Steven Sandor's Blog, page 32

FCE needs to be better out of the gate

Win, lose or draw, there’s been a very noticeable pattern to FC Edmonton’s games this fall season.

The Eddies will start on the back foot, and get stronger as the game goes on. But, there have been occasions where the team digs too big a hole for itself to climb out of. Last week, the Eddies trailed 2-0 at halftime to San Francisco, and ended up losing 2-1. It was a game that coach Colin Miller said could have seen the Eddies trailing by three goals within the first 15 minutes.

A couple of weeks ago, the Eddies were swamped early by North Carolina FC and never recovered.

Last week’s loss in San Francisco was just an extreme example of a trend in Eddies’ games. Even when the Eddies triumph, they grow into games, they don’t dominate right from the start.

“We’ve got good players here, but the attitude against San Francisco in the first half was not right,” Miller said after Friday’s training session. “The approach to the game was not right. We corrected one or two things at halftime and you saw an entirely different FC Edmonton team.”

Before Friday’s training session, the team went over the video of Saturday’s loss in the Bay Area, and Miller said the first half  “was a Rocky Horror Picture Show for some players.” The Eddies will look for a better first-half performance when the Deltas visit Clarke Field Sunday afternoon.

And the coach is clearly frustrated with the slow starts to games. He has no answer to what happens between team talk and the kickoff.

“I wish I could. We prepare properly. We know everything about the opposition, set plays and so on. The warm-up is good. The warm-up is intense and the guys are prepared for it. And we come in and we have another rah-rah talk and, unfortunately you have to wait for anthems and everyone to be introduced and it slows things down again, but that’s just making excuses. Psychologically, we have to be better. Individually, they (the players) need to be better. They could be focused on whether they start properly rather than leaving it to someone else.”

Keeper Tyson Farago is getting used to seeing action right in front of him in the early stages of games.

“It’s something we have to address, every practice and game we talk about it — let’s get on the front foot,” he said. “We have a little chat before the game, we have to pump each other up and get ready to go, sometimes that’s just the deal with football… We all have it in the back of our head. And we all have to just step it up. Mentally, we have to cancel all the mistakes and just really be on our front foot from the beginning of the game.”

Zambrano picks a Canadian side filled with national-team newbies for friendly against El Salvador

Canadian national team coach Octavio Zambrano, as expected, will field what will be a very experimental line up when Canada faces El Salvador October 8 in Houston.

The roster was revealed Friday, and features six players who have yet to get a Canadian cap;  Louis Beland-Goyette, Caniggia Elva, Milovan Kapor, Kris Twardek, Kwame Awuah and Jordan Schweitzer.

Twardek’s inclusion into the national side was announced by his club side, Millwall FC, earlier in the week.

Kapor is a veteran who has been in Spain and Slovakia, but currently plays his club football in Israel.

Awuah was drafted by NYCFC of MLS, but has been used, ahem, sparingly by the club. He has been an unused sub a lot of the time, and has just 15 minutes of game action this season. If he plays on Oct. 8, he could log more minutes in a Canada shirt against El Salvador than he has for NYCFC all season long.

Elva is a St. Lucia-born, Calgary-raised who is with Stuttgart II, but previously had some interest from Arsenal.

 

CANADA

1- GK- Simon Thomas | NOR / FK Bodø/Glimt

2- FB- Juan Córdova | CHI / CD Huachipato

3- FB- Kwame Awuah | USA / New York City FC

4- CB- Dejan Jaković | USA / New York Cosmos

5- CB- Milovan Kapor | ISR / Hapoel Hadera FC

6- M- Samuel Piette | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

7- M- Jordan Schweitzer | USA / Orlando City B

8- M- Scott Arfield | ENG / Burnley FC

9- F- Anthony Jackson-Hamel | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

10- F- Cyle Larin | USA / Orlando City SC

11- W- Tosaint Ricketts | CAN / Toronto FC

12- W- Kris Twardek | ENG / Millwall FC

13- FB- Mark-Anthony Kaye | USA / Louisville City FC

14- W- Caniggia Elva | GER / VfB Stuttgart II

15- CB- Adam Straith | GER / VfL Sportfreunde Lotte

16- W- Fraser Aird | SCO / Dunfermline Athletic

17- W- Raheem Edwards | CAN / Toronto FC

18- GK- Jayson Leutwiler | ENG / Blackburn Rovers

19- CB- Steven Vitória | POL / Lechia Gdańsk

20- FB- Michael Petrasso | ENG / Queens Park Rangers

21- M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC

23- M- Louis Béland-Goyette | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

24- M- Keven Aleman | CRC / CD Saprissa

NASL makes it clear: Either it gets the injunction, or else it doesn’t continue

The North American Soccer League held a conference call Thursday where it was made clear, over and over, that it’s injunction or bust.

