The Pitch Invasion Podcast Episode 1
Can't wait to take a listen to this:
"Peter Wilt and Tom Dunmore host the inaugural Pitch Invasion podcast, exploring soccer culture
around the world from the American Midwest. In the first show, Peter and Tom talk first to Montreal
Impact head coach Jesse Marsch about the challenges of starting a soccer club, putting together a
team from scratch, and fan culture in MLS.
You can't hear it yet, though the vertigo feeling has dramatically changed to falling. Falling
isn't the right word, so I'll get literate on you. Falling of Biblical proportions. The 1st Chapter
of Satanic Verses Falling. The longer this plays out, the lower the valuation. The Impact are in a
tough situation with only one suitor.
Yes, Brucio is still away. Sources say he's exploring restaurant franchise opportunities in
Newfoundland. Please be patient with me. I am an amateur.
So how did everybody fare in Thursday's MLS SuperDraft?
Over at No Short Corners, Will Parchman is apoplectic that Enzo Martinez fell all the way to 17th,
where Salt Lake scooped him up.
Most surprising on the day of the MLS SuperDraft were the opening words spoken by Don Garber as he
greeted the viewers and public... in French. His words were spoken in order to honor MLS newcomers
and first to pick in the draft, the Montreal Impact. Beyond the initial surprise of that, the
remainder of the draft left little in the way of talking points.
By AVI CREDITOR
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Montreal Impact made Duke centerback Andrew Wenger the first selection
in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, taking the versatile, U.S. Under-23 defender with its first-ever draft
pick.
Wenger, the 2011 MAC Hermann Trophy winner, is the reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year, a
year after he captured the conference's Defensive Player of the Year honors.
With the news coming yesterday afternoon from Jesus Ortiz on the Chronicle that Brian Ching will
not retire and will report to Montreal Impact camp when it opens, the ant bed that is Dynamo fandom
was again stirred with a stick. Reaction varied from renewed anger towards Jesse Marsch to clever
theories about when Ching will have to have season ending surgery that sticks the Impact with his
large salary for the season.
The 2012 MLS schedule has been released and like all fans I looked to see when the big teams
would meet each other.
In looking over the schedule, the folks at Major League Soccer identified these as the 10
must-see matches of 2012. Do you agree with them? Unfortunately there are no New England Revolution
matches on the list.
At least, it's here!
The 2012 Dynamo schedule was at least released today, along with the rest of the league, so we
can now begin preparing road trips and all the other particulars that fans need to do to properly
ready themselves for the upcoming season.
Some of the highlights include:
BBVA Compass Stadium Opening Day: Saturday, May 12, 3:30 p.
photo by ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
BRADENTON, Fla. -- As the U.S. Under-23 men's national team played an intra-squad scrimmage on
Thursday afternoon, Eddie Johnson sat in the stands at IMG Soccer Academy making observations,
smiling and cracking jokes with U.
Photo by Max Becherer/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. -- Bryan Arguez has a lot to be excited about these days.
In the past two months, Arguez has gone from playing in the NASL with the Ft. Lauderdale
Strikers, to getting signed by the Montreal Impact, to getting called into his first camp in years
with the U.
Ethan Finlay (Marshfield) had an incredible college soccer career, one that rates among
the best in history for a former Wisconsin prep player.
The Creighton senior forward was named to the first team of the National Soccer Coaches
Association of America Division I All-America team, putting him in some pretty elite company.
The Writing is on the wall for Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas. Win tomorrow's match against
Valencia and hang on as Chelsea coach for a couple more weeks. Lose, and either face the sack or
quit.
Tomorrow's match at Stamford Bridge will be crucial in all aspects for he Blues as the fate of
their entire season hangs on the result of the match.
Photo: Courtesy US Soccer
Philly Soccer Page
Today marks the return of one series and the start of another. First, fresh on the heels of our
series of raves, we begin our series of season reviews of every Philadelphia Union player who saw
more than ten minutes of action in 2011 (sorry Morgan!
By AVI CREDITOR
Fans of the Montreal Impact who saw their team labor through a troubling 2011 NASL campaign and
at one point staged a protest against team management probably couldn't forsee the events of this
past week coming.
