Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Union
Philadelphia Union
Jim Curtin made it very clear in his press conference following the Union’s 1-1 draw with San Jose that the result was “obviously disappointing” and that it felt like the team had “dropped two points,” that “the guys are gutted.”
Richie Marquez was even more blunt: “This one’s tough. It kind of feels like a loss. I thought we were pushing for the second goal and for them to tie it was heartbreaking.”
Saturday’s draw was a missed opportunity, not just to move into sole possession of first place in the East, but to silence doubts that the Union’s start to 2016 is some kind of an aberration rather than proof of a team transformed. Worse still, that the Union conceded an equalizer in the 83rd minute against a team down a man could only dredge up bad memories of last season’s late capitulations.
Looking ahead to the game against San Jose and next week’s game against the Galaxy, Curtin said last week “we’ll see what we are really about.”
With Saturday’s disappointing draw, we now must wait 10 days for an answer.
Recaps and reports at PSP (recap, postgame), Philadelphia Union, Philly.com, Delco Times, The News Journal (recap, photo gallery), CSN Philly (recap, report), Philly Voice, Philly Soccer News (recap, report), Brotherly Game (recap, analysis), Prost Amerika (recap, photo gallery), Vavel, Section 215 (report, commentary), Pattison Ave., MLSsoccer.com (recap, Union, San Jose), San Jose Earthquakes, CSN Bay Area, Quakes Fan, SBI (recap, report), HITC Sport, and the AP.
CJ Sapong was not named to the USMNT’s 40-player preliminary roster for the Copa America Centenario (more below). While I feel bad for Sapong, I’m very happy the Union don’t have to deal with his absence.
At the Union website, praise for Chris Pontius, who scored his second goal in as many games on Saturday, his fourth of the season.
From a list of “things to ponder” from the weekend’s games at MLSsoccer.com:
And finally… welcome to the league, Joshua Yaro. The youngster got schooled by Simon Dawkins as the Quakes stole a point at Philly thanks to Saturday’s 1-1 draw.
The Union are a much better team than last year’s group — anybody with eyes can tell you that. But they’re still finding ways to give away points that they need to keep on the board. How they evolve from “good team with potential” to “contender who slams the door when given a chance” will be one of the more fascinating stories to follow this season.
In a post at MLSsoccer.com that was published before Saturday’s game, former Union man Krystian Witkowski looks at some of the numbers behind the Union’s start to the season.
Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel ended their three-game homestand with another 0-0 draw on Sunday, this time against first place Louisville City.
Head coach Brendan Burke said after the game, “I think this one had more life to it, certainly on both sides of the ball for them and for us, but happy to keep clean sheets. You have to remember we have a 17-year-old center back out there [in Auston Trusty] and we just played three of the better teams in the East in my opinion, or historically anyway. I am very happy to keep two clean sheets and only concede one in the game before that off of a set piece.
Bethlehem’s lineup was:
John McCarthy; Ryan Richter (captain), Anderson (Mickey Daly 78’), Auston Trusty, Taylor Washington; Derrick Jones, Boluwatife Akinyode (James Chambers 76’); Eric Ayuk (Cole Missimo 72’), Leo Fernandes (Jamie Luchini 88’), Walter Restrepo; Fabian Herbers (Seku Conneh 61’)
Substitutes not used: Samir Badr, Gabe Gissie
John McCarthy was USLsoccer.com’s Man of the Match, making seven saves. With the result, Bethlehem is ninth in the East (8 points, 2-2-2). Recaps at Philadelphia Union, Allentown Morning Call, Unauthorized Bethlehem Steel FC Blog, Philly Soccer News, WFMZ (video), USLsoccer.com, Louisville City, Courier-Journal, Louisville Coopers, CN2, and WLKY.
Bethlehem is on the road on Saturday to face Orlando City B.
Philadelphia Union Academy
It was a clean sweep on the road for the Union Academy teams against their counterparts from Players Development Academy on Saturday.
