Atlanta Soccer » NASL

Silverbacks say adiós to Pérez, welcome Nationally Ranked Conor

CMartz — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:38:11 +0000

On Thursday the Atlanta Silverbacks made the news official that Mexican midfielder Mario Pérez would be leaving the team and returning to the Mexican Primera Division. Wednesday night, during the Silverbacks’ 2-1 victory over Montreal, the annual free-for-all known as the Primera Division draft was taking place in Playa del Carmen, just south of Cancun.

Pérez’s rights were transferred from Necaxa to Estudiantes Tecos, a team located in the Guadalajara suburb of Zapopan. Pérez will be returning to Mexico where he has not played in a league match since suiting up for Atlas on March 20, 2010.

The Mexican defender started the 2011 season with the Silverbacks and made an immediate impact. As one of the more experienced players on a young team, Pérez brought stability to the back line and his forays forward were one of the team’s best attacking options. His three assists lead Atlanta this season, and Pérez also contributed a goal in the Silverbacks’ 2-1 loss to Fort Lauderdale on April 23.

Pérez will be unavailable for Sunday’s match against FC Tampa Bay, as he has already left the team to return to Mexico and sort out the details of his transfer.

To help combat the loss of Pérez, the Atlanta front office announced on Friday the signing of Real Salt Lake forward and Star Kick spokesman Conor Chinn.

Chinn had not played for Real Salt Lake this season but did play in nine games for the New York Red Bulls in 2010, five in MLS play and four in the U.S. Open Cup, where he scored three goals.

He will also be rejoining his former college teammate, Silverbacks defender Tyler Ruthven. The two played together at the Univesity of San Francisco in 2006.

Chinn is well-known to many viewers of Fox Soccer Channel as “Nationally Ranked Conor” in a commercial for Star Kick. Chinn has also used the alias of “Amateur Player Guillermo Ortiz” in a Spanish-language version of the commercial.

The newest Atlanta Silverback will not be joining the team in time for Sunday’s game at FC Tampa Bay but looks to be ready to hit the field for his new team before the head to Puerto Rico on June 19.

Silverbacks Defeat Impact 2-1 For First Win Of Season

CMartz — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:58:32 +0000

It was a long time coming, but the Atlanta Silverbacks finally won their first game of the season Wednesday night, defeating the Montreal Impact 2-1 in front of 2,880 at Atlanta Silverbacks Park.

The home side took the lead in the 13th minute when Mario Perez found himself along the end line to the left of Montreal goalkeeper Bill Gaudette. Perez played the ball back to Raphael Cox at the top of the box who coolly slotted his shot past the veteran goalkeeper to put Atlanta up 1-0 early.

Cox’s goal snapped a goalless streak for the Silverbacks that ended at 508 minutes of play. In addition, it gave Atlanta their first lead at any point of any game this season, a lead they would double just over 20 minutes later.

Jordan Davis, Raphael Cox and Matt Horth celebrate with Silverbacks fans after Cox's 13th-minute goal on Wednesday night.

In the 34th minute, Gaudette received a back pass from a defender and attempted to clear the ball. Raphael Cox, however, was pressuring the Montreal keeper and forced him into an error. Cox deflected the ball towards the end line and managed to keep it in play. As he dribbled in along the end line and with Gaudette guarding his near post, Cox crossed the ball along the ground across the mouth of the goal to a streaking Matt Horth who merely had to tap the ball into the empty net for his second goal of the season.

After scoring just three goals in their first nine games, Atlanta found themselves with a two-goal advantage a little more than a third of the way into the game, sending the fans into a wild celebration.

Montreal would strike back just before halftime. Impact midfielder Idriss Ech Chergui sent in a cross from the right side. The cross found the head of Mignane Diouf inside the six-yard box and the Montreal forward headed it off the underside of the crossbar and into the net, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Both teams struggled the put many shots on goal in the second half until late. Zurab Tsiskaridze attempted a shot in the 85th minute that floated over Atlanta goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer and glanced off the crossbar and out of play.