By opting to build its nucleus around established MLS veterans and a few young players who could
thrive with an opportunity in a new situation as opposed to building around pricey newcomers who
aren't as familiar with the inner workings of the league, Montreal has laid the groundwork to be
far more than a doormat in its expansion season in MLS.
The Montreal Impact aren't wasting any time here in building their roster. In the second move of
the day for the new club they have traded for veteran international keeper Donovan Ricketts from
the Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for allocation money.
I had a sneaky suspension that Ricketts would get traded this winter or at least before next
season by the Galaxy.
Real quick post to provide some context concerning Brian Ching's vocal unwillingness to play for
the Montreal Impact, and more specifically, Jesse Marsch. There is documented history between the
two men, with two main incidents being what we assume is the focal point of Ching's less than
positive feelings towards the Impact's head coach.
Photo by ISIPhotos.com
The Montreal Impact have continued to wheel and deal as Jesse Marsch shapes his roster, with the
latest blockbuster coming Monday with Montreal dealing Seth Sinovic and an allocation to Sporting
Kansas City for veteran midfielder Davy Arnaud.
The deal is a smart one for Kansas City, which gets back starting left back and hometown product
Sinovic, while also parting with Arnaud, a captain who had lost his place in Sporting's central
midfield.
Happy Cyber-Monday everyone! I've been scanning the internet using some of the new apps that
check for deals and its been making things a lot easier. Although it feels like cheating when you
don't even have to work on your search-fu to find bargains. Cyber-Monday is another day for
celebrating the glories of American consumerism by blowing off work.
I'm opening this with the following statement:
This is an editorial piece containing my opinions about the Brian Ching situation. I do not have
factual evidence to support my points, I'm simply making educated assumptions based on the
information we've actually seen. That said, I'm sure I'll get some reactions from people who don't
make it past the headline before jumping to a conclusion.
Philadelphia Union
This Vancouver blog attributes Nizar Khalfan's inability to become a regular starter with the
Whitecaps to being away on international duty and being on the outs with then head coach Tommy
Soehn. "Frankly, I think the Whitecaps should have kept him, and my feeling is the loss of the
Vancouver Whitecaps is the Philadelphia Union's gain.
Philadelphia Union
This Vancouver blog attributes Nizar Khalfan's inability to become a regular starter with the
Whitecaps to being away on international duty and being on the outs with then head coach Tommy
Soehn. "Frankly, I think the Whitecaps should have kept him, and my feeling is the loss of the
Vancouver Whitecaps is the Philadelphia Union's gain.
It's always a drag when work gets in the way of your retirement dreams. On Wednesday as millions
of us were travelling to Thanksgiving dinner, the Montreal Impact selected ten players left
unprotected by their fellow MLS clubs and, for ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
The dust of MLS Cup and the Expansion Draft has settled and there is still one topic currently
making the rounds in MLS circles: the selection of Brian Ching by the Montreal Impact.
Jesse Marsch likely made few friends in Houston with his selection of Brian Ching in the expansion
draft. Really though, Houston have no one to be mad at but themselves.
The Montreal Impact selected Bobby Burling in the expansion draft yesterday. Head coach Jesse
Marsch played with Burling on Chivas USA from 2007 to 2009. Marsch played as a defensive midfielder
and Burling played as a defender while on Chivas USA. As such, Marsch was happy to select Burling
during the expansion draft.
The Montreal Impact selected Bobby Burling in the expansion draft yesterday. Head coach Jesse
Marsch played with Burling on Chivas USA from 2007 to 2009. Marsch played as a defensive midfielder
and Burling played as a defender while on Chivas USA. As such, Marsch was happy to select Burling
during the expansion draft.
Le Toux's turkey cupcake. (Photo: Courtesy of Sebastien Le Toux)
A Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from all of us at the Philly Soccer Page. Here
are a few more holiday messages from the Philly soccer community:
Sebastien Le Toux: "Happy turkey day everybody!
Le Toux's turkey cupcake. (Photo: Courtesy of Sebastien Le Toux)
A Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from all of us at the Philly Soccer Page. Here
are a few more holiday messages from the Philly soccer community:
Sebastien Le Toux: "Happy turkey day everybody!
No players with Wisconsin ties were taken by the Montreal Impact and coach Jesse Marsch
(Racine) in today's Major League Soccer expansion draft.
