Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

On Saturday, the Union desperately in need of a positive result will face the Crew. History, not to mention current form, are against them: Since 2010, the Union have returned from Columbus with one out of a possible 18 points.

Jim Curtin said of Columbus in Wednesday’s weekly press conference (full transcript here at PSP), “They’re a team that we respect a great deal. A very good team. A team that we’ll have to have our best. Like I said, everyone needs to bring a good game in Columbus for us to have a shot at getting a result.”

Curtin said on Wednesday of Andre Blake’s readiness to start, “He’s getting closer to being himself again, that guy that we saw at the start of preseason. But still not quite there yet. Obviously, you’d like to get him a game here, but we’re not in a position where we can experiment with anything. He’s available for selection against Columbus and we’ll make a decision as the week goes along. It’s a possibility though.”

Speaking to the Inquirer’s Marc Narducci, Blake says, “I would say I am 100 percent, but the best way to find that out would be to be in the game. But mentally and physically I am ready.” OF having to be patient in waiting for a starting opportunity, Blake says, “It is about coming in every day and knowing it is a tough situation, but you have to fight through it.”

More from Wednesday’s press conference with Fernando Aristeguieta and Jim Curtin at CSN Philly.

If you haven’t already, read Adam Cann’s excellent preview for Saturday’s game here at PSP. More previews MLSsoccer.com, Brotherly Game, and Prost Amerika.

At Columbus Dispatch, Adam Jardy looks at how the Crew’s defence has been firming up.

Massive Report paraphrases comments after Thursday’s practice session from Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter: “Berhalter said the Philadelphia Union has given Crew SC some good games because they are a good team. The Black and Gold are preparing for Philly’s high press that’s caused issues in the past.”

Saturday’s game will be Kei Kamara’s 200th in MLS.

Also at Brotherly Game, Jared Young posts some PDO data — not the Pacific Decadal Oscillation one, silly, “the addition of a team’s save percentage and their shooting percentage” one — which at 960 is “really bad.” Cheer up: “This is good because this metric has been shown to fairly quickly regress to the mean of 1,000,” leading Young to conclude, “Consider it a bonafide fact – the Union will improve in save percentage and shooting percentage.” OK, then, that’s certainly good. So, what does PDO stand for again?

At Brotherly Game, Scott Kessler notes the Union’s depth issues.

ProSoccerTalk’s monthly produced power rankings have the Union at No. 18: “We’re exactly one month removed from our first rankings of 2015, and it’s not a surprise that only one team is in the same slot (Philadelphia, and you can see how they could move up in a hurry).” Fox Soccer has the Union at No. 19.

The latest Disciplinary Committee report says, “New England Revolution forward Charlie Davies was issued an official warning for revealing an unsanctioned undergarment during his goal celebration in the 64th minute of the Revs’ match against the Philadelphia Union on Sunday (VIDEO). A second offense will warrant a fine.”

At CBS Philly, Kevin Kinkead reports on Wednesday night’s Cocktails and Cleats event in support of the Philadelphia Union Foundation. Foundation executive director Rick Jacobs says, “In 2013, we were at $45,000 dollars in net proceeds for the foundation. I can tell you that last year we were at net proceeds of $125,000 dollars. As it rolls into this year, we’re in excess of that, we’re in excess of $125,000 net proceeds.”

Foundation chairman Mike Curry adds, “We’re much more secure financially. A lot of our behind-the-scenes administration, our formal budgets, and new partnerships (have improved). What that does is it allows us to bring in experts that can help us fulfill our mission and satisfy the needs of the community that we serve. That’s probably the two biggest things, is just being a better run organization, not that we were poorly run, but we just tightened up the way we do things. And the other thing is these partnerships, which I think are going to be essential for our growth looking forward.

Local

Harrisburg City Islanders are on the road tonight to face Charlotte Independence (7:30 pm, YouTube).

CBS3 looks at increasing concerns that the rubber crumbs used to soften the impact of playing on artificial turf can cause cancer. The report notes,

Jim Mallon is the business administrator of Ocean City, New Jersey, where a contract to re-surface Carey Stadium with crumb rubber synthetic turf has been cancelled.  “We have a lot of kids using this field we want to be absolutely sure that we were safe in putting a product like that down,” says Mallon.

Casey Stadium is the home of Ocean City Nor’easters

MLS

Stefan Szymanski, the Soccernomics co-author who when last sighted was laughably saying, “The [original] NASL was not such a big failure,” has an article on his website in which, based on information from “an anonymous source with an intimate knowledge of MLS finances,” he concludes MLS finances resemble “a pyramid scheme.” Charles Boehm followed up with a tweet that said, “Just heard from a veteran MLS source on Szymanski who says, ‘the amount of bad info in his article is staggering,'” clarifying soon after that the veteran MLS source, “is not in the league office. A person who is plain-spoken at all times, esp off the record.”

At SB Nation, Kevin McCauley pokes some rather large holes in Szymanski assumptions and conclusions.

Orlando City chief operating officer Brett Lashbrook has resigned. The Orlando Sentinel reports, “Lashbrook’s resignation was directly related to Orlando City owner Flavio Augusto da Silva opting to restructure the front office after the hiring of Alex Leitao as chief executive officer in January, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.”

US

Late reports on the US U-23 3-0 win over Mexico at ASN,  Soccer America (three takeaways, analysis), and SBI.

Good news! Nike has confirmed the USMNT will not be wearing a men’s version of that terrible new USWNT first kit.

Hilarity at the Washington Post: “A move away from the same old colors of the Star-Spangled Banner is a great move for U.S. Soccer at this point. It’s no surprise that the women are leading the charge, per usual.”

Jerramy Stevens has pleaded no contest to the DUI charges stemming from the incident that saw his wife, Hope Solo, suspended from the USWNT for a month. He could receive a year in county jail.

The Guardian has an interesting read on Roger Verdi, a journeyman player in the original NASL (Montreal Olympique, Miami Toros, St. Louis Stars, San Jose Earthquakes). Of Sikh heritage, he was born in Kenya, and raised in England, before playing his entire professional career in North America.

Elsewhere

The Champions League semifinal draw took place today and it is Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich (May 6, May 122) and Juventus vs. Real Madrid (May 5, May 13). The final will take place in Berlin at the Olympiastadion on Saturday, June 6.

The Europa League semifinal draw pits Sevilla vs. Fiorentina, and Napoli vs Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. The first leg games will be played on May 7, the second leg games on May 14. The final takes place on May 27 at the National Stadium in Warsaw.

FIFA has announced Japan will host the 2015 and 2016 Club World Cup tournaments.

SI reports, “Qatar World Cup officials revealed plans for the fifth 2022 World Cup venue Thursday…The new 40,000-seat venue—it will drop to 21,000 capacity after the World Cup when crews remove the upper tier—uses building materials generated from the deconstruction of the current Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium.”

The Guardian reports, “Tottenham Hotspur’s £400m redevelopment of White Hart Lane could include a retractable grass pitch as the club explores the possibility of hosting a new NFL franchise…It would mean a synthetic surface would sit under the movable grass pitch and could be used for NFL games.” More on the Tottenham-NFL link at the Evening Standard and ESPN.

Also at the Guardian, a look at how the Croatian FA’s response to sanctions resulting from the racist behavior of its fans is to attack the observers who may (or may not) have reported it.

Checkout the latest Footy on the Telly for listings of the live soccer on TV, online, and on satellite radio.