After Impact midfielder Antonio Ribeiro was sent off in the 89th minute for a second yellow card, Ciaran O’Brien and Moussa Toure both forced Gaudette into action with a couple of long-range shots that the Montreal keeper was able to push away.

The three points moved the Silverbacks to five on the season through 10 games. Montreal remains just ahead of Atlanta in the NASL standings with eight points from nine matches.

The win was the first for the Silverbacks since defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps in Atlanta on August 5, 2008. Atlanta now travels to Florida where they will face FC Tampa Bay at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night.

495 Minutes

CMartz — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 16:40:55 +0000

These kind of celebrations have been few and far between for Mario Perez (center) and the rest of the Atlanta Silverbacks this season.

495 minutes. Five and a half games. That’s how long it has been since the Atlanta Silverbacks scored a goal. Last night’s 2-0 loss at home to the NSC Minnesota Stars extended this streak into June, a streak that began in April and continued through all four games in May.

Not since Willie Hunt’s goal in first-half stoppage time on April 30 in Tampa have the Silverbacks hit the back of the net. Two goals from defenders, one from a forward. In total, three goals in nine games played this season.

It’s not surprising when one looks at the NASL table and sees Atlanta languishing at the bottom with just two points from nine games when you take this into account: The Atlanta Silverbacks have not led at any point of any game this season. Nine games, 810 minutes played, ZERO minutes leading a game.

One can point to the fact that Atlanta has also allowed the most goals of any team in the NASL, 15 in nine games. There have been points dropped due to goalkeeping errors, most notably in the first month of the season.

But none of these arguments can hold a candle to the simple fact that this team simply cannot put the ball in the back of the net. Imagine if the Silverbacks could get a lead. How confident would the players be and would the defense tighten knowing they’re not chasing the game as they have been all season?

As much credit as the Atlanta front office deserves for putting a team together in five months, the inaction shown this far into the season is bordering on criminal. It has been shown time and time again that the roster in its current shape and form is incapable of competing in the NASL this season.

It is one thing for the front office to preach patience and player development while at the same time asking fans to continue to shell out money in this economy to support a clearly inferior product.

Jose Manuel Abundis is in his first season as a professional head coach, these players have never played together, many of the players are lacking in professional experience, this roster was put together in a short period of time, Junior Sandoval’s injury took away the team’s best attacking option. The excuses are numerous and all have merit, but they are just that, excuses.

It has been made abundantly clear that the current roster isn’t capable of generating the goals to make this team competitive, and it is also clear that there will not be any big signings to come in and save the team. If the team is going to continue with their “player-development” mantra, they should look to the NPSL Southeast Division.

These players have already been playing for months, can be brought in for little money, and in some cases already have their international clearance. Tornubari Nyonebue of the Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves has already trained with the Silverbacks first team and could provide a different option up front, as his speedy, physical style of play is something Atlanta is lacking.

Other players of note that are in the immediate area and have stood out are Chris Ochieng of Chattanooga F.C. and Jamal Harewood of the Georgia Revolution. Both are big, athletic target forwards who have shown well for their teams in the NPSL.

One of the questions I raised at the news when the Silverbacks announced their return last November was whether the team would actually be competitive or if they were merely coming along for the ride to complete an eight-team league mandated by the United States Soccer Federation in order for the NASL to receive sanctioning.

Nine games into the season and it appears the latter to be the case. It has already been a frustrating season for both the Silverbacks and their supporters, and unless changes are made soon, it will continue to be an even longer season.

Video: Rebuilding the Silverbacks

Scott — Sat, 14 May 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Hopefully by now you’ve had a chance to take in a Silverbacks game. They’ve gotten off to a rough start but have been competitive in every game. Here’s a video created by Video Sportrait on the rebuilding of the Silverbacks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXpqUsV2580

If you haven’t had a chance to see the Silverbacks already you can take in their next game on Saturday, May 15th at 7:30. If you have been to a game what do you think of the team? How do you think they’ll do this year?

