The Philadelphia Union announced, over Twitter, that along with second year goalkeeper Zac MacMath, the team has former third stringer Chase Harrison and Chris Konopka, a former New York Red Bulls goalkeeper, in their Florida training camp.

Union head coach Piotr Nowak has made it clear that he's both comfortable with heading into the season with Harrison as MacMath's backup and no veteran goalkeeper on the roster.

I don't think I exaggerate when I say that people were surprised by the Le Toux trade to Vancouver.

People understood why Le Toux might want to move to EPL club Bolton and many supported the decision even if they were sad about the possibility of losing our favorite Frenchman (I will post more thoughts on it in my second part of evaluating the Union off-season when the dust finally settles).

As the preseason gets into full swing and rosters begin to stabilize, it's time to take a look at the men who pull the strings and have the greatest impact on the team itself. The modern manager is part tactician, ...
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Just a quick round-up this morning:

Terry will go to the Euros...

• Shambolic! RT @RobHarrisUK BREAKING: England captain Terry not to stand trial on charge of racially abusing opponent until after Euro 2012.

The skinny: John Terry's legal trial regarding his alleged racial abuse of Anton Ferdinand postponed to the week of July 9th.

The 2012 SuperDraft has been criticized as being a weak draft, but the positions that the Brotherly Game feels the Philadelphia Union should target have plenty of options from which to choose. Center back is one of the few positions that this SuperDraft has enough depth to wait until the second round to take a player, but it also has a few intriguing first round prospects.

"It would be an amazing opportunity to be able to stay here at Rayo."

Freddy Adu has been in Spain for what seems like five minutes, but already he views it as his future if chances open to him. Therein lies the problem with Adu: his ambition to play in Europe will once again be detrimental to both his current team and to his soccer career.

The Philadelphia Union revealed today that the team has acquired Porfirio Lopez, the first transfer in a long time that the club has managed to keep secret before the official announcement. The signing will go through once the team receives Lopez's International Transfer Certificate and P-1 visa.

Lopez has played mostly in Costa Rica, his native country, throughout his career, after debuting with Santos de Guapiles in 2005.

Suspended Augsburg FC striker Michael Thurk is still waiting for word from the Philadelphia Union about signing the German, despite the team having recently acquired Josue Martinez.

Reports out of Germany today continue to discuss Thurk favoring a move to MLS, particularly the United States, with the Union and Vancouver Whitecaps still at the top of his list of possible destinations.

Back in July, the Philadelphia Union were linked to Deportivo Saprissa striker Josue Martinez, and reportedly even made a bid of nearly $1 million for him. MLS Rumors spotted a new report, out of Norway, that says that the Union are set to bid for the forward again, but this time are the most likely destination for Martinez with Norwegian club FFK unable to afford a transfer themselves of between $400-500,000.

French news outlet L'Equipe is reporting that the Philadelphia Union are among a group of teams that is competing to sign current Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka to a contract in the January international transfer window.

Philadelphia Daily news, and Philly.com, Union beat reporter Kerith Gabriel stated over Twitter that a team source confirmed that the Union had interest in Anelka, but that the striker's other offers on the table would be tough to match.

Those of you who listen to the World Football Phone-In on BBC Five Live every week (either live or podcast) can hear the wonderful host Dotun Adebayo singing this classic Leiber and Stoller tune regularly, expecially on the weeks when co-host Sean "The Big Wheel" Wheelock is on.

It seemed so fitting. So perfect, even. The Philadelphia Union were seeking their first ever playoff match victory and playoff series victory in the same place where they took their first-ever road victory, and opened their second season with a victory: Robertson Stadium in Houston. But it was not to be.

Richards Celebrates the Lone Goal With Teammates (Photo by Dan Dickinson)An unlikely first half header from Dane Richards that hit a goalpost before ricocheting off Faryd Mongradon's back and into the Philadelphia Union goal was, in the end, all the New York Red Bulls needed on Thursday night to punch their ticket to the 2011 MLS postseason.

Wet turf and over 36,000 hostile fans weighed upon the visiting team, but that didn't force the Philadelphia to play the young, inexperienced and almost frightened role that was seen nearly 18 months ago in Seattle. Rather, the Union controlled and played aggressively, showing what a new season can bring to a formerly struggling team.

Tonight proved once again that the Philadelphia Union cannot figure out how to properly save a lead. A goal by Chivas USA striker Juan Pablo Angel in the 90th minute of the game took the air out of the Union's chance to go back to the top of the Eastern Conference table.