The Union U-13/14s won 3-0 with goals from Anthony Cousins (11′), Nicholas Blacklock (34′), and Jason Aoyama (48′). The team is off from US Soccer Development Academy play until May 14 when they host NJCSA.
The U-15/16s were 4-2 winners. Issa Rayyan (30′), Darius Lewis (40′), and Seth Kuhn (72′) all tallied before PDA scored in the 74th minute. Brendan Aaronson immediately answered with another goal for the Union in the 75th minute before PDA scored their final goal in the 80th minute. The Union U-15/16s, second place in the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division (14-3-5), host Richmond United at YSC on Saturday, May 7, at 1 pm.
The U-17/18s won 2-1. Joseph DeZart (10′) and Alexander Soto (11′) gave the team the early lead, with PDA scoring their lone goal in the 26th minute. Second place in the Atlantic Division with a 15-3-4 record, the team hosts Richmond United on Saturday, May 7, at 11 am.
At the Union website, a post on Matthew Real and Anthony Fontana being called up for the US U-18 BNT camp in Chula Vista, and Michael Pellegrino being called up by the US U-16 BNT for the Tournament Delle Nazione in Italy.
Harrisburg City Islanders
An 86th minute goal from Craig Foster wasn’t enough as Harrisburg City Islanders (6 points, 2-4-0) fell 2-1 on the road to Rochester Rhinos on Saturday. With the loss, Harrisburg is now 11th in the Eastern Conference. Match reports at USLsoccer.com, Philly Soccer News, Brotherly Game, Rochester Rhinos, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, WHAM, and The Bent Musket.
Local
Not sure if Allentown’s Danny Barbir was in the lineup because US Soccer has not yet posted a match report, but the U-19 MNT came from behind to defeat Russia 2-1 on Friday to win the Slovakia Cup. Team captain Weston McKennie was named Player of the Tournament.
Washington Township’s Rebecca Jarrett came on in the 36th minute in the US U-16 GNT’s loss on penalty kicks to Mexico at the International Women’s Tournament of Gradisca in Italy. The game finished tied at 1-1 after regulation. “The USA and Mexico both finished second in their three-team groups to earn spot in the match for third place in the six-team tournament.”
The Villanova men’s team has added Mark Fetrow and Kevin McMullen to its coaching staff.
Comcast has been announced as the presenting sponsor at Street Soccer USA’s Cup Series games in Philadelphia, which will take place at the Art Museum, May 27-29 “As part of its support, Comcast also will sponsor a Street Soccer USA style community soccer pitch to be located in an underserved Philadelphia neighborhood.”
MLS
In the Eastern Conference, first place Montreal (14 points, 4-3-2) gave up the lead twice to draw 2-2 at home with Colorado. Second place Philadelphia (13 points, 4-3-1) gave up the lead to draw 1-1 with San Jose. Third place Toronto (11 points, 3-3-2) lost 2-1 on the road to Portland. Fourth place Orlando (10 points, 2-2-4) scored in the 90th minute to draw 2-2 on the road with seventh place New England (10 points, 1-2-7). Fifth place DC (10 points, 2-3-4) came from behind to draw 1-1 on the road with last place Chicago (7 points, 1-2-4). Sixth place NYCFC (10 points, 2-3-4) defeated Vancouver, 3-2. Eighth place NYRB (9 points, 3-6-0) thumped Dallas, 4-0. Ninth place Columbus (8 points, 2-4-2) lost 1-0 on the road to Seattle.