The league, which was denied an extension of its Div-2 status into 2018 by the United States Soccer Federation, has now filed an antitrust suit against the USSF, stating that the American soccer body has not given the league a level playing field on which to succeed. The first step in the suit is the application for an injunction, which would force USSF to give back NASL its Div-2 status for next season. That plea for the injunction is set to be heard in Brooklyn court on Oct. 31.

Jeffrey Kessler, the NASL’s attorney, said that there is no way the NASL would consider going forward as an unsanctioned, rogue league.

“You are not going to be able to attract the best players in an unsanctioned league.”

An unsanctioned league would not be able to send teams to domestic cup competitions or regional tournaments, and it would be impossible for teams to do transfer business.

Kessler stated over and over that there is no plan B — NASL “has no other option or plan to continue” if the injunction to keep its Div-2 status isn’t granted by the court.

But where does this leave FC Edmonton, the sole Canadian team left in the NASL? After Thursday’s call, the picture isn’t any clearer.

Kessler said that Thursday’s conference call would not address any individual club’s plan for the 2018 season.

“All of that will be determined after the court decision.”

The Eddies aren’t sanctioned by the USSF; the club receives its sanction from Canada Soccer, which doesn’t see the American divisional distinctions as important. In Canada, all pro teams qualify to play for the Canadian Championship.

As a refresher, the American system gives divisional distinctions to leagues — even though there is no promotion and relegation. The divisional distinctions though, mean a lot when it comes to attracting investors and sponsors. Right now, MLS is Div-1, while both USL and NASL are Div-2. But, because Canadian teams play in American leagues, their politics spill across the borders and affect our teams.

Meanwhile,  Edmonton co-owner Tom Fath has confirmed he has been attending meetings of the start-up Canadian Premier League, an all-Canadian “Division 1A” which has an ambitious target start date of late July, 2018. But, CanPL president Paul Beirne has said that if everything isn’t perfect to go in July, the league — which at the moment has only two confirmed teams, in Winnipeg and Hamilton — will wait till 2019 to start.

FC Edmonton has not formally announced any intention to leave NASL.

But, if NASL doesn’t get a sanction, and doesn’t go forward, and the CanPL doesn’t play in 2018, that’s an issue for the Eddies, which has seen crowds increase by more than two-thirds this season.

Kessler said an American antitrust suit would affect FC Edmonton the same an NBA antitrust suit would affect the Toronto Raptors, or how Canadian NHL teams would be impacted by a suit involving that league in the United States.

The history

In late 2016, despite being reduced to eight teams because of bankruptcies and attrition, the NASL was granted a one-year waiver to keep its Div-2 status by the USSF. The league did not meet the requirement to have continental U.S.-based teams in three time zones, and did not have 12 teams — which was the minimum set by the rules.

But Kessler said that USL, when it was promoted from Div-3 to 2 late last year, was also given waivers. And he alleged that MLS received waivers for at least 10 years, and he wondered how a single-entity league like MLS could be allowed to be Div-1 when the franchises are centrally controlled by the league.

Kessler and New York Cosmos owner Rocco Commisso said that USSF has continued to change the standards for divisions, which they feel has been designed to frustrate NASL.

Commisso, who claimed he rebuffed MLS approaches to invest in that league, said he bought the Cosmos in late 2016 with the idea that the NASL would be given several years of Div-2 sanctions to give it the time needed to recover. Commisso said NASL owners have spent US$50 million over the last year.

“I naturally expected we would be given a reasonable amount of time to achieve our goals,” he said.

The league has recently announced expansion franchises for Orange County and San Diego. Kessler said the announcements of more markets are now on hold, as the league awaits the Oct. 31 d-date.

