Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Union
Philadelphia Union
Some highlights from Jim Curtin’s weekly press conference on Wednesday (full transcript here at PSP):
- Asked if Alejandro Bedoya would be with the team when they face New England on the road on Saturday, Curtin said, “He’ll be a part of the group, that’s for sure. When you bring in a quality player like that, we’re not going to ease him into it.”
- As we first reported on Tuesday evening, Curtin said Brian Carroll will be out 3-6 weeks with a plantar fasciitis injury: “Knowing BC, knowing his body, and how he recovers, I think he’ll be back on the shorter end of it.”
- Curtin said Warren Creavalle will play in Carroll’s stead (Kevin Kinkead teeted video of Creavalle and Bedoya partnering in training on Wednesday). Keegan Rosenberry and Ken Tribbett came up as “emergency” options should Creavalle be injured or suspended. Curtin said Tribbett was training at the No. 6 spot on Wednesday.
- Curtin was unwilling to put a timeline on Maurice Edu’s return but said, “I think it’s not far off before he’s playing some minutes with Bethlehem, I think that that’s close.”
- Curtin discussed his pride in the signing of Auston Trusty to a homegrown contract, whom he first coached when Trusty was 9 or 10 and part of the Union Juniors program, describing the defender’s path as a “late bloomer” as a lesson to young players.
- Curtin also said “There was a lot of interest overseas” in Trusty.
More from the press conference at Philly.com, Philly Voice, and Brotherly Game.
Curtin mentioned in Wednesday’s press conference that Brian Carroll has dealt with plantar fasciitis in the past. Carroll says, “I’ve played through plantar fasciitis before and it kind of was a little bit sore but I got a bunch of treatment on it. I felt better Thursday, Friday, and then game day. Hard field, hard day, and it just went. I exploded to win a ball and my foot just kind of fell out from under me. It was a small tear in the heel part of my fascia. There’s a time frame on that, but it’s really when the pain goes away and I can tolerate it again. They say two to six weeks, but it could be anywhere within that timeframe so we’ll see.”
The Union announced on Wednesday announced the signing of Auston Trusty to a Homegrown Player contract. The center back, who turns 18 on Friday, said of signing with his hometown team, “I’m hyped. When the Union started I was amazed by the stadium and just always had a dream of playing here and being a part of Philly. Being able to grow up in Philly and watch the team grow along with this community, and the soccer community around Philadelphia, and watching the game become popular, I’m honored to be part of it. It’s like, I don’t know, it’s amazing to grow up here, to be from Delco and represent Philadelphia in a professional aspect. I’m just honored. It’s a privilege to be able to play.”
Soccer America notes the Trusty signing “raised to 16 the number of players on the 2015 U.S. Under-17 World Cup team who’ve turned pro and he is one of growing number of players whom MLS clubs are developing on their newly opened USL second teams. It will accelerate the rate at which players are skipping college altogether.”
More on the Trusty signing at PSP, Philly.com, Delco Times, CSN Philly, Philly Soccer News, Brotherly Game (report, what you need to know), Pattison Ave, MLSsoccer.com, USLsoccer.com, Goal.com, and Stars and Stripes FC.
Charlie Davies says of facing his former team, New England Revolution, on Saturday, “For me, it’s going to be extremely interesting to go back. But I look forward to it because it’s a way for me to have a proper goodbye to the fans and the staff after three good years…It’s gonna be emotional, especially how things turned out…But obviously I’m excited and thankful for my time in New England. It’s a second family to me.”
Davies says of the Union, “This franchise is deserving of a winning, successful team. It’s a big, master plan and project that [sporting director] Earnie Stewart has put on here and it’s extremely attractive and appealing. And I don’t think there are too many players who would turn down the opportunity to play here.”
Using the Alejandro Bedoya signing as a starting point, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle looks at the performance of USMNT players after their return from abroad to play in MLS to answer the question of whether what MLS teams are paying for them is “worth it.”
At the Union website, Marisa Pilla has five things you didn’t know about Bedoya. Also at the club site, a social media roundup of Bedoya’s first day with the team.
Jim Curtin was on 97.5 The Fanatic morning show on Wednesday. Click here to listen to the show. Curtin’s segment begins around the 3:15:50 mark.