In the Western Conference, first place Colorado (17 points, 5-2-2) came from behind twice to draw 2-2 on the road with Montreal. Second place Salt Lake (17 points, 5-1-2) defeat last place Houston (5 points, 1-5-2), 2-1. Third place Dallas (17 points, 5-3-2) lost 4-0 on the road to NYRB. Fourth place LAG (15 points, 4-1-3), down to ten men after Ashley Cole was sent off in the second half after receiving two bookings in 32 seconds, drew 1-1 on the road with sixth place Kansas City (14 points, 4-4-2). Fifth place San Jose (15 points, 4-2-3) drew 1-1 on the road with Philadelphia. Seventh place Portland (12 points, 3-3-3) defeated Toronto, 2-1. Eighth place Vancouver (11 points, 3-5-2) lost 3-2 on the road to NYCFC. Ninth place Seattle (10 points, 3-4-1) defeated Columbus, 1-0, with Jordan Morris scoring for the third straight game.
On Friday, NYRB acquired defender Aurelien Collin from Orlando City “in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.”
San Jose has loaned defender Kip Colvey to USL affiliate Sacramento Republic
Wayne County executive Warren Evans on the proposal to build a stadium in Detroit on the site where construction of a jail has been stalled for nearly two-and-a-half years due to cost overruns of more than $90 million: “The ball is in their court, it’s not in my court. I’m on a process to finish a jail — period. If they come up with a proposal in the amount of time that I have left and it doesn’t cost Wayne County taxpayers any more money, I will definitely consider it.” More Detroit expansion news at The Detroit News (report, editorial) and Detroit Free Press. At WXYZ, a report on a proposed logo and uniform for a Detroit MLS team.
NWSL
First place Washington Spirit (9 points, 3-0-0) remain undefeated with a 3-0 road win over eighth place Western New York Flash (3 points, 1-2-0). Second place Portland (7 points, 2-0-1) defeated last place Boston (0 points, 0-3-0) 1-0 on the road. Third place Seattle (6 points, 2-1-0) defeated ninth place Kansas City (1 point, 0-2-1), 1-0. Fourth place Chicago (6 points, 2-1-0) defeated seventh place Orlando (3 points, 1-2-0), 1-0. Fifth place Houston (4 points, 1-1-1) had a 0-0 home draw against sixth place Sky Blue (4 points, 1-1-1).
The Guardian talks to NWSL commissioner Jeff Plush about where the league goes from here.
US
Pulisic!
Hershey, Pa.’s Christian Pulisic was named to the USMNT’s 40-player preliminary roster for the Copa America Centenario. The team begins training in Miami on May 16 and the final 23-player roster must be submitted no later than May 20. Warm up matches will be played against Puerto Rico in Bayamón on Sunday, May 22 (12 pm FS1, UniMas, UDN), Ecuador on May 25 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, (8 pm; ESPN2 and UniMas), and Bolivia on May 28 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City (8 pm; FS1 and Univision).
More on the US roster at ESPN, SI, Fox Soccer, Goal.com, ASN, and MLSsoccer.com.
The Copa America Centenario trophy has been unveiled.
At the US Soccer website, a profile piece on Mallory Pugh.
From Kevin Baxter at the Los Angeles Times:
The English Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world. But in the U.S., it isn’t even the most-viewed soccer league.
Mexico’s Liga MX is averaging more than 1.1 million viewers on the Univision-owned UniMas Spanish-language network, an audience 19% larger than NBC averages for its weekly EPL telecasts. And that’s a success built largely on time and loyalty, two advantages Univision’s Mexican soccer coverage has over NBC and the EPL.
Elsewhere
Reuters reports, “FIFA’s ethics watchdog on Friday banned former Caribbean Football Union executive Lionel Haven from soccer for five years for failing to disclose information related to cash payments at a CFU event in 2011.”
The AP reports, “World Cup organizers say a worker has died after falling ill on the site of one of the stadiums being constructed for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.”
Also from Reuters, “Paraguayan police said they arrested 237 fans of Argentina’s Boca Juniors soccer club for vandalism and street clashes after their Copa Libertadores game on Thursday.”
Bethlehem Steel CHOOSE to have a 17-year-old in the center of defense so just who does Burke think he’s kidding?
Four games with seven MLS players in BSFC’s line-up now and BSFC have managed to score all of one goal in those four games.
