Le Toux To NYRB

A lot of fans in the greater Philadelphia area were hoping to root for Bolton as a second team and many kept tabs on Seba’s season thus far up north, supporting him all the way. That kind of support got a lot more complicated today as the NYRB officially announced a trade which will send Sebastian Le Toux to Harrison New Jersey and Jamaican winger Dane Richards to Vancouver. The move allows the Red Bull to fill a gap as Richards had been replaced by Jan Gunar Soli on the wing of late due to solid RB play from Brandon Barklage. Richards will be able to play alongside Jamaican countryman Darren Mattocks and add much speed to a hole at right wing for Vancouver. It seems to be a very good trade for both teams, but for the Union and their supporters its hard to imagine. The best player in the first three years of our clubs existence now plays for our only real rival. Is it possible to still root for a player you respect as much as Philly has grown to respect Le Toux when they play for one of the top teams in the league and your biggest rival? The Union play NYRB at Red Bull Arena one week from today, Saturday July 21st, and that  question will surely come up more than a few times between then and now.

Seba Really Didn’t Want To Go

It’s a sad day to see Seba gone, but I never would’ve assumed it was quite this bad.

http://www.timesherald.com/article/20120131/SPORTS03/120139878

“It had gotten to the point where I said to them, to Nick, to Peter, to everyone, ‘Just give me a contract and I will sign it,’” said Le Toux, who spoke exclusively with the Daily Times. “I wanted to stay in Philly. I didn’t care about the money.”

“The only thing they wanted is the money,” Le Toux said. “Being with this team and being a guy, not to build around, but to help this team, was what I wanted. … They must have wanted to sell me for money because they needed money. We don’t have a nice practice facility and that is something they promised since I am here. It’s terrible.”

“That’s why they pushed me to Bolton — money.”

“I told them I would consider (Bolton), but I knew it wasn’t good for me,” Le Toux said. “I was out of shape. I hadn’t kicked a ball in five weeks. I didn’t want to go over there and injure myself in cold weather. What good is that for me or (the Union)?”

“I asked Peter (Monday at YSC) what was going on and he didn’t let me talk,” Le Toux said. “He started to get mad at me, telling me that I was very not respectful to leave Bolton early. I told him, ‘First, I respect myself.’ But I always did everything they asked me to do. I came from vacation in the Dominican Republic for the Bimbo (sponsorship) announcement. I always was respectful. … It was like he was saying, ‘I don’t know if I can trust you on this team.’

“I’m sad because of the way I was treated by the staff. I’m disgusted,” Le Toux said. “I’m sorry for the guy who already bought my jersey. Maybe he can get the refund.”

and to end the whole thing on a great note…
While taking calls and texts from Whitecaps officials, with details of his flight this morning to Phoenix for training, Le Toux reflected on March 31, when Vancouver visits the Union at PPL Park. “I expect to win and I expect nothing more,” he said. Le Toux said he had no regrets leaving the Union in this manner. He was an all-star in 2010, a legitimate MVP candidate in 2011 and a fan favorite. Still, he said, he would not consider a return to the Union. “I would be happy to just retire than play for Peter again,” Le Toux said.

Seba Just About Gone…To Vancouver?

“Le Toux is fighting to stay with the Union, despite the interest from Bolton and other teams, the Le Toux is fighting to stay with the Union, despite the interest from Bolton and other teams, the source said.” from The Brotherly Game

 

That’s about all we’ve got. Apparently they want to get the money that a transfer of a star player would allow them to collect, and as a team centered around the future I can’t honestly say its a bad idea. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck. I love watching Seba play as much as anyone else, but apparently he’s gone. It sounds like the money raised from his transfer would allow for the team to buy Roger Torres permanently which would be great, but worth it?

We’ll see what happens. I thought we had made all our moves early on this offseason. We didn’t need many changes and we filled all of the holes. Seems like now is time to create some new holes. Youth is good and going into the season as a team of young 20 somethings is great in a growing league like MLS, but its hard to see the only best player your club has ever had get traded. We could mostly accept a transfer to Bolton, nobody expected Seba to stay when there was an EPL offer on the table, but to send him to another MLS team hurts some. Hopefully it isn’t done yet, but it might be. I really don’t think we’ll totally know what this team looks like until the first open practice.

Let’s Get Jay Demerit Some Funding

I want to see this movie, and I’m sure there are enough American soccer fans out there who want to too. I don’t really know Demerit’s story all that well, although I’m told its a good one, and I’d definitely like the opportunity to hear it straight from Jay. The problem is in the licensing and distribution fees. They can’t distribute anything until they get past FIFA’s licensing agreements. Just a few minutes of FIFA play (international or club) costs them thousands to put in the film. Of course its not like they can just take all of the soccer out of the film, as Jay’s story takes place in large part on the field that obviously doesn’t work.

