Photo: Courtesy of US Soccer Players
Philadelphia Union
On Thursday, the Washington Post’s Steven Goff tweeted that four MLS clubs were interested in Sacha Kljestan.
On Friday morning, Taylor Twellman’s tweeted the Union “have put their name into the @SachaKljestan sweepstakes.”
Now, several outlets are reporting the Union are pursuing the midfielder.
At ESPN, Jeff Carlisle reports,
[T]he Union and the Red Bulls are thought to be the frontrunners for Kljestan’s services, as the Galaxy are far down the allocation order and recently used their third Designated Player slot on Steven Gerrard. At present, New York lies 12th, while Philadelphia occupies eighth spot, though willingness to meet the player’s financial demands is also a factor.
It’s understood Kljestan would prefer to be in New York or Los Angeles.
At Goal.com, Ives Galarcep reports, “Sources have confirmed that both the New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union are eager to acquire Sacha Kljestan from Anderlecht, and could find themselves in a bidding war for Montreal’s allocation spot. Both the Union (Jim Curtin) and Red Bulls (Jesse Marsch) are coached by former MLS teammates of Kljestan, who has been angling for a return to MLS for some time.” A bidding war with NYRB and LAG? Hard to think that’ll turn out in the Union’s favor.
Playing for 90 says landing Sacha Kljestan “would be a great move by the Union.”
Brotherly Game considers where Kljestan would play.
Also at Brotherly Game, a post looking at tactics under Jim Curtin asks, “Were the Union proactive or reactive last year? And what should we expect in 2015?”
Zolo Talk has a seven-point wishlist for the new year.
Local
Former Reading United goalkeeper, Hermann Trophy finalist, and recent Generation adidas signing Alex Bono was called up for the USMNT’s January camp, his first senior national team call up (see below). At ASN, Bono describes his reaction to getting the call:
I had just gotten off the airplane in St. Louis and was headed to the Missouri Athletic Club shuttle and I was like, “Who the hell do I know in Orange County, California?” I answered the phone and he says “Alex, it’s Jurgen Klinsmann.”
At first I said, “Stop, you’re pulling my leg. You’re messing with me, right?” But he said, “No, this is actually Jurgen.” I still didn’t believe him until he started talking in detail about the camp. Then I started shaking. It was something unlike anything I experienced before.
It was that cool.
Very cool, indeed.
Several players with local connections have been called into the US U-20 WNT camp that will take place in Sanford, Florida, Jan. 24-31. Ocean Township, NJ’s Taylor Racioppi was called up, as were several Penn State players: goalkeeper Rose Chandler (GK), defenders Maddie Elliston and Kaleigh Riehl, and midfielder Emily Ogle.
US Club Soccer has announced “the creation of the 2015 Pennsylvania Cup, US Club Soccer’s state championship event for U-13 through U-18/19 boys and teams girls.” Click here for an application to participate in the tournament, the first round of which will be completed by April 26, with the finals scheduled for May 9 at a to be determined location. Applications must be submitted by Feb. 27.
Allentown Morning Call reports, “Former Lehigh men’s soccer player Ben Gucciardi will receive the 2014 Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.” Gucciardi, who has an undergrad and graduate degree from Lehigh University, is the founder and U.S. director of Soccer Without Borders, a non-profit organization “which seeks to use soccer as a vehicle for positive change while providing under-served youth a tool kit to overcome obstacles to growth, inclusion and personal success.”
MLS
Lampard & NYCFC
The AP reports, “Frank Lampard has finally signed his Major League Soccer contract to play for New York City FC. NYCFC confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday that this week Lampard signed a contract to start in July – midway through the new team’s first season in MLS.”
NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna said, “He signed a standard M.L.S. contract. Frank is very committed to N.Y.C.F.C. and is eager to join us as soon as possible to build a strong club.”
Speaking to the Times of London, Lampard said when asked who he initially signed for last summer, “It was 100 percent New York.”
Another AP report says, “New York City FC acknowledged that it unintentionally misled fans by wrongly announcing the signing of Frank Lampard last year when he never had a playing contract for the Major League Soccer expansion team.” More on NYCFC’s — and Manchester City’s — admission that they misled fans at New York Daily News.
