Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Union

In this week’s power ranking roundup,  some say up, some say down, another says no change. The Union stay at no. 4 at MLSsoccer.com while at SBI and Goal.com, the Union move up one spot to no. 5. At Soccer America, the Union drop one spot to no. 4. At ESPN they drop one spot to no. 5.

Veljko Paunovic makes Goal.com’s MLS Best XI for Week 15. At MLSsoccer.come, no Union player makes the Best XI but Justin Mapp makes the bench.

Paunovic says of his talents, “I’ve been playing for so long, so I’m used to any position in the midfield or attack. I suppose I cannot be a good goalkeeper, though.”

Carlos Ruiz adds in the same article, “I think in this position, where we’re in first place in our conference, the press sees a couple of things— small things—to judge the performance of the team.” It’s true, an inability to consistently score goals is but a small thing.

Interested in ridiculous rationalizations about why Danny Mwanga—referred to here as “doing a curious balancing act between the bench and the field,” as if he has a choice in the matter— isn’t starting for the Union? Read this piece of company propaganda.

After you’ve stopped shaking your head, don’t forget to vote Mwanga for Goal of the Week,

My snarky comments aside, as the club approaches the midpoint of the season, Kyle Nakazawa’s recent comments are undeniably true. “I think we have a tremendous amount of character on this club. We’ll fight for each other and do whatever it takes. We have a great group of players who will do anything for each other.” And that’s why we love you.

And this is why we love Faryd Mondragon: “I always blame myself for every goal. But that’s a good thing when you have a team that backs you up and steps up for you when you make a mistake.” Class.

That love was evident in this piece made up of fan’s favorite Union memories to mark the one-year anniversary of the opening of PPL Park. Take the time to read it.

The Brotherly Game uses the anniversary to look at the good, the bad and the ugly of PPL Park in this thoughtful piece.

The Union academy team will play Everton’s U-18 team at PPL Park before the Union v Everton friendly. Ticketholders for the friendly will be able to gain entry to the academy match.

The Union are one of nine MLS teams who are outdrawing MLB teams in average attendance.

The Union come up poorly in Goal.com’s jokey alternative mid-season awards. Sebastien Le Toux shares Houdini honors Alvaro Saborio “For making themselves disappear,” while former Union midfielder Andrew Jacobson shares the The One Man’s Trash award for being “cast aside by their former teams [and] reborn this season in a new location.”

Zac MacMath talks to KYW NewsRadio.

Supporters group The IllegitimateS co-founder Kenny Hanson was interviewed on the one-year anniversary of the groups founding on the World Sports Show, locally-produced by WiFi 1460.

More Villanova at PPL Park nonsense

For all those people out there who make the excuse that the November Villanova v University of Delaware gridiron game is no big deal because it is just a one off, here’s Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz’ take. “Even if they don’t go (to the FCS) and get bigger opponents, we’re their partner. We want to form a partnership with Villanova University to make PPL Park their home. We’ll play more games. We’ll play as many games as Villanova desires.” Any questions?

You can read this happy moron’s take on Villanova at PPL Park here. He’s happy their happy to be happy. Idiot.

MLS

Dwayne “I Live for Dance” De Rosario should be available for DC United against the Union this Saturday.

LA goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts is out four to six weeks with a fractured arm.

Soccer Dad Barack Obama compared himself to Lionel Messi when he greeted current MLS champs Colorado Rapids at the White House on Tuesday.

Women’s World Cup

roundup of Group B and C action and US player ratings and analysis of the win.

Soccer America ranks the US players. Next up is Colombia on Saturday, who will be without their backup keeper after she failed a drug test.

Amy Rodriguez is one of the stars in this web series about preparing for the Women’s World Cup from teen.com.

This post asks if the new USWNT kit is the ugliest ever? The answer is yes.

US

Asked by the New York Times about the status of Bob Bradley as USMNT coach, US Soccer president Sunil Gulati responded, “We’ll have something to say later this week.” Federation officials later said Gulati didn’t mean to indicate he’s planning a coaching change.

He ought to be. In this piece that list six ways to fix US soccer, the writer says Bradley has lost the locker room and quotes a source as saying “The players are miserable.” It’s a good read.

Here’s a roundup of US Open Cup third round action. The only upset was Richmond Kickers knocking out Columbus Crew.

The USMNT drops two spots to no. 24 in the latest FIFA rankings while Mexico jumps ten spots to no. 9. Somehow England is ranked ahead of Brazil.

Oguchi Onyewu has joined Sporting Lisbon on a three-year contract.