Photo: Paul Rudderow
It’s been a while since someone deserved to be named “player of the week” from the Union.
After a shining display in Harrison, N.J, goalkeeper Andre Blake deserves just that. The Jamaican international was named to the MLS Team of the Week after holding New York Red Bulls scoreless in the 0-0 draw.
It wouldn’t do the keeper enough justice to say he “stole” one point on the road. Blake was the only Philadelphia player who seemed interested in playing. His performance helped the Union secure another road result. It marked the third time in their last four matches they’ve secured a point away from home.
And it wouldn’t have been possible without PSP’s player of the week. Blake’s eight saves set a career high while keeping a clean sheet. Overall, it was his highest total since recording eight during the 2016 opener in Dallas. His career high of 10 saves, by the way, came during his sensational performance in New England back on Sep. 26, 2015.
I could pick and choose his best highlights for the match. There were his consecutive saves in the 26th minute. Or the remarkable double save late in the game to help keep the clean sheet. Instead, it’s easiest to just embed the full game highlights. There isn’t much more than Blake saves.
On the Blake front, there was also the news that two separate English sides made multimillion dollar offers for the Jamaican, but his nationality was the main reason any transfers fell through. Crystal Palace and Brighton could not secure the Union star because he was unable to secure a work permit. Why? Jamaica’s low FIFA ranking.
The timing of this is also interesting. Head coach Jim Curtin stated no offers were made for Blake during a press conference after the keeper returned from international duty. Maybe the offers came after his statement. Maybe not.
Previous Winners
- Week of Feb. 27 – Derrick Jones
- Week of Mar. 6 – Christian Pulisic
- Week of Mar. 13 — Zack Steffen
- Week of Mar. 27 — C.J. Sapong
- Week of Apr. 3 — Seku Conneh
- Week of Apr. 10 — Union U17s
- Week of Apr. 17 — C.J. Sapong
- Week of Apr. 24 — Hugh Roberts
- Week of May 1 — C.J. Sapong
- Week of May 8 — Haris Medunjanin
- Week of May 15 — Haris Medunjanin
- Week of May 22 — Derrick Jones
- Week of May 29 — Andre Blake
- Week of Jun. 5 — Christian Pulisic
- Week of Jun. 12 — Adam Najem
- Week of Jun. 19 — Andre Blake
- Week of Jun. 26 — Jack Elliott
- Week of Jul. 3 — John McCarthy
- Week of Jul. 10 — Alejandro Bedoya
- Week of Jul. 17 – Andre Blake
- Week of Jul. 24 – C.J. Sapong
- Week of Aug. 8 – Ilsinho
- Week of Aug. 14 — Jack Elliott
Not that I want Blake to leave, and I know the Union wouldn’t pocket the entire transfer fee anyway, but that rule preventing Blake from even having the option to go to the EPL is really lame.
Immigration policy and employment of foreigners are intensely political controversial decisions in any sovereign state, for example, the United States.
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Further influencing a soccer work permit would be the controlling association responsible for stewarding national team development, in this case the English FA.
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While FIFA uses a defined formula to create its rankings, creating the formula is intensely political within FIFA. If you search their website carefully you should find the explanation how they do it.
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Or we all ask Chris Sherman nicely to add a world national team ranking to his weekly computer run. Only kidding, Chris.