*Injury watch: Whitecaps captain Jay DeMerit reportedly ruptured an Achilles tendon, jeopardizing his season and, at age 33, his career.
*Stat of the week: Visiting clubs secured 13 of a possible 27 points and the only draw was a good one: Portland and New York finishing 3-3 on national TV.
*Stadium watch: Effective June 1, Home Depot Center will become StubHub Center. (We’re not kidding.)
*Attendance watch:
Philadelphia: 18,160
Vancouver: 21,000
Houston: 20,019
Dallas: 18,075
Seattle: 38,998
Chivas USA: 7,121
Los Angeles: 20,124
Portland: 20,674
San Jose: 10,525
Average: 19,411
Yes, there were many no-shows at some venues. At Chivas, many of those “fans” were disguised as tarps.
Commissioner Don Garber finally addressed the Chivas situation:
“Let’s give them some time. If we’re here in June or July and we’re having the same issues that we’re talking about right now, this might be a different conversation.”
*Freddy Adu remains on the Philadelphia Union’s roster, his designated player contract counting against the club’s salary cap now that the March 1 cap compliance date has passed. The Union asked him to take an enormous pay cut — by 75 percent, according to one person close to the situation. He declined. (Most of you would do the same, right?) Adu earned about $520,000 last year.
Philly would love to trade him, but after declaring in preseason it had no intentions of playing him, the Union has zero leverage in negotiations with other clubs. At some point, the Union is going to have to either buy him out or trade him under the condition that the club continues to be responsible for a large portion of his contract. In other words, Philly is stuck.
Meantime, Adu cleared out his Philadelphia apartment last month and returned to Rockville, Md., to rejoin family. (His brother Fro is a volunteer assistant coach at alma mater George Mason University and a club coach for the Virginia Soccer Association in western Prince William County.) Freddy is working out regularly with a professional trainer to maintain fitness in hope of a fresh opportunity.
He has not granted interview requests but did offer this comment to ESPN on Sunday night: “The entire situation saddens me. While I have made mistakes and am trying to learn from them, a lot of what is said about me is not accurate. The truth is that I have been frozen out by the Philadelphia Union solely because I refuse to take a huge pay cut. I am prepared to honor my contract with the Union or any other club in MLS and I don’t think what has to happen to me is right.”
Since being traded by United after the 2006 season, Adu, 23, has burned through seven teams in six years: Real Salt Lake, Benfica, Monaco, Belenenses, Aris, Rizespor and the Union.