Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
John Smallwood on why the Union can’t afford to keep lo$ing.
Adam Najem says it was “a dream come true” to make his MLS debut.
Union staffers beautify Chester as part of MLS Works Week of Service.
Looking ahead to the Union’s next opponent, Montreal Impact are feeling good after their first win.
The audacity, difficulty, and beauty of scoring from midfield. Props where props is due.
MLS
Week 7 in review and Soccer America’s Power Rankings.
A very early, and likely unnecessary, look at what the playoff picture would be if the season ended today.
Tim Howard is a dinosaur of a spokesman for the league.
Andi Herzog says MLS didn’t take Jurgen Klinsmann’s advice. And why would they?
San Jose Earthquakes hire Brazilian scout Bruno Costa of Neymar and Coutinho fame. I bet all those Brazilian kids on the futsal courts of Rio dream of playing Dom Ball some day.
South African international and Brønby IF midfielder Lebogang Phiry is reportedly joining NYCFC this summer.
A (very random and unscientific) poll shows that, outside of the big five European leagues, MLS is considered the most exciting in the world, narrowly edging out Portuguese Primeira Ligue, Dutch Eredevisie, and Brazilian Serie A.
MLS clubs have “no interest” in John Terry joining the league. Phew!
USL
Bethlehem Steel are the only USL side with their own television affiliate.
11 things from Week 4 of USL action and the league’s top-10 power rankings. Neither Bethlehem nor Harrisburg City make the cut.
US Soccer
Incredible teenage talent Mallory Pugh has chosen to forego her college career at UCLA to turn pro. Portland and Lyon have emerged as potential landing places. A shoe deal is expected to follow. Get it!
Alex Morgan bags four goals in French Cup Semifinal.
The men’s U-17 CONCACAF Championship roster has been named. Former Union Academy and current Benfica goalkeeper C.J. Dos Santos makes the cut.
The USMNT and Venezuela will meet for a summer WCQ warmup in June.
Extra Time
A terrific read on US pro soccer’s 50th anniversary and the National Professional Soccer League. Apparently, the whole “you’re a communist” thing isn’t new.
I’m really getting into the negative camp now but I’m not in the mood for the Union propaganda today.
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Is anyone else completely unimpressed that the Union staff did some “volunteer work” to clean up around the stadium? Does this mean the stadium area is not regularly cleaned? All the issues there are in Chester, and they want us to be impressed that they volunteered to do something they should already be doing?
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Similarly about the BSteel TV affiliate, they claim they are the only USL team to have an affiliate. Multiple other USL teams have all of their games televised locally.
It also would have looked nice if a few players helped out or at least jumped in the picture.
They are the only MLS “B” side in USL that has locally televised games.
I love the John Terry story. MLS just saying, “don’t even bother to ask.”
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You know he’s expecting some $5M/year payday. For an aging jackass. No thanks.
What I love most is MLS the League determining none of its constituency is interested in the player.
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actually- I’m kidding… otherwise agree completely.
I’m sure he’ll enjoy China.
Still gnashing teeth. Man I’m so mad.
Anyone else think of Pfeffer when they saw Najem play on Saturday?
Yeah, same here. Same build, body language and movement.
I’m just so down on this club right now. It goes without saying that the U must win on Saturday. And I just have no confidence in anything this team can do. I don’t know. I haven’t commented in a while, so I just wanted to put “pen to paper”. Bleh. At least the weather is nice 🙂
We have the NFL Draft coming to town.
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The Sixers have a fantastically fun lottery coming up.
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Citizens Bank is nice place to catch a ball game.
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[Flyers are done…I have nothing.]
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Seriously…I’m moving to a less Kafka-esque city…
i’m going, only to see the continuation of futility. 3 pts on saturday accomplishes nothing. we needed a minimum of 7 during this stretch to prevent the pitchforks and torches. the mob is here, at the gates.
i’m gonna be at the beer deck or crashing another club box’s event.
http://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2017/04/18/la-galaxy-acquire-forward-jack-mcinerney
Good for him! Hope he does well!
I wonder if the Union do bad enough this season that the league will re-open discussions on relegation! I would rather watch them beat some USL teams and have something to cheer for rather than go where they are headed in the current MLS. I hope something changes soon, because the next step after going negative is not going at all.
You are assuming, of course, that they would beat the USL teams…
I’d rather pay USL ticket prices honestly.
Point
I’ve long thought this was a good argument. I’d rather root for a top 4 Div. 2 team than a perennial Div. 1 relegation candidate. There’s not a lot of mystery or wonder in being a crap team.
Maybe they wouldn’t get relegated to USL. I mean aren’t teams suppose to be punished? Send them to NASL. “\_(`~`)_/”