Daily news roundups

Rounds 3 and 4 of SuperDraft today, Union bits, more news

Philadelphia Union

The third and fourth rounds of the SuperDraft will take place today via conference call beginning at 2 pm. The Union have the third pick of each round, 44th and 64th overall. MLSsoccer.com has a draft tracker.

An article from Kyle McCarthy at Fox Soccer on all of the wheeling and dealing that went on at last week’s SuperDraft quotes Chicago GM Nelson Rodriguez, “We were in active discussions with Philly on a lot of different scenarios leading up to it. To Philadelphia’s credit, I don’t think there was ever a report about what they were looking to do.”McCarthy notes the Union having three picks in the top six was “unprecedented in the history of the SuperDraft.”

You will recall a report at the end of December linking Feyenoord striker Colin Kazim-Richards to the Union. Well, Kazim-Richards has been suspended by Feyenoord until the beginning of February after he threatened a journalist last Friday who wrote an article questioning his attitude. A statement from the club says, “The suspension means that Kazim-Richards will not be at the club, will not train, and will not play in any games, until the end of the month.”

Former Union man Brian Brown is back with Jamaican side Harbour View.

An interesting collection of Union players past and present have been training at YSC:

Local

Harrisburg City Islanders will be hosting an open tryout February 10 and 11. Click here for registration information.

Brotherly Game talks to coaches from FC Brandywine about their visit to the NSCAA convention in Baltimore.

MLS

Player moves:

  • Chicago have signed defender Michael Harrington and goalkeeper Patrick McLain.
  • Toronto have acquired goalkeeper Clint Irwin from Colorado “in exchange for targeted allocation money (TAM), the club’s highest 2016 third round MLS SuperDraft pick and a conditional 2017 first round MLS SuperDraft pick.” Following the move, the Tim Howard to Colorado rumors continue.
  • Montreal have acquired Argentine midfielder Lucas Ontivero on loan from Galatasaray.
  • Vancouver have signed midfielder Deybi Flores to a multi-year contract from Honduran side Club Deportivo Motagua. Flores played for Vancouver on loan from Motagua last season.

Looks like Jordan Morris will be signing with Seattle after all (crappy Google translation here).

From ESPN: “Jermaine Jones said he is no closer to signing a new contract with the New England Revolution, but is willing to take a pay cut so long as it is accompanied by an increase in guaranteed years.”

Inter have terminated Nemanja Vidic’s contract. Vidic has been linked with a move to MLS. Inter owner and president Erick Thohir also owns DC United. Will Vidic be calling RFK home this season? United GM Dave Kasper said last week they are not interested in signing Vidic.

Whether or not MLS is in Keisuke Honda’s future remains to be seen, but the AC Milan midfielder tells Fox Soccer he wants to establish academies in the US.

The expansion USL side in Reno has a short list of fan-provided names for the club — Reno FC, FC Reno, Reno Silver FC, Reno City FC, Reno United and Reno 1868 — ahead of its 2017 debut (I like Reno 1868). Club president Eric Edelstein says the team does not have MLS aspirations. “We’re being very realistic with the market size and the potential. Reno is not on the MLS’ short list right now. And, so, our goal is to, just as we have with the Reno Aces, to put out the best just-below-major-league-tier product that we can put out.”

Now defunct NASL side Atlanta Silverbacks may return in the USL or NPSL.

The Guardian on Cuban soccer players who defect to the US in the hope of achieving their professional dreams.

US

Jurgen Klinsmann has added Brad Evans to the ongoing January USMNT camp.

At the LA Times, Kevin Baxter on how “the next three weeks could be among the most critical of Klinsmann’s tenure with the national team.”

Elsewhere

This: “FIFA’s Sepp Blatter may have been banned for eight years from the game but he is still receiving his president’s salary from world soccer’s governing body, a spokesman for FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee told Reuters on Monday…The compensation sub-committee of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee recently ruled that it could stop Blatter’s bonuses but not, according to his contract, his salary.” So, Blatter will continue to be paid until a new president is elected.

The Guardian reports, “Mark Pieth, the academic employed by FIFA originally to oversee its reform efforts, has called for an ‘outcry’ from voters against Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa succeeding Sepp Blatter as president of the crisis hit governing body.” More on questions surrounding bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa at Soccer America.

Also from Reuters: “FIFA presidential candidate Gianni Infantino says he believes he can win February’s vote to replace Sepp Blatter at the helm of the crisis-hit global soccer body after picking up what he called major support in the Caribbean.”