At Brotherly Game, Jared Young has the results of his weekly Union player ratings comparison.
Brotherly Game also names Tranquillo Barnetta their player of the week.
Philly Sports Network reviews the Union’s performance in the draw against DC United last weekend.
Section 215 says “the Philadelphia Union should make some changes in their line-up especially in the midfield.”
At the Union website, a nice report on the visit from Taylor Washington and members of the team’s Community Relations and Hispanic Communications departments to Puentes de Salud, “a health and wellness center in Philadelphia that primarily serves the Latino community.”
Philadelphia Union Academy
At Brotherly Game, Matt Ralph recaps the Union U-16’s 1-1 draw with Pachuca on Wednesday at the LIGA Bancomer MX International Tournament in Mexico City. Liam O’Brien opened the scoring for the Union before Pachuca equalized in the 60th minute The team faces their counterparts from FC Dallas today. If the Union win, they will play in the tournament’s third place game.
City Islanders
On the road to face first in the Eastern Conference Louisville on Wednesday night, Jose Barril scored in the 20th minute to give the City Islanders the 1-0 lead. But the home side equalized in the 56th minute and the game finished as a 1-1 draw. Recaps at USLsoccer.com, Philly Soccer News, Courier-Journal, WLKY, and CN2.
Now 12th in the Eastern Conference (22 points, 6-14-4), the City Islanders are again on the road this weekend to play 11th place Toronto FC II on Sunday (7:30 pm, YouTube).
Local
Leah Scarpelli, who hails from Brick in Ocean County, started and went the distance in the opening game for the US at the C)ONCACAF U-15 Girls’ Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney in Orlando on Tuesday in which the US defeated Trinidad and Tobago 22-0. That is not a typo, the US scored 22 unanswered goals and the game was only 70 minutes long.
On Wednesday, Scarpelli started and went the distance again for the US, this time in a 1-0 win over Mexico. The team next plays Haiti on August 12 before finishing group play against the Dominican Republic on August 13.
Sydney Zandi (Penn Fusion; West Chester, Pa.) was an unused sub in the US U-17 WNT’s 2-2 draw with Brazil on Tuesday in Michigan. The teams play again on Friday.
MLS
FC Dallas defeated LA Galaxy 2-1 on the road on Wednesday night to advance to the final of the 2016 US Open Cup, where they will host New England. All three goals came in extra time after regulation time finished scoreless, with both Dallas goals coming from corner kicks, Victor Ulloa scoring the game winner in the 121st minute.
Portland has signed midfielder Diego Valeri to a contract extension as a Designated Player.
San Jose has signed Swedish-Eritrean forward Henok Goitom, a veteran of Serie A and La Liga, “using Targeted Allocation Money.”
Columbus has loaned defender Chad Barson, and midfielders Cristian Martinez and Rodrigo Saravia, to Pittsburgh Riverhounds “on a game-by-game basis.”
Chicago has loaned midfielder Collin Fernandez, and forward Alex Morrell, to USL-affiliate Saint Louis FC for the remainder of the season.
Chicago Fire Confidential reports “there are at least three potential ownership groups that have shown interest in a purchase” of the Chicago Fire: “While no deals appear to be close at the moment, the mention of the potential buyers among well placed sources indicates that the possibility does at least exist.”
Boston.com reports, “Traffic improvements in the surrounding area should be a prerequisite for the New England Revolution to build a Major League Soccer stadium at the Bayside Expo Center site in Dorchester, according to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Walsh told Boston.com a stadium would make sense at the parcel — provided the iffy infrastructure is addressed first.”
American Soccer Analysis compiles some interesting stats to determine who the harshest referee in MLS is.
US
Fox Sports wonders if the USWNT is weak at defending set pieces.
Soccer America notes 3.6 million viewers tunes in to watch the USWNT’s 2-2 draw with Colombia on Tuesday.
The USMNT dropped one spot to No. 26 in the latest FIFA rankings. Mexico remains at No. 14.
Elsewhere
In the men’s tournament at the Olympic Games in Brazil, reigning gold medal winners Mexico are out after a 1-0 loss to South Korea in their final group game. Argentina is also out after a 1-1 draw with Honduras. Brazil finally scored some goals and advances to the quarterfinals after defeating Denmark, who also advances, 4-0. Saturday’s quarterfinal games will be Brazil-Colombia, South Korea-Honduras, Nigeria- Denmark, and Portugal-Germany.
