Daily news roundups

News roundup: Union Academy results, Austin FC groundbreaking, and Cuban defections

Photo: Marjorie Elzey 

Philadelphia Union 

The Union academy had a good first week of September.

Who has your vote for assist of the month? 

I think Andre Blake will win save of the month for August. 

MLS 

Is Jamiro Monteiro among the most underrated in the league?

What defines success for the Union, and the rest of MLS.

This week’s Instant Replay is here.

Austin FC broke ground on a stadium before NYCFC. 

World

Yes, Cuban players are still defecting.

President Trump and Gianni Infantino had a talk.

Dan Flynn is stepping away from U.S. Soccer. 

63,000 fans took in women’s matches in England over the weekend.

What else is new? U.S. Soccer is being sued again. 

6 Comments

  1. I have to wonder if “Minister of Culture” Matthew McConaughey has any idea of the slime he’s dealing with. Does he know that the whole league hates Precourt and what he did to get a team in Austin?

    • John O'Donnell Jr says:

      Anything different than what Houston did? Was it different when Kansas City was using that leverage to possibly move here? The 76ers didn’t start here but that’s the way of American sports teams. Columbus needed new blood and Precourt wasn’t going to change the politics of the city to get a stadium for a team that was last in attendance last year.
      .
      You can argue it was the most successful strategy for the league ever with two new stadiums, two new training facilities & massive investment in Columbus that was needed. Hopefully the new investment in the stadium will give the team a bump as they are still second to the bottom of league in attendance even after being saved.
      .
      In other news…
      .
      Monday marked the first time Trump publicly acknowledged he is engaged in efforts to address disparities in pay and resources between men’s and women’s soccer, an issue highlighted during the U.S. women’s national team’s recent victory.
      .
      Gets popcorn and let the show begin.

      • The US is a big country and there will always be greener pastures somewhere, but I think Columbus proved that it should not be “The Way” in the US.
        .
        As far as Precourt’s dealings with Columbus, it’s pretty well documented that he put very little into trying to make the team work there – or to communicate with the city at all, with the intent of moving them from day 1.
        .
        As far as attendance goes, as of last year the Union were below the mark that triggered Sugarman’s escape clause from Chester. Does that mean he should be allowed to move the team to another state? Especially considering this team was willed into existence by the fans?
        .
        How low would it take attendance to reach at Talen for you to say it’s a good idea for the Union to move to Charlotte?

      • John O'Donnell says:

        He can move it any time he wants, that’s the what capitalism is all about. No different than what players will be bargaining for with free agency. If there is a reason to move, that’s on the community. If they bargained an escape clause, it was for a reason and smart business. The fact that they are buying up land surrounding the area makes me think that’s not the plan. The Sons of Ben use to be 2,500 strong….times change.

      • It was a little different with Precourt in Cbus. What he did was it essentially the plot from the movie Major League. He zeroed out marketing budget, stopped doing maintenance on the stadium, and stopped trying to engage the local fan base and sponsors completely. The stadium food vendors were racking up health code violations like they were parking tickets. Some Cbus fans believed the league was colluding with him by scheduling all the marquee games against teams that are big draws on weeknights early in the season when the weather was bad and attendance would be poor to force down their average attendance, and by agreeing to his Austin escape clause in the first place. I’m sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but I think Precourt was probably trying to screw Columbus fans out of their team from the moment he bought the Crew back in 2013. Some may call that being a capitalist, others have a different word for it.

  2. Success is grabbing the number 1 seed and avoiding a trip to yankee stadium or Atlanta. From there expectations go up from just winning one playoff game.

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