Photo: Philadelphia Union
Philadelphia Union
Philadelphia Union Academy midfielder Brendan Aaronson commits to Indiana University. (Go Hoosiers.)
Aaronson was also among three Union Academy players to earn honors from United Soccer Coaches. He and Axel Picazo made the All-Region team, while Tonny Temple was recognized with top All-American honors. Temple, if you recall, is a talented 16-year-old forward who trained with Bethlehem Steel in the spring.
MLS
Sign the letter, #SaveTheCrew.
The conference finals commence tonight after a long international break!
A breakdown of Toronto FC versus Columbus Crew (8:00 p.m., ESPN) . And five factors that will decide the game.
Without leading scorers Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco, what are TFC’s forward options?
Out west, Seattle Sounders visit Houston Dynamo (9:30 p.m., FS1).
2017 will be remembered as the year the Eastern Conference surpassed the West.
Preach: Why MLS needs to let teams sell players within the league.
Atlanta United’s Miguel Almiron has been named Newcomer of the Year.
Toronto FC skipper Greg Vanney was named Coach of the Year.
NWSL
With perennial contender FC Kansas City moving to Salt Lake, a sad history of dominant women’s soccer teams who folded off the field.
U.S. Soccer
Get to know your U.S. Soccer Federation presidential candidates!
USMNT may not hire a coach until after the World Cup. Probably a good call.
Around the globe
Mid-week Champions League previews!
Nothing to see here: FIFA trial discloses off-the-books payments to top soccer officials.
A 17 year old kid playing every weekend with Steel on a pro track commits to Indiana. Good school and good footy program as college goes granted.
.
Real.
Trusty.
Jones can’t get on the MLS field.
Pulisic writes a spot on article highlighting the deficiencies.
.
21-23 year old MEN still fighting in lower league aren’t ready for first team….
.
Let me ask you two questions.
.
What’s in it for Richie Graham?
What’s the point of a this?
.
Still too soon to discern one can argue but man i just don’t get it.
Maybe Real, Trusty, Jones aren’t good enough. Maybe they don’t have the inner drive for excellence. What was that article (I think in the Guardian) from a few weeks ago about the attrition rate of young players in English club academies not making it onto the first team. 99% or so don’t make it. (The dark and dirty story no one wants to know)
Definitely possible and shows the danger/absurdity of building just through “The Academy.”
I understand this…you are missing my point though.
Matt Real needs to become an offensive force from left back according to his coach before he is a candidate for left back on the first team.
.
I read the organization’s handling of Derrick Jones that they want more than what he showed, so he went back down to the minors to work on it. They want him understudying Bedoya, and learning to be an offensive force.
.
Trusty should be in a battle with Marquez.
.
I do take gentle exception to the comment about inner drive for excellence. I cannot comment from direct observation about Derrick Jones as much as I can the other two. What Real achieved in 2016 speaks to his mentality very positively. What I have observed of Trusty as an alumnus around the edges of the YSC School House speaks intensely about inner drive for excellence.
.
Real will spend next season with the Steel working on becoming a dominant left back at the USL level.
.
Jones is trying to become an impact two-way player at one of the more difficult positions to do so on the soccer field.
.
Trusty Should be getting a chance to surpass Marquez, because his ceiling is higher. If he does not win the starting job, he will continue to play for the Steel in games since experience is so important to becoming a mistake free defender.
.
It is too early to say they are not good enough to see the field.
I have no direct knowledge either way on inner drive, Tim. And I truly hope you are right in your observations.
Recall please that Trusty had committed to UNC Chapel Hill before signing the HG Player contract.
.
The essence of Mr. Graham’s product is providing good quality college preparation and, primarily, D1 NCAA soccer. It is way too early to figure out how he may profit down the road. In a decade, if the Academy is an unqualified success, he could be in demand as a consultant on this continent and through out the world and could command hefty fees for his expertise.
.
Otherwise, to the degree that he holds shares in the Union, he could cash those at some point.
.
of course the fees and concessions from YSC Sports are his.
Pro ball has a lot of catching up to do to get to this level, but it speaks to the fact that MLS academy teams should essentially be for 17-21 year-olds. And should play in a league amongst themselves. By 21, if you’re not ready for the first team, you get sold to a div 2 club. Be that NASL, USL or whatever.
