Photo: Marjorie Elzey
Philadelphia Union
The Union held on to the No. 3 spot in the Week 22 MLS Power Rankings
MLSsoccer.com’s Sydney Hunte provides his thoughts on the state of the Union after their 1-0 win at Orlando
MLS
MLSsoccer.com’s Joseph Lowery provides his thoughts on 5 difficult decisions coaches must make for their team to make the playoffs.
Sacramento Republic FC knocked off Sporting KC in penalties to advance to the U.S. Open Cup final. They’ll take on Orlando City, who clobbered the Red Bulls 5-1.
Construction is nearing completion on Centene Stadium, the future home of the MLS expansion team St. Louis City SC.
D.C. United is set to acquire David Ochoa from Real Salt Lake in exchange for allocation money. The young Mexico international is yet to play in MLS this season.
International
MLSsoccer.com’s Charles Boehm takes a look at which MLS players are impressing with the World Cup approaching.
England defeated Sweden 4-0 to advance to the EURO 2022 Finals. Summary and highlights here.
Union at number 2 spot…
For those interested in the youth development side of things, in conversation with Academy Director Tommy Wilson yesterday he said they were actively trying to retain U17 striker Marcos Zambrano. He used the word “negotiations” at one point. The first quote is substantive rather than verbatim as grammatically Wilson’s verb was “try” rather than my “trying.” “Actively try to retain ” were his exact words.
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He also said that MLS has joined FIFA’s system of protecting the developmental investments of clubs developing youth players. Until the joining, foreign clubs could sign US players for free. Now they must pay compensation.
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Wilson did not attempt a full explanation of FIFA’s system. He explained two elements of it very briefly.
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AS I understood him, the longer a player has been with a club’s developmental program, the more compensation an outside club must pay.
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AND, Each country fits into a ranking from receiving the most compensation to receiving the least. He illustrated the top level using Germany and Spain. He did not illustrate the lowest level, but said there might be as many as five tiers. He did not know where the United States was ranked.
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The bottom line is that if some other club signs Zambrano away from the Union, the Union will get some amount of money back. NO idea at all of how much.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this info.
Looks like a good chance that the Union have once again lost in the Open Cup to the eventual champs (2012-2015 and 2018…and in 2016 they lost to the runners up).
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Also, Wagner is no longer being shown as one yellow away from suspension.