Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
Andre Blake’s save against Orlando in the 79th minute of 2-0 loss on October 16 has been voted Save of the Year by the fans.
Chris Pontius (top goalscorers, duels won) and CJ Sapong (duels won) are included in some of the statistical categories of “the best MLS players stats-wise” Bruce Arena might be looking at when he is considering callups.
Keegan Rosenberry makes FourFourTwo’s list of the 15 most salary cap friendly players in MLS.:
Philadelphia hoped to get Rosenberry completely off its books as a homegrown player. That claim was denied. Shame. Instead they got him for near the rookie minimum.
Rosenberry played every minute of every game for the Union, and he did it for less than $70k. His production in his rookie season proves there is still plenty of value to be found in the college ranks, and if you hit on a draft pick, it can be serious relief to your budget.
Rosenberry’s salary is listed at $68,312.50.
Brotherly Games player review series continues with Fabian Herbers.
At the Union website, a list of what the Union had to be thankful for over the 2016 season.
Also at the Union website, a report on how members of the Hospitality and Food Services staff at Talen Energy Stadium cooked over 475 pounds of turkey, as well as sides, for Cityteam Ministries in Chester on Thanksgiving Day.
Philadelphia Union Academy
Former Union Academy, Reading United, and City Islanders defender Shane Campbell has signed with Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
At Metro, a report with quotes from the recent open house at YSC Academy.
Local
Ocean City Nor’easters have announced two open tryout dates for their PDL team: Saturday, Dec. 17, from 12 pm – 4 pm at Rutgers-Camden University, and Friday, Dec. 30, from 12 pm – 4 pm in Ocean City.
MLS
The second leg of the Western Conference final between Colorado and Seattle will be played on Sunday at 4 pm (ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes). Seattle won the first leg, 2-1.
A record 1 million people in Canada watched Montreal defeat Toronto 3-2 in the Eastern Conference final first leg game on Tuesday (I’m not sure what the numbers were like in the US). Toronto hosts the second leg on Tuesday (7 pm: FS1, Fox Sports Go, Fox Deportes).
Roster moves:
- Orlando has declined the options on six players: Kevin Alston, Luke Boden, Seb Hines, Tyler Turner, former Union man Pedro Ribeiro, and Júlio Baptista. Orlando assistant general manager Niki Budalic said, ” We will remain in discussions with a few of them about a possible return in 2017.”
- Chicago has exercised options on nine players –Arturo Alvarez, Jonathan Campbell, Sean Johnson, Matt Lampson, Matt Polster, Brandon Vincent, Joey Calistri, Drew Conner, and Patrick Doody –– and declined the options on nine — Razvan Cocis, Eric Gehrig, Nick LaBrocca, Patrick McLain, Alex Morrell, Rodrigo Ramos, Michael Stephens, Luis Solignac and Khaly Thiam.
- Columbus has exercised the options on Nicolai Naess, Dilly Duka, Marshall Hollingsworth, Cristian Martinez, and Mohammed Saeid. The club announced on Monday it had picked-up the options on Federico Higuain, Wil Trapp, and Justin Meram. Options were declined on four players — Steve Clark, Matt Pacifici, Corey Ashe, and Cedrick Mabwati — while Chad Barson and Michael Parkhurst are out of contract.
- Kansas City has exercised the options on five players: Saad Abdul-Salaam, Benji Joya, Jimmy Medranda, Lawrence Olum, and Seth Sinovic. Options were declined on Ever Alvarado, Emmanuel Appiah, Connor Hallisey, Jon Kempin, and former Union man Justin Mapp. Nuno Andre Coelho, Kevin Ellis, Alec Kann, Chance Myers, Paulo Nagamura, and Jacob Peterson are currently out of contract although the club continues to negotiate with Ellis and Kann.
- The Province reports Vancouver have declined the option on captain Pedro Morales.
Goal.com reports “Sources with knowledge of the ongoing discussions” say Chicago have offered Sebastian Schweinsteiger a three year contract worth $16.5 million.
Steven Gerrard has announced his retirement as a player. Here are some reasons why he made the decision.
The Scottish Sun and the Daily Mail are reporting Celtic is interested in Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe.
Cincinnati.com reports USL side FC Cincinnati “will pay more than $2 million to reconfigure the lower bowl of the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium, and the enhancements could be a big help to the club’s push for inclusion in Major League Soccer expansion.” Don Garber is scheduled to visit the city on Tuesday.
At the Economist, a fine read providing some much needed historical background on why there is no pro-rel in the US.
US
In the quarterfinals of the Women’s U-20 World Cup in New Guinea on Friday, the US came from behind to defeat Mexico 2-1, with Kelcie Hedge scoring the gamewinner in the third minute of stoppage time. The US will now face North Korea in the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 29 (1 am; FS1 and NBC Universo).
In the latest FIFA rankings, the US drops four spots to No. 28. Mexico drops one spot to No. 18, Costa Rica moves up one spot to No. 17.
