Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
They did something! David Accam to Philly, and a stack of Garber-bucks to Chicago.
And it appears they’ll be incentivized to keep him for some time.
The Union may have also given the fans exactly what they want, another new uniform teaser!
Just kidding, what fans actually want is to address desperate roster needs. Luckily, according to Earnie Stewart and Jim Curtin, they’re still looking to sign a #10.
Also, Matt Real and Mark McKenzie have been signed to the first team.
The Union also had three picks in the second half of the SuperDraft, and went with midfielder Mike Catalano from Wisconsin, forward Aidan Apodaca from California Baptist, and midfielder Matt Danilack from Dartmouth.
To top it all off, THE UNION WON SOMETHING! Technically.
Local
It was a quiet SuperDraft for the Union, but Reading United had four players get picked by MLS teams in the first two round.
A former Ocean City Nor’easter(/Bar0n) is fighting for promotion to the Hong Kong Premier League while holding down a regular suit-and-tie job at JP Morgan.
Bethlehem Steel FC has released their full 2018 schedule.
Philly team to face team owned by Kraft family (of the New England Revolution) in national championship. I understand this may be of some interest.
MLS
At the SuperDraft Don Garber and Mark Abbott played good-cop bad-cop with the Sons of Ben in response to them making their opinions known about the situation in Columbus. #SaveTheCrew
Speaking of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, SI has an exhaustive breakdown of the results.
Gyasi Zardes to Columbus and Ola Kamara to the Galaxy.
Stoke City is trying to buy Jack Harrison.
Sheanon Williams is spending the preseason with DC United. (Thanks Andy for the spelling correction.)
NWSL
The National Women’s Soccer League had their draft this weekend and SB Nation has a full breakdown.
Of particular note, the Washington Spirit drafted Andi Sullivan No. 1 overall.
The big headline though is the massive three-way trade sending Christen Press to the Houston Dash; Carli Lloyd, Janine Beckie, and Jen Hoy to New Jersey’s Sky Blue FC; and Sam Kerr and Nikki Stanton to the Chicago Red Stars.
US Soccer
Sepp Blatter knew the US wouldn’t be hosting the 2022 World Cup before the vote even happened.
Positive spin: playing in Europe has improved Matt Miazga’s ball handling.
Click to see Mallory Pugh’s awesome goal against Denmark, and enjoy the bizarre hair-metal style goal call too.
If you’ve got three hours to fill, you could watch the US Soccer Presidential Candidate Forum.
Hannover hobbles Weston McKinnie.
World
Liga MX is at a decision point for what kind of league they will be.
A Chelsea fan stormed the pitch after the ref ejected Morata. As the authorities escorted him off the field, a Norwich City player noticed the intruder had dropped his cigarettes and returned them to him.
There’s nothing new about Bayern dominating the Bundesliga. What is new is just how poorly everyone else is doing.
Meanwhile, Serie A is surprisingly competitive this season.
So the Union got the Digital team of the year award…basically a participation trophy since 14 of 20 teams received at least one award.
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I know I’m in the minority here, but if I can only watch one game between Philly and a Kraft owned team in the next two months, it will be the first weekend in March.
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One small spellcheck correction, it is Sheannon Williams, not Shannon.
Best Dressed Front Office.
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Fwiw, the Super Bowl is a negative parallel to MLS for both teams – the Eagles managed to build something quick and have success amidst a rabid fan base, and the Patriots have been successful for almost 20 years. Conversely, the Union continue to fail on the field and only have moderate success off, while the Revs underwhelm each year and are grossly overlooked compared to their big brother.
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Both MLS fan bases deserve better and both NFL teams show that success is easy to find when you commit the necessary resources and believe in management.
To be fair, their digital presence was pretty great all year.
i’m not being sarcastic at all when i dispute your claim about their digital team. the fresh prince parody video was amazing and their award was deserved
I wasn’t disputing their claim to the award so much as commenting that maybe 23 separate awards is too many.
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Digital Team of the Year
Social Media Activation of the Year
Digital Content Experience of the Year
3 separate awards? Really?
But Andy, there wouldn`t be enough trophies for EVERYONE to get one if we did it your way!
D’oh.
“A former Ocean City Nor’easter(/Bar0n) is fighting for promotion to the Hong Kong Premier League while holding down a regular suit-and-tie job at JP Morgan.”
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These are great stories that maybe someday can litter US Soccer. Unfortunately… not in the cards here.
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Why it’s that a great story? Sounds like he exercises after work on occasion. Meh
Let’s see, considering US Soccer is geared 100% towards forgetting about the adult soccer player I think its pretty cool in other places that a mid 20s bricklayer/banker/bartender with a dream still has a chance to catch on somewhere and make a go of it.
