UNION (4-2-3-1) 

Blake 

Rosenberry-Elliott-Trusty-Fabinho 

Bedoya-Medunjanin 

Herbers-Dockal-Accam 

Sapong 

Bench: McCarthy, Marquez, Gaddis, Jones, Fontana, Burke, Simpson
 

Crew (4-2-3-1) 

Steffen 

Afful-Mensah-Abubakar-Valenzuela 

Artur-Trapp 

Martinez-Higuain-Santos 

Zardes 

Bench: Kempin, Williams, Abu, Argudo, Clark, Jimenez, Hansen 

Preview 

- The Borek Dockal era starts today from the start. I’d suspected that Jim Curtin might name Anthony Fontana as a starter again this week after his strong debut, but it’s not so. Fontana starts on the bench and Dockal, who probably isn’t 90 minutes fit, goes from the start.

- No other changes from the Union, which is to be expected. Same bench, too, save for Eric Ayuk out to accommodate Dockal’s arrival.

- The unbeaten Crew also name an unchanged side. Look for the challenge posed by Gyasi Zardes getting physical with Auston Trusty and company and the service into the starting forward. The Union also have to do a good job reducing the time and space given to Wil Trapp and Artur in the middle of the field.

Jim Curtin: Looking out for a new No. 10?

Union manager Jim Curtin sounded definitive on several points Thursday in a conference call from the Union’s training base in Clearwater, Fla. The only issue was that those points seemed to be moderately in opposition to each other, befitting the bumpy process of roster building.

Here’s Curtin’s response to two questions regarding the No. 10 position, which has long been tabbed as an area to upgrade. The first was a query about whether the praise that Curtin has lavished on Anthony Fontana at all changes the priorities in the transfer market:

No. We’re still actively looking but at the same time we know that we have some young guys that are capable. This offseason has shown just by the actions of it that there is more of a commitment to youth. Our roster is significantly younger. I think that is also seen on the field in terms of the intensity of training, the amount of ground guys are covering. The No. 10 position specifically, we’re happy with the work Ilsinho has done there with Adam Najem and also Anthony Fontana. Fontana can play the 10, can also play the 8 and has gotten some reps at both. These games will tell us a lot. It hasn’t changed. We haven’t stopped searching, that is not the case at all. Every team right now is looking to make little tweaks and upgrades, but we know in the back of our mind we do have capable guys there. We are going to lean heavily on playing young guys this season.

Later, a question was posed as to whether Curtin’s preference is to have said reinforcement in sooner rather than later, and the response included more equivocating:

I’m confident in the group that we have right now. I think the addition of David Accam makes us different. I think some guys have another year under their belt. Obviously the quicker you can get the entire group together is better, but we know that this isn’t our final roster quite yet. We still have some flexibility in terms of some roster spots. We still have the ability to sign a young player or two to the supplemental side of the roster. We’re not the complete group that you’re going to see quite yet on March 3. Whether it happens this window or next window, it still remains to be seen. But at the same time, we like our group that we have, the training sessions have been good. We’ll get our first test against Red Bull to see what it looks like.

OK, I hate to be the guy who dissects this within an inch of its life, reading between the lines. But this isn’t a normal situation. The lack of a No. 10 was the defining struggle of the Union’s 2017 failures. It has been highlighted since last fall as the issue. And to not add a playmaker in the offseason will not only be a missed opportunity after the astute acquisition of David Accam, but will leave the club open to all manner of anger from a fan base starved of success and excitement.

So here’s how I read the tea leaves:

- The Union will bring in new players. Curtin said elsewhere Thursday that they’ll have a couple of names in training to be released Friday, young players they’ve tracked but no household names. I don’t know that another Homegrown is on the horizon, but the roster has room for young players to stash.
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Ilsinho at Union trianing: Always a good time.

The Union wrapped up the last of three days at the Bubble over Dunning-Cohen Champions Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania (I will not missing typing out that lengthy title) Thursday.

The club will have at least three more days on the field at the Power Training Complex, the Saturday session of which will be open to the public, before jetting off to the first phase of their Floridian training camp next Tuesday.

Thursday’s session involved a lot of attacking drills, particularly from the wings, and finished with some full-field 11-v-11 scrimmaging. Here are some belated highlights.

