Atlanta United Youth Academy To Launch 2016

Big thanks to SBI, whom we stole that image and basically this story from.

Atlanta United has announced that five age groups will be joining the US Soccer Development Academy in the fall of 2016 and will incorporate aspects of existing programs Georgia United and Concorde Fire. 

Georgia United will phase out its U-16 and U-18 age groups as ATLUTD will begin with U-12, U-13, U-14,  U-16 and U-18 months before the senior MLS team takes the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. 

This last bit is directly lifted from SBI because they said it better than I could.

Launching the club in the fall of 2016 will mean a faster timetable on being able to bring Homegrown Players into the Atlanta United first team, and will also mean getting the ball rolling on improved player development options in a region that has already established a reputation for developing a high level of top talent, with Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff and, more recently, Sean Johnson and Jack McInerney among the ranks of professional players from Georgia.

From Zlatan to Adu - William Yarbrough - Y

This is the second installment of a 26-part series of players we'd like to see at Atlanta United FC as either a Designated Player or general roster spot. They will not all make sense but we will try to convince you anyway. #HailUnited #KingsOfTheSouth

William Yarbrough - Goalkeeper - Club Leon - DOB 3/20/89

USMNT Pedigree

William Yarbrough came into most casual US soccer fans' attentions when Jurgen Klinsmann called the goalie up to the senior team in early 2015. 

The first game action he saw in the stars and stripes was in the second half against Switzerland, where he let one past him.

This cap-tied the dual-national Yarbrough over Mexico where he had played with youth national teams.

What's Yarbrough Ever Done?

Yarbrough has never seemed to have a solid hold on the GK spot since arriving at Leon from Pachuca in 2012.

The club has had Liga MX success while Yarbrough has been a part of the team.

Have some highlights. Most of these are old. It doesn't look like Yarbrough has played in a league match since his return from the Gold Cup.

He's A Company Man

What does William tweet about? He really only RTs Leon's official bar.

HE COULD DO THIS FOR THE SOHO LOUNGE. 

Does This Make Sense?

Yarbrough, who has three brothers who live in the US, has said in the past that he considers himself "100 percent Mexican, and sometimes roots for Mexico over the United States."

BUT!

He accepted the US call-up. And remember, he's not getting a ton of love at Leon. 

A move to MLS would make more sense now. AND THE MLS LOVES TO PAY USMNT PLAYERS.

He immediately adds a level of interest to Mexican fans. Goalies have a longer shelf life so age isn't an issue.

William Yarbrough's salary wouldn't be outrageous, but he'd probably get a nice raise because THE MLS LOVES TO PAY USMNT PLAYERS.

Freddy Adu & Drew Carey 2 Podcast s01e08

The best Atlanta United podcast no one listens to returns.

Freddy Adu is back getting PT with the Tampa Bay Rowdies so we skipped ahead of the normal, inconsistent recording to drop a Friday episode.

Atlanta United fans have continued to pop up new supporters groups, like Resurgence.

MLS Fantasy is winding down and Wild Cards should not be this hard.

Drew and Lisa really need to get their shit together as we near the end of season one of The Drew Carey Show.

Freddy Adu adds assist in first start for Tampa Bay Rowdies

Glad you're back, Freddy.

Freddy Adu got his first start in a Tampa Bay Rowdies uniform Wednesday night against the Indy Eleven and he instantly rewarded his club with a solid outing.

Adu got an assist off an in-swinging corner to Long Tan in the second half. 

Keep that shit up, young man. 

From Zlatan to Adu: Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Z

This is the first installment of a 26-part series of players we'd like to see at Atlanta United FC as either a Designated Player or general roster spot. They will not all make sense but we will try to convince you anyway. #HailUnited #KingsOfTheSouth

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Forward - Paris Saint-Germain - DOB 10/3/81

Runway Ready

I mean we already know he'd look good in a (possible) Atlanta United jersey  considering his AC Milan days.

Plus the international community will always need to check in on Zlatan antics. It's required r/soccer reading.

What a way to ring in a new MLS franchise.

 What's Zlatan Ever Done? 

Let's take a look at Wikipedia shall we?

Do not forget the man is Sweden's all-time scorer at the international level with 56 goals in 105 appearances.