Speaking before the mea culpas from NYCFC and Manchester City, NYCFC head coach Jason Kreis said, “I think it’s been confusing for a lot of people and I’m not sure that I understand why. For us, we’ve been certain all along that Frank is coming in July. He’s done extremely well, I think probably better than any of us would’ve thought he would’ve done and it’s a matter of circumstance.”
The Atlantic weighs in on the Lampard saga.
The Wall Street Journal has a Q&A with NYCFC’s David Villa.
Jozy, more player moves
At ESPN, Jeff Carlisle reports Toronto are the “frontrunner” to acquire Jozy Altidore “because of the club’s higher standing in the league’s allocation ranking.”Carlisle reports that Portland also have the resources to secure Altidore.
A report at the Daily Mail says Toronto could swap Jermain Defoe with Sunderland in exchange for Altidore.
At Goal.com, Ives Galarcep reports that, contrary to some reports, “sources have confirmed that the Red Bulls are still very much in the running” to sign the US international. “The higher tax rate in Canada, as well as Altidore’s likely desire to return to the club where his professional career began, are balancing out the fact that TFC is prepared to offer more money for Altidore than any other team in the league.”
The LA Times on the magic Bruce Arena worked in landing Steven Gerrard.
New York Red Bulls have signed midfielder Lloyd Sam to a contract extension and purchased the rights to defender Ambroise Oyongo from Rainbow FC Bamenda.
Houston Dynamo have signed defender Raul Rodriguez from La Liga side Espanyol.
Seattle Sounders have signed forward Darwin Jones to a Homegrown Player contract.
More
The Guardian has a long-form, behind-the-scenes look at Orlando City.
The stadium plan unveiled in St, Louis aimed at keeping the NFL’s Rams in that city includes the possibility of sharing the stadium with a MLS team. A report at KDSK says, “Along with local and state officials, the [stadium] Task Force recently met with Major League Soccer (MLS) officials sharing the proposed stadium plan and how the new stadium could become the home to a MLS franchise.”
Is Phoenix looking to land a MLS franchise?
Indianapolis Business Journal says that securing state funding isn’t the only obstacle the NASL’s INDY Eleven faces in building a new stadium.
US
U-20 MNT
Things are not going as planned for the US at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship. On Friday, the US U-20s drew 1-1 with Guatemala after conceding a stunning 90th minute equalizer (highlights and quotesheet).
On Sunday, the US lost 1-0 to Panama (highlights and quotesheet).
Three games remain in group play. The US now needs to defeat Aruba on Wednesday — and pile up the goals while doing so — in order to realistically keep their hopes of qualifying for the U-20 World Cup alive.
USMNT
Jurgen Klinsmann named his 28-player roster for the USMNT January camp on Friday. As expected, the roster contains several new faces, among them former Reading United goalkeeper Alex Bono.
Klinsmann said the roster reflects the need to put together a competitive squad for the upcoming friendlies against Chile and Panama, and also “continue building the Olympic team cycle early enough to build that group towards the Olympic team qualifiers” that will take place at the end of the year.
Klinsmann said of the young players in camp,
I think for a younger player to come into the Senior Team environment, every day is huge. Every day you will learn a lot on the field, but also in conversations with the coaching stuff and your teammates off the field. It a huge learning curve and having them in camp for about three and a half week gives them a lot of opportunities to learn. We want them to be sponges, we want them to ask questions, we want them to step it up, and we want them to develop personalities and kind of step out of their comfort zone and deal with problems on the field during training sessions. We also want to here and there maybe ask uncomfortable questions off the field. I think it’s going to be a nice learning curve for them; for some a little bit harder, for some a little bit easier depending on their personality, but a huge opportunity for all of them.
ASN has five thoughts on the roster while MLSsoccer.com has five “burning” questions. Soccer America breaks down the roster. Paste has a one-sentence guide to each of the players called into the camp. SI has a take on the roster.
Will the US be playing Australia and Ghana in friendlies this summer?
USWNT
Head coach Jill Ellis has added forward Stephanie McCaffrey to the roster of the USWNT’s January training camp.
At Soccer Wire, Mark Shawan has an excellent overview of all the things the USWNT is failing to do to improve their chances of winning the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
Hermann Trophy
UCLA’s Leo Stolz, and Virginia’s Morgan Brian, are the 2014 Hermann Trophy winners. Brian becomes the eighth player to win the Hermann Trophy two years in a row.
Elsewhere
The Balloon d’Or winners will be announced today.
