Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
Philadelphia Union
Several Union players talk about preseason training at YSC SPorts last week. The team landed in
Orlando on Sunday.
Danny Califf, acknowledging that only he and Brian Carroll are the only players remaining on the
Union who are older than 27, tells MLSsoccer.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Philadelphia Union
Jack McInerney scored in the US U-23 team's 1–1 draw with the USMNT. McInerney, Amobi Okugo,
and Freddy Adu started the first half. Zac MacMath and Sheanon Williams started the second
half.
John Hackworth says of Tom Brandt, the Union's first pick in the Supplemental Draft, "We wanted
to get a quality player in the back and we feel like we did that with Tom Brandt.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Philadelphia Union
Reaction to the release of the 2012 schedule:
The Goalkeeper notes that the Union is hosting New York and DC twice. "This strikes me as unfair
from a competitive balance standpoint...As such, it would seem to me to make more sense to have
each team host one team once and one team twice.
It isn't every day that a bright young player like Junior Flores comes around. Major League
Soccer knows it and is trying desperately to add him to their 2012 Generation adidas class.
Reports from the Washington Post say that the league has already offered Flores a lucrative GA
contract, one likely to be on the high end of those deals signed in this class.
Chivas USA had a new head coach and a new system last season, but after a slow start the team
looked to be set in neutral in the competitive Western Conference. However, the acquisition of
Juan Pablo Angel and a ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
The 2012 MLS SuperDraft just got a little better. Fox Soccer's Ives Galarcep is reporting that
the league has secured deals with two of the top prospects in this year's draft in Akron striker
Darren Mattocks and Duke midfielder/defender Andrew Wenger.
Mattocks was rumored to go to Europe over the last couple weeks.
Philadelphia Union
Kerith Gabriel reports that the Philadelphia Union will announce a "blockbuster deal" with
Panamanian international Gabriel Gomez. Gabriel says that Gomez is the "the same box-to-box
defender/midfielder that was a beast in Panama's 2-0 win over the United States in the group stage
of this summer's Gold Cup.
Another top striker considering skipping MLS for the prizes in Europe? It sure seems that way.
According to Soccer By Ives, Akron sophomore Darren Mattocks is considering to pass on the proposed
Generation adidas deal that the league is offering him to go to Europe.
The Jamaican-born striker is said to be fielding offers from clubs in Sweden, Norway and
Denmark.
File Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
Philadelphia Union
In Thursday's press conference, Peter Nowak reiterated a theme that he has stressed since the
end of the season: he is looking to create competition among positions within the squad. "The more
guys we have in [camp] being involved with the team and the team-mentality is better and will help
us to have better results.
Happy Friday to you. A few things on the mind this morning.
First up is a reaction to Brad Friedel's comments on Landon Donovan taking the easy road by staying
in MLS. What a ridiculous thing to say. Friedel is an accomplished player, one who is certainly
deserving of respect. But for him to criticize Donovan so publicly was extremely out of line.
Philadelphia Union
John Hackworth explains what the Union is looking for going into the 2012 season. "When you're
retooling, you have to make sure you're managing the roster and the salary cap. We're not
necessarily trying to get younger; we're trying to get better. And we're going to look at every
avenue do that.
Today, MLS announced the coaching staff and roster for the upcoming Generation Adidas trip to the
Netherlands. Peter Vermes and the Sporting Kansas City coaching staff have been named the coaches
for the trip. Vermes will be joined by Zoran Savic, John Pascarella, and Juniors coach Jon Parry on
the tour.
Some of you have asked and here it is, the list of players that have graduated out of the
Generation adidas program.
- Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City)
- Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo)
- Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew)
- Blair Gavin (Chivas USA)
- Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire)
- Perry Kitchen (DC United)
- Josh Lambo (FC Dallas)
- Peri Marosevic (Toronto FC)
- Danny Mwanga (Philadelphia Union)
- Tony Tchani (Columbus Crew)
- Zarek Valentin (Chivas USA)
There are still 15 others left in the program for next year like RSL's Luis Gil, Vancouver's Omar
Salgado and Portland's Darlington Nagbe.
