will take place at Pennsylvania Convention Center on November 19, 2015.

MLS

NYCFC supporters group Third Rail has issued an online statement calling for “better trained stadium staff and ethical treatment” after a member was tased during last weekend’s home loss to Columbus. More at Empire of Soccer.

Following the passing of his self-imposed deadline for a serious offer to purchase, the owner of the parcel of land in Minneapolis that was touted as a possible downtown site for Minnesota United’s stadium says he’s “not interested in dealing with (United owner Bill McGuire), period.” Bob Salmen explained, “It’s been a no-good experience with them. They are very unprofessional and there’s no communication. When we have a good business deal, we’ll sell the land. It’s no longer an option for the team.” Meanwhile, MPR reports on the Dark Clouds, Minnesota United’s supporters group.

ESPN and Sports Business Daily note the Financial Times and New York Daily News reports we linked to on Monday in which NASL lawyer Jeffrey Kessler says proposed changes in US Soccer’s requirements for Division I status are anticompetitive. At World Soccer Talk, Kartik Krishnaiyer considers how a NASL-backed anti-trust lawsuit might playout. Of course, the reported proposed changes would presumably have to actually be adopted first.

I wrote in Monday’s roundup that NASL does not meet the current Division II requirements that a league have teams on the West Coast. That was incorrect. The Federation’s current Division II standards, amended in February of 2014, state “In the first year, U.S.‐based teams must be located in at least two different time zones in the continental United States. By year six, U.S.‐based teams must be located in at least the Eastern, Central and Pacific time zones. (These three time zones are required because the majority of the large population centers are located in these time zones.)” NASL currently has teams in the Eastern (7) and Central (3) time zones, and one in the Mountain time zone. Founded in 2011, the league’s sixth season will take place in 2016, which will see the addition of one Eastern time zone team (Miami), and one Atlantic time zone team (Puerto Rico). So, the league will fail to meet federation standards in 2016 unless it adds a Pacific time zone team next year, or the standards are further amended.

US

Jurgen Klinsmann has called in Jonathan Spector to the training camp in Washington, DC ahead of Friday’s friendly against Peru.

Tottenham have loaned DeAndre Yedlin to Sunderland for the remainder of the Premier League season.

At ASN, Brian Sciaretta wonders if Klinsmann confident or just stubborn.

Maybe the Copa Centenario will take place in the US after all.

At the Washington Post, Steven Goff reports, “Frisco, Tex., home to MLS’s FC Dallas and an expansive athletic complex in the fast-growing north Dallas suburbs, is the clear front-runner to become the site of the National Soccer Hall of Fame…Financing for the project would come from HSG and the city…Initial plans are for a 15,000-square-foot facility that, for financial sustainability purposes, would not have daily hours. Rather, it would probably open around events at the complex and for other functions.”

Landon Donovan and Alexi Lalas. Legends.

Elsewhere

FIFA’s new reform committee is holding its first meeting today in Zurich. Reuters reports, “But few with knowledge of the matter – either inside or outside world soccer’s governing body – expect it to come up with the robust proposals for structural change that are being sought by prosecutors and sponsors.”

U.S. attorney general Loretta Lynch and her Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber will hold a joint news conference on Sept. 14 in Zurich to discuss the progress in the investigations into corruption at FIFA. Reports at the AP and Reuters.

Zico has sent a letter to fellow FIFA presidential candidates inviting them to an early debate. “We all agree that FIFA needs to evolve into a much better organization, particularly in matters of democracy and transparency,” the Brazilian wrote. “It is of the utmost importance that all member associations get the chance to know better all potential candidates and their ideas as soon as possible.”

Paste Magazine has a list of the top five times Sepp Blatter “Seriously Misled Us.”

The FIFA corruption exhibit has opened at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas.

20 Comments

  1. Fingers crossed that Chaco’s suspension won’t involve the USOC Final. I realize it isn’t an MLS tournament but spitting may be a foul enough offense to get him banned.

    • USOC Final would mean a 5 game suspension which seems pretty harsh unless there is precedent for it.

      • fingers crossed for 3. a tune-up appearance in game #4 would be perfect. It seems odd that a suspension would cross over between MLS regular season games and open cup games anyway.

    • I don’t understand how they could suspend him for the Open Cup? I thought they (MLS) didn’t have jurisdiction on that? Anyone?

      • MLS doesn’t have jurisdiction, but USSoccer does. Remember how Dempsey got suspended from MLS and USMNT games for his Open Cup meltdown?

  2. Another team’s bench for Yedlin to sit on…as if he has near enough quality to even be in Europe.

  3. Just noticed that Minnesota’s team is named “United.” Did MLS run out of names or are the Minnesota Galaxy or Minnesota Timbers not quite catch enough?

  4. el pachyderm says:

    NASL. NASL. NASL.
    .
    Dirty rotten MLS and US Soccer monopoly. Terrified what will happen to the game and their wallets if the top tier of soccer in this country is attainable to other leagues. Dirty rotten monopoly bastards.
    .
    I am PRO NASL for this reason and while so many of you seem to thumb your collective noses at NASL they are playing a vital role in pushing the game in the direction it absolutely needs to go.
    .
    2 million people minimums for a top tier league city…
    .
    Swansea City 239,000
    Sunderland 177,000
    Norwich 229,000
    Liverpool 466,000
    .
    I hope the courts rule properly on this.
    .
    A ducking fisgrace.

    • Truly a vital role.
      Providing opponents for the USL teams to defeat in the open cup.

    • Old Soccer Coach says:

      For the friendly against Bournemouth in which the Union lambs were led to slaughter, a Bournemouth supporter, clearly an Englishman, was in our section for the march On and the Anthems. He radiated enthusiasm for his boys, sang both national anthems in a quite credible musical voice, and then disappear I know not where.
      .

      He flew across the Atlantic and bunked in a hotel to watch an exhibition game. I suspect a tour company made up a package and there is quite a bit of history to see in Philly, but the man put down the money and made the time. FOR AN EXHIBITION GAME.
      .
      I am considered a nut case for having season tickets to a soccer team’s season, let along watching their preseason games on you tube. But I do not spend vacation days and money to fly across the Atlantic, pay for a hotel, and watch an exhibition game. And my fellow spectator is perfectly normal by English standards
      .
      Association football is the game in England, the way baseball was in this country during the Second World War. Jackie Robinson’s symbol made the impact it did because it happened in the game that every American knew at least a little about. Soccer has that status in England. There’s an early World Cup to which England does not send a team because the rest of the world could not possibly play the game England invented as well as the English. We used to say that about baseball and basketball both.

      .
      Comparison never uses the word congruent because outside the theoretical world of geometry nothing really is, so the term is not useful. Comparison uses similarity and it uses difference. There are several differences present when comparing English professional soccer to United States and Canadian professional soccer in 2015, several.
      .

      In this day and age in the United States, there are so many competitors for the entertainment dollar that keeping up with all the teams in a major metropolitan area is more than a full time job. In London that would be true. In the Liverpool Manchester corridor that would be true. But true because both are so thickly saturated with teams playing one sport at at least five different levels of seriousness, not so many different sports the international Olympic Committee barely manages to recognize them all!

    • I agree, the NASL is pushing the game in a direction it needs to go: away from the NASL. While I personally don’t care if these changes are upheld or not, I’d love to see the regional NASL get knocked down a peg to tier III, which would allow the USL, a truely national league, to move up to tier II.

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