Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
ICYMI: The Union signed Adam Najem. More from the Union and The Goalkeeper.
ICYMI: Josh Yaro is expected to miss 3-4 months after undergoing shoulder surgery. The Union released an official short statement: “Josh came into preseason very fit and sharp. This setback is tough, but the right thing to do was to be proactive and surgery to repair the shoulder is what’s best for Josh long term. We know he will come back stronger than ever. We have a very deep roster that we believe in, and we know the next man will step up in Josh’s absence.”
At Section 215, Chuck Booth writes that Onyewu and Tribbett should rotate at the position.
ICYMI: The Union lost a scrimmage to the Chicago Fire 1-0. Onyewu drew the start in place of Yaro.
The scrimmage marked the end of the second leg of the Union’s preseason. Curtin: “In the first phase we wanted to do a lot of evaluation and play in big spaces. In the second phase we wanted to work on our defensive shape, a lot of principles and what our cues are to press teams, I thought we got through that very well. … As we move on to phase three, we have a lot of competition, we have four games against Orlando, Tampa, Montreal and D.C. Good competition is coming, and I think our team is in a good spot fitness wise with a lot of depth.”
Auston Trusty was named to the Under-20 USMNT for the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. The tournament runs through March 5, so he may not be available for the Union’s opener. To watch: “The USA has been drawn into Group B along with Panama, Haiti and Saint Kitts and Nevis. The U.S. opens against Panama at 4 p.m. ET on Feb. 18, followed by Haiti at 5:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 21 and Saint Kitts and Nevis at 5:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 24. All three of the USA’s matches will be broadcast in the United States on Univision networks. Fans can also follow the action on twitter at @ussoccer_ynt.”
At Last Word on Soccer, Matthew McCarthy gives a good recap of the Union’s transfers this offseason.
Reading United
Reading United released their 2017 schedule.
MLS
Sports Illustrated released a simple, easy to follow flow chart explaining the MLS’ Player Acquisition Process. Just kidding about the “simple, easy to follow” part, but you already knew that.
Chattanooga FC drew over 12,000 fans for a preseason game against Atlanta United.
Atlanta United signed Chilean International Carlos Carmona.
FC Dallas signed defender Hernán Grana and midfielder Carlos Cermeño.
Houston Dynamo re-signed U.S. international defender DaMarcus Beasley.
Minnesota United signed Danish international Bashkim Kadrii.
NYCFC bought an international spot from Colorado Rapids for $75,000.
Real Salt Lake acquired Brooks Lennon on loan from Liverpool.
Vancouver Whitecaps introduced their new “rain” jersey. It was not well-received, but at least the post-reveal satire is good.
Former Real Salt Lake star Alvaro Saborio retired after fans became upset with him for missing a few scoring chances.
Around the globe
La Liga saw multiple major injuries as Danilo of Real Madrid and Aleix Vidal of Barcelona were both injured in wins.
There was an unfortunate situation in Angola, where 17 people died and numerous more injured at a new stadium’s first game.
DeAndre Yedlin has been performing well for Newcastle United. Newcastle sit at the top of the Championship table.
Gedion Zelalem scored his first professional goal for VVV-Venlo.
Funny story from Italy, where a Juventus fan tried to get admitted to a hospital that overlooked the pitch where Juventus were playing.
Highlight of the weekend
Atlanta United’s Yamil Asad scored on a fantastic strike.
The storm clouds are parting, the sun is shining and apparently, all is right in the universe. Thank you Adam!
+1!
Great start, Adam. Well done!
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Watched the New Castle game on BeIn Sport and Yedlin sure was a pleasure to watch. Good to see him help New Castle return to the EPL.
Good stuff Adam thanks!
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Random question – does Atlanta know there is a rule on how many international players you can have on your roster? Or are they the LA of the East, and just make the rules as they go? Every time I look they are signing another international player.
Found this today when thinking about this question: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLS_International_Roster_Slots
Pretty nice picture of where things stand.
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I wonder how soon MLS will increase the total number of international slots to 10 per team. With expansion, it’s got to be just a matter of time.
Thanks. Interesting. They are a -4 according to that. So how do they lose 4 guys? Cut them? I mean, I am all for creating competition, but signing that many guys knowing you have to cut a minimum of 4 is nuts.
Or they can hope somebody gets a green card before the season starts. Or they could loan somebody out, much like the Union “loaned” Noguiera to Harrisburg in 2015 while he was injured. Or they can acquire international slots from other teams via trade. Or, as you said, they can release/trade/otherwise get rid of players.
Good article today with Ernie Stewart by Jonathan Tannenwald on how the USMNT fate is tired to MLS and why he doesn’t believe pro/rel is needed.
Read it. Solid.
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I did follow up with the author on Twitter asking for a bit more though…
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“We aim to promote and debut individual players as the means of building first team players in a league of 24-30 first teams. I’d like to know how exactly the Sporting Director thinks we can contend using this single axis model against other cultures using the double axis model of promoting/debuting both individual players and teams. I’m trying to be an honest skeptic and inquisitive RE: MLS Model versus Rest of the world and continue to struggle over how 24-30 First Teams can possibly contend and develop ENOUGH talent to compete at the NT Level and against cultures with literally 100’s or 1000’s of clubs building first team players.”
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The author did not respond.
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It is possible the Sporting Director is plying the company line… the one similar to Mr. Garber a few months ago imploring the US Soccer Universe to fall in line with the vision as set forth.
I would imagine after The Don handed Ernie his envelope he saw the light. So forget about it.
US soccer just hired a Premier League sports scientist to work with the youth performance department. Interestingly, he pioneered “biobanding” or grouping together youth players by physical development rather than age.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/12/sports/soccer/united-states-soccer-performance-boost-english-premier-league.html?_r=0
One more reason this place is clutch. Well done.
One of the most interesting bits for me was the value of an international slot. Not sure if that’ll set the bar for obtaining one in the future, but it’s sure nice to see a little more MLS transparency when we can. That being said, 75k almost seems low to me given the number of internationals that seem to have been coming over this offseason