Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
Jim Curtin’s weekly press conference is scheduled for today at 12:15 pm. Michael Lahoud will precede him at noon.
At Delco Times, Matthew De George talks to former Union man Sheanon Williams, who admits it will be “a little strange” to face his former team with Houston this Sunday at PPL Park. Williams says of the trade,
When Jim called me and told me I had been traded, we had a conversation and I told him I thought I had been playing well and not getting the opportunity to play more. I think we were just seeing different things. He’s the head coach and obviously his is the opinion that matters. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t see things the same and that it had to end.
Williams says he understands the salary issues that were a part of the trade. “I know what was transpiring with people that aren’t on the team, weren’t on the team. When you’re paying people who really weren’t contributing to the team and when you have so much money tied into a few players who are not contributing and you want to make moves in the transfer window, I know his hands were tied a little bit.”
Juan Guzman will be carrying the whistle when the the Union and Houston meet on Sunday (7 pm: Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes).
John McCarthy is up for Save of the Week for his block of Justin Meram’s near post blast in Saturday’s loss to Columbus.
Five Union players — Fernando Aristeguieta, Eric Ayuk, Richie Marquez, Zach Pfeffer, and Brian Sylvestre — are on the short list of candidates for the league’s annual 24 Under 24 rankings. The final rankings will released on Sept. 22.
At Philly Soccer News, Andy Jasner talks to Ray Gaddis about the defender’s work ethic and continuing desire to improve his game.
Click here for the US Open Cup AMA session Sebastien Le Toux did at Reddit on Tuesday.
In MLSsoccer.com’s latest power rankings, the Union drop two spots to No. 18: “Philadelphia fought, and they created a bunch of second-half chances. But it’s hard to keep digging out of the same hole every week.”
Massive Scoop tweeted on Tuesday that a search of the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) database reveals MLS filed a trademark application for “Bethlehem Steel FC” and Lehigh Valley Steel FC” on Sept. 8, which is the same day the fan vote for the name of the Union’s new USL team in Bethlehem opened. (Click on the linked names above to see the applications. To replicate the search, go to the database’s search engine and enter “Major League Soccer” in the Search Term area and select “ALL” from the Field drop-down menu). Reaction at Brotherly Game and Philly Sports Network.
Local
Harrisburg City Islanders look to keep their playoff hopes alive when they face FC Montreal today away (4 pm, YouTube). If Harrisburg wins, and Pittsburgh Riverhounds lose at home to first place Rochester Rhinos (who have already clinched a playoff spot), and Richmond Kickers lose at home to Toronto FC II (who are out of the playoff chase), they’ll move into sixth place and the last playoff spot ahead of the regular season home finale on Saturday against Pittsburgh.
The Temple Men’s team has been ranked No. 23 in the nation in the latest NSCAA Division I Men’s National Poll, the team’s first national ranking since 1997. The team will look for its fourth consecutive win this afternoon when they travel to face Philly Soccer Six rival Villanova today at 4 pm.
In Tuesday’s University City Derby, Drexel defeated Penn, 1-0, with Colin McGlynn scoring the 63rd minute winner in front of a capacity crowd at Vidas Field.
MLS
In CONCACAF Champions League play, DC United defeated Panamanian side Árabe Unido 2-0 to become, with one game remaining, the first team to advance to the quarterfinals out of the group stage. Real Salt Lake picked up a valuable road point in a 0-0 draw with El Salvador’s Santa Tecla.
After the DC game, head coach Ben Olsen may have let the cat out of the bag regarding a scheduling change for the Champions League that will benefit MLS. The Washington Post’s Steven Goff reports these comments from Olsen in the postgame press conference:
“It’s always a challenge for MLS teams to get up to speed, to change the way you do your [preparation] in preseason, in a safe way for your players. It’s a challenge. It’s a real challenge. I am thrilled they are moving the CONCACAF to a — how would I say that? — in a seasonal way. They are changing things. You guys know that, right? It’s not just me?”
[Silence]
“It’s just an email?”
[Silence]
“Oops.”
[Laughter]
“Good night, guys.”
[Exit stage left]
“Sorry, CONCACAF, you deal with that one.”
Goff writes Olsen later declined to elaborate on his comments. At Goal.com, Thomas Floyd reports, “A source confirmed to Goal USA that CONCACAF is contemplating an adjustment that would see the Champions League run from spring to fall, starting in 2017. CONCACAF representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.”
Three midweek matches tonight: NYCFC hosts Toronto (7:30 pm, ESPN2), New England hosts NYRB (7:30 pm, MLS Live), and San Jose hosts Montreal (10:30 pm, MLS Live). Vancouver hosts Honduran side Olimpio in CONCACAF Champions League play.
It’s official: The franchise that will begin play in LA in 2018 will be called Los Angeles FC. More at LAFC, MLSsoccer.com, LA Times, Los Angeles Magazine, ESPN, and the AP. The club is currently in the midst of a social media campaign “to give its supporters a voice in selecting the Club’s official colors.”
The red card issued to Kansas City’s Dom Dwyer in last weekend’s loss to Orlando has been rescinded by the league’s Independent Review Panel.
New York City FC midfielder Sebastian Velasquez has entered the league’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program.
Marc Dos Santos, head coach of the NASL’s Ottawa Fury, is leaving the club to move to MLS at the end of the season. It has not been disclosed which MLS team Dos Santos will join, with early peculation being that he’ll take over at Montreal or Houston, or join Kansas City as an assistant coach. Reports at Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Sun, and CBC.
