Many club volunteers and board members have asked me directly in one way or another how they get in front of a politician to plead their case for more fields, better infrastructure and more money. The simple answer is you don't, but that's because you haven't developed a strategy to get on their radar yet.

Name Base Salary Guaranteed Compensation Cap Hit (Not Official/Predicted) 2012 MLS Salary Cap Freddy Adu $400,000 $519,000 $350,000 (Designated Player) Chris Albright $55,000 $55,000 $55,000 Brian Carroll $168,000 $168,000 $168,000 Keon Daniel $55,000 $59,410 $57,500 Gabriel Farfan $46,200 $46,200 $46,200 Michael Farfan $57,200 $94,700 $75,000 Raymon Gaddis $33,750 $33,750 0 (Supplemental) Gabriel Gomez $275,000 $294,702.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

In the latest edition of the Philly Soccer Show podcast, KYW's Greg Orlandini and PSP's Eli Pearlman-Storch are joined by Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Chase Harrison, who got his first-ever start last weekend in Dallas, helping the team to a 1-1 draw.

Harrison talks about the match, in which he took a physical beating but hung in as the Union walked away with a point.

• 00:32 - The Philadelphia Union kickoff the game.
• 00:58 - A ball is launched over the top of the Union defense and finds Andrew Jacobson at the top of Philadelphia's 18. The Union defense had been overly aggressive in the attack only seconds beforehand and was unable to handle a run by the former Philadelphia midfielder.

Philadelphia Union reserves played the New York Red Bulls reserves to a 2-2 draw on Sunday afternoon at Widener University's Quick Stadium. PSP photographer Daniel Gajdamowicz was there.

The Union huddle before the kickoff.

Cristhian Hernandez and and Reading's own Corey Hertzog eye the ball.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Despite racing out to a two goal lead, the Union reserves faded in the closing minutes, surrendering the lead and settling for a 2-2 tie at Widener's Quick Stadium.

Antoine Hoppenot led the line for the Union, opening the scoring in the 11th minute, having been set up by Josue Martinez.

Philadelphia Union reserves played the New York Red Bulls reserves to a 2-2 draw on Sunday afternoon at Widener University's Quick Stadium. PSP photographer Daniel Gajdamowicz was there.

The Union huddle before the kickoff.

Cristhian Hernandez and and Reading's own Corey Hertzog eye the ball.

The Rhode Island Reds suffered a hard-fought 1-0 loss to the Brooklyn Italians in their NPSL debut on Saturday.

CRANSTON, R.I. Jakeem Johnson spoiled the Reds' NPSL debut when he scored the game's lone goal to give the Brooklyn Italians a 1-0 win at Cranston Stadium on Saturday.

Johnson spent much of the match knocking on the door before his 74th minute strike.

Liverpool have been the biggest culprits when it comes to spending over the value for English talent this season. With the new homegrown rules firmly in place it seems the chase for England's hottest up-and-coming prospects is set to continue, or will it encourage more teams to gamble with their own youth setup?

Arsene Wenger's chase for a top striker for the Arsenal team continues as the Gunners are now faced with another closed door after Fulham's manager Martin Jol dismissed the possibility of star striker Clint Dempsey to leave, despite him so far refusing to sign a new contract. The American hitman has scored 23 goals this [.

• 00:05 - Pregame handshakes.
• 00:20 - Chase Harrison and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar collide inside of the Philadelphia Union 18. Huntelaar was accidentally hit in the face by Harrison, who was attempting to punch a cross out of his area. The Dutch striker was diagnosed with a concussion and his face had already begun to swell up.

By JOEY SAMUEL

Although it doesn't count in the standings, the Philadelphia Union earned a quality win on Wednesday night in front of a paltry crowd at PPL Park.

Rookie forward Chandler Hoffman scored in the 88th minute to give the Union a 2-1 win over U.S. men's national team midfielder Jermaine Jones and German side Schalke 04.

PSP photographer Nicolae Stoian's look at Wednesday night's Philadelphia Union 2-1 win over Schalke 04.

The Schalke starting XI.

Team captains Raul and Valdez.

