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News roundup: Picault, Rosenberry make Team of the Week, Philadelphia to host Gold Cup Quarterfinal matches, more.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

Fafa Picault and Keegan Rosenberry made the MLS Team of the Week after the Union’s 5-1 win over Minnesota United.

Local

Philadelphia will host a doubleheader in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Gold Cup. Matches will be played at Lincoln Financial Field in June.

Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer is putting on Futbol Friday this Friday. Wear a soccer jersey, share a picture, and contribute!

The Philadelphia Unity Cup final day is Saturday. Here’s a preview of the third place match between Ireland and U.S.A.

Penn FC will go on hiatus in 2019 as they look for a stadium, returning in 2020 in the USL’s second tier League One.

Bethlehem Steel F.C. defender A.J. Paterson was called up to the Grenada national team for their Nations League match against Cuba this week.

MLS

F.C. Cincinnati released renderings of their soon-to-be-built stadium.

Around the globe

Benfica is going after a blogger after he published confidential documents from the club.

Thierry Henry is reportedly set to be the next manager for Monaco.

Two Russian players are being investigated for allegedly beating a government official at a cafe.

12 Comments

  1. el Pachyderm says:

    Congrats to Keegan and Fafa for making TOTW. Someone recently took me to task (yet again) regarding criticism I’ve levied against the RB in the past.
    .
    I’ve been on the record for giving him a hard time because he did not seem focused, as best an outsider can tell. Strange too because he was sitting the bench for almost an entire season… I mean it could be Jim just stopped liking him…
    .
    …or it could be that Keegan actually was a unfocused and not hitting the standard day in day out. You see, travel soccer then Division I college soccer… could be considered a pretty incubated happy happy footy life, until you turn 22-23 and get smacked in the face with your first real adversity as it relates maybe to anything or specifically professional soccer.
    .
    Maybe it took Keegan a season to realize shit wasn’t just going to come easy for him. Maybe the manager needed to send him a message. Maybe posting comments about golf tournaments after hard defeats when you sat the bench for the 8th straight game or posting Tweets about “sitting the bench again” and asking the public to add comments was all part of the learning process for a young player who clearly needed to realize being a professional– is just that.
    .
    Obviously life is a full and enriching experience and far be it from someone like me to think a professional need only be concerned about their occupation and nothing else. Course, time and place and “all that Jazz,” and the responsibility to understand perception is reality whether that is the case or not.
    .
    I took and quite honestly take exception to said comments for thinking I do not like Keegan simply because I grilled him. I have no ill will towards the player and find his game to be very strong. I am hopeful his defensive soundness grows into his clearly excellent offensive capabilities as an outside back. Maybe– just maybe in this entitlement age, Keegan Rosenberry needed to receive a very clear message his manager was sending him and my comments were actually spot on. Maybe. Just maybe Keegan learned something sitting the bench. Learned that it sucks and doubled down- you know first in- last out type leadership and behavior instead of daydreaming about Jordan Spieth.
    .
    So in closing and I hope once and for all…maybe this little treaties will put future comments by some commenters to bed about the elephant and the right back- eh, UnionGoal?

    • John O'Donnell Jr says:

      Maybe the manager knows more than he’s getting credit for as well. Gaddis had his spot with him on the bench and when he won it back was moved to the left side even though he’s right footed. But I do agree that Keegan probably suffered from Jack Mac syndrome and Curtin gave him a taste of the bench too cure it. Gaddis is probably having his best season by far playing on the left. He’s shown improvement in his ability to go forward and has stabilized a position that as a weakness in the beginning of the season.

      Maybe, just maybe, some commenters should start giving Curtin credit as to how he’s coaching this young team. Playoffs in two out the last three years, but this team is totally different than the other team that made it. Players are starting to peak going into the playoffs. The coach has definitely matured this year in his coaching ability. Clearly there is a vision and dare I say team identity in place now.

      Maybe, just maybe, this team doesn’t suck.

    • Keegan was a victim of a bad system with poor pre-season prep. Missing a #10 last year rippled through the rest of the line-up, and obviously sent Jim down many dead ends while trying to get the line-up to work.
      .
      Rosenberry didn’t get any help in the beginning of last year, with Gooch being slow and still learning the system and a wide variety of RB in front of him. Add to that Bedoya’s lack of experience in the center.
      .
      My take is that he was benched for the wrong reasons, and very easily would have had a solid year last year instead of having to wait until the end of the season to get back on the field. He was definitely a victim of Jim’s “well it looks like things are almost ok out there, I better not jinx it by changing anything”. I don’t believe that running Fabinho out there on the left was better than having Rosenberry on the right.

  2. OneManWolfpack says:

    It appears Accam was injured or got injured and is out 8 weeks – which is probably the rest of the season – h/t Mike Servidio & John Tannenwald on Twitter. Bummer, but hopefully he returns healthy next season. Speaking of health… really, really need Ilsinho to stay healthy for the rest of this season.

    • Sounds like he had a hernia and was repaired in 2017 but the repair didn’t work. Would really explain a lot about why he has looked so different this year. Assuming this fixes that problem, he should be back to his old self next year which is a great thing for our team. I thought he looked great the first game of the season and crap since then, maybe that’s when he re-injured it.

      • I for one would like to see Accam return to what he is capable of. It would present a conundrum though, as Fafa definitely does better on the left and Accam is not suited for the right.

      • MLS.com says he’s out for 2 months after hernia surgery. However, the article also calls him “one of their most dangerous attacking players” which leads me to believe that it is not an accurate article :-).

      • Reputation can seduce sports journalists whose focus is dominated by breadth rather than depth.
        .
        Listen to most USL telecasters / videocasters.
        .
        I know nothing of USL western conference, and only a little about the other 15 teams in USL east.
        .
        Knowing what you do not know is one of the most fundamental tools in rational human thought.

  3. John O'Donnell Jr says:

    Maybe the manager knows more than he’s getting credit for as well. Gaddis had his spot with him on the bench and when he won it back was moved to the left side even though he’s right footed. But I do agree that Keegan probably suffered from Jack Mac syndrome and Curtin gave him a taste of the bench too cure it. Gaddis is probably having his best season by far playing on the left. He’s shown improvement in his ability to go forward and has stabilized a position that as a weakness in the beginning of the season.

    Maybe, just maybe, some commenters should start giving Curtin credit as to how he’s coaching this young team. Playoffs in two out the last three years, but this team is totally different than the other team that made it. Players are starting to peak going into the playoffs. The coach has definitely matured this year in his coaching ability. Clearly there is a vision and dare I say team identity in place now.

    Maybe, just maybe, this team doesn’t suck.

    • OneManWolfpack says:

      I think this is where Curtin is actually good. He is a “player’s coach”. He talks straight. Former player. Guys love him because he defends them to the hilt. However, his tactics are non-existent and it holds this team back more often than it propels them forward. If he can bring a lot more to the tactical side of the game next season (I assume he will be back), he would be a DAMN good coach.

      • The template for the organization’s way of playing by definition restricts tactical flexibility.
        .
        To hear Earnie tell it, the template was developed with everyone’s input into the underlying philosophy.
        .
        They sacrifice that in exchange for comparative interchangeability of the parts.
        .
        A benefit showed today in Brendan Burke’s conference call. He used the phrase” 17 and 18 year-old grizzled veterans.”
        .
        Seven such started against Indy Eleven Saturday night and outplayed a veteran team for good stretches.

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