Photo courtesy: Ocean City Nor’easters
Philadelphia Union
Are the Union hitting their stride in time to make the playoffs? Technical director Chris Albright weighs in (video) at the CSN Philly studios.
John Smallwood says the Union are poised to make some noise in the league.
Derrick Jones’s first-half entrance for injured Gedion Zalalem changed the course of the game for the U.S. U-20’s in their 3-3 draw with Ecuador.
The Armchair Analyst compares Union fandom to Sartre. Sounds about right.
Even The Metro takes notice of the Union’s form.
Major League Soccer
Once an academy player alongside Marcus Rashford and Ruben Loftus-Cheeks, Mo Adams is following Dom Dwyer and Jack Harrison’s footsteps to the NCAA and, hopefully, MLS. A solid read on a rising trend.
Soccer America’s and ESPN’s weekly power rankings (Union at 12th and 11th, respectively).
From the Guardian: standing fan sections rule MLS.
Seven takeaways from Week 12 and 10 things we learned.
The three most improved teams from 2016.
USL
Harrisburg City Islanders add former Portuguese international Rodolfo Correia to the coaching staff.
Eastern Conference power rankings.
League attendance eclipses 500k – a 30% increase from 2016.
Local
Ocean City Nor’easters made a frankly ridiculous comeback over the weekend. Down 2-0 in the 85th minute, the Nor’easters went nuts and scored three goals in the next five minutes to earn all three points.
NWSL
Sydney Leroux returns to the field for FC Kansas City after the birth of her child.
In the same match – a 1-0 victory for FCKC – Mallory Pugh (the USWNT’s Pugh-lisic – so many puns!) made her professional debut.
JONES HYPE
Doyle’s take:
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“Derrick Jones, meanwhile, defends like a madman. The game changed when the Union d-mid replaced Zelalem thanks to his field coverage and his presence in front of the backline, which allowed the rest of the team to go forward with more confidence. I’ll be disappointed if Jones doesn’t start the next couple of games.”
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https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/05/22/armchair-analyst-few-thoughts-us-u-20s-draw-vs-ecuador
It’s a goddamn shame there is no place for him in our current starting lineup.
Still an important player for us – “The Closer”.
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I suspect he will see time in pretty much every game that he is available.
I missed a key phrase when I read that Rodolfo Correia joined HCI. Nearly had a stroke before I looked again and saw “to the coaching staff.” Whew.
I think Tab Ramos was sniffing glue or huffing when he considered putting Gideon zalelm in a holding type role.
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Only explanation I can think of.
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Jones did slow the game down for team USA yesterday and brought needed control and decision making. Nice to see. I’d like to see more availibity up the field in possession… seemed to me he was marking a man in case of a turnover instead of finding pockets of space to distribute or be available.
GZ as a deep-lying playmaker? Only possible option I can think of…
From the Mo Adams story:
“That is definitely something that motivates me,” Adams said. “Seeing the likes of Dom and Jack [Harrison, the New York City FC winger] come out here and achieve something, it helps me realise there are different paths to the professional game.”
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In our ongoing debates about Academies versus college, this is the bottom line: “there are different paths to the professional game.”
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Summed up well. Not everyone fits into a single path. Good luck, Mo.
Just saw a fun alert come through:
http://www.espnfc.com/burnley/story/3132630/burnley-release-joey-barton-following-football-association-betting-ban?appsrc=sc
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Who wants Joey Barton? This city would LOVE him!
(Ok, probably not worth everything else, but damn would he be fun!)
Joey Barton is the one player I hate and love both at the same time. And pass, please pass.
There isn’t room for him on this roster. But I would have loved him here 2-3 years ago.
Sydney Leroux returns to the field for FC Kansas City after the birth of her child. This is news? She did it more than a month ago.