Sebastien Le Toux and Kyle Nakazawa were seen as the two major free kick takers on the
Philadelphia Union through the team's first two seasons of existence.
For Le Toux it was because of his massive number of free kicks, coupled with a perceived high
failure rate on them. Nakazawa's status as a free kick taker came from a mystique that he developed
among the Union's fan base from great technique.
Pour a sip on the concrete, and take a look back at the dearly departed.
Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com
By AVI CREDITOR
The Philadelphia Union have a plan, and they're sticking to it.
The club purchased the full rights to 20-year-old Colombian midfielder Roger Torres from America
de Cali, which had been loaning him to the Union for the last two seasons.
Well, this probably isn't an objective statement, but the Chicago Fire really have started off
2012 well...just in the same way that Quaker Oats breakfast products are a great way to start the
day!
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
In all seriousness though, I can't remember a sponsorship providing such a boost to a club in
general and to a fan base in particular.
The MLS SuperDraft is Thursday, January 12 at 12pm ET (ESPN2, ESPN3). The Philadelphia Union
have the 13th, 32nd and 35th picks this year, and nobody knows
what the team will do. PSP runs down some of the options.
Tony Cascio
What: Winger
Why: Some experts believe the Union will look to solidify their wing play by
adding a player like UConn's Tony Cascio.
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.
French news outlet MLS-News is reporting that the Philadelphia Union are set to add a French
left back to the team's roster soon.
Cedric Fabien is considered one of the best left backs in France's League Two, at least by a one
person who follows the league (see the YouTube video below). Fabien is a former Le Mans player, and
has spent the vast majority of his career in the second division of France.
Featured image: Nicolae Stoian
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.
At the end of the 2010 season, the jury was still out on Kyle Nakazawa.
Photo: Earl Gardner
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.
Justin Mapp heads to Montreal after an inconsistent one-and-a-half year stint in
Philadelphia.
Photo: Earl Gardner
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.
Justin Mapp heads to Montreal after an inconsistent one-and-a-half year stint in
Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Union
Here's the skinny on new signing Josue Martinez from Kenneth Hernandez, soccer writer for Costa
Rican daily Al Dia:
- "Martínez is a player for the future. He's still young and he has a lot to give. But he's just
21 and he needs to establish himself as a forward who responds with goals.
The loss of Justin Mapp in the expansion draft to me wasn't a huge loss, Mapp is replaceable by
younger talent, however, the Union regardless have positions that they need to fill over the
off-season. The Union (and MLS in general) have been linked to several high profile names in other
soccer leagues around the world.
The Philadelphia Union have made their first off-season moves, and the latest installment of the
KYW Philly Soccer Show has Union assistant coach John Hackworth on the pod to talk about
it.
In part one, Coach Hackworth joins KYW‘s Greg Orlandini and Philly Soccer Page
writer Eli Pearlman-Storch to discuss losing veteran midfielder Justin Mapp to Montreal Impact in
the Expansion Draft and other possible moves in the offseason.
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.
Slim soccer news pickings from the Thanksgiving holiday. Checkout our Thanksgiving Day news
roundup for extensive coverage of reaction to the Expansion Draft and more.
Union
Union Dues says Justin Mapp "has won himself into the 'Do Not Boo' list" and looks forward "to
welcoming Mapp and his new team to PPL for the first time.
Slim soccer news pickings from the Thanksgiving holiday. Checkout our Thanksgiving Day news
roundup for extensive coverage of reaction to the Expansion Draft and more.
Union
Union Dues says Justin Mapp "has won himself into the 'Do Not Boo' list" and looks forward "to
welcoming Mapp and his new team to PPL for the first time.
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!
After losing veteran midfielder Justin Mapp to the Montreal Impact in the Expansion Draft, the
Philadelphia Union claimed fellow midfielder Nizar Khalfan from the Vancouver Whitecaps in the
Waiver Draft.
The Union also released central defender Juan Diego Gonzalez and goalkeeper Thorne Holder.
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.
That five thoughts on the expansion draft post seemed to work pretty well yesterday, so with
time short and you (maybe? hopefully?) interested, here are five more on how the Montreal Impact
might be the new evil geniuses of Major League Soccer.
And they might just be that. Because right now Montreal looks evil, re: Brian Ching, and they
look like geniuses, re: Justin Braun.