Gotta love “player development” and the accompanying propaganda.
Most of those “MLS” players are only on the MLS roster so no one else can take them. They were always planning on using them on Steel, which is the entire point of Steel from the Union’s perspective. Plus USL is a strange league right now, a bunch of teams are trotting out rosters half filled with young guys they are trying to develop while the teams unaffiliated with MLS teams have older USL vets who are looking to win.
I am uncertain I understand… can you explain better.
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I am perfectly fine with the USL team hosting opportunities for the 17,18,19 year old player. IMO that is exactly what a second team is for… and if you have a player that age choosing NOT to sign a letter of intent i.e. planning a professional career target….playing against older more seasoned competition is just what is needed.
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How BSFC plays ultimately, as far as its record is of little consequence to me beyond winning is always more fun than not winning…particularly as US Soccer is structured… wouldn’t it be cool though if a USL team could promote up to the NASL and continue playing against even higher levels of competition… oh yes, I had to get it in.
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Anyway…correct me if I’m wrong, der F, but aren’t secondary leagues, the world over filled with players not quite first team players and young academy projects?
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I’m I misunderstanding your position?
Exactly how many prospects are being developed on a team that manages one goal in four games?
My position is that this USL stuff is garbage and I am no longer willing to spend my hard-earned money on BSFC tickets.
Hopefully, that is clear enough.
I would say almost the whole team is being developed. A lot of the real prospects are on D and they have been playing well. Plus they are a brand new team.
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I will never blame someone for not wanting to spend their money on something, but what did you expect this team to be, especially early in their first year?
Excellent question. The correct answer is obviously, “Something more than what it is”. I supposed it is time to accept complete responsibility for that and I do. Yes, it was a completely misguided if not absolutely crazy idea to ever want to follow and blog about the local club BSFC in the first place. And I sincerely apologize for that here and now, too. Best wishes to all for the future.
Well, I did enjoy following your blog about them as the coverage otherwise is nonexistent. And interest in the local team is never a crazy idea, even if they don’t even remotely live up to expectations.
I also would regret the end of the Unauthorized BSFC blog, since you are good at finding nuggets Others do not.
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I understand a desire to see them play well, as does el Pachyderm incidentally with his sustained theme of interest in an aesthetically pleasing product on the pitch as opposed to smash and grab victory. With YouTube you can follow without spending money, should you choose.
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One story line that I sense may be developing is that Seku Conneh is a more effective striker given the way the Steel play than is Fabian Herbers (who may not have been an out and out striker at Creighton, some memory cell is trying to suggest.)
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An interesting “friendly” would be BSFC’s non-loan roster v the Union’s “bottom eleven”
was at last week’s match and watched yesterday.
only good takeaway was McCarthy was rock solid.scoring is abysmal. worse, even with depth forwards from the first team.
USL matches allow for 5 substitutes?
I think 6.
Regarding the screen. I know it didn’t get called(the Red Bull, Galaxy, Sounders have made it a science), but there were 3-4 fouls by Wynn on Sapong that also went uncalled that directly impeded Sapong in the box. Walking back what I said in a previous post, Curtin needs to prove he can time manage with regard to substitutions. As I said Alberg should have come in for Barnetta. Le Toux would make a better sub coming in for Ilsinho. If you’re going to try to defend and go for a 2nd goal and Pontius is gassed then either move Sapong to the left with Herbers up top or leave him up top and move Herbers or Fernandez to the left. I get that Curtin rewards who really battles hard during training but he needs to also consider what is going to be the best way to manage 90+ minutes.
Aurelien Collin is only worth a 4th round draft pick?
Yeah, about the same as Sam Bradford.
That was before an injury not after.
Not only that, apparently Orlando is still paying half his salary. The PRO directives to actually hand out red cards for serious foul play took away Collin’s whole game.