Commisso said that NASL brass was beckoned to USSF offices for a Sept. 1 meeting regarding the sanctioning. He said he and the NASL contingent were made to wait outside for six hours. Commisso alleged that, when he and his NASL team finally got inside, one of the USSF board members fell asleep during their presentation.

“It quickly became clear that the board was simply going through the motions and had no interest in what we had to say,” he said.

Kessler said that USSF has continued to move the goalposts when it comes to sanctioning. He alleged that, when NASL applied to move from Div-2 to Div-1 (equal to MLS) in 2015, USSF delayed the application for months, then changed the standards during the process.

But Kessler was confident the NASL will be successful.

“Once the injunction is in place,the league will continue on its plans for next season,” he said, adding that the NASL will be “bigger, better and stronger.”

Claims made by the plaintiffs have yet to be proven in a court of law.

What is bio-banding, and can it help level the playing field for kids in soccer?

Saskatoon Youth Soccer Inc. is, on a very small scale, bringing bio-banding into its player evaluation toolkit.

Proponents of bio-banding include the English Premier League, which is now regularly backing soccer festivals that highlight players who may have previously been ignored by scouts and academies because of their birthdates. Kids who are born late in the year often have sporting disadvantages compared to kids who are born in January or February. FIFA determines eligibility for its youth tournaments by the calendar year, so a 16-year-old with a January 1 birthdate has a huge physical advantage at an U-17 World Cup over a kid who was born in December of the same year.

 The late kids are smaller, and when you’re 12 years old, being a few months younger than some of the other kids is a big deal in terms of development.

What bio-banding aims to do is to put kids together by ability and size, not age. The thinking is that the system will offer more shots to kids born late in the year, or the late bloomers who take a year or two more to elevate their games.

For now, Saskatoon Youth Soccer is only going to look at bio-banding on a small, case-by-case basis.

“We are using bio-banding principles to review a very small number of cases in regards to late maturational development,” said Saskatoon Youth Soccer’s Youth Program Coordinator, Aaron Wright in an e-mail. “For example; this would allow a 15-year-old to play with 13-year-olds if they apply to play down, meet the principles outlined in bio-banding by our expert, Adam Baxter-Jones, and also receive a majority vote in favour from a panel of our five technical directors.

“We are not sure yet the effects this will have on tournaments, etc., as we will review that this year with the two or three players that have been approved. However, to be clear, SYSI is not going to all bio-banding league; just using the principles to help with a very small number of cases in late maturational development.”

What’s interesting is how few late-month-birthday players are on the rosters of the three Canadian MLS sides. While this is a very small sample size, the rosters of these three teams do offer some evidence that, if you want to play pro soccer, your chances drop if you’re born in November or December.

On Toronto FC’s 29-man roster, only three players have birthdates after August, and none have December birthdates.

Of the 34 men listed on the Whitecaps roster — including those out on loan —11 were born in either January or February. Basically, those two months account for a third of the roster. And, 22 of the 34 players were born before July 31.

The Montreal Impact has 29 players on its roster. Eighteen were born before the end of the August.

In women’s soccer, the gap is even more pronounced. Canada Soccer currently lists 19 players on its women’s national team. Of those, only one has a November birthdate. How many have December birthdates? That’s right — zero.

Even from this small sample size, we can see that — at least in Canada — it’s very hard for a kid born in November and December to realize his or her soccer dreams. Is bio-banding a solution for this? Time will tell; but there’s a very good chance that we’re missing out on players who could have grown to be special players — if only their birthdates weren’t holding them back.

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 29/NASL Week 26/USL Week 27

Orlando City’s Cyle Larin, Jacksonville’s Drew Beckie and Ottawa Fury keeper Callum Irving continue to lead their respective leagues when it comes to minutes played by Canadians.

Larin is 110 minutes ahead of the currently suspended Will Johnson for the MLS lead; the third-place player, Montreal’s Patrice Bernier, is more than 500 minutes behind. So Larin is looking safe at the top of MLS.

In NASL, FC Edmonton’s Allan Zebie is 129 minutes behind Beckie. In USL, Irving has played every minute of every game for the Ottawa Fury. He’s 80 minutes ahead of Colorado Springs’ Masta Kacher, but has a game in hand. Irving holds the Canadian lead in minutes if you wanted to combine MLS, NASL and USL into one chart. In fact, the top five Canadian minute-getters are all in USL.