The Guardian on the key issues Bruce Arena must address to turnaround the USMNT. Los Angeles Times has a Q&A with Arena.
At SI, a roundtable discussion on who might be the candidate as the USMNT’s long-term solution for head coach. Jesse Marsch seems to be leading the pack. At ESPN, lessons US Soccer might learn when it comes to selecting the head coach of the USMNT.
At Philly Voice, Kevin Kinkead writes xenophobia had nothing to do with Jurgen Klinsmann being given the axe: “It wasn’t about Jurgen being German. He just didn’t get the job done.”
Elsewhere
Reuters reports, “Peru agreed to extradite the former head of the country’s soccer federation to the United States to face criminal conspiracy charges in a far-reaching inquiry into corruption at the heart of the sport’s governing body FIFA. President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski approved Manuel Burga’s extradition in a resolution published on Thursday in the official gazette, El Peruano, five months after a Peruvian court found that the request from a New York court was substantiated.”
Pick up Corey Ashe? 90 thou for a backup/replacement for Fabi. He is gonna miss a couple games a year for cards best case and Gadfis was never the answer there.
I had the same thought. Also, what about Nick LaBrocca as a replacement for Brian Carroll?
I dunno they are still holding out hope for Edu. On one hand Edu/Cravalle pair would be suicidal, And Carroll can only feed on the blood of virgins for so long until he is found out. So yea LaBrocca sounds like a good idea.
On the other hand they may want to start bringing in Derrick Jones along to fill that position. (That is assuming they don’t find his Desiccated, bloodless corpse mysteriously washed up on the Delaware river.
Funny with the Carrol comment. Down right scary with the Derrick Jones one….Bad turkey? (I have no idea what you are referencing).
Given comments by Brendan Burke, Bethlehem Steel FC head coach, made earlier this fall to Dan Walsh, I doubt they are going to switch Derrick Jones from the number eight position.
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Burke was enthusiastic about the way Jones had developed into the box-to-box role of the true center midfielder with all the running both ways. He has one obvious flaw at the position that I’ve noticed, namely maintaining possession when doubled teamed and then defeating the double team. But I am confident the technical staff has been working oN it. At the YSC Academy open house, Jim Curtin said he expected both Jones and Trusty would be competing for first team minutes next season.
I have not looked up Asche’s salary before responding, so call me irresponsible, but two MLS clubs have seen fit to let him go. It might be simple money. Or it might be more complex than that. Due diligence is called for.
Salary was 95,000 and total comp about 10 k greater than that. MLS PlAssoc data.
If this team is counting on Edu being a starter or otherwise contributing substantially next year then someone needs to move on to be technical director of US Soccer and leave the Union better off than he found us. Stewart has been a welcome relief after Sakiewicz but his moves have been pretty suspect. The draft wasn’t his. Neither was bringing in Pontius. Ilsinho is a turtle-slow one-trick pony. Alberg doesn’t suit the system that the FO insists inflexibly this team plays. Bedoya was actually Sak’s idea 1st. I would contend that the improvement in the team this year was totally just Blake being an awesome keeper. The rest of the team is bottom-of-the-table bad. (I travelled to Chicago for that 3-0 shellacking In September, so I know of what I speak…)
Plenty of repeated testimony from Coach Burke about both access and teaching from the SD, in addition to player personnel moves.
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In classroom teaching I can testify directly that the greatest improvement comes between the first time through a course and the second.
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I would hate to lose that potential.
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I am waiting to see the protected list for the expansion draft by Atlanta and Minnesota. That will indicate evaluations of signings you mention. Keep in mind that the rules state they must protect three internationals.
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I would offer an amendment to “turtle slow” for Ilsinho. He was surprisingly fast in an all-out straight line sprint by the end of the season. However, he had no manuverability while so sprinting, He could not change direction, nor stop quickly. My metaphor is over exaggerated, but he felt like a car driving on glare ice when he was in an all-out sprint. I infer that his individual development plan last season included lots of work on improving straight ahead speed. For next year, it needs to include agility at high speed. He’s got elite feet and seems responsive to coaching, if you compare the earliest appearances to the latest ones. But he is not an elite athlete over all.
Interesting note that Orlando declined to renew Ribeiro. I can still recall the little bit of outrage I experienced when he was snatched in the expansion draft. He seemed to have so much promise at the time…. and even had a decent start at Orlando.
I actually think there are a few decent players that have been dropped the Union would be keen to look at their health, fitness, and cost and bring in 2 or 3 in needed positions. Like I said previously Zach Loyd was let go I think him, Nagamura, Myers, Solignac, Hines could all be valuable to look at. Maybe Mabwati and Ashe. Also I dunno if it would work, but Luke Boden is a beast at 6’2″ and if I remember he can play LB at 28 he could be decent replacement for Fabi. But many of these players it depends on international roster spots etc.