NASL D2 Sanctioning in Question

Scott — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:26:14 +0000

The NASL is facing a major setback in their mission to become USSF Sanctioned for 2011. Word first started to come out early Friday (1/21) when Brian Quarstad, of Inside Minnesota Soccer (IMS), reported that the USSF was concerned with Sanctioning of D2 PRO Soccer for 2011. The NASL shortly after release a statement confirming the report that that USSF had indeed withdrawn their provisional sanctioning of NASL. In that statement they also emphasized their commitment to securing Division 2 status at the USSF Annual General Meeting held on February 11 – 12, 2011.

Aaron Davidson, CEO of the NASL, commented, “We have invested a lot of time, energy and resources over the past four years to establish a proper team-owned and governed professional second division soccer league and separate ourselves from the instability and annual team turnover of USL, the former second division. The USSF and the soccer community have realized that it’s time once and for all to launch a new second division with higher standards which finally ensure the stability, growth and prosperity of second division soccer in North America. We are prepared to respond to the USSF’s concerns and look forward to delivering on our commitments to our teams and fans to re-launch second division as the NASL in 2011.”

IMS later spoke with U.S. Soccer’s Neil Buethe late Friday afternoon. Buethe said there where issues regarding ownership and organizational details to make sure the league was prepared to start the season, which is less than 3 months away.

“The biggest hurdle was really some of the financial requirements. An unstable league or team can damage the market place and the sport overall if teams fold or have financial issues.” said Buethe.

The NASL is comprised of 8 teams that will play in 2011 including: Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina, FC Edmonton, FC Tampa Bay, Miami FC, Montreal Impact, NSC Minnesota Stars, and the Puerto Rico Islanders . Aaron Davidson, CEO of the NASL and president of Miami FC has worked with several struggling teams to ensure they have the financial capital necessary to operate this year under the more stringent USSF D2 Standards. You may remember reading a previous post when Traffic Sports announced they would take part ownership in the Atlanta Silverbacks. At the end of 2010 the NASL announced that the league would purchase the NSC Minnesota Stars while looking for a new long-term owner. Reports have also emerged that the previous owners of the Carolina Railhawks have dissolved their organization and either the NASL &/or Traffic Sports could be taking over as early as this week. However, those plans could be placed on hold in light of the recent developments.

The NASL continues to move forward and provide the USSF with what it believes are the necessary requirements. IMS quoted Davidson as saying,

“We’ve provided the federation with what we believe was the missing information. We feel we live up to the standards of second division as they were set forth in October. The Federation now have over $6 million in letters of credit that are joint and several for a league who runs budgets around $2 million a team. Traffic is involved with three of the teams, the league is involved with Minnesota and Montreal stands on its own. That means there are three teams left this season that don’t have Traffic or Montreal behind them. If all three teams were to default immediately, you would still have enough money amongst the collective group to run all three of those teams for an entire season.”

At the end of the day I personally think NASL will be sanctioned as Division 2 for 2011. The USSF stepped in for 2010 to make sure things worked out and that the games would be played. I believe the USSF needed to flex some muscle to show the NASL that they were serious and probably to resolve the finance issue to their liking.

Brian Quarstad at www.insidemnsoccer.com has done a fantastic job of breaking and following this story. You may remember him from the 2010 Best Blog nomination he received from US Soccer. If you’re looking for more detail then check out his site and follow him on twitter (@MinnesotaSoccer) for the latest on what’s happening.

What do you think will happen with NASL in 2011? Do you think attendance would change significantly for the Silverbacks if they were playing in D3 or unsanctioned?

Atlanta Online Soccer Summit

Scott — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:00:21 +0000

Join us back here Thursday, December 16th at 8PM for the Atlanta Online Soccer Summit.

