Union and the MLS Reserve League [R]

$198k paperweight. I like it.

In all seriousness, what's up with this? He was perfectly fine last year and I'm sure could have done better than Migs.

 

I believe that it is Andrew Herr.

Midfielder - FC DELCO - Union Academy - Penn Manor High School - Lancaster County

http://academy.demosphere.com/teams/27484436/27485043-27484530/18110315.html

 

I think JDG got caught pluking somones wife and that's why he sits. I think Migs has photos of someone in mgt doing something they shouldn't. These can be the only logical explanation.

 

Reserves lose 2-1 today to the Crew.

Union Starting XI:
Holder (Zack Stefan) ; Richter, Gonzalez, Tait, Campbell; Langley, Nakazawa, Okugo, Touray; Mwanga, McInerney

Columbus Starting XI:
Riggs; Sippola, Burns, Williams, Gardner; Ekpo, Grossman, Prim, Meram; Arteaga, Cunningham

Scoring
Union- McInerney 14'
Crew- Ekpo 16', Gardner 75'

 

A few notes from the reserve game:

* Holder got nailed with the head with a rocket of a shot shortly before half-time. He finished the half but then made way for Zack Steffen to play the 2nd half - Steffen played decent although he got burned by a well-placed 30 yard shot for the gamewinner. It would not be surprising if Holder at least suffered a mild concussion which may mean that Philly could have to get a MLS Pool goalie or sign make an emergency goalie signing [similar to when Danny Cepero was signed to a 1 game contract for last season's RSL game when Knighton was serving a suspension) for a reserve in Friday's game against Kansas City. Prior to the head shot, the sun may have been troubling him as Holder had a few instances in which he had catchable crosses or high shots (or ones which should have been punched) that he instead just swatted with his open hands.

* Touray of Harrisburg City played LM - he set up the play which allowed McInerney to score. Touray showed fairly well - he is not afraid to take on players 1v1 - sometimes too often.

* Academy players Campbell and Shiba made their reserve team debuts - Campbell played a decent, safe game at LB - Shiba only got the ball a few times and usually turned it over the Crew.

* There may have been 100 or so fans there so hearing the players' communications during the game is much easier than PPL Park. After a questionable call against Philly, Okugo was asking the ref if this was his first game as a ref.

* Colombian Jhonny Arteaga of FC New York (Thorne Holder's oldteam in USL PRO) played as a Crew guest player/trialist. He set up the Crew's first goal on some nifty endline moves to beat Tait. Arteaga also scored both New York goals in the same guest player/trialist role in the Red Bulls 2-1 win over Philly reserves last month.

* Overall , it was a mediocre peformance by the reserves - especially in the 2nd half. The team create a lot more on offense and look more organized on defense in its previous reserve game against New England.

Scoring summary: PHI – Jack McInerney (unassisted) 14 CLB – Emmanuel Ekpo (unassisted) 16 CLB – Josh Gardner (Emmanuel Ekpo) 75

Philadelphia Union – Thorne Holder (Zack Steffen 46); Ryan Richter, Juan Diego Gonzalez, Joe Tait, Shane Campbell; Morgan Langley (Thomas Shiiba), Kyle Nakazawa, Amobi Okugo, Sainey Touray; Danny Mwanga (Darius Madison 58), Jack McInerney (Zach Pfeffer 58) Substitutes not used: None

Columbus Crew – Alex Riggs; Ben Sippola (Dominic Aracri 86), Kevin Burns, Josh Williams, Josh Gardner; Emmanuel Ekpo, Cole Grossman, Santiago Prim, Justin Meram (Greg Gehrig); Jhonny Arteaga (George Davis 83), Jeff Cunningham (Aaron Horton 64) Substitutes not used: Chris Konopka

Misconduct Summary: PHI – Joe Tait (caution; reckless tackle) 18 PHI – Kyle Nakazawa (caution; reckless tackle) 60 CLB – Emmanuel Ekpo (caution; reckless tackle) 63

 

At the Supporters' Summit yesterday, either Garber or one of the other league brass said they're trying to get teams to host more reserve league games at their home stadiums, possibly as part of doubleheaders. Also that more of them will be be standalone games instead of being tacked on to existing road trips. Not sure how those two go together--will we have a first team game with Columbus followed by a reserve league game with DC?

Either way, it's good to hear that the Monday morning games will hopefully be minimized. I really enjoyed the one reserve league game I was able to get to, and I would have gone to more if so many of them hadn't been on weekdays during the day.

Personally, I'd love to see some Union reserves-Independence doubleheaders at Widener. Makes more sense than opening PPL for the reserves, and it could be some nice cross-promotion for both teams.

 

I'm planning to go to the reserve game on Monday morning. I have not been to a reserve game before. What is the parking situation? Are there bleachers? Should I bring a chair? Any other helpful information?

