Photo credit: Philly Soccer Page photographer
Philadelphia Union
A zero-zero draw against visiting Seattle extends the “are the Union for real” conversation for at least another week.
Local, Seattle, and national coverage.
Things did not go well for Bethlehem when the hosted the Ottawa Fury, losing 3-0.
In case you missed it: The Crew have traded David Accam’s 2020 MLS rights to Nashville SC. But don’t worry, Accam knew Ohio was just a layover on his trip to Tennessee.
MLS
Since October 2018 Chris Wondolowski has needed just two goals to pass Landon Donovan and become the all-time MLS goal scoring leader. Seven months later he got those two, and two more, as the Quakes beat the Fire 4-1.
The MLS Disciplinary Committee has given Zlatan Ibrahimovic a two game ban for choking Sean Johnson.
More on the Fire’s move out of Bridgeview and into Chicago.
The Dynamo are third in the West, and yet this is what their stadium looks like as they beat DC United 2-1.
A late Ethan Finlay goal lifted the Loons past the Crew.
RSL beating Toronto 3-0 is surprising, but the big story is probably Alejandro Pozuelo’s red card which will have him missing at least next weekend’s game against San Jose.
NYCFC has banned some fans for violating the MLS and NYCFC Supporters Codes of Conduct. At the time of writing there is no word yet as to who they were, what they did to get banned, or how the ban will be enforced.
Bruce Arena doesn’t think he needs to redeem himself.
The Red Bulls went down a man early in the game, but still beat Atlanta United thanks to a Tom Barlow goal ten minutes after the forward was substituted on.
Orlando City still hasn’t proven itself to be a great team. But they still put five goals on Cincinnati.
The Colorado Rapids finally earned their first win of the season, beating the Galaxy 1-0.
NWSL
The good news is Sky Blue FC scored two goals and the Seattle Reign only scored one. The bad news is the Julie James goal went in the defender’s own net. Seattle wins 2-1.
The undefeated Washington Spirit also benefited from an own goal, but they didn’t need it to beat Portland 3-1.
Sam Kerr and the Chicago Red Stars knocked the Houston Dash out of first place by beating the Texans 2-1.
US Soccer
Break out the kiwis, Tyler Boyd has made the switch to become eligible for the USMNT.
The NCAA is considering updating the way college soccer is run, bringing it in-line with how the game is actually played and hopefully leading to more compelling and productive programs.
Occasionally-healthy Werder Bremen and USMNT player Aron Jóhannsson is leaving the green and whites.
World
Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben both scored in their finals games for Munich as the Bavarians beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1.
Vincent Kompany is leaving Manchester to become a player-manager for Anderlecht.
Pep Guardiola putting Man City’s achievements in perspective.
Meanwhile, in Poland…
The Houston stadium situation makes me think that having a downtown stadium is NOT necessarily an indication that you’ll get good crowds, even if the team is doing well.
THIS.
I suspect the biggest factor with Houston is that weather is hot, humid, and generally miserable during much of the MLS season. There’s a reason the Astros and Texans play indoors.
And Talen was fun on Saturday in a way it hasn’t been in a while. Far away from the city, head to head with the Phillies, and still sold out and rocking. It’s winning and a compelling leadership narrative, both of which the Union have right now.
Agree with Chris. Talen was great fun on Saturday. SOB’s section was packed and the stadium had a good vibe all around.
My cousin lives in Houston. He describes its weather thus, “it’s always summer, and then there’s July and August.”
I am surprised since when I went couple years ago it was packed. They also have some great bars around the stadium. I think this is just an off night. The average attendance has been around 21,000 per game.
It wasn’t exactly packed for the Open Cup final last year. Granted, that was a midweek game but it was for a trophy. Talen was definitely fuller both times the Union hosted the Open Cup final.
More surprising is that they have three games in hand on LAFC and are eight points out of first. They seem to be a young exciting team with a history of winning MLS Cups in their history. Definitely adds to the thought that either soccer doesn’t matter or fans are upset that the Dynamo play in a league without pro/rel.
I think the downtown stadium narrative applies when there are interested parties who would go to games it was more conveniently located, but I agree that it doesn’t necessarily translate directly to larger crowds. In the Union’s case – they are finally winning, and the stadium was full again. Not a coincidence.
Hopefully the college season gets changed as it will give more players a path to the pros. I know people are not fans of the draft but the Union have a certain fourth round pick who is doing quite well at the moment. If nothing else, it will hope grow the game.
The draft was something Ernst covered during his round table last week. He mentioned that most top players would have gone pro at a younger age and that he didn’t see it as all that valuable a tool. He mentioned that none of the picks the Union traded to Cincinnati are still with the team. He did not mention that three of the Union’s starters came to the team directly through the draft.
Yea, I have no problem with his thinking. The thing is if they change the college season it could help players with better development. If nothing else it might improve the player pool for USL teams. There are always late bloomers in every sport.
Should not have mentioned the $5 beer at the Ale deck…. Line was 3 to 5 times longer than before. Just sent an email to my ticket rep to increase staff there and to make 2 lines: 1 for beer and 1 for mixed drinks
I went up about 25 minutes before kickoff and gave up after I saw the line wasn’t moving. The sausage stand next to it had $7 cans though.
Ticket rep replied that they are addressing the issue. Hopefully will be better at the next game…
Only went a few times last year. As stated above the line was just silly. But the beer was good!
Also of note with the larger crowds, the merchandise stands that have been added to the concourse over the last couple of years caused some serious bottlenecks getting out after the game.
Somewhat unrelated, but I’m still perplexed that Jozy Altidore didn’t get suspended by the league for blasting a ball into the crowd last week when we played them. I know a player earlier this season got 2 or 3 games for it, but haven’t heard a peep about it for Jozy.
What about Monteiro blasting a bunch into the crowd Saturday? Of course his were just way over the goal during the run of play.
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I don’t remember Altidore doing that, but I doubt it was as hard and from point blank range they way the one was earlier that resulted in the suspension.