- First up: Attendance report. Haris Medunjanin has headed off to Bosnia and Herzegovina camp in southern California. CJ Sapong is still away with the U.S., as those two prepare to possibly meet in a friendly next week. Fafa Picault (personal reasons) has yet to report to camp, and Andre Blake was excused from training for the same. That left 28 bodies, with Tomas Romero as the third goalie plus the voluminous Steel roster of James Chambers, Olivier Mbaizo, Brandon Allen and Santi Moar.
- The first group of 11-v-11 lined up thusly:

Team 1:

McCarthy
Rosenberry-Yaro-Trusty-Fabinho
Creavalle-Bedoya
Epps-Najem-Accam
Burke

Team 2:

McGuire
Gaddis-Elliott-Marquez-Real
D.Jones-Fontana 

Herbers-Ilsinho-Ayuk 

Simpson 

From that group, the center back pairings are interesting (Mark McKenzie rotated in for Marquez for the second round of games), restoring a certain right-left symmetry that Jim Curtin harped on in 2016 but relented on in 2017. It also raises eyebrows that Anthony Fontana is being deployed in a more withdrawn role, but I’d write that off as fewer central players sans Medunjanin. David Accam on the left with Fabinho is an attacking axis, though Matt Real seems to naturally gravitate higher up the pitch, which is promising.
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Day 1 under the Bubble at Penn for the Union.

The Union congregated under the bubble at Penn Tuesday, beneath intermittent sunshine and deluging rain, for their first official day of training camp. A few takeaways from a pretty slow opening day.

- Everyone was present and accounted for save for Fafa Picault (family reasons) and CJ Sapong (U.S. national team). Haris Medunjanin is training with the Union for most of January before heading to join Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- Among the Bethlehem Steel faces present were James Chambers as the obligatory veteran midfield presence, Santi Moar, Cameroonian defender Olivier Mbaizo and Brandon Allen. Expect more Steel participation toward the end of the week as they get going. Those four players certainly shined, with Allen scoring a couple of goals and looking decent as the presumptive fourth forward on the organizational depth chart.

- To the chagrin of "name that trialist" enthusiasts like myself, nothing to report on that front. Perhaps as the week proceeds and more academy kids and Steel trialists join, there will be more names. But with the influx of Homegrowns, the Union lack open spots and the general organizational chaos of years past that made trialists dropping in a viable option of player recruitment.

- There are plenty of opportunities for strikers to get some play in the absence of Sapong in the early weeks of training camp, and players seemed to be taking advantage. Jay Simpson looked sharp, scoring a couple of times in 9-v-9 drills. Corey Burke netted a couple of goals and looked physical in the middle. And Allen impressed, his physicality at 6-1, 190 pounds certainly up to the level of MLS.

- There’s not a ton that can be gleaned form 9-v-9 drills since they weren’t full field will full tactics. Saw a lot of new signing David Accam and Fabian Herbers generally in the neutral jersey to work for both teams. Herbers looked pretty sharp, not the extent that he has in the past (he’s a great practice player) but pretty good.

- It’s no secret that distribution on Auston Trusty’s left foot is a big piece of the skillset the Union staff is trying to grow with him. He hit a handful of long balls from his left center back-type spot to the opposite wing that were inch-perfect. That ability to hold down the left side bodes well for the Homegrown’s prospects of playing (more on that later this week).

- In Union grooming news:

Big news from training: Eric Ayuk and Derrick Jones have added blond streaks to their hair.

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) January 23, 2018

Also Richie Marquez, now the defensive elder statesman, tells the Daily Times exclusively that his trimmed beard is merely the starting point for the year’s growth. While he was out in the humid climes of California in the winter, he had to trim it back a little. Heard it here first.

- John McCarthy looked sharp facing shots. Jake McGuire did as well, except for saving one shot from Anthony Fontana with his face. Fontana looked ready and able to shoot early, which is a plus from him. And I liked what I saw from Warren Creavalle, who is not to be overlooked in the midfield reckoning this year, sharp on the ball and intercepting passes in the middle of the field.