Here are this week’s rankings:

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Cyle Larin, Orlando, 2136 (26)
Will Johnson, Orlando, 2026 (25)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 1596 (23)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 1321 (26)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal, 1078 (19)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 1055 (20)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 939 (24)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 934 (18)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 926 (21)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 864 (22)
Samuel Piette, Montreal, 696 (8)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 635 (10)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 545 (10)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 375 (11)
Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal, 293 (6)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 193 (4)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 142 (8)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 106 (3)
Maxime Crepeau, Montreal, 90 (1)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 85 (8)
Brian Wright, New England, 45 (2)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
David Choiniere, Montreal,34 (3)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 2 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Montreal, 4804/30 (160.1)

Orlando City, 4227/30 (140.9)

Toronto FC, 3640/31 (117.4)

Vancouver, 2132/29 (73.5)

FC Dallas, 1321/29 (45.6)

D.C. United, 90/30 (3)

New England, 45/29 (1.6)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/29 (1.6)

New York City FC, 2/30 (0.1)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 1836 (23)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 1707 (21)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 1629 (20)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 1580 (18)
Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1553 (21)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 1530 (17)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 1387 (16)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1350 (15)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 1009 (14)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Tyson Farago, FCE, 945 (10)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 825 (13)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 709 (13)
Ben McKendry, FCE, 508 (8)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 495 (6)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 7902/25 (316.1)

San Francisco, 5115/24 (213.1)

Jacksonville, 1836/25 (73.4)

Miami FC, 1629/25 (65.2)

New York, 1530/26 (58.8)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Callum Irving, Ottawa, 2520 (28)
Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 2440 (29)
Ryan James, Rochester, 2413 (28)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 2397 (27)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 2192 (25)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 2080 (27)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 1787 (23)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 1721 (20)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 1696 (26)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 1663 (22)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 1620 (21)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 1620 (18)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 1607 (22)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 1554 (22)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 1544 (18)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 1539 (21)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 1534 (24)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 1534 (22)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 1507 (19)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 1453 (19)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 1396 (18)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 1343 (20)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 1271 (21)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 1261 (19)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 1209 (17)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 1203 (14)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 1122 (24)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 1109 (19)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 1102 (20)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 1080 (12)
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 1055 (16)   
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 997 (17)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 978 (19)   
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 939 (18)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 909 (11)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 908 (11)   
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 890 (13)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 874 (16)
Chris Serban, WFC2, 792 (14)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 787 (10)  
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 768 (14)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 734 (16)  
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 734 (9)  
Michael Cox, OCB, 729 (14)   
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 717 (21)
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 685 (8)
Marco Carducci, Rio Grande Valley FC, 540 (6)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 464 (6)
Michael Baldisimo, WFC2, 447 (10)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 386 (13)  
Adonijah Reid, Ottawa, 350 (9)
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 337 (10)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 315 (5)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 270 (3)
Aron Mkungilwa, Ottawa, 233 (4)
Patrick Metcalfe, WFC2, 222 (4)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 204 (12)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 189 (5)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 186 (3)
Wandrille Lefevre, Ottawa, 180 (2)
Darrin MacLeod, Swope Park Rangers, 180 (2)
Brett Levis, WFC2, 131 (3)
Matthew Srbely, TFCII, 95 (2)
Marcel DeBellis, Richmond, 90 (1)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Rocco Romeao, TFCII, 90 (1)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Nicolas Apostol, WFC2, 17 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 15 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,14545/29 (501.6)

TFCII,13263/29 (457.3)

Ottawa, 7548/28 (269.6)

Rochester, 5473/28 (195.5)

Orlando City B, 4895/29 (168.8)

Swope Park Rangers, 4499/28 (160.7)

Richmond, 2827/29 (97.5)

Reno, 2578/29 (88.9)

Colorado Springs, 2440/29 (84.1)

Phoenix, 1772/27 (65.6)

Real Monarchs SC, 1696/28 (60.6)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 1565/27 (58)

Charleston, 1109/29 (38.2)

Tulsa, 920/28 (32.9)

Louisville City, 874/28 (31.2)

Tampa Bay, 787/27 (29.1)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 450/28 (16.1)

FC Cincinnati, 251/29 (8.7)

 

Eddies dreadful start puts them in a hole they can’t escape

If FC Edmonton could consistently press and play with the confidence that it showed through the final 45 minutes of Saturday’s NASL match in San Francisco, well, there would be some promise as we head into the final month of the regular season.

