Philadelphia Union
For the Union, Ale Bedoya’s new fatherhood and Chris Pontius’ chance with the national team gave Warren Creavalle and Roland Alberg the start. After a period of Union dominance, Montreal turned their one chance into a goal. The Union worked back in and Fafa Picault neatly received a pass from Duval resulting from Union pressure and slotted home to send the game tied into half time.
A few minutes into the second half, the Union back line fell asleep and Montreal mid Blerim Dzemaili set himself up and lashed home from ten yards out. While the Union looked hopeful including a clever chip assist from Marcus Epps to a ruled-offside one time volley smash Roland Alberg goal, they never leveled and the Union lost a game that some have called a six pointer.
Philly Voice has some updates on injuries and Bedoya’a baby.
Major League Soccer
A bank of action from the US clubs coincided with the Gold Cup’s return. New York Red Bulls welcomed San Jose by scoring five and allowing only one.
LA Galaxy continues to struggle, falling 0-1 to Vancouver.
A hapless pair had no hot feet, as Houston visited Minnesota for a final score of 0-0.
Toronto FC proved its depth, tying at New York City FC 2-2.
Seattle and D. C. United played an exciting game, with the East Coast team ultimately falling to Seattle, 4-3.
Real Salt Lake surprised, traveling to Portland and winning 4-1.
Gold Cup
On a hot and humid night the Lincoln Financial Field hosted the first half of the Gold Cup quarterfinals. Costa Rica won the game on an own goal, 1-0.
Then the US played El Salvador. The Central American side came out with a lot of belief and created some early scares but in the end the US ascended and scored two to close the half. The second half had more scared for the US, where the outside backs made mistakes defensively a few times, but El Salvador squandered the chances, and the game ended 2-0.
The game was a fractious affair and El Salvador attempted to chew their way to victory. Jozy Altidore and Omar Gonzalez were bitten in the match.
We have no true CAM, and no money to buy one. With the current record and tough upcoming schedule, we are unlikely to make the playoffs.
.
why not start Najem, Fontana, Trusty, etc. If our only option is to grow the positions we need, then let’s stop wasting time and get on it.
Can’t play Fontana this year and I’d argue that we should mess with the D. But Najem and Epps should be playing more and more. Really Ilsinho and Alberg cannot be out there at the same time ever.
Playoffs? Hell, if current form continues, we’ll be lucky to win another game. That was the Impact jumping the table on us last night, and there be monsters ahead.
WSSM. Right now the Union are average or above average at the 8 and the 6 and in the net. And I think we are all hoping that Blake gets the shot he so richly deserves this offseason.
.
I hate to say it, but time to blow it all up and start over. While there are pieces who should be part of the team in the future (Jones/Trusty/Elliott/Epps?/Rosenberry/Fafa), we are years away from appropriate talent.
.
Oh, wait, we only need one change. A new owner. Never mind.
Years is a ridiculous overstatement. Look at Chicago. A change can easily happen in one year.
Agree with James. This is MLS and large transformations can happen quickly. Not writing off this year completely yet but hopeful something drastic can happen this offseason.
Yes, Chicago turned it around in a year. Because they blew it up and started over.
“Years is a ridiculous overstatement. Look at Chicago. A change can easily happen in one year.”
James – I get what you’re saying, but it’s not an overstatement because of our owner and his approach. We are years away from having our youth academy players changing the trajectory of this franchise to that of serial winners. And that’s an “IF”, not a “WHEN”. To turn around in a year or two takes investment to the level that Chicago made last off-season. We are just plain fooling ourselves if we hold out hope for that. Do you really think we are about to pick up a Dax, Schweini, and Nikolic of our own?
What we are seeing in the comments section now is reality setting in. Faith and hope are waning for good reason. Can’t hold that against folks who have been emotionally and financially invested.