Daily news roundups

Union bits and more

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

The day is young but, so far, no reports of a Union player injuring his back in a bizarre getting-out-of-bed incident, and no arrests or other surprises reported either. Good start, then.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s nationally televised game against DC, Dave Zeitlin writes at CSN Philly, “[W]hile we may not yet be in must-win territory, this certainly seems like a must-not-lose game at the very least.”

At Vavel, a tactical analysis of Saturday’s loss in Vancouver. Also, more photo galleries from the game at Away From the Numbers and BC Soccer Web.

At SI, the “unstable” Union remain at No. 19. At SBI, the Union remain at No. 20.: “The defense is leaving its keepers out to dry, the offense is sputtering and, overall, there isn’t much pride being shown by a team that just continues to take shots to the chin.” They remain at No. 20 at Soccer America: “Another game, another Union goalkeeper, and unfortunately, another defeat.” ProSoccerTalk drops them one sport to No. 19: “You can only say ‘unlucky’ so many times. The last four matches were tough, but excuses only get you so far. Get a point somewhere.”

Richie Marquez will be the guest on this evening’s edition of the 90th Minute Radio Show at Chickie’s and Pete’s in Drexel Hill.

Brotherly Game talks to @UnionHulk. People assume he is angry at the Union because, you know, he’s The Union Hulk, but he’s actually simply sad, bless his greenness.

Also at Brotherly Game, a look at some controversial tweets from the weekend, beginning with the series of tweets from Antoine Hoppenot we linked to in Monday’s roundup.

Union Academy

Carl Schmitt, Youth Director of Coaching at Tennessee’s MidSouth Futbol Club, reports on a four-day visit with the Union Academy staff.

Local

Reading United reports that US Soccer has confirmed that they, and not Maryland Bays, will host the US Open Cup first round game on Wednesday. The report notes, “The move was prompted when the Bays announced multiple venue changes throughout the days leading up to the first round match”. Wednesday’s game will kickoff at Don Thomas Stadium in Exeter at 7 pm. Tickets are only $5 with children under the age of 10 gaining free admittance.

Reading begins their 2015 PDL season on the road on Saturday, May 16 against new PDL side Lehigh Valley United. At the PDL website, a preview of the Mid Atlantic Division that includes Reading, Lehigh Valley United, and Ocean City Nor’easters.

The Pocono Record has more on the proposal to build a new National Soccer Hall of Fame museum in the Poconos. Apparently a Philadelphia architectural firm has been retained “to develop project renderings.” More at MLSsoccer.com and Soccer Gods.

MLS

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports, “An MLS Atlanta spokeswoman said that owner Arthur Blank hopes to unveil the team name sometime before the Gold Cup semifinals are played at the Georgia Dome in late July.”

Indy Star on NASL side Indy Eleven’s continuing hopes to build a downtown stadium in Indianapolis.

US

The LA Times has a good read on local lass Carli Lloyd. She says of the upcoming Women’s World Cup, “Anything but first place is definitely a failure.”

Brand Channel reports on the Scotts Lawn Care company’s #keepitreal campaign, which is endorsed by Abby Wambach, and aimed at replacing artificial turf fields with natural grass.

At US Soccer, former Union head coach, and current US U-15 head coach, John Hackworth on the team’s recent Tournament delle Nazioni championship.

Elsewhere

Bayern Munich will look to overcome a 3-goal deficit today when they host Barcelona in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal series (2:45 pm: Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports Go, Fox Soccer 2Go, SiriusXM FC).

The Press Association reports, “FIFA is to announce a new system of match observers to monitor incidents of racism and discrimination at World Cup qualifiers in the buildup to the 2018 tournament in Russia.”

Reuters reports, “A Spanish court could decide by Wednesday on the legality of a strike protesting against a new TV rights law called by the players’ union (AFE) which is threatening the final two La Liga match days and the King’s Cup final.” The report continues, “The AFE announced last week that players would go on strike indefinitely from 16 May and the professional league (LFP), which represents the 42 clubs in the top two divisions, filed a petition to have the action declared illegal. The Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) had earlier decided to halt all competition from the same date, a move the LFP is also seeking to block.” More from the AP.

31 Comments

  1. Earl Gardner says:

    Union Hulk… not the voice we want, the voice we need.

  2. The notion we are not in must win territory simply because the conference sucks and we are still somehow unbelievably within reach of that sacred 6th playoff spot is preposterous.
    .
    Win. Must. Now.
    .
    Hogwash to think otherwise Mr Zeitlin.

    • Yeah, I think games against teams in the East now fall into the “Must Win” category.

    • Another loss and they are officially on a ppg pace which would make them the worst team in MLS HISTORY!
      .
      So yeah must win

    • Agreed. It’s a must win just to stop the misery for a bit. Who cares about the standings implications at the moment. End the misery first.

  3. The Realist Brian says:

    I say fuck it, blow up the team, sign the maximum number of HGP and start developing the team. That means get rid of the dead weight of Le Touch, Williams and the like and bring in the young bucks.