Sepp Blatter said of Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein running against him for the FIFA presidency, “I can only rejoice in this nomination. We are a democracy, and this can only be beneficial for debate.” Quoting a French proverb, Blatter added, “And do not they say that to win without peril is to triumph without glory?”
Reuters reports, “FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein will launch a 10-year program to restore confidence in soccer’s “secretive” world governing body if elected.” He will not be elected.
Reuters reports that Harold Mayne-Nicholls, “head of FIFA’s technical investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cups which ranked Qatar the highest risk for 2022,” has warned “At least 50 soccer leagues around the world would be adversely affected if the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was held in November and December.”
ESPN has an interesting illustrated presentation on how transfers work.
Marta says of the upcoming Women’s World Cup being played on artificial turf,
Well, I would like it to be on natural grass. [Artificial turf] is not ideal to play soccer. But I also can’t say that it’s a disaster to play on artificial turf; I play on it all the time in Sweden. But it’s an issue that involves a lot of people, and looking at it as a professional player, with a lot of teammates that don’t have this opportunity to always play on artificial grass, I am on their side. I would say that it has to be natural grass. Just as the men’s World Cup would almost certainly never be played on artificial turf, we wish it were the same for women.
The Press Association reports, “The US financier Robert Sarver has pulled out of takeover talks with Rangers. In a statement given to the stock exchange shortly after midday on Monday, Sarver said: “I’m disappointed the Rangers board has rejected my revised offer, which addressed the club’s immediate and long-term needs.” Sarver, owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, says he “reserves the right” to make another offer for the club within the next six months.
If I was handed this jersey, I’d probably complain about it on Twitter too.
What’s not to like about this story from the Asia Cup?
How much should be read into McInerney not getting another callup to the January camp? And how much should be read into the fact that none of the young Americans on the Union roster were considered?
Our U-20’s look meh……………
They looked terrible. Saw only last 30 minutes yesterday but they could not keep the ball, and could not build up much of a dangerous attack. I said a long time ago that the coach (Ramos) does not know how to coach at that level.
watched both matches Guido……..believe me, you saw enough!
right now, I’m inclined to see David Byrne and Talking Heads, circa mid 80s with wet hair and a polyester suit and the palm of his hand thwacking his head saying, “same as it ever was. same as it ever was.”
Dude, saw Byrne and the Rockettes a few years ago up in NYC…..still puts on a great show!……+1
“Take me to the River” was on my loop when we drove down to PPL! Lol!
Love David Byrne.
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Remain in Light about my most favorite listen. That album is still 10 years ahead of its time.
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“The world moves on a woman’s hips.”
why another interior midfielder? How about a true LEFT BACK! If they want Sasha that bad it means they want Maurice at CB………and thats not good. Who is the ball winner in a interior midfield of Madaina, Nogs, and Klestjen? Thats a very skilled midfield with no balls………would be interesting to see how that played out.
Isn’t it safe to assume that the role the Union prefer for Edu right now is CB? I think I’ve heard Curtin say that about 25 times since the season ended — that he sat down with Edu and showed him that the team plays better when he’s at CB. I don’t know if Kljestan is the guy, but I assume the Union are still looking for a D-mid, LB and F.
And I will continue to assume that it is huge mistake! The Union are going to be the team that has the reputation of constantly playing players out of position. Maurice is a ball winning CDM……he has made a career of it….by all means…..move him to CB.
But if the team plays better with him at CB, and he is clearly capable of playing there at a high level, doesn’t that justify the move? When it fails that’s one thing, but the team was stronger with him at CB. Klejstan lining up next to Nogs in a triangle behind Maidana is a pretty good midfield. No true CDM but a lot of ball movement and good vision for the counter-attack.
But why continually move multiple people out of position? The biggest thing that makes this a weird move is because we have White, Berry, Valdes and Marquez. Play Edu and DM and get us a better Striker and left back.
No…..we have three CB’s on the books….thats their job. A healthy Valdes and he’s one of the best CB’s in the league. I don’t think the team necessarily played any better with Maurice at CB…to be honest.
Yes. The Sacha sweepstakes is not the ‘big name’ player I rail about. They let go of a solid Dmid to put a solid Dmid at CB and then not go out and get a solid ball winning Dmid. Non-sensical- reasoning. I’m with you 215.
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Very interesting thoracic spine of a team without a true Holding Dmid from a coach who claims to want a lock down air tight defense.