The Globe and Mail has an interesting read on how Brazilian football culture means there’s more chanting and singing, and most notably, booing than expected at the Olympics. German anthropologist Martin Curi says,
The Olympic Committee wants to make the Olympics grow in South America, so they came to Brazil – well, if you’re in Brazil, you get Brazilians.
Brazil is not really an Olympic country, it’s a soccer country – so what are people used to? They’re used to the logic of soccer and the behaviour of soccer, so most are showing the same behaviour as in a football stadium. So of course they defend their own athletes and their own teams and of course they make a lot of noise, sing and disagree with the referee.
Speaking of Brazil, the AP reports, “FIFA ethics investigators have confirmed they are formally investigating the indicted head of Brazilian football just days after he met with FIFA president Gianni Infantino.”
Not to be outdone by Cristiano Ronaldo and his selfie app, Lionel Messi has an app now too.
I thought the Open Cup game was played in Dallas since the stadium was so empty…. Both Dallas goals were scored on corners. When can we start to score on the dozens we always have (but never score on)?
The Union will sign Yusef Samuel next. You heard it here first.
It’s about time New England gets a real stadium. C’mon, Mr. Kraft…pony up and treat the team like a legitimate professional enterprise, please.
Not while he can keep using it as a tax writeoff to hire people to deflate footballs for the Patriots.
So if Trusty really is generating interest in Europe, maybe they signed him to the Union just to flip him. I was kind of looking forward to cheering on a fellow Median, but welcome to Earnieball.
everybody is flip-able, but I think he sticks around until a really good offer comes. IMO this begins a process of keeping the good young players and developing them professionally. It will be a while before the contract terms come out but now is the time for kids like Jones and Trusty to learn how to be a pro and make significant progress in their career. You cannot do that at college.
Median? Is that term really used?
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I would have expected Mediaite or Mediarian instead.
like Judean (People’s Front or People’s Front of)
+1000.
if the link does not take you to the end, scroll to 19 min 29 sec
Great stuff, I remember that episode.
The Charlie Davies piece on MLS has a very interesting quote from him:
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“This franchise is deserving of a winning, successful team,” Davies said. “It’s a big, master plan and project that [sporting director] Earnie Stewart has put on here and it’s extremely attractive and appealing. And I don’t think there are too many players who would turn down the opportunity to play here.”
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Take that in for a minute. Now take a deep breath about this season. That statement right there says TONS about the direction and perception of this franchise.
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If other quality players feel the same as Davies, we could be in for a very exciting future.
Refreshing is what I know…
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Still going to skewer shitty play though… this is my bond.
As is your right…but it should be accompanied by acknowledgment of the direction of the franchise, and the fact that this is a very incomplete picture at the moment.
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Considering the way we have seen ES operate, don’t get attached to too many of these players. I get the feeling that if you don’t measure up, he will move you. It’s a business, I’m perfectly fine with that, as long as it leads to trophies.
Yup… I believe in intellectual honesty.
Was listening to extra time radio podcast and one of the questions they asked was how could they promote the US open cup better? The one idea I liked was making the final round of 32 only last one month so the drama of the tournament stays fresh in the fans memory. The thing I would like to see is the championship moved to a Sunday with all the teams having off that week. They could play the semi-finals on Tuesday & Wednesday, then the final that Sunday. Since they aren’t gone to get rid of the all-star game, they could play that on Saturday. This could turn it into a soccer celebration kind of week. This could help with cross promotion between FS1 & ESPN. Who knows, maybe they could do the The Canadian Championship on Friday.
Like the thinking here.
Totally agree John. This tournament has so much history and appeal that it really needs more attention in the media.
agreed. way too much time from June to Sept. to hammer our the quarters to final. and rewrite the OT rules. despite all the excitement in it last night, 120+ is ridiculous in mid-week.
I am literally open to anything to make the Open Cup better and more attractive. The league talks about it and then pretty much buries it every year. The semis and the final being on ESPN is a nice plus, but there needs to more done.