Daily news roundups

News roundup: Union soak up weekly honors, no Nico, VAR reviews, ArJo out, more

Photo: Dan Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

10 observations from the Union’s surprising victory.

C.J. Sapong, Ilsinho, and John McCarthy all made MLS Team of the Week.

My Greek’s a little rusty, but Nicolas Martinez is apparently not coming to Philadelphia.

Major League Soccer

Paul Tenorio: Why MLS has to break its own rules to grow.

Lamar Neagle has been traded from D.C. United back to Seattle; D.C. reportedly has also dropped out of the pursuit of Gary Mendel and put Bobby Boswell on the trading block.

Houston Dynamo sign former Arsenal and Switzerland defender Phillipe Senderos.

Week 22 in review and 11 great moments.

The Armchair Analyst weighs in on the week that was.

What you may have missed over the weekend and the top coaching moves.

After losing out to Minnesota United in their hometown, the Wilf family of Minnesota Vikings notoriety joins Nashville’s MLS bid.

Power rankings from ESPN FC (video) and Soccer America.

The footballing world is watching MLS’ VAR rollout. More thoughts on replay’s debut at ESPN FC.

NWSL

All the action from the past week in NWSL.

U.S. Soccer

The Americans abroad to keep an eye on this season.

Q&A with former US great Steve Cherundolo on the US U-17’s, coaching, and, ya know, life.

Aron Johannsson looks to be on his way out of Werder Bremen.

Hope Solo eyes a comeback in Europe and a return to the USWNT.

19 Comments

  1. Zizouisgod says:

    That Cherundolo interview is fantastic. I hope that he can play a big role either in MLS or US Soccer going forward.

  2. To save the rest of you the trouble:
    “Nico Martinez traveled to the US, passed medical tests on behalf of the Philadelphia Union but returned to Greece as the MLS team defaulted on the original terms of the deal.
    “Sport24.gr informed you on August 2 that 30-year-old Argentine midfielder, Nikos Martines, was a breath of his move to the MLS team, Philadelphia Union, in the form of borrowing from the Reds.

    The South American traveled to the US late last week, passed medical tests on behalf of the Philadelphia Union, but his move to the MLS “wrecked” definitively.

    The Philadelphia Union administration changed the contract terms that had been agreed before Martini “flies” from Greece to the US, which would not be accepted. The 30-year-old returned to Greece and was re-looking for the next station of his career.”

    • I take this with a grain of salt. We have no idea what really happened.

    • Chris Gibbons says:

      Maybe they changed the terms after watching him play in real life? If he turned out to be more of a risk than they thought, it would be prudent to offer different terms.

    • Zizouisgod says:

      A cynic would believe that the Union FO agreed to the Martinez terms prior to this past weekend. Then, after the big win over FCD coupled with the fanbase’s collective “meh” reaction to the potential signing, the Union FO decided to retrade the deal in order to kill it.

      Does anyone know whether the owner of Colonial Marble is an Olympiakos fan or not?

  3. who knows how true that martinez report is but i’m going to be really disheartened if they don’t sign anyone before thursday. it should be clear that they aren’t going to go very far with the current roster.

    • My counter point to this is that it may be better to stand pat, clear the books of dead weight at the end of the season and free money to make some real signings. If they clear Edu, Alberg, Ilsinho and Simpson — they can by some big guns. I have no idea if that’s the thinking, but I’m guessing that might be the plan. I don’t really care about this season much any more.

      • You may be right. The best course might be just waiting. I fear that means another year of Curtin. Which I think we get no matter what.

      • i understand this approach, but there are still plenty of games this season that i am going to watch and i’d rather watch fun entertaining games that we have a chance of winning than dire shit games that make me want to turn off the tv or leave the stadium early

      • I hear ya Kyle, but I’ll take the remainder of this middling season if means a legit challenge next season. Though my faith there is pretty dim. I agree with All4U that we’re definitely in for another season of Curtin.

      • Exactly what I’ve been saying for weeks. Don’t sign anyone and get rid of salaries after the season although Pete I think at least 1 of those 4 stay on the team next year for hopefully a reduced salary.

      • i’m not sure what advantage there is to waiting to sign a new midfielder. hasn’t it been historically true that it takes players a while to acclimate to the league? the earlier they get in the better. this would also avoid the common problem of a player signing in the winter after having played a full european season and then having to turn around and play for another 7 or 8 months without any kind of break

      • Kyle,
        I don’t know what salary cap implications mid season signings have. Also, if we have good depth like the manager has stated a lot then those January/February signings should be able to have a game off here and there.

      • If Edu plays 4 to 5 games this year and looks decent, I would be fine with keeping him. Not sure if he would push Bedoya to the wing or play CB.

        Ilsinho if he continues to play well, I would be fine with if it doesn’t preclude signing a real #10.

        I would love to see Alberg gone and I imagine he will be gone. Simpson, I would think is on a 2 year deal, but maybe not. Or maybe we can buy him out.

      • Kyle, I completely understand. I’d much rather have the Union better now than later. But if holding off until the end of the season means they have an off-season like the Fire did, then I’d much rather have that. If waiting brings the Union Aron Johannsson, a quality #10 and another misc. winger/midfielder/defender, wouldn’t you be happier? Just as an example. Feel free to switch it around as it’ll depend slightly on who they decide to keep at the end of the year.
        .
        MCB, I believe Simpson is on a one year deal. I’d rather not move Bedoya up and spend the rest of the season trying to get Mo and Haris acquainted in defense. If Mo must be put in, I guess it’s for Gooch, but it’d be tough to justify without an injury.

      • The problem with the “dump the contracts and buy ppl next year” approach is that we will prob just go out and get MORE bad contracts. Earnie had money. He bought Alberg, Simpson, etc., the very contracts we want to dump. Why would we expect better with the next round of signings?

      • You need to be allowed to make some bad signings. The question for Stewart is how he goes about fixing the mistakes. He’s also made some pretty good signings, too. Gooch and Medunjanin are excellent additions. Picault has been more positive than not as well. I think Wijnaldum will pan out soon, too. His drafting has been good, too. Let’s see what he does in the off season.

      • @All4U
        I would take that choice but I question if that is the real choice presented to this organization. I have a hard time imagining how waiting for the winter would improve the prospects for who they can sign. if they have the cap space and the roster spot and they are sure the player they are seeking would be a good fit then there isn’t any downside to signing them now. with the way the salary cap works there is no advantage to not spending the maximum amount on salaries under the dp threshold. the team doesn’t lose any money on it because the league collectively pays the checks of every roster up to the salary cap

  4. All4U,

    You might be right about Simpson. In the press release for Medunjanin it mentions that it is a two year contract with a team option for a third. That may also be why we are paying so much for Simpson, you would have to pay him enough to entice him over.

    With Edu, I think it depends on where the team is when he comes back. If we go 2-1-1 before Minnesota then he’s a CB or DMid Depth. If we go 0-1-3 then lets try him at the #8 and with Bedoya out wide.

    Glass-half-full, if Haris/Edu work as 6/8 and Bedoya on the right. Add in a Solid #10 that is a pretty solid midfield with Fafa stretching things out. Even a midfield 3 of Edu/Bedoya/Medunjanin would be interesting. Although you would need Keegan to make a cameo from last year for that to really work.

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