Duke's Andrew Wenger stands to be one of the top prospects in this year's SuperDraft. (Photo via
Duke Athletic Department)
I know I've been slacking on my college coverage as of late. But have no fear, my SuperDraft
items will really start to kick up in the coming weeks with the start of the NCAA tournament next
week.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Union
In this week's power rankings roundup, the Philadelphia Union leap four spots from no. 10 to
sixth at MLSsoccer.com. They jump three spots to no. 6 at SBI and at Soccer America. The Union move
up two spots to sixth at WV Hooligan. At ESPN, the Union move up two spots to ninth.
There had been talks for a couple weeks that California goalkeeper David Bingham could become a
member of the 2011 Generation adidas class. Before the SuperDraft the league decided they didn't
want two keepers as GAs but according to Soccer By Ives, they've changed their minds.
Bingham has signed a GA deal with the league and will be placed in a special lottery draft,
similar to Luis Gil's deal last year after the draft that saw Kansas City get him (only to then
deal him to Real Salt Lake).
The MLS drafts are finally over. After over a month of players being picked, picks being
declined, picks being traded, and picks being digested, there will be no more MLS drafts until the
Montreal Expansion Draft at the end of this year. To recap, we've seen:
- The Vancouver and Portland Expansion draft, where teams had 10 protected players but had to
submit a list of unprotected players to the two expansion clubs.
Check it out below. This includes only the last college a player attended (if he attended more than
one). It also counts the colleges of pro player who were drafted (which happened in the early days
of the Superdraft).
UCLA 16 Maryland 11 Wake Forest 11 Virginia 10 Indiana 9 North Carolina 7 SMU 7 Clemson 6
Connecticut 6 Santa Clara 5 Duke 4 Portland 4 Stanford 4 Akron 3 California 3 Creighton 3 FIU 3
Notre Dame 3 Saint Louis 3 South Florida 3 UC Santa Barbara 3 Washington 3 William & Mary 3 Furman
2 San Jose State 2 South Carolina 2 UAB 2 UNC Charlotte 2 Belhaven 1 Boston College 1 Coastal
Carolina 1 CS Dominguez 1 CS Fullerton 1 CS Northridge 1 Fordham 1 Fort Lewis 1 Fresno State 1
George Mason 1 Hartford 1 Lehigh 1 Lynn 1 Michigan 1 New Mexico 1 Ohio State 1 Old Dominion 1
Oregon State 1 Pasadena 1 Rutgers 1 San Diego 1 San Francisco 1 Seton Hall 1 Southern Conn State 1
Tampa 1 Tulsa 1 Virginia Tech 1 Wisconsin 1
none 14
This year, an astounding five Akron players have been signed through the Generation Adidas program.
One thing I like about the MLS Superdraft is that it is the type of draft where a first round
player can make an almost immediate impact. Some sports try to hype their drafts, but at the end
of the day the draftees will languish in the minors for a few years hoping to eventually make the
big leagues.
If you don't fully understand the ins and outs of the MLS SuperDraft, don't worry. It is not a
sign of stupidity. I hear Stephen Hawking is struggling to understand it.
Few can understand the craziness and fluctuating criteria which make up the behind the scenes
world of bringing an American football style draft to the world of soccer.
It seems every year there is one player that is a late addition to the Generation adidas class.
It looks as thought this year UCSB defender Michael Tetteh is that one late addition.
SBI is reporting that UCSB head coach Tim von Steeg has confirmed with him that Tetteh will be
the 10th player on the Generation adidas class and will be at the MLS Combine this weekend.
If you're like me, the holidays are a time of getting out of your workday routines due to
relaxation/travel/stress. In fact, at times I miss news stories because I tend not to check news
sites or Twitter as much as I normally do. So as I begin my work week routine again, I notice
that I have missed some news items over the past week or so that were interesting or important.