+1
Regardless of the subs, that loss is on Curtin. To have your team play so listlessly up a man in the second half is embarrassing. The Union played so poorly after the sending off that I expected them to give up 2 goals and lose! Ilsinho looked old and out of shape (dare I say fat) and made no defensive effort. I’ll be happy if we never see him again with the first team. Why do all these other teams have fast young players? The only guys on the Union who could compete physically were Gaddis and Yaro. Everyone else was a step or two slow. Oh, and when Wondo started pushing Yaro, why didn’t someone come over and challenge Wondo? This team isn’t Philly tough. Maybe we need to bring back the Farfans. At least they wouldn’t let the ‘Quakes steal a point without a fight (real or figurative, I don’t really care)…
Why is everything Curtin’s fault? Like seriously, every time we take a slight downturn Curtin because the worst coach that has ever played soccer.
while i’ll agree with your statement, the recap post’s thread had a good breakdown of why his subs were bad, again.
i’m sue today’s rating post will expand on it.
Anytime you end that way you can say the subs were bad. It’s not hard to say the subs were bad because we already know how it played out. Most of the complaints were people annoyed that our players couldn’t go the whole 90 still. If he had brought on D subs everyone would have bashed that as being too conservative.
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If Yaro clears better, or Sapong scores none of that matters. We got bounces earlier in the year and not yesterday. That’s sports. Being give coaches way more credit than they deserve for the outcome of games.
Coaches can lose games, I certainly need to own my share, but by and large players win them.
Not everything is Curtain’s fault. If he would’ve made the proper subs Saturday, and they still gave up the points… no way would it have been on him. Saturday was though. This team is better than last year for sure, but it is still not good enough to cover up manager errors, especially against a decent (not great) San Jose team.
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Watching that game, you should’ve been able to tell Curtain waited to long, and couldn’t decide to go for it, or shell up and play D. To me, Ilsinho should’ve come in for LeToux and Alberg or Carroll for Barnetta. They were both exhausted. When that didn’t happen, you open the door for the other team. They scored. Better subs would’ve given us a better shot at 3 points… not guaranteed it.
I know you have read the comments on this site over the years and this year. No matter what Curtin did with the sub, and the result was the same, people would have blamed it on the subs.
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I don’t disagree that changes should have been made differently, but I just don’t think it moves the outcome as drastically as everyone else.
I agree that blaming Curtain can be as popular around here as sending Fabinho to the sun… however with that said, I am of the mind that Curtain’s failures Saturday opened the door to the possibility that occurred – we lost 2 points.
+1
When the team isn’t prepared to play the second half. When they don’t know how to handle being up a man. When they are unable to hold a lead at home. When the midfielders don’t try to maintain possession and the defensive line drops too far. It’s the coach’s fault. The subs sucked too but that disappointing tie is on Curtin in my opinion. Argue if you want. Blame karma or Yaro or Sapong. But I’m tired of the coach saying it’s “disappointing” to drop points at home. Do something about it. (Like, change formations, or bring in Herbers to get the 2nd goal before you give up the lead, or you know, do something anything that isn’t programmed into your game plan every single week. Ilsinho at 60 min… Leo at 70 min… Herbers at 80 min… I think Kinnear probably knew what was coming, because we all did!)
“or you know, do something anything that isn’t programmed into your game plan every single week.” — ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON Ben… well said. This continues to be the central problem with Curtain, and is a hallmark of a coach in over his head.
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Every sub, every week is not going to work. But when you don’t know what subs to make, when to make them, or how to deviate from a script… it’s a major problem.
So many uninformed noobs on Twitter… sure, if Philadelphia Union win the league this year it would be just like LCFC… you know – worst to first…. as if Leicester City was worst, at any point in time….
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Keep believing it friends…. whatever you need to tell yourself. I’m thinking maybe this Union team could more resemble the forever bottom feeding Golden State Warriors before it ever could be remotely mentioned in the same sentence as Leicester City. Do your homework people…you irritate me.
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