Age will obviously be a factor for when he would be in Atlanta (35 in March 2017) but look at what Didier Drogba has been able to do at Montreal when available. 

And I'm not scout / expert, but Drogba and Zlatan play very similarly. Good in the air. Great target forwards. Excellent finishers. Aging DPs are an issue in MLS, but Zlatan could still be productive for two years in America. Look, His scoring has not fallen off in France even though he's over 30.

His hamstrings could lift an elephant.

He's Got A Book

Zlatan would be the first and only Atlanta United player to have an autobiography - I Am Zlatan - already published while still playing. You can write that in wet cement. 

 Likelihood? 

To MLS? Pretty good. To Atlanta? Probably not as much. We're not New York or Los Angeles.

 PODCAST

Special edition of the Atlanta United podcast coming. Just some fan fiction where Zlatan visits Magic City in 2017.

Freddy Adu & Drew Carey 2 Podcast s01e06

These recordings keep getting further apart. By the time we make it through the nine season run of The Drew Carey Show it'll actually be nine years.

Freddy Adu is actually back in the US playing soccer. Which is rad.

Drew figures out a way to make a tender moment with Mimi basically meaningless. We do get a good David Cross sighting though.

MLS Fantasy team blowing up like I never thought it would.

Atlanta United FC gets a training ground.

Major League Sucker - Fantasy MLS Week 25

Is it better to go ahead and pick up that yellow card and take the suspension early for accumulation if you have a double game week?

Thanks to r/FantasyMLS and this helpful link, it has me wondering.

Look at that lineup above. Did you look? Benny Feilhaber, Kei Kamara, Eric Gehrig and Pa Modou Kah all are sitting close to the suspension threshold. One yellow away from having to sit out a game.

Being selfish, I almost would prefer Benny and Kei pick up a yellow midweek so that their suspension would be during the second game of the week and not carry over into round 26 where I might have to worry about roster positions. Same goes for Gehrig who is coming up on a DGW next week. Go ahead and get it this weekend so that next week you're good for at least one.

Does this rationale make complete sense? Probably not. But it makes sense to me. Limits moves I may have to make on limited transfers.

In other news, the squad crushed it two weeks ago. Was all the way up to 34 overall at one point Sunday.

And current status:

Atlanta United FC releases DeKalb County training ground plans

The first renderings are out and the plan has been approved for a DeKalb County Atlanta United training ground.

AUFC's practice facility will be situated near I-285 and Memorial Drive and adjacent to the Kensington MARTA station.

According to the AJC:

"The first phase of the complex, which includes offices for the team, the academy, a 3,500-seat turf-field stadium and three grass fields constructed no later than January 2017, that team owner Arthur Blank projects to cost $35 million."

Arthur Blank and Darren Eales also mentioned the potential of an Atlanta United-affiliated USL that could play in the stadium. Early round Open Cup games would most likely also be played in the smaller stadium.

Not everyone in DeKalb was happy with the decision. But as a soccer fan you gotta admit this is dope.

Major League Sucker - Fantasy MLS Week 23

Man, really dropped the ball on this, what was once weekly, post series. 

But like who really cares about MY MLS Fantasy team?

Since Round 14 there have been some wholesale changes to the squad. And basically all for the better.

The Coke So White home team has moved up the overall ranks from the 7,000/8,000 range to 4,000s. Pretty much scoring over the average every week.

Finally figured out how to get five of the Best XI together on the squad and have a lot of quality low salary players like Matt Miazga and Donny Toia.

This week picked up Corey Ashe (Tar Heel!) and re-bought Cyle Larin, both from Orlando City SC, coming off big weeks and into a Double Game Week.

Major League Sucker - Freddy Adu and Tampa Bay Rowdies complete header bin challenge

The header bin challenge has swept soccer locker rooms across the world. 

Its latest entrant, the NASL's Tampa Bay Rowdies decided to knock it out on new signee Freddy Adu's first day at training.

We still want you at Atlanta United, Freddy Adu.

Major League Sucker - Ludacris hangs out with Hall & Oates

Look at Ludacris hanging out with Hall & Oates and wearing that dope Atlanta United FC shirt.