    • Re-build yes, dump the garbage no. Not yet. Take the rest of May and June to really determine who you can move forward with or keep around, and when the transfer window opens in July try to move players who are deemed surplus. Get something back in return, even money, and then move forward with the youth. The season is likely lost, but since none of those players can be moved until July give them one more chance to prove they belong, then free up the space and money and spend it on REAL talent, and young talent.

      • That won’t happen because we haven’t hit rock bottom. I’ve been saying this for a while my friends. Mediocrity is the goal for this club.
        .
        This will get worse. This is going to require multiple years of decreased revenue…. this will get worse…make no mistake.
        .
        The only way to expedite it is to STOP purchasing season tickets single game tickets and make them play in front of an EMPTY stadium.
        .
        The more we go to the games the more they will be hitting their financial marks and the more the club will gain in net value and the more the investors will ultimately have in return.
        .
        Look you can all say this is wrong philosophy- that it is incumbent on us to support the team/players but it is incorrect thinking.
        .
        The players will move on. This is about the sanctity of the Union. Brigadier General Robert E. Lee was probably a swell guy but he had to be defeated for the sake of the Union.
        .
        Mr. Sugarman and Mr. Sakiewicz have to be defeated. .
        .
        WE HOLD THE POWER. We have to save the Union- or the Union will go away and the walk of shame will follow it out of town playing a piccolo.
        .

      • + many, many, many 1’s

  4. The Black Hand says:

    Ahhh…that photo…yeah, that happened.

  5. Old Soccer Coach says:

    The psychological consequences of this season are starting to worry me as I think about player development. I am beginning to think that McGlaughlin may be better off staying with HCI where he is having success. Catic and Lee should probably be loaned there for practices as well as games so they can begin to integrate into that group and earn more playing time. Not sure that Eric Bird would get much chance there as they have a good trio that work well as their central midfield rotating triangle, and they have one capable sub on the bench. On the other hand the HCI roster numbers 17 on the website although there has been no sighting of that third goalkeeper on you tube, so Bird would help their general depth.
    .
    We have played nearly one third of the schedule. Recently we start well, but fold as soon as the other team scores. That says a good plan is put in place in practice, but the mental resilience to overcome adversity is gone. That’s a little different from past Union teams, somewhat troubling.
    .
    Two seasons ago, when Ben Olsen threw in the towel, how long did he wait to do it? That strategy is what’s left for this year. They players know it. Jim Curtin needs to say it and implement it. They are all already auditioning for 2016, and everybody might as well say so. Saying anything else is not credible.

    • Only problem is that we have a one man front office so let’s not throw words like strategy out there too much

    • It’s the Ruben Amaro problem: the team needs an overhaul… evaluate youth, make trades / signings, continue to develop players, etc… BUT you DO NOT have an ounce of faith that the guy in charge can do the job. Even if the Union blew it up, which I think they should, do you trust this FO to fix it the right way?!? I sure as hell don’t.

  6. Andy Muenz says:

    With a team this bad, I don’t think there is such a thing as a “must win” game. That implies that the team has aspirations of actually accomplishing something during the season. Does a 2-14 football have any games that people call “must win”?

    • I think there’s two types of “must wins” though. There’s the “we must win to stay in the playoff race” or the “we must win to salvage our confidence, fan support and respect.” This game really qualifies into the latter category, as the playoffs are very likely out of reach, but fan support and season ticket renewals are very much hanging in the balance. They “must win” on Sunday to prove to the fan base that they actually care about winning and can figure out a way to do it, otherwise we may just be wasting our time the rest of the year.

  7. Avoid Philly.com Union section at all cost today . . . it will literally make you want to take a shovel to someone’s head.

  8. Almost a third of the way through the season and only one win? Yes, the game against DC is “must win.”
    .
    If it isn’t, and the players don’t feel that it is, things are truly worse than any of us know.

  9. Mike Eidle says:

    I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that the MLS upheld the red card for Richie Marquez. Automatic Red cards has been a bad experiment and should be ended. It gives the ref too much influence over the game. Plus the majority of them are in the box and the other team already gets a penalty kick. To then go down a man for the rest of the game is way too harsh. Plus, I don’t believe it has cut down on fouls at all.

    • Andy Muenz says:

      It looks like Amobi is suspended as well for yellow card accumulation, also against DC, but tomorrow night. That’s actually pretty scary since Orlando has only played 9 games. That’s a lot of yellow.

  10. Wait wait wait…. I am truly sorry- there is ONE THING this team does well…

    My heart has forsaken me from my post this weekend and is not the source of knowing. Everything has been fixed and the organism has miraculously healed itself. Ladies and gentleman we are good at ONE thing…. we ARE the best dressed.
    .
    A roaring round of fucking applesauce – ‘scuse applause.
    .
    .
    Go get the Morten’s Iodized Salt and pour it in the laceration – – – then hit me over the head with that silver shovel and bury me in a corn field like Nicky Santoro.

  11. That’s a lot of middle fingers in that photo there.

  12. The Sixers’ new logo looks an awful lot like the Union’s…

    Please please please let there be a takeover in the works.

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