Union add Harrisburg native Alex Mendoza to midfield. Restrepo trialling? Hack says club now has No. 9s. Soumare on his fitness, reaction to MLS-USL PRO deal, more news
Teams hoping to land a quality player in today's MLS Re-Entry Draft, the first phase of a two draft re-entry process, will find the selection much smaller than what was initially released by Major League Soccer earlier this week.
Several top options have been removed from the initial list, and won't be available in today's draft, including the likes of Marvell Wynne, Tony Tchani, Justin Mapp and Rodney Wallace.
The Re-Entry Draft list has been updated for Stage 1, which will take place Friday, December 7, at 3:00 p.m. EST.
Here's your updated list - 11 players are off the original list we posted yesterday.
The following players have been removed: Gonzalo Segares (re-signed by Chicago), Rodney Wallace (re-signed by Portland), Josh Gardner (traded from Montreal to SKC), Tony Tchani (Columbus), Justin Mapp (Montreal), Kyle Nakazawa (Los Angeles), Brian Perk (Los Angeles), Marvell Wynne (Colorado), Steve Purdy (Portland), O'Brian White (Seattle), and Stephen King (D.
I've been bad about this in the past and for some reason I didn't really think to even do this until this year. So here we go, another small project for the preseason to write up.
I've decided to go back through the last three SuperDrafts and re-grade each club. Today I am going to start with the 2010 SuperDraft.
Supplemental Draft streams at 2pm, News and impressions from Monday's open training session. Reaction to Hackworth's press conference. Former Union mid Kyle Nakazawa reportedly retires. Landon just needs some time. More news.
Allocation money jokes rarely get old in Philadelphia.
Among the things Philadelphia Union have traded for allocation money, according to Union fans,
are hotel rooms at Harrah's, human souls, and perhaps even the MLS Cup. There's this gem: "The
Union is proud to report that the Harrisburg City Islanders have been traded to Sporting KC for
allocation money.
Do you shoot photos of anything related to local soccer? Would you like to show them off?
Share your photos via PSP's Flickr stream, and PSP may feature your work on the main site. We'll
credit you as photographer and link to your work.
PSP is always looking for local soccer photos, whether of youth or high school soccer, local
pickup leagues, soccer pubs, Philadelphia Union or the various other teams stretching from Cape May
out to Reading and Harrisburg.
The season opening win in 2011 was not a pretty one. Danny Califf's 5th minute header sucked the
ambition from the Union and forced Houston to push forward impatiently, throwing wave after wave
against Philadelphia's rocks.
When you want to hold a lead for 85 minutes on the road, a conservative 4-3-3 seems like a darn
good option.
It is tough to provide much meaningful information about the match history of the Philadelphia
Union against the Portland Timbers considering that the teams have only played one another twice.
From a Union perspective, it becomes harder still when you consider that five of the starters in
either of those two games (Mondragon, Le Toux, Mapp, Ruiz, Paunovic) are no longer with the
club.
Roster turnover. Throughout the Union's brief two year life in MLS, it has been one of the
unavoidable topics surrounding the team. Each season has seen a drastic overhaul of the lineup and
this year is no different. With the opening kickoff in Portland only days away, PSP takes a moment
to check in with all the former Union players to see where they've landed for the 2012 season.
In 2011, the Philadelphia Union earned their first playoff berth in what was a breakout season
for the club in its second year of existence. In 2012, the Union will look to go even further, but
this time with an even younger squad.
Philadelphia let go or traded a number of veteran players with years of experience in Major
League Soccer and abroad this offseason.
Look for part one of our Union roundtable later today.
Carlos Valdes says of the departure of Faryd Mondragon, "Faryd taught me a lot of things. His
experience was very important for us. Maybe now we are more motivated."
Local
Penn Live have a Q&A with former Union player Morgan Langley, who has returned to Harrisburg
City Islanders.
Photo: Random free speech/satire from the Internet
Philly native Dan Borislow continues to show he has absolutely no shame or class by pushing for
his Florida club to play friendlies this season while the rest of WPS had to cancel their season
because of legal battles with Borislow.
In an interview on MLSsoccer.com's ExtraTime Radio podcast, Sebastien Le Toux tells Union fans
who are angry that he was sold to Vancouver that it is important that they continue to support the
Union: "To have you in the stands—it is always great to play in front of you and all of the guys
who played with me are wonderful players and they need you.
The offseason can be crazy in the business that is soccer and sometimes it can be all too
easy to forget that in the end, it's really about the game. If you are looking for some inspiration
to help you get your soccer head back on straight, go to the Ritz East tonight to see the
Philadelphia premier of Laduma.
The Los Angeles Galaxy and Philadelphia Union both made their fair share of headlines this week,
so it is only appropriate that they combined for another one.