PA Sport reports, “FIFA presidential candidate Gianni Infantino would press for the World Cup to be held in a whole region rather than one or two countries.” He also wants to expand the field to 40 countries. Dumb. You can read his full manifesto here.

More from Reuters: “Swiss bank Julius Baer has dismissed one of its client advisers as part of its internal investigation into ties with world soccer’s governing body FIFA, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.”

Russia and Qatar have agreed to cooperate in their preparations fro hosting the next two World Cups.

43 Comments

  1. ”McCarthy notes the Union having three picks in the top six was “unprecedented in the history of the SuperDraft.”
    .
    Actually, I it’s not even unprecedented for Philly since they had 1, 5, and 6 in 2010.

  2. Anyone else think this is actually a good decision from Morris?
    .
    Jumping straight from college in the US to a top league overseas would be a rough go. The MLS gives him a chance to adjust to being a professional and likely get more playing time. You know teams overseas will be keeping an eye on him so maybe spend a year or two in the MLS then look to Europe?

    • He’s biding his time here. I give it two years – max – and he’ll be back in Germany (where most of our players would fit best).

    • Just thinking more about it. If he really values his education, evidence being his staying at Stanford with previous homegrown contracts on the table until winning a championship, it would make sense to stay in the US to finish the final year of his degree.

    • The problem with going to Europe (especially Werder Bremen) is that when the manager that brings you there gets fired, the player is essentially hoping that the new boss will still rate him highly enough to keep and more importantly, won’t be prejudiced against American players.

      If Morris is truly good enough, he’ll still get the opportunity to move to Europe when he’s better established as a pro and likely a higher level club than Bremen.

      Will he face the same grind and pressure in MLS that he would have in Germany? No, but he will have a very high profile here in MLS which brings a different type of pressure to perform at a high level each week rather than just fighting to make the 11 or 18 every week in Germany.

      • I think it was great decision. He’s got a 50/50 chance to succeed at best, and at least playing in MLS he will actually play. Plus he got a great education (and degree, at least soon), a Hermann trophy and a national championship, and hopefully he adds an Olympic medal to that haul. So good for him, great kid. There are very few people who can claim all those achievements at 21, and I for one don’t think he needs to add “Bundesliga player” to validate anything.

    • It is my opinion that if you are an exceptional player you either go to europe at 15 or 16 or you wait till you have made a sufficient mark on your domestic league…and by sufficient I mean, damn he’s good and kicking ass.
      .
      Otherwise to go to europe to get your start at 21 22 is likely a bit of a morass… and wildly hopeful crap shoot.
      .
      He needed to be getting paid playing 3rd division at 18 and working his way up– chipping away at a college education during offseason one class at a time…. the choice to attend US college sealed his fate from my POV… but what do I know…I’m a sunday hack with an “e license” and a strong opinion.
      .
      This is why the US has a recreation mentality and not a professional mindset yet. College soccer. phew….ummmmmmmm with all due respect – of course.

      • Agreed, but if Sasho Cirovski’s proposal to rework college soccer goes through, it will be closer to a professional type of structure and should help players improve. It’s not perfect by any stretch, but will be better and quite frankly, it needs to be better. As the standard of MLS keeps going up, the gap is getting bigger between MLS and the college game. Cirovski is no dummy and realizes that if the college game doesn’t change, it will become irrelevant and the best players will all skip college in order to go the professional route.

        The professional soccer pyramid is slowly getting built up through USL and PDL. It still has a long way to go, but is at least improving.

      • agreed Zizou…. I am at once hopeful and utterly despondent about the state of our game and it’s trajectory.
        .
        still too too too many people who think soccer is just something to do… while football is something you are.
        .
        I tend to highlight the problems a bit much and could focus a bit more on the positives.

    • Seems smart to me. Establish himself here, learn from very talented and successful forwards in Dempsey and Martins, then make the jump like Yedlin did after demonstrating his talents on the MLS stage first.

  3. The comments from the Reno franchise are refreshing objective. Best of luck, guys. Gotta like organizations with a firm grasp on reality.

  4. Anyone know what Seattle did (besides be Seattle) to keep Morris as a Homegrown Player while he finished his Stanford degree, while the Union lost rights to Rosenberry?