If you could pass this video around to everyone you can think of, or at least just post it on Facebook, maybe we can find a US Soccer fan who is capable of actually bringing this thing out. There’s got to be someone all we have to do is find them.

“We are finished with the documentary film on Jay DeMerit but do not have the licensing rights to take it to theatre or dvd. We are not a Hollywood production company. This film was made by Jay’s friends who want his story to be told. If anyone is interested in partnering for finance or distribution, please contact jaydemeritstory@yahoo.com
“Trailer produced by: Diesel Films http://www.dieselfilmsinc.com
Voiceover by John Heffernan
Cinematography by Zach Salsman
Special Thanks to Chuck Church!”619-318-9996

Vancouver Defense Weakened By International Friendlies

Everyone knew that Jay Demerit would be called up to the USMNT for this weeks friendlies. Everyone knew the Whitecaps would be missing their captain and starting central defender against the Union on Saturday. What we did not know until more recently is that Michael Boxall would be called up to play for New Zealand, replacing star-defender Ryan Nelsen.

Boxall, the Whitecaps other starting central defender, was called up as an injury replacement over the weekend. This hole right in the middle of the defense could be just what Sebastian Le Toux, Danny Mwanga and Carlos Ruiz need to start getting their attack in rhythm.

It seems that the pair will be replaced by Greg Janicki USSF D-2 2010 Defender of the Year who will be returning from injury, so the holes may not be all that big, but injuries to the back-line have been a problem for the expansion side and that can only benefit the Union in this game.

Along with losing both starting center-backs, the Whitecaps will be without both of their starting wingers from last weekends 4-2 win over Toronto. Davide Chiumiento and Russell Tiebert will both miss the game with leg injuries, although Tiebert would have missed the game anyway as he was called up to the Canadian U-20 team which he plans to join as soon as he’s healed up.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/reality+bites+Caps/4481910/story.html

MLS signs off on FSC and changes 7 Union Games

MLS signed a one year deal with FSC to extend the networks coverage of the MLS season. For the Union this (along with the previous announcement that TSN would have Canadian rights) means that seven games will be adjusted to fit into TV schedules. Here is that list for you.

Friday, May 6 – Philadelphia Union at Portland Timbers (FSC) 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 28 – Philadelphia Union at Toronto FC (TSN) 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 18 – Philadelphia Union at Vancouver Whitecaps FC (TSN) 10:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 2 – Philadelphia Union at D.C. United (FSC) 7:00 p.m.
Friday, July 29 – Philadelphia Union vs. Colorado Rapids (FSC) 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 23 – Philadelphia Union at Sporting Kansas City (FSC) 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 15 – Philadelphia Union vs. Toronto FC (TSN) 4:00 p.m.

The Other Supporters Groups From Philly Soccer Page

Image via Wikipedia

Phillly Soccer Page has been doing a running piece on the non-Sons Of Ben supporters groups recently. I believe they are finally all out and here is a link to each of the articles. We love the Sons of Ben, but we’d like to show a little support to these groups too and to get their names out into the ether.

Introduction to the other groups

http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2011/02/07/the-other-supporters-groups/

The IllegitimateS

http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2011/02/09/the-other-supporters-groups-the-illegitimates/

The Corner Creeps

http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2011/02/10/the-other-supporters-group-the-corner-creeps/

The Bridge Crew

http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2011/02/11/the-other-supporters-group-the-bridge-crew/

The Tammany Saints

http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2011/02/08/the-other-supporters-groups-the-tammany-saints/

Houston Moves East: Dynamo Change Conferences In MLS Realignment

Two teams are set to be added to MLS this season.As the conferences are already balanced, it would make mathematical sense to put one team in each conference. That is of course until you note that both expansion teams are on or very close to the West Coast. It makes no sense for either the Portland Timbers or Vancouver Whitecaps to move into the Eastern Conference, for scheduling , travel and just plain logical purposes. Therefore in order to solve this problem one of the Western Conference teams would have to move to the Eastern Conference. MLS announced that this team would be the Houston Dynamo. As the current MLS schedule has every team play every other team twice, there is no change in schedule. Presumably Montreal, and the 20th MLS team (if the New York Cosmos as so often mentioned) could have a similar problem in a few years, but for now the conferences are split evenly with 9 teams in each conference. The Union are basically unaffected by this, except that they will now have to fight Houston for a playoff spot,rather than Portland or Vancouver. The new conference lineups, are listed below

Eastern Conference

Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, Sporting Kansas City, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC.

Western Conference

Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, L.A. Galaxy, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps.

>>http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/mls/2011-01-28-mls-conference-realignment_N.htm

>>http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/local/110128-houston-dynamo-eastern-conference