42517_isi_hyndmanemerson_usmntu23db03292016164 David Bernal/isiphotos.com
Thursday kickoff

Candidates in Philly, Sargent making big steps, and more

There is a lot of news about the top tier of candidates to be U.S. Soccer's next president and none of it is good. Meanwhile some information is trickling in from players abroad with some impressive feedback on Josh Sargent. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
January 18, 2018
5:00 AM
Most of the American soccer world is gathered in Philadelphia right now for a variety of reasons including forums for U.S. Soccer’s presidential candidates and the MLS Superdraft and today’s news is rather concerning.

New information on Wynalda and Carter


The New York Times has a new piece on Eric Wynalda and, among many things, it highlights his personal financial problems including once declaring for bankruptcy in 2009 after his divorce. It also goes into detail on his previous business dealings which were unsuccessful.


Now running for U.S. Soccer’s presidency, it does raise an interesting point on Wynalda’s ability to run a large organization and oversee radically different ideas. He wants to implement ideas such as promotion and relegation along with a Fall-Spring schedule. But the financial implications on those is murky at best. He has his ideas but what exactly points to him being qualified to run such a large organization.

On the flip side you have Kathy Carter who runs Soccer United Marketing. She is viewed at the establishment candidate and so far she has been extremely light on specifics. Yesterday, she actually gave one specific and it involved naming Casey Wasserman as a chief of a wide-ranging commission to analyze sport’s issues.



Wasserman is the CEO of an agency that represents a huge percentage of MLS players as well as a few players abroad. This obviously does nothing to help Carter’s issue of being seen as independent or different from the status quo.

It will be interesting to see if stories like these perhaps open the door to Kyle Martino who is both an outsider and seems to consider both the risks and the rewards of radical changes. Martino released his vision earlier in the week and there were some good ideas as well as some questionable ones too - like mandating MLS expansion teams to invest in NWSL teams. Despite that, he might have a real opening in the final weeks before the election. 

Hyndman to go on loan


If there is one American player who is most in need of a loan this month it is Emerson Hyndman, 21, who is completely stuck in the mud at AFC Bournemouth despite a pair of recent FA Cup appearances. Yesterday he came off the bench and played 17 minutes as Bournemouth was eliminated from the competition.

Yesterday a report from Scotland surfaced that Hyndman was going to return to Rangers for another loan. In January 2017 he joined the Glasgow club for five months and took positive steps in his career. While the level in Scotland is at a low point, the move was a boost for Hyndman’s confidence.

But then later in the day, the Bournemouth Echo reported that the reports linking the Texan to a Rangers return were off-base.

No matter what, something desperately needs to get done. Hyndman, the 2015 U.S. U-20 World Cup captain, is too good to waste away on the bench.

Adu to make a comeback?


Freddy Adu has been without a club since leaving his 12th club, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, n 2016. In 2017 he had unsuccessful trials at Portland and Poland’s Sandecja Nowy S?cz.

Will 13 prove to be a lucky number for Freddy Adu? There are reports in Sweden that say the former U.S. international will join Oskarshamns AIK of Sweden’s third tier. Adu’s career has fallen well short of expectations but it has been a fascinating story of overhype, handling expectations, clubs singing him simply for PR, and a world-wide journey. It would be nice to see if Adu can at least find a place to earn minutes playing the sport he loves.

Sargent earning rave reviews


Josh Sargent is training with Werder Bremen’s first team now and can’t officially join the club until his 18th birthday next month. But he is impressing tremendously as can be seen in a few reports out recently.

Kicker magazine quotes Werder head coach Florian Kohfeldt as saying: “He moves very well, makes plays well and just has an intuitively good striker instincts.”

Werder Bremen midfielder Thomas Delaney also added of Sargent that "He is tall, strong and good at 17 years old. He has great talent, but he certainly needs more time."

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