But, the problem was the first half of play. The Eddies were down 2-0 — and, if not for a series of wasteful “finishes” from Deltas striker Pablo Dyego, should have been trailing by more. The pit that the Eddies dug for themselves was simply too deep from which to escape, and Dustin Corea’s headed effort could only serve as a consolation in a 2-1 loss.

The Deltas started the game with three Canadians — Maxim Tissot at left back, Kyle Bekker in midfield and Karl Ouimette in the centre of defence — in keeping with Eddies/Deltas as the league’s unofficial Canuck Derby. The home side began brightly, and the Eddies — as we’ve seen many times this fall season — struggled to get into top gear in the early stages.

Just over a minute in, and a defensive throw-in got past central defender Albert Watson. Dyego stole in, got the ball and went in on goal — and slammed his effort well wide.

In the fifth minute, Eddies’ keeper Tyson Farago had to be alert to keep out a couple of speculative set-piece efforts in a row after Dyego was brought down by defender Netan Sansara, which began another spell of Deltas’ pressure.

Dyego then had another great chance after he dashed by Watson… and, once again, he went well wide with his effort.

The Eddies’ resistance lasted only 14 minutes. Delta Devon Sandoval chipped a ball into the middle of the penalty area, and Bryan Burke beat FCE fullback Pedro Galvao to the ball — and headed home.

“We should have been down 3-0 after 15 minutes,” admitted FCE coach Colin Miller. “We did so many things that were out of character, like letting the ball bounce and allowing people to get past us.”

The slow start bemused Miller, who said “we had our pre-match meal, our game preparation was there, we looked fine in warm-up. I can’t explain why we started like we did.”

Dyego had yet another chance to score which he wasted, but the Deltas got their second goal when Burke’s low cross was deflected by Watson into the roof of his own goal. The Deltas missed so many chances, and the Eddies then put one in their own net.

The Eddies did get the ball across the Deltas goal line in the first half, but Sainey Nyassi was well offside before he put it in.

SF’s Devon Sandoval moves past FCE’s Albert Watson. PHOTO: NASL

When the teams got in at halftime, Miller said he didn’t yell, that the team simply “had to sort things out.”

While the Deltas had a great chance early in the second half, with Reiner Ferreira blasting just wide, the Eddies grew into the game.

At the one-hour mark, FCE created a couple of great chances in short order. Sadly for the Eddies, the end results were just like Dyego’s first-half efforts; they got into great positions to score, but didn’t trouble the keeper.

Daryl Fordyce got a great chance, but his effort was deflected and went wide.

Then, Nyassi made a brilliant run down the left wing, skipping past San Francisco defender Greg Jordan. He then laid the ball off into the penalty area for Ben Fisk, who had just come in off the subs’ bench. But Fisk’s shot off the instep was well off-target.

Had the Eddies been able to hit their marks, despite being outplayed for most of the match, they could have drawn level at 2-2 by the 70-minute mark.

Deltas coach Marc Dos Santos said after the match that his team was “complacent, overconfident” and admitted fatigue may have been a factor. His side played in New York Wednesday.

Finally, the Eddies got a goal in the 80th, with Corea beating Tissot in the box. But, despite having three corners in a row and a free-kick from just outside the box in a furious, finally flurry, the Eddies couldn’t find the equalizer.

 

NASL goes to court: Launches suit in wake of Div-2 sanctioning decision

The North American Soccer League is suing the United States Soccer Federation.

Here is the text of  a release just issued by the league:

The North American Soccer League (NASL) announced Tuesday that it has filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in Brooklyn federal court. The NASL is a men’s professional soccer league that has operated since 2010.  

The NASL’s complaint alleges that the USSF has violated federal antitrust laws through its anticompetitive “Division” structure that divides men’s professional soccer for U.S.-based leagues based on arbitrary criteria that the USSF has manipulated to favor Major League Soccer (MLS), which is the commercial business partner of the USSF. Its business arrangements include multi-million dollar media and marketing contracts with Soccer United Marketing (SUM), MLS’s marketing arm that also jointly sells and markets MLS rights combined with rights to U.S. national soccer teams operated by the USSF.