Head coach Piotr Nowak deserves the criticism that comes his way for his management of the game tonight.

Setting: Friday, September 23 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas; kickoff scheduled for 8:36:30 PM Eastern

Broadcast Information: Fox Soccer (JP Dellacamera, Kyle Martino, Brian Dunseth) and Fox Deportes (Jorge Caamaño, Alejandro Luna) nationally as 'Soccer Night in America', with coverage beginning at 8:00 PM Eastern with a pre-game show / La Gran D 1340 KDTD-AM (Raul Villegas, Enrique Morales) in Kansas City

Kansas City's Record: 10-9-10, second in East

Kansas City's Last Match: L, 1-0 at Real Salt Lake

Philadelphia vs.

Last night I was invited to be a guest on Kansas City ESPN-affiliate radio station 810 WHB AM's The Kansas City Soccer Show.

Following up Taylor Twellman, the Philadelphia Union's television color commentator, I was asked what I thought of the match up between the Union and Sporting Kansas City, Zach Pfeffer's debut, the Union's rise-fall-rise in the past two months and the Jordan Harvey trade, among other topics.

Going into their match against the Columbus Crew, the Philadelphia Union and their supporters talked up tonight as perhaps the most important in club history. The first-place Crew came into Chester leading the Union by five points in the standings, with one match in hand. A Union victory would do two things: snap an eight-match winless streak in MLS play, and put the Union right back in the thick of the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Setting: Saturday, September 17 at PPL Park in Chester; kickoff scheduled for 7:36:30 PM Eastern.

Broadcast Information: The Comcast Network (JP Dellacamera, Taylor Twellman, Bob Rigby), coverage beginning at 7:00 PM Eastern with a pre-game show / ONN (Dwight Burgess, Duncan Oughton), News Talk 610 WTVN-AM (Neil Sika) and La Mega 103.

Philadelphia Union head coach Piotr Nowak attacked reports of midfielder Keon Daniel having immigration problems yesterday at his press conference, saying that "they need to get the facts straight."

Nowak went on to say, "the front office cannot redo a visa. I heard about this ‘source call to the player' thing and it's completely false and I think it would be best if someone checked with our staff and not to speculate on something that's not true.

Jason Le Blanc (@outsidemid) is a contributor at Two Hundred Percent, Tottenham blog Yankee Yiddos, Unprofessional Foul and Bundesliga Lounge. Le Blanc watched Joe Tait play multiple times during the defender's 2010 USL PDL Defender of the Year season, and while with the Dayton Dutch Lions.

It can be difficult at times becoming overly enthused over a new player signing, especially someone whom you have heard little about and seen in action even less, if at all.

Hurrice Irene continues to move toward the Eastern coastline of the USA, but the Philadelphia Union have chosen to "monitor" the situation and are not providing any other information about a possible postponement decision.

Irene is due to hit the Philadelphia area by the time that the Union game begins Sunday night, 7 pm, against the New England Revolution.

Piotr Nowak's impromptu registration and use of Twitter last week sparked a question from a fan, @crosswiredmind, during the Philadelphia Union's first ever Support Summit: when would Sebastien Le Toux get onto the social networking site as well?

Le Toux answered that question by saying he'd be on Twitter sometime this week and he held up his side of the bargin today, tweeting for the first time as @SebastienLeToux.

Former American soccer prodigy Freddy Adu is signing with the Philadelphia Union, according to Soccer by Ives.

Adu hasn't been in MLS since leaving Real Salt Lake in 2007 for Portuguese giants Benfica. The 22-year-old's soccer career has been stalled because of indifference from Benfica and a failure to impress while on loan with Monaco, Belenenses and Aris.

With tonight being MLS All-Star Game night, now is probably a good time to pause for just a moment and reflect on the unofficial first half of the Philadelphia Union's season, as well as look ahead to the remainder of their regular season fixtures (unofficial because they, like all MLS teams, are already a couple of matches into the second half of their schedule).

Setting: Saturday, July 23 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; kickoff scheduled for just after 9:00 PM Eastern

Broadcast Information: ESPN Deportes and ESPN3.com nationally, with coverage beginning at 9:00 PM Eastern

For the Real Madrid Perspective, Visit Managing Madrid

Just three days after the Philadelphia Union took a rather exhilarating 1-0 victory against Everton thanks to a late goal from academy player Christian Hernandez, the Union welcome Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid to Lincoln Financial Field.