Former Chicago Fire player Hunter Jumper unleashed an eye popping tirade on Twitter about his experience on the team under former head coach Frank Klopas. Some of his pointed comments will sound familiar to Union fans.
The Guardian on the league’s hopes to implement video replay.
World Soccer Talk on the league’s TV ratings slump following the big numbers in August.
US
The USMNT’s preliminary 35-player roster for the Confederations Cup playoff game against Mexico on Octo. 10 was released on Tuesday. At ASN, Brian Sciaretta breaks down the preliminary roster. The final 23-player roster will be submitted on Oct. 1.
Soccer America reports the city council of Frisco, Texas “approved on Tuesday night a measure to fund $39 million in improvements to Toyota Stadium, home of MLS’s FC Dallas, that could house the National Soccer Hall of Fame Museum at the south end of the stadium complex.” The report says further, “Terms of the agreement call for the Hall of Fame to be housed in Frisco until 2037.” The amended lease that accompanies city council approval says construction must begin by May 31, 2016 with “substantial completion” by Dec. 31, 2017.
Community Impact Newspaper reports Tuesday’s city council vote “was the first of four that need to be made in order to finalize the lease agreement. Frisco Community Development Corp., Frisco Economic Development Corp. and Frisco ISD must also approve the agreement because each entity is listed to help with funding the improvements.” Frisco Mayor Maher Maso said, “It’s a competitive world out there in many other stadiums around the country. Frisco has shown they are willing to reinvest in their facilities.”
A report and analysis on the story at Dallas Morning News. You can read background on the measure in a city council memorandum, as well as other related city council documents.
Elsewhere
Regarding the recent reports into a World Cup broadcasting contract won by well known crook Jack Warner and was allegedly won at a price far below its real value, Reuters reports, “Soccer world governing body FIFA was due half of the advertising revenue from a 2005 media deal it signed with a Caribbean soccer organization but did not receive any of it, according to a termination letter sent by FIFA.”
Visitors reportedly spent $52 million in Vancouver during the Women’s World Cup. It’s a Canadian newspaper report so I assume that’s 52 million Canadian dollars, or about 39,380,380 American dollars.
Check out the latest Footy on the Telly for listings of today’s Champions League games.
Does any one else find it interesting that the core group of players this team had all seem to find a new place to play when ‘salary’ becomes the question.
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A bit concerning…
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In other news, I saw Mr. Sakiewicz yesterday in the cornflower blue shirt. A good look.
To answer your question – unfortunately, no, I do not find it interesting. I find it as par for the course 🙁
Damn… Hunter Jumper went off.
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We got to get him to PSP.
sounded eerily familiar, didn’t it? My money is you could say the same damn thing for every franchise in the league……every single one of them. Say it with me everyone…….old boy network!
greg orlandini should have him on the philly soccer show for an extended interview
so he can pronounce his name wrong?
i bet he could say hunter jumper right but i would enjoy hearing what he ends up saying if he says it wrong
“Hunjer Jumpter” would be my guess.
All I can hear is Humper Jumper.
I’d love to see Marquez and Sylvestre on the 24-Under-24 list. I still think that Sylvestre has been the most underrated player on this roster all year long. I’m not saying he should necessarily supplant Blake, but Brian has been responsible for giving this team some semblance of relevance.
He did a nice job stabilizing the team after the GK circus before, but doesn’t seem to have enough of a resume yet to make any lists. Marquez is a no-brainer to me. Ayuk certainly has enough promise too.
Fairly clear to me that what killed the relationship with Harrisburg is that they would not train in Philly at the PPL practice fields. Bethlehem Steel FC will.
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Be interesting to see which goalkeepers do what next season. They will have four slots; technically, right now they have four on the roster but I think I know one of the contracts expires after this year. Should MacMath return at a new, lower salary because he doesn’t get other offers, it would be interesting to see him compete with Sylvestre for positions #2 & #3 in the ranking. The really interesting question is whether #2 sits on the Union bench or starts for Bethlehem Steel. Among those four either #2 or #3 is good enough to finish out an MLS game with a perfectly acceptable degree of quality, so my guess is the Bethlehem Steel keeper will be #2 in the organization, since the key for a goal keeper is to accumulate game experience.
then what if your #2 keeper gets hurt playing in USL? I agree to give him a match here or there…..to get repetitions, but full time would be foolish……1&2 should stay with the MLS side…..3&4 with BSFC. It also establishes a pecking order….which is needed.
I think that both teams will be training together and will only split up on game day. makes sense to me to give the number 2 reps as long as it doesn’t prevent him from being available on the bench on the first team game day
exactly…..
Reading the Williams story makes me sad. Hate to see a good player get forced out like that. Glad to see that Coyle appreciates what he brings to the table and hope that Sheanon thrives there.
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Hunter Jumper…just wow.
I would have been elated with an Owen Coyle manager.
+1 exactly the kind of player we should be hanging onto here. For a team without Toronto/LA payrolls, he’s reasonably priced player who fits what they do and can play multiple positions.
That Ben Olsen exchange is hilarious.
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It’s an outdated concept, but nice to see the National Soccer HOF finally find a new home.
you should have heard him on the pitch when he played…..freakin hysterical and he never shut up!
My favorite part of the Hunter Jumper tweets, in regard to advice to ownership: “For me, a few things are simple: don’t employ people that always have someone to blame.” It’s almost as if he is directly talking about Nick Sak here.
I think Lahoud should play over BC.
So this is interesting (the first little bit, at least) – http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015/09/16/alejandro-bedoya-nantes-michel-platini-fifa-epl-tv-money