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You know….open systems, Open Cups that matter— and all that bullshit.
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as fatiguing as this narrative is yours is equally so.
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…the comment “sounds like he exercises after work” is ignorant and insulting to him and the team to be quite honest which leads me to…
..are you @DanLoney?
Before he became a full professional player, Alan Pardew worked as a glazier when he was playing in the lower leagues in England. It’s an unlikely path but can happen.
Sorry but every story of some small town…. team …player…..is always a great story to push a narrative of look they got a chance. And I hate to tell you but the part about he went to college playing soccer would be something that so many people who push this same narrative think is a problem.
Meanwhile it leaves out this story.
Maholo was born in Tokyo, Japan to a Congolese father and a Japanese mother. He developed his goalkeeping skills at a young age, playing for Kawasaki Frontale’s (J-League) Under-18 team.
After sending out highlight reels to dozens of colleges, Maholo earned a scholarship from Boston College where he was a regular starter for most of his time with the Eagles. Which is a free education and a job at JP Morgan that lets him have a chance to chase a dream.
No, I’m not Dan Loney.
Oh and for the record he’s 32.
If the Union’s jersey doesn’t have a gold stripe down the middle, that might be branding suicide. That look has become iconic, and moves in the past (like DC going away from all black and Columbus away from yellow) were met with harsh criticism. Once the full look is revealed we can evaluate further, but that small look is somewhat underwhelming.
I could move away from the gold stripe in a heartbeat.
same here. for me, best kit was retro BSFC.
regarding this particular kit though, looks to me like a training top not a primary. i’m all for hoops but too subtle for my tastes.
I agree with el P and Chris. I never cared for the center stripe, and if that was the look they were going for, I would preferred to have seen the proportions different (like the Arsenal or Ajax shirts). Either way, the center stripe clearly wasn’t working for them, so maybe a different look will correlate to different results on the field. Just wish they hadn’t decided on something so bland…if they are going to go with hoops, I would have preferred two distinct colors so it didn’t look like a plain blue training top.
A redditor drafted a similar jersey but with blue and gold hoops, which looked pretty sharp. Definitely distinctive. I like this one, but would have preferred something that stood out a little more.
LOVED that kit, wish it was real.
Fair enough if I’m in the minority, I’m by no means an expert, but it seems like Adidas was really keen on that and made it a large part of the initial branding. It can be dangerous moving away from a base look, but I will concede to the masses and await the new look.
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That being said, with the new gold in the logo a slight brand tweak is likely anyway. I’ve seen the gold hoops concept as well and it was sharp.
I’m with you 100% that the center stripe is valuable branding that it would be foolish to throw away. BUT I could see this departure from it as a worthwhile palate cleanser. Throw the stripe haters a bone, and make the home kit in two years look innovative when it features a center stripe.
I agree with this, center stripe and badge are totally unique; really sharp.
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I was hoping for the gold center stripe/badge, but with the 5 hoops extending from the edge of the stripe around the trunk. Great upgrade when you see a mockup, room for many future variations, and still totally unique.
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What they’ve got for the next two years…Not bad, but separates us from the rest of the pack. It’s been done.
Harrison to Stoke can only mean good thing for MLS, if he makes an impact of some sort. I caught some of Stoke’s match this weekend, and they already have a lot of speed on the wings, by the look of it, though I don’t really follow Stoke too closely. I wish him well. A good move for him and potentially the league. Hope Stoke stays up.
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I hope the U find that #10 they’re looking for this week. They gotta get these new players into camp earlier. Gotta spend $1 million + just to get one of those last few playoff spaces. Player has to be a home run.
What a great story. Some poor kid from England stood up to the system and came to America to develop in a closed system. Only to hit it big and be sold back.
Just kidding el P.
You’re not Ted right?
I didn’t know Tim Howard was such a Company Man?
as for NWSL, shocked Jersey would trade away the best female player in league (and beyond) for a sentimental, sunsetting return of Lloyd. that three way trade is bonkers. does Lloyd deserve where to finish out? absolutely. but at what cost? Houston desperately needed to improve. they did. maybe it’ll work out for everyone.
I think the move is financial rather than tactical or sentimental. Lloyd will sell more tickets in Jersey, and the league needs money if it wants to keep breaking longevity records.
Miazga has improved his ball handling in Europe.
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I see what you did there, Jim. Very well done.
I wish I could take credit for that, but in the spirit of all the best journalism I stole that joke from reddit.
Seriously, does anyone know if that sort of thing happens alot at the professional level and just doesn’t get noticed? Or is it a rare occurance?