    • Not sure, but I believe it involved knee pads…

    • I’m not an expert on the rules per se, but I know he spent one full season with the Sounders youth academy, and also played with the U23 team for one season. That doesn’t seem like it would qualify him for HG status, as Rosenberry did at least that, but it should be noted his father works for Sounders, and oh because why wouldn’t the best young player in the game right now be allowed to play for the Sounders?

  5. So now Colorado is going to bring in an overpriced bald goalkeeper who thinks he’s above MLS, and anoint him the starter in front of Zac MacMath?

  6. alicat215 alicat215…come out come out wherever you are…..
    .
    Marco.

  7. Never mind, said my piece above.

  8. Reading that McCarthy article makes me wonder if not taking Vincent at 3 was part of a deal. If Curt and Earnie really wanted Yaro as badly as they say, maybe they told Chicago that if they left Yaro on the board at 2, then the U would pass on Vincent at 3, leaving him to Chicago at four. That would free Chicago to do the #1 deal with NYC and then the Union to do the #2 deal with Colorado.

    • el Pachyderm says:

      I thought about this as well and tried to figure out a cogent way to say it but couldn’t grasp it… excellent job.

    • Old Soccer Coach says:

      Also relevant is the observation posted somewhere on this site in the last few days that said some variety of statistical tracking entity rated Fabinho as the best left back in MLS, if my ancient, unreliable memory has not erred.
      .
      I confess, I thought he had improved considerably, but there is a guy named Beasely with Houston and the USMNT, … .
      .
      Curtin/Albright has always been high on Fabinho (see the Orlando/NYCFC expension draft), and on the positive side of the assessment ledger Fabinho’s improvement is a credit to Curtin’s coaching.
      .
      The Union have always highly valued knowing a player through previous experience with them. [Fill in your favorite cliche here.]

      • I believe that entity was whoscored.com and the caveat is that the numbers are a little misleading because of Fabinho’s aggressive tendency to gamble.
        .
        According to the site, Fabinho had a team high 7.40 rating due in large part to an eye-popping 4.5 successful interceptions per game.
        .
        It is the unsuccessful ones that are a problem…

      • Old Soccer Coach says:

        Thanks for the insights!

  9. Old Soccer Coach says:

    Can anybody identify the players in that group photo posted by Ryan Richter? Perhaps there is no intelligence value in the picture, but if there are one or two possible trialists, uncovering who those individuals are is always a challenge.

    • I tried, but couldn’t.

    • One is Micheal Farfan who has been training at YSC this offseason. DC United did not pick up his contract option so he should be able to be signed by the Union if they want.
      .
      Looking at the picture I believe he is in the back row 5th from the left. Interestingly enough, wearing a shirt with a Union badge on it…
      .
      How’s that for recon OSC? 😉

    • The ones tagged on twitter are mostly familiar faces…Marfan, Hoppenot, Jimmy M, Danny Cruz, McCarthy…but a few others. Dan Lovitz from Toronto FC, Jason Plumhoff from Harrisburg City, Tunde Ogunbiyi (former boston college keeper), and Steven Miller (Carolina Railhawks).

      • Tolani Ibikunle as well. Born in Wynnewood and now plays in Finland as a leftback. Was drafted by the Rapids in 2012 MLS Draft but did not cut the mustard then played in the USL before heading overseas.
        .
        He is back row on the left, Wake Forest shirt.

      • Old Soccer Coach says:

        Plumhoff is worth looking at by BSFC I would think. He did a good job for Harrisburg last season, judging from afar on You Tube.

    • I played high school soccer with two of the guys in the photo. Tunde Ogunbiyi is a keeper and is the one in the first row 2nd from the left in the hoodie. Joe Farrell is back row 2nd from the right. He was a center mid in high school, but moved around positionally in college at La Salle. I haven’t really kept in touch with either of them since school, but my guess would be that they’re BSFC potential signings.

  10. Union pick left-footed defender Mitchell Lurie in the 3rd round and winger/midfielder Cole Missimo in the 4th round.
    .
    Darius Madison to Toronto FC in the 4th round, at pick #9 (Union passed over him at #3 in the round).

    • el Pachyderm says:

      I appreciate Bruce Arena shares my sensibility regarding this… he has been well informed for a good ole’ boy member of the staunch Old Head Corp.
      .
      Sorry for my arrogance… we need more street game… the academies and MLS teams we have are plenty… the members of those academies need more swagger… it is god awful boring watching the academy train…
      .
      More street game. Less travel. More swagger.mimprove the product we have… improve it before.

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