Danny Mwanga tries to get past Jermaine Jones.

Lionard Pajoy was out wide.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Union 2–1 Schalke

The Union are now 4–0–0 in international friendlies at PPL Park after a very entertaining 2–1 win over Schalke 04. The official attendance was 7,464 which, as is usually the case with attendance figures, seems generous. Whatever.

The Netherlands' hopes to win the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament next month took a slight hit as FC Schalke 04's star striker Klass-Jan Huntelaar suffered a concussion tonight against the Philadelphia Union.

Huntelaar collided with Union goalkeeper Chase Harrison, who was starting in place of the resting Zac MacMath - who himself had suffered a concussion this past weekend, inside of the Union 18.

Photo & Video: Nicolae Stoian

Union v Schalke friendly

At Tuesday's press conference, Schalke manager Huub Stevens said, "We're here with a strong team, the strongest team we can have right now, guys like Raul, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Jermaine Jones. If they feel good enough they'll play.

Interest High In Arsenal Target Dragovic

FC Basel defender Aleksandar Dragovic has claimed that a number of big European clubs, including Arsenal FC, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Olympique de Marseille want to sign him in the summer transfer window.

By the skin of our teeth, we're walking away victorious. More, after the jump:

You already know

Just like that, we're heading to Spain with a 1-0 lead. Yeah, that actually happened. If you witnessed the match, you might have lost your mind. Barcelona did precisely what they came to accomplish- they knocked it about, made our defense chase the triangles, and altogether dominated the ball for extended stretches.

Jamie Carragher believes it is "vitally important" to keep Luis Suarez at Anfield, insisting he would not swap the striker for any other player in England.
The Uruguay international has expressed his desire to extend his stay with the Reds despite a testing first full season which saw him serve an eight-match ban after being found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra last October.

Jamie Carragher believes it is "vitally important" to keep Luis Suarez at Anfield, insisting he would not swap the striker for any other player in England.
The Uruguay international has expressed his desire to extend his stay with the Reds despite a testing first full season which saw him serve an eight-match ban after being found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra last October.

I woke up this morning wanting the ‘D' Word to stand for ‘Defense' – as it was in my opinion, the main talking point to last night's match vs. Valencia. Having read some of the comments from the liveblog at RMFB (and what some Madrid fans are saying), perhaps another ‘D' Word should be added into the mix: disappointment – Madridisimo's collective disappointment for the result (an obvious one) and my personal disappointment for their nitpicky reaction to the game.

The Union reserve team opened up their season yesterday morning against the New England Revolution's reserve squad with a 4-2 victory. With the sun beating down on the Chester Field pitch and the wind gusting, the Union reserves played a strong 90 minutes. Due to the Union's bye week, some players who may not have normally played with the reserve team, like Josue Martinez and Roger Torres, got a chance to get some good minutes in during the match.

As listless as the Union attack has been in their first three matches of the year, their youth served up four goals against the New England reserves Monday morning in the first match of the MLS Reserve season. The children of the Revolution managed to put two past a jury-rigged backline and backup keeper Chase Harrison.

Morning all.

The Easter fixtures have turned out most eggselently for Arsenal. After our 1-0 win over City on Sunday, Sp*rs lost at home to Norwich and Chelsea dropped a couple of points as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham. Newcastle continue to win and win well and will be putting the shits right up our London rivals in the chase for the top four.

Kenny Mansally scored two goals, but it wasn't enough as the Union reserves beat the Revolution reserves 4-2 at Chester Park, Penn. on Monday.

Mansally's 19th and 91st minute strikes sandwiched the goals scored by Josue Martinez (2), Antoine Hoppenot and Christhian Hernandez.

The Gambian first appeared on the scoresheet before the 20th minute when he converted a penalty after Union keeper Chase Harrison brought down Blake Brettschneider in the box.

Why Chamakh staying at Arsenal is not a good idea by KJ The former Bordeaux hit-man Marouane Chamakh has been linked with a summer move out of Arsenal with PSG leading the chase. The Moroccan has been in horrendous form with one goal in his last 25 appearances. However, he has vowed to fight for [...

