July 05, 2016
Earl Gardner/Philly Soccer Page
Sebastien Le Toux is currently undergoing league-mandated concussion protocol and could be cleared to play on Saturday.
There were a few new faces at Union training on Tuesday morning.
Among them was Penn State winger/forward Connor Maloney, who came through the Union youth ranks before heading off to Happy Valley. Jim Curtin coached Maloney during his academy days on the same team that also featured Keegan Rosenberry in defense.
There were three Reading United players who were also invited to train, including Hugo Delhommelle. The French forward currently plays for Div. 2 Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. He hails from Rennes and came through the youth ranks at Stade Rennais and AS Cannes.
The other two players were harder to identify, but I believe one of them was defender Will Campbell.
The Union regularly invite these types of players to train with the team, so don't read too much into their presence. The takeaway, perhaps, is that the team continues to cast a wide net in search of young talent.
More important was the absence of both Sebastien Le Toux and Fabian Herbers, the Union forwards who missed Saturday night's loss with a concussion and a hamstring injury, respectively.
Curtin told reporters after training that Le Toux is currently going through league-mandated concussion protocol. He will undergo the "heading" portion of that protocol Wednesday, and Curtin is hopeful to have Le Toux ready for this weekend's home game against D.C. United.
Herbers has been put through rigorous testing on his hamstring and should also be available this weekend.
C.J. Sapong, meantime, trained in full with his teammates after returning from his ankle injury with a 28-minute shift in the Union's 1-0 loss to Houston.
Josh Yaro was sent off Saturday when he reached out with his arm and appeared to make slight contact with Mauro Manotas in a late-game, 1v1 situation.
Curtin confirmed that the Union cannot appeal the ejection, which was the result of two yellow cards.
"It's not a second yellow," said Curtin. "The ref made a mistake. I think the kid (Manotas) did a good job of baiting him into a play. Josh got into a 1v1 situation off kind of a one-touch through ball. Obviously, as a center back, you don't want to get isolated. But at the same time, it doesn't take a genius to look at the tape and see that it's not a second yellow card. The ref doesn't see it; I think he's a little far behind the play and makes a mistake."
Yaro took an early yellow card when he missed on a tackle and left a high boot that made contact with midfielder Alex.
But to the center back's credit, he was excellent for the rest of the game, putting out fires left and right and handling everything that came in his direction.
"It's the referee's decision," said Yaro of the second yellow. "Personally, I didn't feel like it was a foul, but then again, I'm not the one in charge of the game. He's the one in charge. It's his decision, and there's nothing I can do about it. You have to move on and think about what you can do to support the team and the guys who are available to play against D.C. I have to keep working on myself and get better. When I come back, then I have to do whatever I can to help the team get the results we need."
Curtin also rightly points out that referee Edvin Jurisevic was way behind the play. At least 25 yards pic.twitter.com/R5OhMApx6S
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) July 5, 2016
Ilsinho is probably the most skilled player to ever wear a Union shirt.
You probably missed this from Saturday night's game, but the Brazilian actually pulled off an accidental nutmeg when he messed up an elastico move in the second half. Watch as he takes another stab and pokes the ball through the defender's legs anyway.
The standings tell the story in the Eastern Conference, and for the first time in a long time, the Union are no longer on top.
Saturday's loss, combined with a New York win on Sunday afternoon, puts Philly in second place on points, but third place in the more important "points per game" category.
The east is not great this season. NYC tops the conference with a negative goal differential and a .500 home record. New York is on top because of an excellent road record and solid string of post-Copa America performances.
The back-end of the Union schedule features a heavy amount of road games, so the team is going to have to figure out how to improve those numbers in the "away" column.
Carlos Valdes is a former Union all-star who apparently enjoyed his time in the United States.
Missing my old days 🇺🇸 ...happy 4th of July ✌🏼️
— carlos valdes (@carlosvaldes5) July 4, 2016
This seems like a good time to point out that Valdes showed up to the first day of the 2015 preseason two hours late and wearing street clothes. It was his choice to leave the Union on loan, not once, but twice in two years.
