Photo: Daniel Studio

Philadelphia Union

The Union look to bounce back from last Saturday’s loss to Toronto tonight on the road against Columbus. They do so with questions about who starts at center back alongside of Richie Marquez, Ken Tribbet or Josh Yaro, two players who, as Matthew De George writes at Delco Times, “show glimmers of the promising careers that likely lie ahead but maddening inconsistency in the short term.”

Jim Curtin said, “We’ll make a decision to get three points on the road against Columbus, and then we’ll step back, watch the tape again and we’ll see what’s best for Kansas City (Saturday). I still believe in all my defenders. I think that we have some depth there.”

Curtin also warned against taking Columbus lightly: ““Everyone will say they’re struggling because of where they are in the table. They’re still damn good. They’re a really good team. Gregg [Berhalter] sticks to his gameplan; they have a true style.”

Previews at PSP, Philadelphia Union (preview, report, game notes, five reasons to watch, video preview), Philly.com (preview, report), Delco Times, CSN Philly, Brotherly Game, MLssoccer.com, Columbus Dispatch, and Massive Report.

Andre Blake has been called up by the Jamaica national team for the World Cup qualifiers against Panama away on Friday, Sept. 2, and then at home on Tuesday, Sept. 6 against Haiti. The team is assembling in Panama on Aug. 30, which means Blake will miss the road game against Chicago on Sept. 3. Also called up is Bethlehem Steel’s Corey Burke. More at Jamaica Observer.

Houston-based attorney Cory Roth, an attorney representing Alejandro Bedoya’s youth club in Florida, Weston FC, “is in the process of sending a demand letter to the U.S. Soccer Federation, MLS, and the Philadelphia Union requesting that the solidarity payment be made” to the club following the midfielders transfer from Nantes to the Union. ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle reports, “If they payment is not made — which seems almost certain — then Roth said he plans to take up the matter with FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber on Weston FC’s behalf.” Carlisle explains, “Depending on when Bedoya first joined Weston FC, the club could be entitled to collect as much as 2.5 percent of the transfer fee, or about $25,000.”

At US Soccer, a look at Bedoya’s journey back to the US after playing in Europe.

At MLSsoccer.com, updated playoff projections.

Power rankings: At MLSsoccer.com, the Union drop one spot to No. 8: “Ken Tribbett better have a short memory.” At SBI, the Union drop two spots to No. 11: ”

Apparently, Rivalry Week — yawn — is coming up (again). Graham Parker writes at FourFourTwo,

And then there’s the perpetual attempt to make the Philadelphia Union a rival of someone…anyone… Watching Sunderland lose to Middlesbrough in the Wear/Tees derby this weekend — a game that has to stand in this year for the genuine passion of the Sunderland-vs.-Newcastle derby — reminded me of watching Philadelphia playing the New York Red Bulls or D.C. United. Those games have geography and some amount of cultural history on their side. They should matter, and clearly do matter to one of the parties, but ultimately nobody in New York or D.C. [i]s having their week ruined if the result goes awry, in the same way they would if they played each other.

It’s not to say those rivalries can’t and won’t emerge over time, and Philadelphia is making a decent go of forcing the issue this year by pushing into playoff contention and once again knocking the Red Bulls out of the U.S. Open Cup. And after some great summer trading which led to the arrival of U.S. international Alejandro Bedoya, the Union could write a decent chapter against any of their Northeast peers come November. But ultimately, a rivalry doesn’t resonate until all parties consent to it. Otherwise it’s more of a case of “It’s not that we don’t not like you, it’s just that we don’t not-like, not-like you.”

Yawn.

Bethlehem Steel FC

As noted above, forward Cory Burke has been called up by Jamaica for the resumption of World Cup qualification next week.

Philadelphia Union Academy

Union Academy defender Rayshaun McGann has been called up by the US U-17 MNT for the Torneo de Naciones, which began in Mexico City on Aug. 22 and concludes Aug. 29.

Local

Former Ocean City Nor’easters forward, PDL MVP, and PDL Golden Boot award winner Chevaughn Walsh has received the necessary visas to be eleigible to play for Pittsburgh Riverhounds tonight against Wilmington Hammerheads. More on Walsh’s signing last week with the Riverhounds at USLsoccer.com and Ocean City Nor’easters.

The Nor’easters have announced their team award winners for the 2016 season.

A season preview for the Temple men’s team.

MLS

In addition to tonight’s game between fourth place Philadelphia (34 points, 9-9-7) in Columbus (ninth place: 23 points, 4-8-11), five other MLS games will be played today and four of them will affect the ongoing playoff chase in the Eastern Conference.  Seventh place Orlando (28 points, 5-6-13) hosts second place Toronto (40 points, 11-7-7), and fifth place Montreal (33 points 8-7-9) hosts sixth place DC (28 points, 6-8-10). Both games kickoff at 7:30 pm. At 8:30 pm, last place in the East Chicago hosts the Galaxy. Eighth in the East New England (26 points, 6-11-8) is on the road to face San Jose at 10:30 pm. Houston hosts Seattle at 9 pm. All of the games are available on MLS Live.

In CONCACAF champions league play on Tuesday night, Vancouver defeated Kansas City, 3-0. Dallas is on the road to face Real Esteli in Nicaragua tonight (10 pm, Facebook).

The groundbreaking ceremony for LAFC’s new stadium took place on Tuesday. The 22,000-seat, $350 million stadium is scheduled to be completed in time for the start of the 2018 season.

Banc of California has acquired the naming rights for the stadium. Bloomberg reports the bank “agreed to pay $100 million over 15 years” for the naming rights: “At $6.7 million per year, the sponsorship is one of Major League Soccer’s biggest naming-rights deals, topping some similar arrangements in much bigger leagues as well.”

More on LAFC at LA Times, LA Daily News, MLSsoccer.com (groundbreaking, coach search), FourFourTwo (groundbreaking, coach search), and Fox Soccer.

Real Salt Lake has broken ground on a $50 million training facility.

Vancouver has signed defender/midfielder Brett Levis to a “multi-year” deal from Whitecaps FC 2.

Didier Drogba says he is not leaving MLS to join Aston Villa.

At ESPN, a round-table discussion on what it will take for MLS to become “one of the best leagues in the world by 2020.”

FourFourTwo on how Atlanta and Minnesota can avoid the mistakes made by other expansion teams.

FourFourTwo with a somewhat rosy take on first division aspirations in the NASL.

NWSL

Some are back but some are not. When will all of the USWNT players who were at the Olympics return to their NWSL teams? A piece at Rochester Democrat & Chronicle begins, “It’s time for the U.S. Soccer Federation to show who really runs the National Women’s Soccer League: the USSF or the stars of the U.S. national team?”

Morgan Brian tells Houston Chronicle reporter Corey Roepken, “We were told nothing (about a timetable to return to our NWSL clubs). We were told it was between the player and the coach. Everyone had a different (Olympic) tournament. Everyone has had a different year. Everyone has a different case.”

A statement from the league said players are expected to be back with their clubs for this weekend’s games “provided there are no illness or injury issues.” The US was eliminated from the Olympic tournament on Aug. 12.

At Fox Sports, league commissioner Jeff Plush talks expansion.

US

Sky Sports says DeAndre Yedlin is set to leave Tottenham to sign with Newcastle. ESPN reports Yedlin arrived in Newcastle on Tuesday night to finalize the deal.

Pulisic!

US U-20 forward Emmanuel Sabbi has signed with La Liga side Las Palmas.

US U-20 goalkeeper Justin Vom Steeg has signed with Bundesliga 2 side Fortuna Dusseldorf.