However, two former University of Wisconsin teammates were waived by their teams after the
draft: Sporting Kansas City released defender Scott Lorenz and the New York Red Bulls cut
ties with goalkeeper Alex Horwath.
Justin Mapp -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
Any concerns over losing a portion of the Chicago Fire's roster were put to rest as the Montreal
Impact made 10 selections outside of the Fire's unprotected player pool during Wednesday's MLS
Expansion Draft.
Former Fire midfielder and Impact head coach Jesse Marsch inherits a franchise that selected former
Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching with the top pick in the draft.
Justin Mapp -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
Any concerns over losing a portion of the Chicago Fire's roster were put to rest as the Montreal
Impact made 10 selections outside of the Fire's unprotected player pool during Wednesday's MLS
Expansion Draft.
Former Fire midfielder and Impact head coach Jesse Marsch inherits a franchise that selected former
Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching with the top pick in the draft.
Well, here we go.
Brian Ching has been selected in the expansion draft by the Montreal Impact. In order for Ching
to finish his career in Houston, something he's stated he wants to do, the club will have to work a
deal with the Impact to reacquire him. Will they do it, who knows.
There's the sentimental part of me that says give Montreal allocation money or a DP slot, hell
even a player, to get Ching back for one more season.
Expansion draft leaves no impact on the Chicago Fire or Chicago Fire on the Montreal Impact
The Chicago Fire haven't lost anyone from the 2011 team just yet. Former Fire player and current
Montreal Impact head coach Jesse Marsch did not select anyone from #cf97. The big selections and
following moves are at the link.
The 2011-12 offseason for Major League Soccer is underway today as the 19th club the Montreal
Impact made their ten selections in the Expansion Draft.
Below are the ten players selected:
- Brian Ching (Houston)
- Zarek Valentin (Chivas)
- Justin Mapp (Philadelphia)
- Bobby Burling (San Jose)
- Jed Brovsky (Vancouver)
- Collen Warner (Real Salt Lake)
- Josh Gardner (Columbus Crew)
- Sanna Nyassi (Colorado Rapids)
- James Riley (Seattle Sounders)
- Seth Sinovic (Sporting Kansas City)
Montreal also made a couple deals during the draft as well.
The Montreal Impact didn't waste any time in making a statement in the MLS Expansion Draft.
Despite threats that Brian Ching would retire if selected, the Impact made the Houston Dynamo
forward and captain the first overall pick in Wednesday's draft. In addition to Ching, the Impact
pounced on the chance to grab former Chivas USA and U.
The Houston Dynamo took a gamble this week by leaving striker Brian Ching unprotected for
today's expansion draft, hoping that Ching's age and salary would prevent the Montreal Impact from
drafting him. Additionally, Brian Ching made it clear that if he was drafted by Montreal, he would
retire.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Union
Y0u can watch a live stream of today's Expansion Draft the French Canadian way from 3pm on the
Montreal Impact website. (It's supposed to be on the MLS site too but, as of this writing, they
haven't put the link up yet.)
Montreal Impact head coach Jesse Marsch is among those who noticed Freddy Adu was left
unprotected by the Philadelphia Union ahead of today's Expansion Draft.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Union
Y0u can watch a live stream of today's Expansion Draft the French Canadian way from 3pm on the
Montreal Impact website. (It's supposed to be on the MLS site too but, as of this writing, they
haven't put the link up yet.)
Montreal Impact head coach Jesse Marsch is among those who noticed Freddy Adu was left
unprotected by the Philadelphia Union ahead of today's Expansion Draft.
Insight by Chris KauppThe Montreal Impact soccer club was founded in 1992 and is making the jump to MLS play in 2012.
They have played in many different leagues throughout their existence. The APSL, A-League, USL and
NASL are just a few.
In August, the club announced that 14-year MLS vet, Jesse Marsch, would be their head coach moving
forward.
Insight by Chris KauppThe Montreal Impact soccer club was founded in 1992 and is making the jump to MLS play in 2012.
They have played in many different leagues throughout their existence. The APSL, A-League, USL and
NASL are just a few.
In August, the club announced that 14-year MLS vet, Jesse Marsch, would be their head coach moving
forward.