 

Parking is in grass field, no problem. Bring a chair, no bleachers. The field is just a local soccer association field. Watch our for flying balls and players. You can not get any closer. The only amenity is a porta potty. It is a great way to see the Union up close and for free.

 

is there anything else there, like a playgroud? might drive down with my son on Monday

 

No playground, but there is another field that kids ran around on last year.

 

Thanks for posting this. It reminded me that I'm off this coming week so I will be taking my girls to this game. I never thought I would be able to go to a reserve game.

 

Anyone attend? Any update?

 

I was forced to go out of town with my wife to see her family this past weekend in Columbus, so I decided to take in the Crew game on Saturday. It was a doubleheader game with the Crew and Red Bulls followed by their reserve league game. About 30 minutes after the Crew got blown out, they played their reserve league match at Crew Stadium. All fans were allowed to stick around and watch, and could take a seat anywhere they wanted. It was actually neat to be able to sit right up along the field, between the benches, and hear the coaches. (Hans Backe was sitting a few rows away from me in the seats, as one of his assistants took over, and if I had thought of something clever to shout at him, I would have.) The only thing I kept wondering the whole time was why don't the Union and other MLS teams do this when they play afternoon games? They closed the concession stands down around the 75th minute, but they kept the bathrooms open, and only kept 3 or 4 ushers around. It was actually a lot of fun, and if the Union did this, I would stick around to watch every reserve league match. I can't always make it all the way down to Chester on a Sunday morning after I was just down there the night before. (Gas ain't free, y'know.) Hopefully, this is something that the Union consider (even though I know for a fact that they won't).

 

The young guys are killing it today.

They may do this in the future since they plan to start construction on their offices and practice fields next to PPL later this year.

 

thanks for update.

 

My son and I went to the game today and had a great time. It was fun to sit ten feet from the field and watch some current players and some future stars (hopefully).

The Union thoroughly dominated the game after the first fifteen minutes or so, particularly the middle of the field. A few notes:

Torres suffered a hard foul at about 20 minutes. A NE player slid into him studs up. Torres took a hard fall although it looked embellished. He was down for at least a minute and then limped off the field. He was treated on the sideline and tried to go back in. After a minute, he was subbed off for Hoffman. Torres stayed on the bench for the rest of the game. After the game, his knee was wrapped and he had crutches, but he looked to be okay.

After Torres was subbed off, Pfeffer moved to AM. He did an excellent job controlling the game. He and Okugo had NE running in circles.

I was extremely impressed with the play of Greg Jordan. He was calm and poised throughout the game. He ran the D with authority. He looked good enough to get a shot with the first team soon. Gaddis was good, but Jordan outplayed him.

McInerney played RM and made run after run. He was gassed after about 60 minutes and was subbed out for Darius Madison who looked okay, but a bit tentative. When Rosenberry came on for the last 15 minutes, he was tentative as well.

McLaughin was solid at RB. After the game I told him that I was surprised to see him there and he said that the training staff has him trying to learn the position.

Hoppenot has a nose for the goal. He was in the middle of a lot of plays. He was very good in the middle of the field and on the wings as well.

Martinez had the goals, but he also had additional opportunities that he missed. He had a 30 yard breakaway that he did not covert. Hoffman played well and just missed a bicycle kick that would have been a goal.

Hernandez played LB but was was all over the field. He overcommitted a bit and was caught out of position at times, but he played with a lot of energy.

Harrison was solid. The PK that was called against him was a tough call. It probably should not have been called. It was a 50/50 that he got to first and the NE player took a tumble. On the PK, Harrison dove to his left and the shot was up the middle and slightly to his right. The second goal was a blast that he had no chance on. Other than that, he directed traffic well and was assertive on several high balls that he collected.

All in all, it was an excellent effort from team. They controlled the ball, communicated well and generally looked comfortable out there.

 

Now does anyone know if the minitues played by the players count towards the last game or the game coming up? You know how there is the rule about not being able to play so many combined minitues from a reserve game and a senior game. I know this question came up last season as well.

 

That's a good question. In that Crew/Red Bulls reserve game I watched, a few of the subs from the regular game played in the reserve game. Dilly Duka and Schoenfeld for the Crew and Joel Lindpere came on as late subs in the main game, and they all started the reserve game. I know Duka played the last 30 minutes, and then played the first 30 minutes of the reserve match, while Schoenfeld played the last 10 and 70 minutes of the reserve match. Lindpere did 10 and 45. I would assume that all these players should be able to play in the next game for their teams without a problem.

 

The game report from the Crew/NYRB reserve game actually says the game is being played at PPL Park on Saturday.

Now whether or not that is accurate is another thing entirely.

 

Thanks for the great writeup, mattylip.

 

Any update or confirmation on this? Saturday looks beautiful so I'd be happy to hang out and watch some more footie at PPL...