Daily news roundups

MacMath & Gaddis in Top 20, Shertz Memorial Tailgate info, more news

Photo: Paul Rudderow

The Sons of Ben have announced an Eric Shertz Memorial Tailgate that will take place on May 10 before the home game against DC, 12-3 pm. The tailgate will be BYOB with the Sons of Ben providing free hamburgers, hot dogs, and other snacks, but registration is required. The deadline for registration, which you can do here, is 12 pm on May 9.

Click here for information on Eric’s funeral on Friday, and Saturday’s wake.

Philadelphia Union

Zac MacMath came in at No. 8, and Ray Gaddis at No. 20, in the latest Castrol Index Weekly Top 20 performers list. In the Full Castrol Index, the top five Union players are Andrew Wenger (No. 20), Maurice Edu, (No. 58), Leo Fernandes (No. 68), Amobi Okugo (No. 81),  and Zac MacMath (No. 92).

With the provisional World Cup roster deadline of May 12 rapidly approaching before the start of the US camp on May 14, Goal.com’s Ives Galarcep has a look at some of the battles going on for roster spots, including Maurice Edu vs. Danny Williams.

At MLSsoccer.com, the Union fall one spot to No. 10 in the power rankings.

At MLSsoccer.com, Benjamin Baer notes that the Union — along with Chicago, Chivas USA, New York, and Portland — all failed to reach eight points by their seventh game of the 2014. Why does Baer note this? “Since 2011, the year the playoff Knockout Round was introduced, only two of 30 teams that qualified for the postseason did so with less than eight points in their first seven games.”

Frank Klopas, head coach of the Union’s opponent on Saturday, Montreal Impact, says the pressure is not getting to him as a result of his team’s winless start to the 2014 season. “I have a lot of confidence in myself, and I have a lot of confidence in the team. It’s a long season. I know what I’m doing. We’re working very well. The ball is round. It’s going to bounce your way sometimes, sometimes it’s not.” Of course, he then goes on to say, “It’s not easy. I don’t sleep at night at all because this is all I think about, believe me, what we can do better.”

Local

New York (8th place, 7 points) hosts Houston (7th place, 7 points) tonight at 7:30 pm (MLS Live, MLS Direct Kick). In case you’re wondering, the Union are in sixth place with 8 points.

Pedro Ribeiro, the Union midfielder/forward on loan to Harrisburg City Islanders, has been named to the USL PRO Team of the Week after his second start at centerback in the 1-0 loss to Dayton in the City Islanders home opener. Yann Ekra and fellow Union loanee Richie Marquez received honorable mentions. The Team of the Week list also includes former Union players Chandler Hoffman (LA Galaxy II) and Matt Kassel (Arizona United).

At Penn Live, Michael Bullock talks to City Islanders head coach Bill Becher ahead of this weekend’s West Coast road trip to Orange County on Thursday and Sacramento on Saturday. Becher said, “We feel we’ve played pretty well the first two games, but it’s disappointing to have only one point…I’m confident if we continue to play the way we’re playing, we’re going to get results. We’ve just got to keep our confidence. Don’t get down that we didn’t get results these two games. Keep playing. Keep plugging away. It’s a long season. Results will come as long as we keep building on what we’ve done so far.”

FC Philadelphia will be holding tryouts at three Main Line schools beginning on Monday. The club recently appointed Gary Lewis as its new Director of Coaching. Lewis was last the U12-14 academy director for Liverpool.

MLS

Shalrie Joseph returns to New England after being picked up in Tuesday’s Waiver Draft.

Says Zvee Geffen, brand manager at Topps for the trading card company’s MLS and Premier League lines, “The most delicate balance we deal with is keeping the traditionalist card collectors happy while growing the consumer base and appealing to a younger market. We’ve found that younger age groups, 12-24, are very interested in Major League Soccer and advanced analytics that provide more insight into the game.”

US

The addition of Martinique-born David Regis to the US roster only weeks before the 1998 World Cup did not sit well with players who had battled through qualifications. At MLSsoccer.com, Jonah Freedman has a cautionary look comparing Regis’ time with the US team with the emergence of Julian Green.

At ASN, John Godfrey reads between the lines of recent comments from Jurgen Klinsmann.

SBI has a look at the pool of US forwards.

Elsewhere

The UEFA Champions League semifinal first leg between Real Madrid and Bayern München kicks off today at 2:45 pm (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes, Fox Soccer 2Go, Fox Sports GO).

The ban handed to Barcelona on transfers has been lifted pending the results of an appeal from the Spanish club. FIFA issued a ban covering two transfer windows in the beginning of April after finding that Barcelona had breached rules relating to the transfer of  players under the age of 18. The ban was suspended after it was determined that Barcelona’s appeal could not be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport before the next transfer window opens on July 1. More from the BBC.

The Far Post has an interesting read from Joe Gorman on the divide between Australia’s A-League, which has helped sustain the longest soccer boom and the largely ethnic clubs that kept soccer going in that country in the second half of the 20th century. “The failure of these clubs to penetrate the Australian imagination, attract a broad supporter base and become ‘mainstream’ entities led to the creation of the new, nondenominational competition. Almost a decade has passed since the A-League was established, and soccer is experiencing its longest boom period as a spectator sport. However, the question of why Australians needed a whitewashed soccer competition in order for the game to grow goes well beyond soccer. In an era where multiculturalism has bipartisan political support, there is something unsettling about soccer’s multicultural paradox.”

At Philly.com, Jonathan Tannenwald on the challenges facing the One World Sports channel in finding carriage deals.

8 Comments

  1. Ugh. The whole Ribeiro at CB thing is…Ugh. Are we really that in need of another CB in the pipeline instead of a guy who could potentially be a skilled but powerful midfield presence in the league? Wonder what he thinks…

    • I don’t think Philly has as much control over where HCI chooses to play him as a lot of people seem to think. I mean, I guess the alternative is to take him back and leave him out of the 18 every week. We could always use another prospect who gets left out of the 18 every week.

      • Even if Hackworth does have control of where HCI plays Ribeiro, Hackworth has a pretty good track record for converting players to CB.
        It isn’t about what we need, it’s about where players will excel and increase their value.
        There isn’t exactly a place for Ribeiro in the current midfield either.

      • Neal, he’s on the Union roster. The Union are paying him. They drafted him and have an interest in his development. I’m pretty certain he’s being played exactly how and where Hackworth wants him to be played.

  2. I really think we are at serious risk for not making the playoffs.

    • Right now the MLS East is a tire fire. No team has really separated themselves from the pack even this early in the season. On paper the Union should get in no problem. But right now it is a coinflip.

  3. OneManWolfpack says:

    “Pedro Ribeiro, the Union midfielder/forward on loan to Harrisburg City Islanders, has been named to the USL PRO Team of the Week after his second start at centerback in the 1-0 loss to Dayton in the City Islanders home opener.” – AWESOME! Looks like he’s a CB for life. WTF
    .
    I’m really nervous about the next 2 weeks. As much as I agree with the East being a tire fire right now – If we get to 10 matches with one win, I think playoffs become a pipe dream.

  4. Andy Muenz says:

    Tonight’s New York – Houston game features two teams both missing a starting defender due to a red card against the Union. Not sure what to make of that.

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