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speculation at this point. we will see. we sill see.
The “Sacha Sweepstakes” is the Pick 3 of soccer lotteries.
Ali is right, this isn’t about Edu. If Edu is a CB, fine, but Sacha isnt a one for one swap at DMid. He plays more like Nogs. Kvist would be a stronger fit. Its not about Sacha either, who is an excellent player, but about actually filling positions of need with players who play that position. This rumor makes sense the same way 3 GKs do.
I actually really like the U going for Kljestan, I know we have other needs but talk about a quality midfield. That is really the core of your starting 11 anyway why not strengthen it up. Also I am sure Kljestan is much cheaper than Altidore and we all have heard the Owners/FO say they aren’t going to drop that much cash. Which leads me to my next point.
Union fans, unfortunately we will never be a Galaxy, Red Bull, Seattle or even a Toronto in terms of spending power. First off we don’t have the money to spend and second, the MLS does not to put money towards the Philly franchise like they have with Seattle, LA and NY. We will never truly get a big name, I know that is extremely cynical and Debbie downer but it’s the truth unless the Owners are open to an investment or buyout which I do not see in the near future.
With that said, if we pick up Kljestan, while he is no spring chicken, he is a solid midfielder who has been playing in Champions League on a relatively consistent basis and can bring in plenty of experience.
Klejstan is an improvement in the midfield and that’s all that should matter. It seems their other options don’t seem to be working, so this would be a quality alternative.
Doesn’t sound that he’s likely to come here (though I would think Philly is more attractive than the RBs at the moment), but I think he’d improve the team as it stands right now. I’m pretty sure Curtin wants Edu to start with Valdes at CB.
Agree on the money thing, too. This franchise isn’t going to be a big spender. I like the idea of spending smart and think other signings like Nogs and Maidana are spot on. I think Sapong is a pretty good risk to take with a lot of potential reward. I’d like to see more moves like that because I don’t expect us to land anyone with a name we recognize.
It seems like the Union are sticking by that Sak strategy of “acquiring assets”… as opposed to acquiring players that are a position of need. I don’t hate the SK talk, but it’s not a need, at all. Money can be better spent elsewhere. Stop playing guys out of position.
Maybe Jurgen called JC on the DL and said I’d like to see M.E. at CB and see if he can play it with JJ as 32 year old stalwarts in 2018 WC. That way he can bring in all the young gun mids and strikers to learn to play in the meantime and have 2 converted midfielders as CB in Russia all the while telling us how much improved John Brooks is at the position. This of course is all just speculative cynicism – what I do best. Otherwise…..
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…while M.E. played quite well at CB here stateside certainly, I just as much like the protection he would provide to Valdez and White/Berry/Marquez because we brought him here just a year ago to be the Dmid Big Signing Holy Shit It’s Maurice Edu anchor of our midfield lets sit the natural HDM Amobi Okugo in the biggest game of the clubs history brand new green coach decision.
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But lets truly consider the S.K. talk and assume for arguments sake he comes here for, what $650,000 a year on the small side- doesn’t that then make perfect Union sense to be paying $1.2 million for 2 DM of which only one is playing in his natural position? Union Sense. Let’s do it.
and yes, I understand players are asked to change positions. but the Premier League loanee now signed marquee name to your team? Sure. CB and goalie- two positions we are definitely in need of having added depth for that CONCACAF Champions league run in 2019.
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We have a ‘World Class’ holding defensive midfielder we just signed to a contract and we are talking about another wanna be USMNT defensive midfielder?
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Hello!
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Anybody?
What you wrote makes too much sense. As you said…we’re talking Union Sense. It shall be done.
I wonder if they are failling to land a ST that they think is worth the pile of $ they’d have to pay to get him? The choice might realistically be between a team with SK and Sapong up top, or a team with an overpriced so-so import striker and Lahoud at DM. In that scenario, you’d prob prefer SK, right? I don’t know how else to explain throwing whatever money we do have at SK instead of a ST.
Kljestan is expensive, surplus to an already stacked central-midfield and, quiet frankly, not all that good…we are going to get him.
Sing it with me now…
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“Always look on the bright, si-ide of life, [tweet, tweet…}”
Jack Nicholson’s rendering in “As Good As It Gets”…priceless.
However, our WAG quotient score would improve.
haha +1
I must research this!
Sign this man!!!!!!!!