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Manchester United vs. Philadelphia Union: Your Running Commentary

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It isn't often that first-year soccer teams get a chance to face off against a team as storied as Manchester United, but tonight is the Philadelphia Union's chance to step on the field with a legendary club.

The Union plays host to Manchester United at Lincoln Financial Field tonight (7:30pm, ESPN2) in the first of three matches Man United will play against MLS competition. The English powerhouse will take on the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday before taking on the MLS All-Stars in Houston on July 28th.

First things first, the Red Devils take on a young but fiesty Union team that is coming off a key home victory against Toronto FC last Saturday.

If you will be watching today's match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. Decent night overall for Philly and MLS. For a first-year expansion team from a young, internationally mid-level but growing domestic league taking on the biggest, richest, most prestigious club side on the planet the Union were competitive and entertaining to watch. Though they were still clearly outclassed by the mix of first and second teamers on ManU who, while impressive were clearly in pre-season shape, Philly still showed some spark and grit. They had two very close scoring chances and held together in spite of turning the ball over too easily and often. The Union also had stretches of decent movement of the ball and really at no time did they play they didn’t belong. Compare this to the dreadful exhibition NYRB put on against Barcelona a couple years ago in a similar friendly and I would have to think fair-minded European fans who don’t watch MLS regularly would see glimpses of the progress the league has made over the past several years.

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  2. +1 Max Bretos obviously has no knowledge of the game, just another tool dug up by espn and taught the very basics. MLS can actually compete with teams like this, maybe not the full first team, but a mixed line-up like this definitely.

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  3. “Manchester was not allowed to trade shirts from a reliable source”

    What if the shirts were from an unreliable source? Could they trade them then?

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  4. If Kraft hasn’t figured out by now that the New England region has a huge number of people of Portuguese descent (about 400,000) for nearly 200 years, he never will.

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  5. I was just having this conversation with some friends… as much as we hate Twellman (for whatever superficial, yet always agreed upon reasons) we all thought he was a really good color guy for that game. His voice doesn’t match his demeanor, and most all of his comments were smooth and welcomed.
    It might have been helped by the openness and style of the great play on the field, but I hope to hear more of him soon… and that’s coming from a Fire fan – NE hater.

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  6. Yeah, the top to bottom thing is a bit ridiculous. If you took 5 random MLS teams and switched them with 5 random Cola-ship teams, (see the sly abbreviation, that means I know my stuff, huh?) the English teams would fare far better in MLS than the MLS teams would in England. Would the best MLS players be among the best in the Championship? Of course, and some would be destined for higher levels. But, lets not forget, good Championship players would be among the best in MLS as well. Darren Huckerby being a solid example of this. It’s also why I would have liked to see a healthy Twellman at Preston, since he’s basically the epitome of a quality MLS-player who isn’t really national team or mid-table EPL quality. (Eddie Johnson’s spell at Cardiff doesn’t count, since he overwhelmed MLS with physical gifts, but in terms of technical skill or, you know, intelligence, isn’t really near vintage Twellman.)

    Just an interesting debate that’s probably interesting to only me, at least in terms of how I framed it.

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  7. I’ve always thought he was a stoner. His reference to a tradition of Irish players at united went back all of 10years. United had great Irish players since at least the 1940’s. he also distinguished between Northern Irish and Irish. He pulls it out of his. . .

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  8. Good showing by Philly. As I haven’t seen the Union play before, I was impressed by Danny Mwanga. Looks like he’s the hype.

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  9. The Sporting-Celtic game at Fenway drew 32,000. A large Sporting contingent was there. Maybe Kraft will learn something from it. Maybe by signing a Portuguese player eventually. It was a great game also.

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  10. I do but it’s a bit different. The NJ/NY Metrostars became the NY Red Bulls, who still play in NJ…Gaven left, Wolyniec others left, and the new guys just sucked, aside from Jozy and Angel.I’ve met past Metrostars players before pregame on the pitch, got autographs after, like Timmy’s. The RB’s don’t really inspire anything in me anymore. It’s almost as if they lack heart sometimes. I’ve seen them play a handfull of times at Giants but it’s not the same. . The crowds, the players… One 6-5 or whatever it was game with LA isn’t a deciding factor. Neither was their Western Conference championship title. It’s been more of an emotonal investment I can handle. I’ll support them because they’re still the Metrostars on the inside, but I just wish they could get some consistency going.

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  11. MLS refs are terrible. Not a bad effort from Philly, and please no more Eurosnobs. This is an American soccer site. Anyone wanting to pretend to be a self-loathing English fan, go elsewhere. As for why Philly played better than the league record would suggest, obviously not a game that counts, so ManU clearly isn’t approaching it that way; still, trust in youth MLS coaches. I mean, if you are going to lose, do it while developing the youth.

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  12. So you don’t support NYRB anymore? You know, seeing as how they’re on separate continents, you could root for both, if you could handle that kind of emotional investment. Just thought I’d let you know…

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  13. Wish the real Philly fans were there to represent. Nobody would be wearing a United shirt …after a few AA batteries to the F’ing head

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  14. hey hey hey. This isn’t Eurosnobbing. To recount… I loved MLS for years. I did not watch any European games for years, prefering to watch the Metrostars at Giants Stadium. When my favorite Jersey man, Tim Howard, moved from the metrostars to Man UTD, I started following them, and have become a fan ever since as I’ve supported our American Hero. I’ve also watched Evra, one of the best left-backs around(when not in a France-shirt) as an inspiration as I played the same position before calling it quits. This isn’t some, “oh Man UTD, Wayne Rooney yeah, Giggs, yeah, theyr’e good because they’re Man UTD, here to grace our presence: The great team in England, I love Europe.” fan.

    I do realize that this is the internet, and people don’t need all the facts to start saying stuff about people, but, I thought I’d just let you know…

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  15. It’s dreadful. Every time a pass is off or a shot went wide, it’s because it’s the pre-season or it’s not the starters. And he has a huge man-crush on Giggs, he has made this Mwanga shirt exchange thing into the biggest topic of the night.

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  16. It’s real shame the Galaxy play in PR the day before the All-Star game. The way tonight has gone a full-strength MLS team has a chance to show just how good the league has become. Previous All-Star opponents have been criticized as mid-level at best; this year that all changes. So CONCACAF screws us by scheduling Donovan, Buddle and Arena the previous night.

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  17. First, I switched to Strasburg (but enjoyed watching Mwanga). Second, yes it sucks that you are an American ManUre fan. I couldn’t sleep at night if I were an American ManU fan.

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  18. Uh-oh. Here they come! The Eurosnobs are on the move! As soon as victory over the 2nd-worst team in MLS is assured, they’re going to come on here and mock us about how United wasn’t really trying, or how they let Philly keep it close before breaking away.

    Your kind is not wanted here, please promptly exit the building. Fire doors are to your left.

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  19. I plan on beating Max Bretos if I ever see him.

    The man might be the biggest EuroSnob I’ve ever heard commentating.

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  20. So MLS is better than a Championship team with no money, $120 million in debt, that is in a transfer embargo, and is being hounded by the British version of the IRS.

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  21. Really, Twellman? Berbatov is one of the ten best strikers in the world? Hmm…I revoke my prior statements regarding your broadcasting quality.

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  22. I can’t wait to hear all the Europricks cheer like hell when Berbatov is introduced. REAL Man United fans don’t even LIKE Berbatov; he’s been largely regarded as a disappointment, like Diego Forlan back in the day.

    I hope Philly wins. And I’m a DCU fan; I never root for Philly teams.

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