Los Angeles acquired central midfielder Kyle Nakazawa and a second-round pick in the 2013 MLS
SuperDraft from Philadelphia Wednesday in exchange for an international roster spot.
As suggested by the 130 readers' comments posted on PSP in less then 24 hours since the Le Toux
transfer news broke, if the sadness felt by Union fans at the news of Sebastien Le Toux's transfer
to Vancouver wasn't enough, subsequent comments from Peter Nowak and Le Toux will, for many, see
that sadness turn to anger.
In a surprising move, Kyle Nakazawa has retired at the relatively young age of 24.
The former Philadelphia Union midfielder has apparently left the world of professional soccer, according to Adam Serrano. The LA Galaxy insider tweeted that Bruce Arena, head coach of the defending Major League Soccer champions, informed Serrano of Nakazawa's decision.
In 2011, the Los Angeles Galaxy won it all. Now in 2012, the Galaxy appear even stronger than
the side that took the MLS Cup home in November.
During the offseason the Galaxy added forward Edson Buddle to pair with Robbie Keane and
returned both David Beckham and Juninho to the club's stacked midfield.
Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman give RSL a big punch in the midfield. (Getty Images)
We are inching closer to the start of the new season and I couldn't be more jazzed about it.
We'll continue on with our preseason rankings as we get closer to the first power rankings of the
new year. Today's ranking will be all about the midfields for each club.
Cali kid: Kyle Nakazawa of Palos Verdes Estates is now a Galaxy player. I've followed the career of
Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa since he pulled the strings in midfield for UCLA. Now he's
joined his hometown Galaxy and will (hopefully) play regularly at Home Depot Center, a stadium
where
Preseason is all about learning and both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA felt that a great
deal was learned in their preseason scrimmage on Thursday as the Galaxy defeated Chivas, 3-2
Starting a primarily reserve team lineup, the Galaxy jumped out to a three
goal lead in the first half goals.
Krystian Witkowski has signed a contract with the Philadelpia Union, according to Ted
Philipakos, his agent.
The 2012 Supplemental Draft second rounder (thirty second overall) became the second member of
the Union's draft class to sign with the team and MLS (the other being Chandler Hoffman, who signed
a Generation Adidas contract prior to the SuperDraft).
CARSON, Calif. -- Cameroonian midfielder Franck Songo'o stole the show for the Portland Timbers
as the trialist set up a pair of goals to help lead the Timbers to a 4-1 win against the Los
Angeles Galaxy on Tuesday in the first MLS pre-season match for both teams.
The Los Angeles Galaxy's search for Juninho's replacement has ended with Juninho himself.
The Sao Paulo central midfielder is on his way back to Los Angeles for another loan spell with
the Galaxy. Multiple reports out of Brazil say that Sao Paulo manager Emerson Leao had no plans to
use the 23-year-old Juninho, who signed a new three-year deal with Sao Paulo during the MLS
offseason.
The Philadelphia Union were expected to announce the signing of Lionard Pajoy last week, but the
team has yet to officially recognize the striker as a player. According to a Colombian league
report, Pajoy is experiencing visa problems, which are keeping him from joining the Union.
The 30-year-old had problems getting out of his contract with Itagui Ditaires, per a source that
talked to Kerith Gabriel, of the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.
The Los Angeles Galaxy enjoyed a banner day on Wednesday, but it was by no means a perfect one.
After signing forward Edson Buddle and acquiring midfielder Kyle Nakazawa in a deal from the
Philadelphia Union, the Galaxy learned that homegrown signing Jose Villarreal will be out for six
weeks.
The Philadelphia Union have officially completed a trade of Kyle Nakazawa to the LA Galaxy.
Nakazawa will be sent to California with a second round selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft for
one of the Galaxy's international roster spots.
Nakazawa was reported to be on his way to the Galaxy early this morning, when the Brotherly Game
published a storywith information from a source knowledgeable on the situation.
Keon Daniel is not at the Youth Sports Complex, in Wayne, PA, according to fans that are at the
Philadelphia Union's open team practice. Despite seeing a player of Daniel's build with a
dreadlocks style haircut, the midfielder is not at the camp today.
Fans tweeted that the 25-year-old was sighted at preseason training camp this morning, before
retracting their observations.
MacMath to train with Everton in offseason, Hernandez with Real Sociedad. Adu he's happy to play at a place where he feels wanted, plans to return to Europe after one more season in MLS. La Salle women A-10 champs. More news.
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.
We've shown you the 'Stache Bash shirt, made our live music announcement, and made our call to
arms. Now, we bring you the most comprehensive list of 'Stache Bash 2012 raffle items to date. We
have over 30 items, most donated by private individuals and local businesses,
We have received donations from numerous businesses owned or operated by Philadelphia Union fans
and Sons of Ben members, making 'Stache Bash more than just an charity event, but a show of support
to and from our local business community.
