Rumor: Hammerheads to Move to Baltimore?

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the Wilmington Hammerheads are considering a move to Baltimore, with some details including playing at Johnny Unitas Stadium, the home of Towson University football and lacrosse, and they would play in USL, the current 3rd division of US Soccer, which includes MLS teams. Currently, the Hammerheads have a relationship with Manchester City's NY affiliate in MLS, and I don't see that changing given the information available about the Hammerheads owner. I would love to sit and talk with the ownership group to discuss their plans and help them in any way possible with this transition.

Like I've said before, time and time again, Baltimore deserves a professional soccer team. However, I have major concerns about USL's structure and its allowance of MLS reserve teams (think Sounders 2, not Bethlehem Steel) and how that would impact how well the team can do here. I also think that the Bohemians are left out in the cold if the Hammerheads come up here as they will have built the framework for soccer branding here, despite the club's issues. I feel that a "merger" or a buying-out of the Bohs name and usage of their staff would be a great idea for the Baltimore USL group, but I can see how Bohs fans and ownership would be resistant to that. However, I don't think the Bohs can be as successful as they are with a pro team in town. They did not play at Bonvegna Field in Canton due to a sharp increase in rent. It had nothing to do with a lack of fan support.

Back to the point, though, if this is what it takes for Baltimore to get a professional soccer team, then I don't know if I can be completely happy with it, but I will come out to Towson to watch this team and cover it, either here or (hopefully) with a professional newspaper to where I could get paid to do it.

United States Secures Spot in Hex

The United States men's national team have won 4-0 against Trinidad and Tobago in front of a crowd just short of 20,000 in Jacksonville. Sacha Kljestan scored the opening goal late in the first half, but that was not the first chance the US had in front of goal as Hershey's Christian Pulisic hit the ball off the inside of both posts and away from the goal. He would not score, instead he would have two assists in his first start in a World Cup qualifier. Jozy Altidore scored a brace, and Paul Arriola had the fourth goal.

What struck me the most was Pulisic's movement on the ball and his creativity. He hit so many low crosses perfectly that I could see why Dortmund would not send him on loan. In fact, all four goals in some way or another were well-created team goals in which Pulisic was involved in one way or another. In my opinion, he was the man of the match by a mile.

In terms of defending, I thought the US played reasonably well until the latter stage when Trinidad and Tobago used all of their substitutions on attacking players to bring in fresh legs and to see if they could crawl back into the game. Bradley played his defensive midfield spot well enough, but Kljestan definitely played himself onto the field against New Zealand in October at RFK.

What I want to see more of: the patience in and around the attacking penalty area. The US took their time and carved the Trinidad and Tobago defense like a Thanksgiving turkey when they wanted to. I also want to see Pulisic get more starts for the national team.

What I want to see less of: the reliance on the goalkeeper to bail out the defense in certain situations. Howard played well tonight, but his defense was shaky at best when they truly had to put a shift in and challenge for the ball. Against better opposition like Mexico and Costa Rica, those opportunities go in more often than against the likes of Trinidad and Tobago.

Kings Fall 1-0 to Annandale United

The EDP champion Baltimore Kings men’s U-23 suffered their second and final loss in their EDP season in the finale to Annandale United 1-0 in Virginia, the make-up game for the game Annandale rescheduled when they were supposed to come up to CCBC Essex. The captain David Warburton could not attend due to his car breaking down on the way to Virginia, and that was the start of the Kings’ woes on this final day of the season. David Neuberth scored a goal that was controversially ruled offside, which set the tone for the rest of the game. Officiating a soccer game is a very difficult job, and I respect the people willing to put themselves out there to do it. However, this particular official was inconsistent as compared to the other officials in the league. While that is not necessarily a bad thing as each official has their own style, that is a learning curve this club needs if they are to go professional. I also note here that the official in question was being assessed.

Difficulties with the officials and player attendance aside, the performance reeked of apathy. It must also be noted here that they did not train on Thursday, a day they usually do so. If you saw them play in the first week and this week with nothing in between, I think you’d say that there were no changes and you’d assume that the club were on an almighty losing streak. However, the club has shown marked improvement throughout the summer as the players played together, and they have finished in first place in their inaugural season. That, no matter the league, is no easy feat. On the other hand, a performance like this was not their best performance, and the attitude, quite frankly, started from the top. Head coach EJ Jackson argued with the official numerous times throughout the game, and was sent off in the second half. After he was sent off, it snowballed as another player was also dismissed from the bench for foul language, which was, again, a personality quirk of the official who called things tighter than previous ones. The rain did not help matters, either, but the performance was poor, and it was done with a bad attitude.

Let’s hope the Kings can learn from this experience, and come back even stronger next season.

Kings Extend Unbeaten Streak in 1-1 Draw with Maryland United

Greg Bechard put the Baltimore Kings on the board with a well-executed goal from a throw-in play near the penalty area. However, the Kings could not hold that lead to the final whistle as they drew 1-1 with Maryland United in Upper Marlboro, MD earlier today.

