Photo by Earl Gardner
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Philadelphia Union
Dočkal watch 2018 continues, with the Czech sighted on the sidelines during a Union friendly over the weekend.
Speaking of preseason friendlies … oh well. At least Medunjanin’s goal was pretty.
The good news is someone’s come up with an alternative to “trust the process” for the Union. The bad news is no they didn’t.
Here’s Goal.com’s preview for the Union’s 2018 season. In case you need something to do for 30 minutes or so before our preview starts to goes live.
Local
Head Coach Brendan Burke will return to Bethlehem this season.
Steel blue topped Syracuse orange 2-0.
Union Academy U17 player Marco Bla has committed to Old Dominion University.
Penn State Women beat NWSL’s Sky Blue FC.
Penn FC has poached a pair of Portuguese players, pending league approval. They’re from FC Edmonton, which disappointingly doesn’t have a “p” in it.
MLS
Columbus won their second straight Carolina Challenge Cup. #SaveTheCrew
Hey look, the Globe is paying attention to the Revs! Technically.
If this goes the way Google Translate makes it seem, the Union could lose their position as #1 target for uninspired goalkeeper jokes.
Jordan Morris tore his ACL and could be out for 3-4 months.
Despite the fawning headlines, LAFC’s inaugural uniforms are underwhelming.
US Soccer
Julie Ertz didn’t let Super Bowl festivities get in the way of her training for next weekend’s SheBelieves Cup.
Julian Green was named Man of the Match for Greuther Fürth after an impressive showing against Braunschweig.
Don’t let the score sheet fool you, Aron Johannsson scored the goal that won the Nordderby for SV Werder Bremen.
As the sun sets on the generation that lost to Trinidad and Tobago, things look bright just over the horizon.
World
My theory is that he’s saying this to 1) stick it the the US since the FBI brought him down and 2) to bolster his defense’s case that he really did think Qatar would be a lovely setting for a summer tournament.
Speaking of which, people are starting to realize Qatar would be a horrible setting for a tournament at any time of the year. (Google Translate)
Sunderland’s sorrows continue.
German fans are upset about the direction the Bundesliga is heading.
How good is Messi? He’s so good people think he’s carrying a team that includes Iniesta, Suárez, and Vidal.
Interesting piece on the Bundesliga. I have to say, I’m generally in favor of progress and tend to be optimistic about technology. But I remain very skeptical of VAR. I must admit I don’t really follow the Bundesliga, but VAR’s applications in the FA cup matches I’ve watched have not been convincing. Many of the most controversial calls still come down to a bit of subjective calls on the part of referees. I like goal line tech. That makes sense, but I don’t think VAR does anything more than remove authority from officials who really don’t need more reasons to have that authority questioned.
There just needs to be more control when it comes to VAR. Take it out of the hands of the Ref and have one central organization that looks at all replays. Having the Ref’s do it, just gives more credence to Footy being rife with corruption. I watched one clip where a Ref went to VAR, something was clearly wrong, the Ref ignored it and went the wrong way despite the video evidence. It’s crazy.
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Can someone explain what the fuss is about over Monday night games?
The Everton/Liverpool FA tie was chaos. It was hard to know who knew what was going on. –
On Monday’s, yeah. Not sure. I know Monday’s started in the PL a year ago or so, and people grumbled about it, but didn’t go ballistic. I think it’s just seen as a way to cater to TV. I think Monday’s are not helpful for away support either. It’s a breach of tradition. Never popular.
The Monday night thing is weird. DFL says the games give Europa League teams more time to recover from Thursday games. Angry fans say this is an attempt to squeeze more money out of them (though I’ve yet to see how). I don’t believe it’s a TV issue, because it’s damn near impossible to watch Bundesliga games on TV in Germany any day of the week.
I wouldn’t want MLS to schedule Monday games, given the choice. Middle of the week fine, it breaks up the week. Monday is time to focus on everything I ignored over the weekend.
Germany’s application of VAR has been particularly poorly done. In my opinion MLS has done a fair job ensuring it doesn’t effect the pace of the game too much, Bundesliga VAR feels very NFL with it’s pacing and speed of decision making.
Hmmmm…
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https://twitter.com/sportsdoctormd/status/968139924963758080
Huh?