Freddy Adu & Drew Carey 2 Podcast s01e05

This episode is deep dives into the newly released Atlanta United FC team logo and colors.

DID YOU SEE THE INSTAGRAMS?

Oh, and the new free agent Freddy Adu, whose star is definitely back on the rise.

Oh yeah, and the Drew Carey Show that finds the everyman character we love and treats race, well, in an interesting way.

LET THE MERCH BUYING COMMENCE.

Major League Sucker - Freddy Adu to Atlanta United FC

You're lying if you say you aren't at least a bit intrigued by the idea of Freddy Adu returning to MLS. 

He's out in Finland so we should bring him home.

pic.twitter.com/kj5GRkrkDE

— Freddy Adu (@FreddyAdu) July 7, 2015

Time to get a change.org going to bring Freddy Adu to Atlanta United FC.

Major League Sucker - MLS Atlanta team name to be Atlanta United FC

Atlanta United FC to be announced July 7.

Hot take: it could be way worse.

Link to SI article.

Come to the n⃥a⃥m⃥e⃥ ⃥a⃥n⃥d⃥ logo launch event on 7/7/15! #bringyourAgame pic.twitter.com/iRPFrHyVpZ

— MLS Atlanta (@MLSAtlanta2017) June 25, 2015

Freddy Adu & Drew Carey 2 Podcast s01e04

THE NAME IS COMING!

July 7. SOHO Lounge. 7 pm. Name. Logo.

#bringyourAgame

Also I watched more Drew Carey Show. Drew and Kate have their love lives thrown for loops. Is that worded right? 

Not much Freddy Adu happening. Or much for the Fantasy MLS #squad. Picked up Giovinco tho, so I got that going for me.

MLS ATLANTA TEAM NAME!!!!

Major League Sucker - More MLS Atlanta name and jersey talk from Ann Rodriguez

Still no name, but it doesn't mean we don't keep getting hints.

Newly hired Vice President of Business Operations Ann Rodriguez spoke with the AJC's Doug Roberson and had a couple notes about what she thought was important in the name.

"I’d say something people can get excited about it, easy to spell and easy to pronounce," said Rodriguez when asked about the potential name. 

My question: shouldn't Rodriquez already know the name? Is this just part of the marketing aspect of her job? Putting a spin and perspective on a name that's already been chosen. 

And if it's easy to spell, does that mean no Phoenix? I sure hope so.

Rodriguez previously worked at Under Armour during the time they made their entrance into the land of English Premier League kit makers with Tottenham.  She says she will be heavily involved in the kit design and jersey colors. Although I thought those colors were already decided.

Major League Sucker - Fly-Through Preview of MLS Atlanta Stadium

We've gotten previews of the new Atlanta stadium before, but here's another, this time with commentary. 

A lot of Atlanta Falcons signage in the video but you can preview where the MLS Atlanta squad will be lacing their boots. There's the same clip already seen with the MLS logo around the field.

Major League Sucker - Fantasy MLS Week 14

All I can say is that Darlington Nagbe continued to fail me and that I can't wait until the unlimited transfers in Round 15 to completely scrap this team. 

Maybe not completely, but I will be starting anew. 

This obviously means Nagbe will have a goal and an assist in Round 14. 

Major League Sucker - MLS Atlanta concept - Atlanta Firebirds FC

Still don't love a nickname, and especially not Firebirds, for the MLS Atlanta name and brand, but this concept is gorgeous. 

Designer Carlos Sanchez put in a lot of great work into this. The kits and jerseys are clean and representative of the brand he created, although using the Nike template in an adidas league is a bit perplexing. He does admit to preferring the swoosh over the three stripes. 

All in all, I would be completely happy with this brand.

See it all here.

Freddy Adu & Drew Carey 2 Podcast s01e03

What do you do when your namesake, Freddy Adu, is not getting any minutes in Finland?

It means it's time to start preparing for his MLS return. MLS Atlanta needs to get him on their discovery or allocation list or whatever like ASAP.

The Drew Carey show is finally heating up about eight episodes into season one. Forgive me for glossing over episodes six and seven, but besides finding out how much Drew Carey makes they weren't worth much.

Fantasy MLS? Well maybe we've finally kinda figured it out. Probably not. But this week MLS Fantasy is looking good.