Before I go into the details of the game, I must make an administrative announcement: the Annandale game that I had marked down as a potential forfeit victory has been rescheduled to next Sunday, when the league championship game was to take place. The league will no longer have that game take place in favor of rewarding the best team in the regular season with the league title. The game Sunday will take place at Annandale High School in Annandale, VA, which is close to Springfield and Alexandria at 4PM.

The theme of the game was the somewhat disjointed effort from the players in the desert-like heat. It seemed the players were going out to do their own thing and not truly buying into the system EJ Jackson, the head coach, wants to play all the time. It seemed that the ugly bout of lack of conditioning plagued the Kings in the second half. Players were gassed more than usual, with one player getting overheated during his time on the pitch today.

The goalkeeping was excellent today. Neither keeper made any match-changing mistakes. The Annandale goal was a total team breakdown after a costly turnover in the midfield. Which brings me nicely to my next point. The midfield has to learn how to remain calm on the ball and retain possession, especially the defensive midfielders. All season long, they have turned the ball over numerous times, some of which led to opposition goals.

The forward play was as good as could be expected under the circumstances, but at the professional level, some half chances are the best chances in the game, there was one play in the second half where a Kings player had the ball at an acute angle very close to the net and shot it wide.

Kings Roll Past Next Level Soccer in Friendly 5-0

After Annandale cancelled on the Kings on Thursday, the Kings invited Next Level Soccer to play at CCBC Essex today. As you can see from the headline, the score was the most lopsided in Kings history, with both the most goals scored in a game and the first clean sheet in the club’s history, joint-owned by Camdon Kook and Bryan Csee, who played a half each. Next Level Soccer finished 8-0-1 in the Spring Season in the Maryland Major Soccer League. The most memorable goal was the last one, a SportsCenter Top 10 worthy goal from Tommy O’Keefe. He struck the ball from 30 years out into the very top of the net, giving the Next Level keeper no chance.

There’s not much to say about this game, except that it was a good overall performance against a slow team that looked like they weren’t truly fit to be a professional side. There were some professionals playing for them, but they did not seem like professionals.

Next week, the Kings travel to Bowie to take on Maryland United. Should the league determine Annandale forfeited today, the Kings have clinched the division championship in their league.

Kings Rule Over SAC Premier 4-2 in Early Season Rematch

The Baltimore Kings men’s U-23 team picked up a statement win over SAC Premier today at Covenant Park in Ellicott City. The goals were scored by Juwon Kearson, Joel Teston, Neuberth, and Njuki. The Kings displayed an offensive threat that was not seen before this game, creating chance after chance, and finishing those chances that came their way. The club gave their man of the match award to the defenders Chris White, who had an assist, Eric Dorsey, Chris Garcia, and Pete Ostergen, however, I would like to name someone else for that award, and that is Michael Peprah, the architect of two of the goals. He scored one himself, but he was ruled offside by the referee. He was a dynamo out there, making runs and creating chances for his teammates. While he was not perfect, he was positive with nearly every touch of the ball. He has the technical ability to make the passes that are there, but sometimes he dribbles the ball too much instead of picking out that pass everyone knows he can deliver. It’s all a matter of decision-making in the end, and usually he decides well.

The communication in the backline was better than it was last time out, despite the lack of captain David Warburton, who could not be there. There was constant communication with all four members of the backline supporting each other and placing high pressure on the SAC attack. I can see why the club gave the defenders the man of the match award, due to how unstoppable they were for the most part. Their first goal was a rebound goal off the crossbar, and their second was a decent strike.

Finally, the attack was very fluid, with several players swapping positions throughout and contributing where they were needed. There was a lot of communication between the forwards and the midfielders that they played (dare I say it) the most Barcelona-esque performance I’ve seen (though they have a long way to go to match the technical ability of Barcelona). This is their style of play, and they are trying to play it to their utmost.

The Kings return home on Sunday, July 17th against Annondale as part of a doubleheader with the women’s team at CCBC Essex. The game has some title ramifications should they win and other results go their way.

Nashville Loses Independence

Today, it was announced that Nashville FC has been taken over by a group called DMD Soccer, which is run by Marcus Whitney, a former NFC board member in its old incarnation, Chris Redhage, co-founder of ProviderTrust, who is their kit sponsor for this season, and David Dill, President and COO of LifePoint Health.

To most Nashville FC shareholders, it was a matter of time before pro soccer came to the city, so instead of riding it out and developing a relationship with a politician who wanted to take them to the holy grail of soccer independence, they sold out to one of their own, flanked by 2 rich friends, that put them in the MLS feeder league known as USL. Because the vote was so lopsided (my source tells me the vote was 163-10), it is understandable that people regret their vote. My source regrets his yes vote, calling this "a fate worse than death". I wholeheartedly agree, and on a weekend when we celebrate our nation's independence from Great Britain, a team sells out its supporter-owned model for a more traditional model in the feeder league of the MLS system.

Today is a dark day for Music City soccer fans who wish to declare independence from the establishment, but it is happy for those who want pro soccer without a care of how it is obtained.