The topic of discussion will be the return of the Atlanta Silverbacks and the North American Soccer League.

Atlanta Online Soccer Summit

For Popup version please Click Here

Sponsored by Atlanta Soccer blog and Soccer in the Streets. What questions do you have about the Silverbacks? Are their any players from the old club you’re hoping return?

Atlanta Silverbacks Partner with Traffic

Scott — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:44:58 +0000

In the first press conference since the NASL was sanctioned we heard today from NASL CEO Aaron Davidson (President of Traffic Sports USA which owns Miami FC), Former USMNT player and current Traffic Sports Director of Soccer Fernando Clavijo, Atlanta Silverbacks Chairman Boris Jerkuniza, and Silverbacks President Michael Oki. Jerkuniza talked about the relationship with Traffic and how they bring both cash and experience to the organization. Traffic also has a lot of contacts with the Latino community & Latino businesses that the Silverbacks hope will enable them to better penetrate the Latino market. Davidson did make it clear that traffic’s involvement not only with Atlanta, but the rest of the league, will be that of an adviser. The ownership groups will ultimately be responsible for making the final decision.

One of the themes that everyone kept going back to was “listening to the community”. They want to know what style of play the Atlanta soccer community wants to see. That may influence the coach they select and the players they sign. Referencing the fan involvement in places like Seattle and Toronto they are looking to create an advisory board made up of community representatives. They want to know how they can improve the organization and experience. Because at the end of the day the ultimately measure of success will be the number of seats filled.

Other takeaways concerning NASL & Silverbacks

Silverbacks Stadium will replace the Field Turf. Concerned that grass won’t withstand the ‘traffic’ that field will receive.
An addition practice field will be added up on the hill that is currently parking. Portion of area will continue to be parking.
The First NASL Combine will take place during the first week of February in Florida for both international and domestic players.
Many 2008 Silverback players have contact the Silverbacks about coming back.
NASL in exploratory talks with several MLS teams about the potential of those MLS teams owning second division teams in different markets. This is part of the reason Vancouver and Montreal will remain a part of NASL even after they succeed to MLS.
NASL actively seeking a commissioner. At which time Davidson will transition into a sales role on behalf of Traffic.

See more from the announcement here.

I hope to help give Atlanta Soccer fans an opportunity to help voice their opinions. More to come on that soon. In the meanwhile, what are your thoughts about the Silverbacks return?

NASL coming back to Atlanta

Scott — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:37:36 +0000

The Atlanta Silverbacks announced today their return to Division 2 Soccer. Only instead of returning to the USL, from which they left in 2009, they officially join the NASL. That’s not the only thing that has changed. Boris Jerkunica announced a joint venture with Traffic USA to help manage the cost of club ownership. This partnership enables NASL to meet the required eight teams needed to be sanctioned by USSF. Traffic USA owns Miami FC, soon to called The Strikers, of the NASL and several other professional sports teams.

The first game is scheduled to be played at Atlanta Silverbacks Park on April 9, 2011 against NSC Minnesota Stars. In all the Silverbacks will host 14 regular season home games next year. Traditionally bring on a new coach and finding players would be a difficult task with only 4 month’s till kickoff. However, with the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps making the leap to MLS they are leaving several of their players behind. Additionally, there are at least two teams, AC St. Louis and Crystal Palace Baltimore, that competed in 2010 that will not return in 2011.

“After working five year to create a league that is team-owner controlled and managed we are thrilled that USSF has sanctioned the NASL and we are excited to get back to playing soccer again,” said Boris Jerkunica, Chairman of the Atlanta Silverbacks.

Many questions still remain unanswered but we hope to find out more in the coming weeks and months. To see the official announcement please click here.

So what are your questions for the Silverbacks? Do you think the fans will come back strong after the hiatus or do you think the departure has created a resentment that will take time to win fans back?