The complaint alleges that the USSF has selectively applied and waived its divisional criteria to suppress competition from the NASL, both against MLS and against United Soccer League (USL).  For example, under the USSF’s divisional criteria, there are European clubs that have successfully operated for decades that would be considered ineligible for “Division I” or even “Division II” status due to arbitrary requirements like stadium capacity and market size.

The complaint alleges that the USSF sought to limit competition from the NASL to MLS and USL, and now seeks to destroy the NASL by arbitrarily revoking the NASL’s “Division II” status for the upcoming 2018 season. The complaint only seeks injunctive relief against the USSF’s conduct regarding its divisional designations.

Rocco B. Commisso, Chairman of the NASL’s Board of Governors and the principal owner of the New York Cosmos, which plays its home games in Brooklyn, stated:  “The USSF left the NASL no choice except to file this lawsuit. The NASL has taken this step to protect not just the league, but also the game, fans, and everyone with a stake in the future success of professional soccer leagues based in this country.”

Earlier this month, the USSF rejected the NASL’s application to continue as a Division-2 league for the 2018 season. Losing the divisional status as a “2” would put the future of the NASL in jeopardy. This past winter, the league was given a one-year waiver to continue operation as a Div-2 league, despite the fact that its membership had dropped to eight teams, including FC Edmonton.

The USL, which has a mix of independent clubs, teams affiliated with MLS sides and “2” teams that are essentially minor-league clubs to the MLS parent clubs, was granted Div-2 status before the 2017 season by the USSF. The Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury moved from NASL to USL for the 2017 season.

The USSF is the arbiter of divisional status, even though there is no promotion and relegation in the United States. The factors that determine divisional status include number of teams in a league, the sizes of markets and the stadiums. Canada Soccer does not care about the American divisional rankings, as FC Edmonton, the Fury and the three Canadian MLS sides all compete for the Canadian Championship.

Meanwhile, FCE owner Tom Fath has confirmed he has attended Canadian Premier League meetings, as that league looks to get off the ground in either 2018 or 2019.

But here is where it gets interesting. FIFA’s article 17 states that no football association can be influenced by third parties. FIFA also stands against what it sees as government interference in the affairs of football authorities. A confederation can be suspended if it is found to be in violation of that FIFA rule.  If the USSF is in court, even if it holds a winning hand, it’s not a good look for the joint 2026 World Cup bid between Canada, the United States and Mexico.  If that’s the ace in the hole — the spectre of Article 17 — that the NASL was waiting to produce, the league has now played its card. And, by playing it before the United States has to play vital World Cup qualifiers later this autumn, the NASL amps up the game of chicken.

FIFA directs its confederations to solve its disputes through the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It is through CAS where Miami FC — an NASL team — is co-plaintiff in a case against FIFA. The claim is that FIFA is breaking its own rules by not forcing the USSF to have a system of promotion and relegation. Miami FC’s suit  was the nice-guy way of bringing a soccer matter to court. The NASL’s motion in U.S. federal court is a measure that runs afoul of the way FIFA likes to see its confederations settle their affairs.

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 28/NASL Week 25/USL Week 26

Toronto FC misses a few key regulars, and still is good enough to annihilate the Los Angeles Galaxy, 4-0. For Canadian soccer followers, the big news out of TFC’s weekend win was that Tosaint Ricketts bagged a couple of goals.

It’s scary how the Reds simply don’t miss a beat — as regular seasons go, this is a historic MLS campaign. And, right now, Canadian players are averaging just over 109 minutes per game for Toronto FC this season.