The Philadelphia Union felt the pain of the Expansion Draft for a second year in a row, losing
veteran left midfielder Justin Mapp to the Montreal Impact in today's draft proceedings. Mapp
became the third Union player ever selected in an Expansion Draft, along with striker Alejandro
Moreno (Portland Timbers, traded to Chivas USA) and right winger Shea Salinas (Vancouver
Whitecaps).
The Montreal Impact did not draft any New England Revolution players in this year's MLS
Expansion Draft, despite some valuable options being left up for grabs. Darrius Barnes, Ryan Guy,
and designated player Milton Caraglio were among the Revolution players left unprotected coming
into this draft, which would have been significant losses had they been chosen.
The Montreal Impact started the 2011 expansion draft with a controversial move, selecting Houston
Dynamo forward Brian Ching over the player's objections. Ching let it be known before the draft
that he planned to retire rather than leave Houston. In the only trade move, Montreal drafted
Seattle's James Riley and sent him to Chivas USA for Gerson Mayen and Justin Braun.
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.
Justin Mapp was selected by Montreal in the round of the 2012 Expansion Draft.
Since joining the Union after being acquired in a trade with Chicago Fire on July 26, 2010 in
exchange for allocation money, Mapp has played in 46 games with 35 starts, scoring four goals with
eight assists.
- Brian Ching
- Zarek Valentin
- Justin Mapp
- Bobby Burling
- 5
- Colin Warner
- Josh Gardner
The next big day on the MLS calendar is Dec.
Welcome to the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft! We've covered the event quite extensively already here
on Stumptown Footy, but now here's the real deal. Who will the Montreal Impact take? Could Ryan
Pore be on his way out? No more need to speculate as the event kicks off.
I'll be following the event live and updating the thread here with the picks as they come in, as
fast as I can.
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.
Wednesday's MLS Expansion Draft provides the Montreal Impact a chance to build the foundation
for its MLS roster, and the club will have some decisions to make based on how much it wants to
spend and which direction it wants to go off the bat.
Designated Players Julian de Guzman, Andres Mendoza, Mustapha Jarju, Branko Boskovic, Frank
Rost, Milton Caraglio, Omar Bravo and Jeferson are all free for the taking (although Rost is likely
to return to Germany after a few-month stay with New York), giving the Impact the option to make a
major investment immediately.
This just in from Kerith Gabriel at the Daily News:
Tweet No. 1: According to French pub L'Equipe, @PhilaUnion is said to be vying
for the services of @chelseafc forward Nicolas Anelka.
Tweet No. 2: Source within @PhilaUnion camp just confirmed there IS interest
but said it's a stretch given other offers Anelka has received.
The following are the official protected and unprotected player lists for the Philadelphia Union
for the upcoming 2011 MLS Expansion Draft. The draft takes place at 2 pm on Wednesday afternoon,
with the Montreal Impact selecting ten players from the 18 current MLS teams. Once a team has a
player selected, that team is exempt from the remaining rounds of the Expansion Draft.
Major League Soccer has unveiled the lists of players who will be available for the Montreal
Impact to select in the upcoming Expansion Draft.
Brian Ching, Freddy Adu, Justin Mapp, and Andy Williams are just some of the players available
for selection by Montreal on Wednesday.
The following is a breakdown of the rules of the 2012 MLS Expansion
Draft, rule-by-rule based upon how each rule affects the Philadelphia Union's protection list
choices. The Montreal Impact, a now former North American Soccer League team, will draft 10 players
from various MLS teams.
• MLS Clubs may protect 11 players between their On-budget and their Off-budget Roster.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Union
Justin Mapp reflects on the 2011 season,
"I think I've been on some pretty good teams. This Union team was maybe as rewarding as any
season because of how much we improved and got better in a short amount of time. We made the
playoffs and that was a huge step for the franchise.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Union
Justin Mapp reflects on the 2011 season,
"I think I've been on some pretty good teams. This Union team was maybe as rewarding as any
season because of how much we improved and got better in a short amount of time. We made the
playoffs and that was a huge step for the franchise.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
After the Philadelphia Union gave away the lead to draw with Houston at PPL Park on August 6, we
posted an article that, among other topics, looking at the consistency question. The question
wasn't so much consistency on the field—little did we know that the Union were in the beginnings
of an eight game winless streak.
By the end of the first half of the first game of the playoff series against Houston it was
clear that the Philadelphia Union's defense was not adequately familiar with the new formation
deployed by Peter Nowak against the Houston Dynamo at PPL Park. In the second half, the Union
reverted to the tried and tested four man backline that had been so instrumental in seeing the
Union advance to the playoffs in the first place.