–
We can wring our hands about the college to pro pipeline, which is not nearly good enough right now, but without a comparable, tiered pyramid with better incentives for club and player (players go to college now because if they can’t make a first div team in the US, they’d be better off as a Starbucks barista than a starter for some USL club).
–
In short, I totally agree. And it’s a bit depressing how far away we are.
I played two deck blackjack in a shitball casino in Elko, NV last week. To answer your question re:Mr Graham, sometimes dudes don’t care about losing money…
Jay Sugarman.
.
The TJ Max of MLS soccer. Where you can get a brand at discount in a hodgepodge collection of outdated brands.
.
Atlanta United. Banana Republic.
Toronto FC. Prada on 5th.
Seattle FC. Patagonia.
.
….what did this city do…. for this ultimate New York mind fuck. As a Philadelphian, there is nothing worse than New York in pro sports. I swear to The Diety, my tinfoil hat says this is a master plan by design.
.
I always thought of the Union as more like a Ross or Marshalls. The Crew are TJ Maxx.
–
SKC are Century 21.
–
Atlanta is nicer than Banana Republic. I see them more like a Zara or Uniqlo.
–
Seattle is North Face while Portland is Patagonia.
–
I spent way too much time thinking about this.
yet i do not disagree with your assessments, so well done. your efforts did not go unnoticed
Toronto FC wasted money.
.
They spent a couple of years of salary for Bradley, Altidore and Giovinco while they built the supporting foundation.
.
A more efficient use of the money would have been to build the foundation before spending on DP salaries.
The goal of any footballing endeavor by a pro club is to win a title. Toronto began playing in 2007, 10 years ago. They now stand as favorites to win that title, having set the record for most points earned by an MLS club in a season. Last season, they appeared at the finals. Hard to say that the money spent on the club’s three DPs were misspent with those results.
Yeah, jokes on TFC. They have to play in the conference finals for the second year in the row, while the Union get to enjoy another Thanksgiving at home with the family.
“Hate playing in cold weather months? Well no worries here mate, sign with the U and it’s all but guaranteed to wrap before Columbus Day” – from the Academy Pipeline Report
For anyone who thinks Don Garber has any clue how to run a league, you are flat out WRONG.
.
Not only are the playoff semi-finals on a Tuesday night rather than say last Saturday when you’re likely to get a bigger audience, THEY ARE SCHEDULED TO OVERLAP!!! Can you see the NBA scheduling their semifinals with those starting times on the same night? No, because they are not run by a moron.
.
Do you really think this guy has enough brains to tie his own shoelaces, much less figure out a way to keep the Crew in Columbus?
totally agree.
playoff structure is a disgrace. sure, ESPN and Fox will commit air time on a tuesday, in the fall.
MLS needs a 3.0 commissioner.
When will our youth learn that delaying college is best for their soccer career?
There’s an experation date on every pro athlete, wasting four irreplaceable years of your development screwing around in college is tragic.
It’s the going for free part, that expires soon as you sign a pro contract that wouldn’t cover the cost of college.
Further to your point, the being accepted to certain elite institutions because you can play for their soccer team part which might expire as soon as you sign a pro contract. I don’t know the first thing about Rosenberry’s or Trusty’s (or any of the other players’) academics, but it is quite possible that neither Rosenberry nor Trusty qualified for top academic institutions like Georgetown and UNC, respectively solely on their academic merits. If soccer doesn’t work out for Rosenberry, he has a diploma from Georgetown. If soccer doesn’t work out for Trusty, he will have to pay for college and he might not be accepted by schools of UNC’s academic standing.
College programs could do a lot of good here by adopting a full year schedule for the sport. Better align it with what a pro-athlete might need. It’s not ideal, but might be an interesting American solution for the time being.
There’s some momentum towards that in the NCAA, but one dilemma if they make the change will be the college season will continue after the MLS draft. Drafted players would have to leave their teams before the season ends and before the conference and NCAA tournaments.
there’s a movie in that magicJack story. hell, get nextflix to do a series on WPS to NWSL.