And, with Will Johnson suspended in the wake of his domestic-violence charge in Florida, Cyle Larin has re-taken the lead as the Canadian who has played the most minutes in MLS this season. He scored as Orlando City tied Atlanta United 3-3 in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Here are this week’s rankings:

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Cyle Larin, Orlando, 2067 (25)
Will Johnson, Orlando, 2026 (25)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 1533 (22)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 1240 (25)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal, 1078 (19)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 944 (18)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 851 (21)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 781 (22)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 768 (16)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 759 (19)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 635 (10)
Samuel Piette, Montreal, 529 (6)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 455 (9)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 361 (10)
Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal, 293 (6)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 193 (4)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 120 (7)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 106 (3)
Maxime Crepeau, Montreal, 90 (1)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 64 (7)
Brian Wright, New England, 45 (2)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
David Choiniere, Montreal,34 (3)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 2 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Montreal, 4408/28 (157.4)

Orlando City, 4137/29 (142.7)

Toronto FC, 3168/29 (109.2)

Vancouver, 2029/28 (72.5)

FC Dallas, 1240/28 (44.3)

D.C. United, 90/29 (3.1)

New England, 45/28 (1.6)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/28 (1.6)

New York City FC, 2/29 (0.1)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 1739 (21)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 1638 (20)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 1548 (17)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 1539 (19)
Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1444 (19)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1350 (15)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 1350 (15)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 1207 (14)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 919 (13)
Tyson Farago, FCE, 855 (9)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 722 (11)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 619 (12)
Ben McKendry, FCE, 508 (8)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 495 (6)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 7531/24 (313.8)

San Francisco, 4723/22 (214.7)

Jacksonville, 1758/24 (73.3)

Miami FC, 1539/24 (64.1)

New York, 1350/24 (56.3)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Callum Irving, Ottawa, 2430 (27)
Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 2350 (28)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 2307 (26)
Ryan James, Rochester, 2233 (26)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 2080 (27)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 2012 (23)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 1697 (22)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 1631 (19)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 1622 (21)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 1620 (18)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 1618 (25)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 1530 (20)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 1508 (20)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 1498 (20)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 1464 (21)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 1454 (17)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 1444 (23)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 1444 (21)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 1417 (18)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 1396 (18)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 1391 (18)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 1343 (20)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 1261 (19)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 1226 (20)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 1203 (14)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 1180 (16)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 1102 (20)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 1091 (23)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 997 (17)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 990 (11)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 952 (18)   
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 939 (18)   
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 929 (17)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 909 (11)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 908 (11)   
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 890 (13)
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 847 (14)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 787 (10)  
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 782 (14)
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 768 (14)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 734 (9)  
Chris Serban, WFC2, 733 (13)
Michael Cox, OCB, 710 (13)   
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 706 (19)
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 685 (8)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 674 (15)  
Marco Carducci, Rio Grande Valley FC, 540 (6)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 464 (6)
Michael Baldisimo, WFC2, 357 (9)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 350 (12)  
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 337 (10)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 315 (5)
Adonijah Reid, Ottawa, 289 (8)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 270 (3)
Aron Mkungilwa, Ottawa, 233 (4)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 202 (11)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 189 (5)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 186 (3)
Wandrille Lefevre, Ottawa, 180 (2)
Patrick Metcalfe, WFC2, 163 (3)
Brett Levis, WFC2, 131 (3)
Matthew Srbely, TFCII, 95 (2)
Marcel DeBellis, Richmond, 90 (1)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Rocco Romeao, TFCII, 90 (1)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Nicolas Apostol, WFC2, 17 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 15 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,13915/28 (497)

TFCII,13263/29 (457.3)

Ottawa, 7188/27 (266.2)

Rochester, 5122/26 (197)

Orlando City B, 4745/28 (169.5)

Swope Park Rangers, 4113/27 (152.3)

Richmond, 2737/28 (97.8)

Reno, 2362/27 (87.5)

Colorado Springs, 2350/28 (83.9)

Phoenix, 1553/25 (62.1)

Real Monarchs SC, 1618/27 (59.9)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 1518/26 (58.4)

Charleston, 929/27 (34.4)

Tulsa, 860/27 (31.9)

Tampa Bay, 787/26 (30.3)

Louisville City, 782/26 (30.1)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 450/27 (16.7)

FC Cincinnati, 251/28 (9)

 

Eddies beat Indy, then learn that Hurricane Maria has changed their plans

This was supposed to be the start of the Eddies’ week from hell. At home Sunday to Indy, then on the road Wednesday at Puerto Rico and then Saturday in San Francisco. Six games in three days, with over 11,400 km of travel.

