Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
From Tim McDermott, the Union’s Chief Business Officer:
Good morning to you too! Yep new Field was put in three weeks ago. Took out 5 inches or so of soil and sand. Major improvement. But yes I am concerned with Steel playing there as well and how it holds up. Will be monitored closely.
— Tim McDermott (@TimMcDermott6) December 24, 2018
I’m still smarting over Keegan Rosenberry being shipped off to Colorado, so let’s take a stroll down Nostalgia Street with his 2016 goal and celebration in Columbus.
USL
Sacramento Republic signed 34-year-old Dekel Keinan, a former FC Cincinnati captain and EPL defender.
MLS
The third and final installment of Matt’s Doyle’s 2018 season recaps was posted on Christmas Eve, where he looks at teams one through seven.
Houston Dynamo signed a Slovenian international defender, Aljaz Struna.
U.S. Soccer
Timothy Weah to be loaned from PSG, rumored to join the Scottish club Celtic.
Around the globe
Grant Wahl predicts 10 people and trends that will dominate the soccer headlines in 2019.
Steve Goff over at The Washington Post put up matches and events to look out for next year.
Luton Town, in England’s third division, leads the way to end gambling’s grip on soccer.
Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan is out for six weeks, due to a foot injury.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants ManU players to enjoy Old Trafford today.
Sorta soccer-related:
The China State Council released guidelines on Friday to speed up the development of the sports industry, aiming to grow it to a 2 trillion yuan (about $290 billion) industry by 2025. https://t.co/IwEOGj8p5j pic.twitter.com/528cYtHzvA
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) December 21, 2018
Highlight of the day
I wonder if any clubs play this song before kickoff.
A remarkable turn of events in the PL this Xmas season: Who’d have bet on City losing three of four matches and that two of them would be to Palace and Leicester? A real gift to Liverpool.
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Tim Weah to Celtic is surprising to me. I don’t follow the Scottish PL, but suspect he’ll have a more regular role there? There’s a bit of a title race going on, so that should be good for him. Hope he makes an impact. He’s become a favorite MNT player for me.
Not the greatest league, but he will be playing in elimination matches in the Scottish cup and the Europa league if he can acclimate quickly. Expectations in pressure situations is what he’ll be dealing with. Hopefully he grows and doesn’t wilt!
RIP Sigi Schmid. One of my most painful moments in soccer came at your hands, but you were a force and, from all accounts, a great guy.
The good news is that there will be plenty of manure to fertilize the new field.