Daily news roundups

News roundup: Monteiro may miss some of playoffs, FIFA president has COVID, 2020 good for NWSL

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

The Union face the Fire tonight.

Jim Curtin has high praise for Raphael Wicky.

Jamiro Monteiro could miss the start of the playoffs.

The Union claimed the top spot in the MLS power rankings.

In a Fantasy MLS, the Union lead every position but one.

MLS

Seattle clinched a playoff spot with their 2-0 win over Vancouver last night.

With Nashville’s 1-0 win over Montreal, they’re pretty much going to the playoffs.

The MLS is discussing delaying the start of its 2021 season to April.

NWSL

The Chicago Red Stars’ latest big trade combines short- and long-term thinking.

2020 was a good year for ⁦the league and its rookie commissioner.

Around the globe

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and the board have resigned from the club. Bartomeu had a falling out with Messi.

A year ago, Mesut Özil was one of the Premier League’s highest-paid players. Now, after angering China and refusing a pay cut, he has simply vanished.

English soccer recruitment code aims to increase diversity.

New Zealand’s Wellington Phoenix soccer squad is set to relocate to Australia again to compete in the A-League.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has tested positive for COVID-19.

11 Comments

  1. I know it’s likely impossible given the climate diversity of the league, but we should really be pushing up the start of the season.
    Having the FIFA window fall directly in the middle of the playoffs is just stupid.

    • I’ve been saying this for years, but FIFA needs to spread the windows out evenly over the year instead of bunched up in the fall. It kills MLS every year to have to work around these games.
      .
      Simple, just have FIFA window every two months – problem solved.

  2. Why are MLS playoffs scheduled during a Fifa window? Why? If you want to be a so-called top league, don’t you need to conform to the international calendar? How are the Union supposed to compete if three starters are not available? It’s one thing to play a regular-season game with some subs — happens elsewhere with leagues playing during the Africa Cup of Nations, for example, but your marquee, championship tournament shouldn’t have to deal with this sort of nonsense. I’m sure other teams are going to have the same problem.

  3. In Tanner We Trust says:

    This is pathetic for MLS. Also, players shouldn’t have to leave for FRIENDLIES in a playoff run. The thought of having our best season ruined by a Montreal or Miami because we’re in the PLAYOFFS without Blake, Monteiro, Burke, Martinez, etc. makes my blood boil. I just can’t fathom how a “major” league could be so dumb.

    • Monteiro and Martinez wouldn’t be for friendlies. Monteiro would be for Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and Martinez for World Cup qualifiers.

  4. MLS Playoffs becomes a joke if they don’t adjust for quarantine time. Imagine they face Miami with Higuain while multiple players (Blake, Martinez, Monteiro, Burke) are in quarantine. Heck, maybe Glesnes, Przybylko, Wagner, and Elliott can get call ups too since their countries would all be playing friendlies rather than qualifiers.

  5. Union should refuse to honor quarantine guidelines for the playoffs. Go ahead and field the players once they return and let the league decide to give themselves a black eye if they want to force a forfeit in a playoff game.

  6. Seattle continues to impress making the playoffs for the 12th straight year, all the way back to their MLS debut (a year before the Union).
    .
    I hate it, but I can’t help but be jealous.

  7. For a league that fights for relevancy on the world stage, this is just completely idiotic………..complete BS.

  8. Apropos of nothing,
    .
    the two professionals from the Union II who have signed homegrown contracts with the Union for 2021, Jack McGlynn (now hurt) and Nathan Harriel, are the only Union II players who have been practicing with the first team now that the Union II season is over.
    .
    Paxten Aaronson was playing for the Union II as an amateur since he was still able to do so. And apparently he is not currently practicing with the first team. I do not know whether he is playing with the Academy U-17s.

  9. So Tannenwald’s article about possibly missing Monteiro for the MLS playoffs suggests there might be other players gone, and it made me think who the other players were who might possibly be called up by their national teams.

    Two I think might be worth keeping an eye on are Jakob Glesnes and Kacper Przybylko. Glesnes seems the most likely, the Norwegian national team has games and looking at their squad briefly, they don’t really have such high profile defenders that they would turn their nose at a player succeeding in MLS. Przybylko is a bit less likely because the Polish forwards tend to be a bit more high profile, but with the Union doing as well as they are, I can’t help but wonder.

    Pretty much every other Union player seems safe, as they’re either American or are from countries that have strong enough squads they probably aren’t looking to MLS (Wagner/Germany, Elliot/England and Santos/Brazil).

    Really hope to be wrong about this, but I think the worst case scenario might have the Union missing Glesnes and Striker Muffin in addition to Monteiro, Martinez, Burke and Blake.

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