Photo: Earl Gardner
With the signing of Porfirio Lopez yesterday, the Philadelphia Union continued a busy offseason
that has already addressed many glaring needs.
Since the 2011 season ended in defeat at Houston, the Union have parted ways with Justin Mapp,
purchased the rights to a Costa Rican striker, a Costa Rican fullback, and a Panamanian utilityman,
signed a Tanzanian winger through the re-entry draft, and added a homegrown player.
Featured image: Paul Rudderow
Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every
Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011
season.
A striker can go missing for long stretches, only to pop up and score with a single touch.
Ever read those posts on SI.com, Fox Soccer, or ESPN.com with the "five thoughts about ..." and
then, well, lo and behold, they offer you five random thoughts about a topic?
Yeah, I always thought they were mailing it in too, too rushed or whatever to come up with a
lede, coherent structure for the column, etc.
A video of Seba Le Toux talking about endurance (careful, it auto-plays!). This is perfect.
Nobody on Earth can possibly be more qualified to discuss this topic. Oh wait, he just says he
works hard? What!? This is like getting superman to talk about his powers and walking away with a
quote like, "I just do it, y'know?
Fabian Castillo should be a protected player for FC Dallas. (Getty Images)
Another expansion draft list for you on this Friday afternoon.
This one centers around the team I'm most familiar with, FC Dallas. I will keep this one fairly
short as I find FCD to be one of the easier teams to put a list down on paper (or type out in this
case).
The 2011 MLS Playoffs kickoff at 9 pm tonight on Fox Soccer Channel, as the New York Red Bulls
head to Texas to take on recently slumping FC Dallas in the first Wild Card round game of the
playoffs.
The winner affects the Philadelphia Union's start time on Sunday afternoon, along with the
playoff match ups after the Wild Card round.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Philadelphia Union manager Peter Nowak can prove Sunday just how good a manager he really
is.
It will happen when the starting lineup is announced.
Outsiders may think Nowak's a potential coach of the year, but those who follow the Union
closely know he's been a better executive than a chooser of starting lineups.
The DeRo for Dax trade was one of the biggest in 2011. (Getty Images)
Each year I do season predictions and nearly every year I boldly state that a trade will shake
up the season (take that with a hint of sarcasm if you will). Well, this season is just like many
of the past where teams wheel and deal in hopes of bettering their playoff hopes.
Houston Dynamo (10-9-12) vs. FC Dallas (13-10-7) September 24, 2011 -- Pizza Hut Park, Frisco TX
Attendance: 10,849
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Geoff Cameron 5 (Brad Davis 14) 87
Houston Dynamo -- Tally Hall, Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe,
Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo, Brad Davis, Danny Cruz (Je-Vaughn Watson 58), Brian Ching (Carlo Costly
78), Calen Carr (Colin Clark 64).
By JOSE M. ROMERO
Playoff positioning -- and the 19th-century cannon/trophy known as El Capitan -- were on the
line Saturday afternoon at Pizza Hut Park, where the Houston Dynamo defeated FC Dallas 1-0 with a
late goal to claim this year's Texas Derby title.
Hey everyone, there's a hurricane coming. Your game is probably cancelled today. Track the storm
here.
In case you're the rare ticket-holder who doesn't know, Sunday's Philadelphia Union match is
postponed till Sept. 7.
The Philadelphia Independence are still on today at 4 p.m. for the WPS title game against the
Western New York Flash.
Hey everyone, there's a hurricane coming. Your game is probably cancelled today. Track the storm
here.
In case you're the rare ticket-holder who doesn't know, Sunday's Philadelphia Union match is
postponed till Sept. 7.
The Philadelphia Independence are still on today at 4 p.m. for the WPS title game against the
Western New York Flash.
Despite the international transfer window being closed for MLS teams, that doesn't mean there
can't be any movement between MLS sides. Today is just such an example of that. When we all thought
that the Timbers might be done for the season, it appears they had one more trick up their
sleeve.
Today we say goodbye to back right defender Jeremy Hall in exchange for FC Dallas midfielder
Eric Alexander.
Daniel Robertson, of SB Nation's FC Dallas blog Big D Soccer, and I discussed tonight's
Dallas-Philadelphia Union game. We differed on score, player of the game and a lot of other things,
but we seemed to agree on Andrew Jacobson. Odd.