The River Cup will take place tonight at 6:30 pm at PPL Park. Tickets are being sold at the stadium for $10, all of which goes towards Chester City United. Parking in Lot B is free and there will be no shuttles from the train stations, so driving is the best option.

Here's our list of predictions for the first annual River Cup between the Sons of Ben and Philadelphia Union staff (feel free to create odds on these if you'd like):

1. Piotr Nowak will welcome Sons of Ben goalkeeper Dave Flagler to PPL Park by curling a ball upper-90 on a freekick.

So long Jordan Harvey, a true original Zolo | American Soccer News

Defender Jordan Harvey will join former Zolo Shea Salinas out in Vancouver after Piotr Nowak made a move for allocation money, prompting chatter about who his sights are set on once the transfer window opens on July 15th.

The Philly Soccer Page " Preview: Philadelphia Union at San Jose Earthquakes
Going into this Saturday's showdown between the Union and Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium in San Jose, the big news surrounds starters that will be missing for both sides.

Philadelphia Union manager Piotr Nowak is one of the best coaching minds in Major League Soccer. The former Polish international knows what is needed to achieve success in MLS. Nowak knows how to recognize talent and make players fit into his system.
After a tough inaugural season, the Union is right up with the best clubs in the Eastern Conference.

The Philly Soccer Page " Stat chat: Union at DC
For the second game in a row, the Union entered the second half down a goal and battled back with multiple goals-against DC one of their two goals was a Perry Kitchen own goal- to secure points.

D.C. United 2, Philadelphia Union 2 - Match Review & Player Ratings - Black And Red United

As AMT pointed out immediately following the 2-2 tie between D.

I hope everybody had a fantastic holiday weekend. Despite the Timbers losing Saturday at home... again... I personally had a great weekend. It was just unfortunate that the Fourth this year happened upon a Monday which means it was a pretty tame holiday. Oh well. Looking ahead to this week, the Timbers will host Club America in a friendly.

Photo by Daniel Studio Photo

Philadelphia Union manager Piotr Nowak is one of the best coaching minds in Major League Soccer. The former Polish international knows what is needed to achieve success in MLS. Nowak knows how to recognize talent and make players fit into his system.

Twitter, Facebook and the Brotherly Game exploded with comments about Piotr Nowak, the Philadelphia Union's head coach, deciding to start newly signed striker and central attacking midfielder Veljko Paunovic against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night. Those comments ranged from interest in seeing what the 33-year-old can do to criticizing the Union's technical staff for playing Paunovic over the team's leading scorer Danny Mwanga.

No frills, but Carroll locks up defense for Union - delcotimes.com
It's a spot on the pitch that rarely bears mentioning, unless a critical mistake takes place there. It's a position that isn't highly regarded by fans because there aren't too many stats attached to it.

CONTEST – Whitecaps Away | Union Dues

Here we go again folks!

GOALS FINALLY FLOWING FOR UNION
One of six times Union celebrated on Saturday.
Every time someone has dared praise Philadelphia Union this year, it's been met with the same opposition - "it won't last" and "they can't score goals". Well guess what? It is lasting, and the goals are beginning to flow.

A do over for Freddy

Bob Bradley announces his 23 man roster for the Gold Cup.

Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Eric Lichaj (Leeds), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

Midfielders: Freddy Adu (Rizespor), Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

Forwards: Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Freddy Adu's inclusion stands out.

We exchange three questions with Scott Kessler of Brotherly Game in order to get some insider perspective on the Philadelphia Union as the Chicago Fire head to PPL Park Stadium on Saturday night. Scott's answer to my first question is below and the other five questions in the exchange are after the break.

The Philadelphia Union have brought in former Serbian international striker Veljko Paunovic on trial. In a rare show of transparency, the Union openly announced the name of the 34-year-old at today's Reserve League match against DC United, the first time during the 2011 season that head coach Piotr Nowak has let one of his possible discovery claims be known to the public.

Carlos Ruiz sat on Saturday versus FC Dallas, to the excitement of a portion of the Philadelphia Union's fanbase, and the Union's offense still sputtered. Danny Mwanga and Sebastien Le Toux started up top for the Union for the first time since 2010 and after about 20 minutes of sustained pressure and some exciting attack, their partnership fizzled.

Thank goodness it's Friday. The Seattle Sounders are on the east coast this weekend to play a much improved Philadelphia Union at PPL Park. Last year the Union had one of the most inconsistent defenses in the league. Things have changed this year as Piotr Nowak reworked the defense. The Union now look like a classic Nowak team with tough stifling defense and inconsistent offense.