Photo Credit: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
Late Saturday night the Union lost 3-0 after giving Portland two penalty kicks in the second half.
They did it with a lineup full of of depth players as the Union look towards Wednesday’s USOC meeting with Chicago.
In fact the lineup was reported by the league as a 4-3-3. So even if the result was predictable, at least there was an attempt to be less tactically rigid.
Local and Oregonian coverage of the game.
In academy news, former Union and Steel player Ryan Richter has been promoted from his position as a coach with the Philadelphia Union Academy to be named as the new Director of Philadelphia Union Pre-Academy, a full-time program for U8 to U11 players.
Local
Speaking of Steel, the Richmond Kickers allowed three in without scoring any of their own, sending Bethlehem Steel FC back home with three points.
Reading United lost 4-2 to Calgary Foothills FC, ending their PDL Championship ambitions.
Penn FC narrowly lost to New York Red Bulls II.
MLS
Over 10,000 fans have committed to buying season tickets in 2019 if Anthony Precourt does the decent thing and stops trying to rob Columbus of their team. But you know, “business metrics”. #SaveTheCrew
Props to Minnesota United fans for identifying the jerk who threw a full beer can at Nico Lodeiro.
The New York Red Bulls will be retiring Bradley Wright-Phillips’ number 99 … before they retire Bradley Wright-Phillips.
Juventus was impressed by the job Atlanta did hosting the MLS All Star Game.
Speaking of the All Star Game, an MLS vs. Liga MX ASG could happen “very soon”.
Justin Meram is back in Ohio because time is a flat circle.
NWSL
The Golden Boot race is a dead heat, with seven players in serious contention for the title.
The North Carolina Courage beat five-time UEFA Champions League winners Olympique Lyonnais to become the first International Champions Cup winner.
New Jersey’s Sky Blue FC is facing more trouble still, this time with Janine Beckie not traveling with the team to Orlando, on top of the several players who didn’t make the trip due to an overbooked flight.
And of course all of this happens against a background of damning reports about the support and services Sky Blue FC provides to it’s players.
US Soccer
The US Women emphatically beat Brazil to become the 2018 Tournament of Nations Champions.
Timothy Weah started for PSG in their first Ligue 1 game of the season.
Oh and he scored.
Matt Miazga will also be spending the season in France, joining FC Nantes on a season-long loan with an option to buy.
Josh Sargent scored late to help Werder Bremen II draw against first-team rivals Hamburger SV.
World
Support means a lot. [Google Translate]
Apparently England just found out that kit designers, even the big ones, have been phoning it in lately.
Meh, 4-3-3 is the same as a 4-5-1 whenever Curtin is involved.
It was definitely a tale of two halves. We looked good until Fabinho happened.
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When will MLS get it, and realize they can capitalize on #SaveTheCrew. Just give them their team already and they look like the good guys (relatively speaking). They would be stupid not to take advantage of the groundswell.
The formation looked almost the same, honestly, except that the “2” in the 4-2-3-1 actually had shape. Considering the “defend first” goal of this match, that was nice to see. It didn’t work, per se, but it was nice to see.
Two points off the pace for making the playoffs with the most talented midfield the Union has ever had and aging quickly. A striker who had lost so much confidence that he can’t even make contact with the ball and this team hasn’t signed anybody during this window. I get that this team isn’t going far if they made the playoffs but I sure would like to see the rookie center backs get a taste of that environment. See ya Ernie, I won’t miss you
Huge stretch coming up over the next 3 games with regards to making the playoffs since 2 of the next 3 regular season games are against New England. At least 4 points in those would likely put the Union into 5th.
Yup. Big games against the Revs and keep an eye on the Impact – they are 2 points above the Union but have also played two more games and have a worse goal differential.
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Has the making of a three horse race for spots 5 & 6 in the East (Toronto is dangerous but still the odds are very much against them).
The team has no interest in being any better than having a chance at the 6th seed every year. That is the expectation.
The game that Weah scored in was, alas, not a Ligue 1 game. The league begins next weekend.
The game Weah scored in was the French equivalent of a Super Cup. Good game but still pre-season. PSG didn’t see it as crucial enough to start Neymar or to bring Mbappe back from vacation.