Big D: Going be an interesting match. If I remember right, Fabian Castillo absolutely murdered
the Union earlier this year in 'frisco.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Game time: Saturday, 8:00pm ET
TV: 6 ABC
Freddy Adu and Peter Nowak are not the only reunion on tap for this weekend as former Union
midfielder Andrew Jacobson and goalkeeper Chris Seitz return to PPL Park for the first time since
leaving the club.
The Colorado Rapids Rapids lost Conor Casey for the year on Tuesday, but on Wednesday the Rapids
attack didn't miss a beat as Sanna Nyassi's move from midfield to forward produced a hat-trick in a
4-1 thrashing of the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night.
Rapids head coach Gary Smith shifted Nyassi from the wing to forward, giving Colorado two fast
forwards to dismantle a Red Bulls squad that sorely missed Rafa Marquez and Teemu Tainio.
BY ADAM SERRANO
FC Dallas has shown that the willingness to persevere despite absence, injuries or change.
Part of that rise has been the play of two-way midfielder Andrew Jacobson, who appears to have
finally locked down a steady spot on an MLS club after three years of bouncing around the
league.
By CALEB SONNELAND
Real Salt Lake is back to its winning ways after it ousted a red-hot FC Dallas 2-0 on Saturday
thanks to second-half strikes from Andy Williams and Fabian Espindola.
The deadlock was broken almost immediately after halftime when Kevin Hartman couldn't hold onto
an Andy Williams free kick when the keeper got behind the ball but couldn't hold onto it as it
trickled across the line to earn the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Featured photo: Earl Gardner
Saturday's game will mark the midway point of the 2011 MLS season. And, just as was the case
with the first game of the season way back on March 19, the Union will be on the road.
7 wins, 4 losses, 6 draws. In and out of first place. Who'd a thunk it way back when the Union
took the field in Houston?
By CALEB SONNELAND
FC Dallas continued its impressive roll in the MLS as it took down the Columbus Crew 2-0 at
Pizza Hut Park in Texas Saturday night thanks to goals from the red-hot duo of Brek Shea and
Jackson Goncalves.
Shea got off the mark in the 58th minute when Will Hesmer fumbled a Marvin Chavez effort which
Shea was on-hand to tidy up and put his side in front.
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.
Tomorrow's a big day for fans of soccer in Portland. Not only are the Portland Timbers heading
to Dallas to seek their first road victory but also the United States is playing Mexico in the
CONCACAF Gold Cup final. Both are happening at just about the same time though, so it's going to be
a little tricky to keep track of both.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Game time: Saturday, 8 p.m.
TV: 6abc
Philadelphia Union will aim to end a miserable week with a win against a Chivas USA squad that
limps into Chester with one win in its last six matches.
Chivas (4-6-5), which plays in Los Angeles (for those unaware), dropped a tough 2-1 loss last
week against Dallas, thanks to two killer assists by former Union midfielder Andrew Jacobson,
including one in the 85th minute.
Union
Peter Nowak says of what to expect of the Union lineup over the next couple of games: "We will
shuffle the deck. It's been a couple of months we've been playing 14 guys. It's time for the others
to step up. Gabriel Farfan is coming back, Stefani (Miglioranzi) played the first half in
Vancouver.
By JOHN BOSCHINI
A late goal from Colin Clark salvaged a 2-2 draw for the 10-man Houston Dynamo against FC Dallas
in an ill-tempered match between the rival clubs.
The game started with a flurry of chances for Houston. Brad Davis broke down the left flank and
found Will Bruin from eight yards out but Kevin Hartman stoned the rookie with a good save.
As the rain fell for the third straight game day in Seattle, FC Dallas held its ground to sneak
a win at Qwest Field through a first-half Brek Shea goal. The goal, Shea's fourth of the season
saw Seattle finish a three-game home stint 1-1-1 having only scored two goals.
The Sounders welcomed Erik Friberg back to the Starting XI, as the Swede took up the right side
of the midfield for Seattle.
As we've been saying, the starting lineup for Wednesday's match between the Seattle Sounders and
FC Dallas is a bit of a crap shoot. There are injury concerns, there's the fact that both teams are
in the middle of playing three matches in about a week and there's the ever-changing lineup
decisions of Sigi Schmid.
FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders have a few things in common. Both are in the preliminary
round of the CCL, both lost dynamic players to on pitch injuries and both get a few thousand fans
to show up when they play in the suburbs. Tip your waiters, I'll be here all week. Big D Soccer
gives us some insight into the upcoming Wednesday night match.
No offense, but there is a better record and more to cheer about at PPL Park in 2011
This is a guest feature by Matt Acconciamessa, founder and editor of US Soccer
Daily.
All we are saying...
...is give us a goal...
The chants and pleas of the PPL Park faithful sitting there above this sentence and far too
often this young season.
That is more like it. After a tie and two unimpressive losses, FC Dallas came out with all
cylinders firing against my new favorite rival, the Colorado Rapids. In what was surely (though
they denied it pre-game) a statement match, FCD came out aggressive and shooting from the first
whistle. After going up 2-0 by halftime, with goals by Ihemelu and Ferreira, FCD put the stake
through the very small heart of the Rapids less than a minute into the second half with another
goal by Ferreira off a lovely assist from Eric Avila.
Our beloved Red Stripes fell last night in Monterrey, Mexico to the UANL Tigres in the first
round of what could be the annual Rio Grande Plate. FCD took on Tigres a couple of years back in
a home-away set that drew thousands of fans to PHP. The game wasn't televised, and the only real
way to follow it other than the FCD Twitter was in Spanish on 1270AM.
Our beloved Red Stripes fell last night in Monterrey, Mexico to the UANL Tigres in the first
round of what could be the annual Rio Grande Plate. FCD took on Tigres a couple of years back in
a home-away set that drew thousands of fans to PHP. The game wasn't televised, and the only real
way to follow it other than the FCD Twitter was in Spanish on 1270AM.
Buzz Carrick over at 3rd Degree has been doing a pretty good job at keeping up with the current
rosters for FCD. So...I thought I'd give you a heads up as well. With the latest news that FCD
has let go of Maykel Galindo and Charlie Campbell, the updated rosters look something like
this:
Senior Roster (18 to 20)
MLS rosters are expanding to 30.
Before we get to the morning's news, my apologies to anyone who follows the PSP on Twitter.
On Monday night, I was updating our Events Calendar with the schedules for the Union, the
Independence, the USMNT and USWNT, as well as various other local soccer events. What I didn't
realize was that each event was being posted to Twitter.
Before we get to the morning's news, my apologies to anyone who follows the PSP on Twitter.
On Monday night, I was updating our Events Calendar with the schedules for the Union, the
Independence, the USMNT and USWNT, as well as various other local soccer events. What I didn't
realize was that each event was being posted to Twitter.
Seattle set a high bar for expansion teams in 2009. And it was clear early on that the Union
would struggle to reach similar heights during their inaugural campaign.
Still, 31 points from 30 games did not do justice to a team that seemed to undo quality
performances with sudden and unexpected errors.
I Finally Found Something That Motivated Me to Write
Despite the fact that the Philadelphia Union are fairly deep into preseason, it still feels like
it has been a slow period. Since my last writing about a Union preseason game, they have defeated
the Universities of South Florida and Central Florida and lost to third division side Orlando
City.
Sporting Kansas City signed its second homegrown player on Friday, adding 19-year-old defender
Kevin Ellis to the team's roster.
Ellis joins United States youth national team goalkeeper Jon Kempin as the homegrown players in
Kansas City. He played at Barton County Community College for the last two seasons, scoring 34
goals in time as both an attacking player and a defender.
The Philadelphia Union traded midfielder Andrew Jacobson to FC Dallas in exchange for a 2nd
round draft pick in 2013.
Jacobson started 13 games for the U in 2010, logging 18 shots, 8 on goal. He became extra parts
when The Union acquired Brian Carroll as their 18th center midfielder (kidding!
The Philadelphia Union traded midfielder Andrew Jacobson to FC Dallas in exchange for a 2nd
round draft pick in 2013.
Jacobson started 13 games for the U in 2010, logging 18 shots, 8 on goal. He became extra parts
when The Union acquired Brian Carroll as their 18th center midfielder (kidding!
