Daily news roundups / Featured

Le Toux inks marketing deal, more news

Union

From the Union website, Sebastien Le Toux has signed a marketing deal “that will make him the face of” Bimbo and PPL EnergyPlus.

Union City Blue has an excellent review of the where the Union stand at the moment. Among the highlights:

  • On the plus side, lots of new signings, particularly “additions of experienced players in the “spine” of the team  – goalkeeper Mondragon, center back Valdes, midfielder Carroll and forward Ruiz.”
  • “acquisitions since the start of last season have been from outside MLS, with the exception of the trades for Carroll and Justin Mapp.”
  • “the Union have turned over nearly 50% of their roster. All but three of the original expansion draft players are now gone.” (The IllegitimateS has a list of “The Dearly Departed.”)
  • On the minus side, “The double-edged sword of lots of pre-season activity. Turnover may be necessary when you have had an unsuccessful season, but how much is too much?”
  • The roster is too thin at the back.
  • The roster is too small, despite assurances that more signings are likely.

The roster may be too small at the moment, but don’t think for a moment that making cuts is easy. Peter Nowak said yesterday, “It’s not fun when you spend a year with a guy and you are sitting in your office and chopping (the roster). It’s not fun to make those hard decisions,”

Michael Orozco Fiscal may be the property of San Luis but that doesn’t mean he’s on the club’s roster. A comment on a post on Soccer By Ives says Orozco Fiscal is “not registered with San Luis for the Clausura, so he can’t play in Mexico’s Primera until the fall season.”

The club has announced the launch of the official Philadelphia Union Soccer Schools. According to the announcement, “The official soccer camps of Philadelphia Union will be held over five weeks (July 18-August 19) at four area locations for boys and girls ages 6-14,”

MLS

Jay DeMerit will be the captain of Vancouver Whitecaps.

Support for the Whitecaps is high. And so are expectations.

David Beckham returned to action in a friendly between LA Galaxy and Mexican side Club Tijuana. Galaxy lost on PKs.

Construction has begun on Houston’s new stadium, scheduled to open in April 2012.

Eric Cantona on the Cosmos: “I didn’t want to come back to football after leaving Manchester United. But Cosmos is a different story. This is a big project.”

US

US Soccer president Sunil Gulati has reportedly contacted former Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa about becoming the technical director for the USMNT.

Elsewhere

Sir Alex Ferguson could face a touchline ban for his comments about the referee in Tuesday’s loss to Chelsea.

The Scottish Football Association will launch an investigation in to a large list of what it calls “inflammatory and irresponsible behavior” during Celtic’s 1–0 win over Rangers in Wednesday’s Fifth-round Scottish Cup replay.

Pele says Michel Platini may challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency.

Here’s one take on the Ashley Cole shooting incident.

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