But, after the Eddies dominated Indy and won 2-0 at Clarke Stadium, Sunday, they found out they wouldn’t be getting on the plane on Monday. The league announced that the game at Puerto Rico has been postponed. Forecasts are calling for Hurricane Maria to arrive at Puerto Rico Wednesday. Because the Eddies were scheduled to leave first thing Monday morning, a will-they-or-won’t-they decision had to be made well before Wednesday’s scheduled match.

But, FCE coach Colin Miller didn’t know before the Indy game that the Puerto Rico match was off; so he toyed with his lineup, thinking he was going to need to stretch his squad for three games in six days.

“That’s how far along the line we are thinking, and that’s regardless of how well we play on Sunday,” said the coach before the match. “We will definitely makes changes for Wednesday night and then we’ll think about the San Francisco game after the Wednesday game.”

So, on Sunday, Sainey Nyassi returned to the starting lineup on the wing, while Nik Ledgerwood was moved from midfield to right back. Of course, fullback is where Ledgerwood often plays with the Canadian national side, so it wasn’t like he was being thrown into uncharted waters.

Ledgerwood came up with maybe his best performance of the season, and Nyassi terrorized the Eleven down the right wing. So, the changes paid off.

“I don’t often single out individual players, but I thought Ledgerwood was our man of the match,” Miller said after the game. “His use of the ball was excellent.”

Going into the wind in the first half, and just seconds after Eleven striker Eamon Zayed blasted high from five feet in front of the Edmonton goal, Ledgerwood floated in a ball over Indy fullback Nemanja Vukovic. Nyassi knocked it down with one touch, then dashed by defender Cory Miller before slamming a shot inside the far post.

Nyassi could have had a second a couple of minutes later, but his effort was cleared off the line by Indy defender Colin Falvey.

Sainey Nyassi beats Indy Eleven keeper Jon Busch in the first half. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/FC EDMONTON

In the second half, with the wind at their backs, the Eddies unleashed keeper Tyson Farago. By now, you’d think the book on Farago’s right leg would have been distributed to every coach in the league. But his 70-plus yard bombs repeatedly got over the Indy backline, where Nyassi or Eddies striker Tomi Ameobi got on the end of them.

Finally, a Farago blast led to an Eddies goal. A long boot got over the head of Falvey, and Ameobi got in the Indy area. Ameobi slid the ball to teammate Ben Fisk right on the penalty spot; Indy’s Cory Miller came in late with a sliding challenge and a spot-kick was awarded without any argument from the Indy side.

Substitute Dustin Corea calmly chipped in from the spot to double the Eddies lead.

But, the Eddies can enjoy the victory rather than heading to their homes and getting the sleep needed ahead of an early-morning flight. The Monday travel day is off – and now we’re all once again wishing Puerto Rico well in the face of a hurricane.

FC Edmonton owner confirms attendance at CanPL meetings, says USL not an option

Tom Fath, who owns FC Edmonton along with his brother, Dave, is usually tight-lipped when it comes to front-office and ownership matters. On Sunday, before FC Edmonton’s match with the Indy Eleven, he opened up a little more about the Canadian Premier League and the future of the NASL.

Fath confirmed that he went to the Canadian Premier League meetings in Toronto earlier this week. Even though it’s been a not-so-well-kept secret that Fath has been going to CanPL meetings, he’s now confirming his attendance to the public.

“We have been going to the meetings,” he said. “I believe in the Canadian Premier League. I think it will be great for Canada.”

But, when asked if FCE will make the move, Fath simply smiled and said “we have been going to the meetings.”

As for the NASL, the league FCE has called home since 2011, he’s still holding optimism for 2018. The United States Soccer Federation gave notice to the NASL that it’s application for Division-2 status in 2018 has been rejected. But the matter isn’t dead and the NASL will approach the USSF again.

“I have been through nine sanctionings with the USSF. And I will say what I told the players: If they say yes, you know you’re sanctioned for next season. But if they say no, that means that things can change.”

This time around, Fath is not part of the NASL’s governance committee, so he’s not directly involved in talks with the USSF.

And, let’s kill any talk of any chance of FC Edmonton following the Ottawa Fury and making the move to USL, which got Division-2 status from the USSF for the 2017 season. From Fath: “As long as the USL has its current ownership and structure, we will not go to USL. There are many reasons on why I won’t go to USL that I won’t say publicly. But I can say that I do not believe in the franchise model. I believe in what I call the world model [where clubs are run independently of each other].”