When Papiss Cisse stepped around a sprawling Pepe Reina to slot Newcastle's second goal home on Sunday, a few things seemed clear. First and foremost, it seemed clear that the Newcastle striker had been offside. Beyond that, though, the obvious culprit seemed to be Jon Flanagan's whiffed clearance, while around him Liverpool's entire defence seemed a complete mess.

With the Premier League title race being so tightly contested between the two Manchester clubs, and the chase for the fourth and final spot for Champions League looking equally enthralling, one could be forgiven for forgetting about the relegation...
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This is bound to be one of the best full-on slugs of an official you've ever seen, though the form and technique certainly won't win any world titles anytime soon.

The "gentlemen" come from Yanga, of Tanzania, went after the referee, who was doing an excellent job of backpedaling and avoiding the onslaught until a leaping slap-punch caught him in the face.

Barcelona maintain their 10 points gap with Real Madrid after another Lionel Messi goals day stunned Racing Santander, leaving the Catalan a comfortable journey home awaiting for another weekend to chase Madrid.

After recently bagging five goals in the Champions League, Messi continues his goal scoring form this weekend, although the Argentinian international only bagged a brace but it were decisive for Barca's victory.

Barcelona maintain their 10 points gap with Real Madrid after another Lionel Messi goals day stunned Racing Santander, leaving the Catalan a comfortable journey home awaiting for another weekend to chase Madrid.

After recently bagging five goals in the Champions League, Messi continues his goal scoring form this weekend, although the Argentinian international only bagged a brace but it were decisive for Barca's victory.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

The PSP writers discuss how the Philadelphia Union look ahead of the start of the 2012 season. You can read part one of the roundtable here.

How much will the Olympics affect the Union?

Ed: Before the last camp ahead of the Mexico game when five players were regularly getting the call, it seemed like the answer would be a lot, particularly if MacMath was going to be away.

The Philadelphia Union announced today that the team had officially signed goalkeeper Chris Konopka to a contract. Per MLS and team policies, Konopka's contract facts and figures were not released.

Konopka, 26, has spent time with Sporting Kansas City, the Columbus Crew and the New York Red Bulls during short stints in MLS.

This article is re-posted with the express permission of TopDrawerSoccer.com
(Click here for original article)
Carolina clubs ready to hunt Virginia sides Article Written by Travis Clark, ESNN
With the Development Academy spring schedule about to kick into a high gear, there is going to be a tight race in the U18 Atlantic Division.

Having already end their six years title drought, Craig Bellamy now has a new target for his club, Liverpool, which is finishing in the top four place and eventually playing in the Champions League again.

Bellamy believes that after finally winning something again, it's eventually time for the Reds to get themselves back into the height of European club competition and that's obviously the UEFA Champions League.

Our "men in red" took on DC United in Charleston this evening. This game was a tale of two halves. First half Chicago controlled the tempo and drove into the box at will. In the second half the team played on their heels.
From the start of the game Chicago took control. Frustrating the DC defense enough to draw an early PK.

In case you haven't heard, Greg Jordan, Raymon Gaddis, Krystian Witkowski, Chase Harrison and Antione Hoppenot are all official. That's three mids, one defender and a goalie signing their lives away to the Blue and Gold. How does this affect the lineups? That depends on the current presumed starters.

The Philadelphia Union announced today that the team has signed five players, including four rookies from the 2012 MLS SuperDraft and Supplemental Draft.

SuperDraft selections Greg Jordan and Raymon Gaddis join fellow draftee Chandler Hoffman as members of the Union, while Krystian Witkowski and Antoine Hoppenot are the only two Supplemental Draft picks from any season under contract for Philadelphia.

Photo: Earl Gardner

Given the erratic nature of the preseason, we have elected to invert our usual post-match format and lead with player ratings. Preseason games are opportunities for positional and tactical experimentation, and so individual player performances become the most important factor in the evaluation of the team as they build towards the regular season.

Amid a torrid run of form, player backlash and the famed "backing" of a trigger happy owner, the following month could be make or break for Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas

Every manager goes through it. A run of important fixtures that can ultimately decide a team's season. It's around this time of the year too.