Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
It’s a shorter trip to the film room this week, where the Union show off the success of their high press in generating turnovers that lead to nothing.
Medunjanin has been one of the league’s best chance creators this season.
Bedoya feels the weight of the Union’s poor form on his shoulders.
McCarthy is healthy again.
Dave Zeitlin jumps to the defense of the beleaguered Jim Curtin.
Chuck Booth goes back to the ole onion(mail)bag.
A view from an NYCFC writer on whether last week’s result was due to NYCFC’s good-ness or the Union’s bad-ness.
Official MLSSoccer preview of this weekend’s game with Montreal.
Why to watch this weekend’s game. It’s at 1PM! That’s a reason! Parking and temporary tattoo (I wonder if the CTO will be in charge of temporary tattoos too…) information.
Local
The Union site had a nice piece on Santi Moar’s first goal.
Brendan Burke’s weekly conference call.
Following up on yesterday’s FootGolf event posting – Richie Marquez and Jay Simpson will be there.
MLS
A storyline for each of this weekend’s games.
The weekly power rankings roundup from RSL Soapbox.
Bastian Schweinsteiger has already exceeded all expectations. Off the field: “I’m told it also has culminated in “demand” (inbound calls, web traffic and other growth analytics) expanding by three-times year-over-year. There’s also been a significant bump in coverage from local outlets in the Windy City.” It’s a good reminder that while enfranchised MLS fans may not like so-called “retirement league” players, they can have huge appeal to the broader population, which is good for the league overall. Here’s a fan excited to meet the Fire!
Howard Webb is on the forefront of bringing VAR to MLS.
Matt Doyle answered some fan questions about various MLS topics.
A look around the MLS, including potential Union trade targets.
Are more TAM funds on the way?
LAFC wants to be the MLS 3.0 standard-bearer. With teams like Atlanta and LAFC coming into the league…
Around the globe
Update: An arrest has been made in the Dortmund bombing case. The motive? Money. Horrifying.
A look back at the biggest moment for the US at the 2002 World Cup.
Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan are set to face off in the UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinals.
Will Parchman previews the CONCACAF U-17 Championship.
The Europa League semifinals were set in an exciting day of action.
CONCACAF has sued Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer over FIFA corruption.
Former Mexican international and Chicago Fire striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco has been accused of ordering a murder.
Highlight of the day
It didn’t result in a goal, but how often do you see a rabona to great bicycle kick?
Quick quote from the NYCFC article:
“…Which means four points in 230 days. Fun Fact: the MLS regular season is only 231 days long. Aren’t statistics fun?”
“It’s a shorter trip to the film room this week, where the Union show off the success of their high press in generating turnovers that lead to nothing.”
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I got a good laugh out of this. Well done, Adam.
“…shorter trip to the film room…”
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Does that mean that even the staff is getting tired of trying to shine up awful results?
Blanco. Say it isn’t so.
Shalke-Ajax game yesterday was a classic. Both teams could almost not run anymore towards the end but kept pushing for the win. Ajax with mostly 19 & 20yr olds showed how far the US still has to go. Hope it will be ManU – Ajax!
So FA Cup semi between the top 2 teams in the Premier League, Pulisic, and the Union all overlap. Are my wife and I going to be the only ones in the stands at Talen tomorrow?
I won’t be able to be there, but there is a chance I will have 3 screens in front of me at once…
Yup. Enjoy the Drum Corp Andy.
Wave towards midfield. The old guy up high by himself will be me!
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Three people in the stands but announced attendance with be 16,000 and change. Where is Al Michaels when we need him?
We’ll be below you in 127, OSC. (Row C on the end closer to 128.)
Will be in Tir Na Nog for the FA Cup semi!
“But Disraeli famously said that there are lies, damn lies and statistics, and those statistics don’t tell the real story of how NYCFC beat the Philadelphia Union. Because they don’t really tell you what fans saw in Chester; an inspired side that came out firing on all cylinders. A side that had that ineffable quality that makes champions – that played like a team.”
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From Martin Bihl, NYSFC writer regarding last week’s game. Curious when do we get to see an inspired team? or a team firing on all cylinders? a team that plays like a team?
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It’s the things that make you go hummmmm……
We had to leave at halftime. So my view of the quality of play is skewed towards favorable. We proved that Viera and Reyna improved their defense over the off-season.
While the detail of the re-emergence of symptoms is troubling, thank goodness McCarthy is now healthy. Messing with the coconut is a bad idea.
Given his history of concussions – at least 4 according to the article – and the recurring symptoms he faced after his most recent head injury, returning to the pitch seems like a risky move for McCarthy.