- Not present were any of the three SuperDrafted rookies – Mike Catalano, Aidan Apodaca and Matt Danilack – selected in the third and fourth rounds Sunday. They’ll likely work into the group with Steel first and potentially with the Union toward the end of the week or early next week.

For Roland Alberg and the Union attack, there hasn't been much
to smile about the last three games. (For DFM/Mikey Reeves)

In their last three games, the latest a 1-0 loss to Columbus Saturday night, the Union have all of four shots on target, including a penalty kick. That is suboptimal; with the club amidst a stretch of winnable games against Eastern Conference opposition, it’s one of the worst times this could occur.

Connecting the dots here isn’t difficult. The Union aren’t creating chances why? Because they lack an elite chance creator in their front four. Specifically, they lack anything approaching a standout No. 10 in a system that demands one.

My position on this matter is on record: The Union should sell out this summer, find their starting No. 10 of the future and cut bait on options whose contracts can be escaped at season’s end. But I think that argument requires a little refinement. So allow me three points to burnish that position:

- The 90-minute fallacy. Roland Alberg is playing the best soccer of his Union tenure. Ilsinho can be one of the league’s premier game-changers. These are positions that manager Jim Curtin has advanced about his existing options in the middle of the pitch.

Both are patently false. And even if there are slivers of truth, they are overridden by a singular verity: Neither is a 90-minute performer in MLS.

This is beyond the realm of speculation; it’s verifiably proven. Alberg has logged the full 90 minutes four times in 41 MLS matches, 18 of them starts. (Yes, through a season and a half, Alberg is averaging 12 starts a season.) The adjustment phase has ended; we’re seeing Roland Alberg for what he is.

Ilsinho has gone 90 minutes just twice in 41 MLS matches, 29 starts. He turns 32 in October. His fitness drastically improving is about as likely as me hitting that elusive growth spurt to get on NBA teams’ radars.

Neither is a 90-minute player. As evidence, I submit that neither has ever been a 90-minute player in MLS.

- Not exactly apple pie. The argument I got plenty of on Twitter Saturday night was what I fear will remain in vogue for a while: The season’s lost, let Adam Najem play. Indeed, the Union have two creative midfield options of the future in Najem and newly signed Homegrown Player Anthony Fontana, whose contract goes into effect in Jan. 2018. That’s solid depth, so why not cultivate it?
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Oguchi Onyewu has gone from just training
to signed by the Union in one week.

The Philadelphia Union ship out to Florida Tuesday for some long-awaited preseason work in the sun, but before that, the club squeezed out one more chilly training session at Penn’s bubble at Dunning-Cohen Field.

The group was thinner today, with Bethlehem Steel’s preseason starting, so not much to see in training. But a few highlights from post-practice availability:

- The big news was the signing of Oguchi Onyewu to a one-year deal, the 34-year-old American central defender finally landing with an MLS club. He’s been out of contract since the end of the 2014-15 season with Charlton Athletic in England, and he impressed sufficiently in a week of training (not even a trial) to warrant a deal. Here’s manager Jim Curtin’s thoughts:

“It started as just an idea to keep him going in terms of seeing where he was at training wise and almost as just to keep his fitness and maintain it, and it kind of evolved into seeing very fast that he still has a lot more to give to the game. Still a decent age for a center back, 34, ton of experience, a guy who has done it at the highest level in Europe, with our national team. He can sprinkle down some wisdom to our young corps of center backs. The message was, yes that’s part of why he’s being brought here, to help and mentor and coach on the field, but also we want him to push to be a starter. Sat down with him with Earnie (Stewart) a couple of times now and it kind of started and has kind of evolved into us not wanting to let him continue on anywhere else. We locked him up pretty quickly, happy with where it is and now he’ll join the group down in Florida.”

Onyewu was back in D.C. today and not training with the club, but he will meet them in Florida. More reaction in the paper Tuesday.

- Also absent Monday were the Union’s other two big offseason signings, but with positive caveats. Jay Simpson’s visa has been cleared, and the English striker will meet the Union in Florida. Giliano Wijnaldum is with the club but remained in Chester to undergo a physical. The Union had hoped to have him train Monday (had the session been at the Power Training Complex, he might have).

- Back at training was Keegan Rosenberry, who spent two-plus weeks with the U.S. National Team camp but was released last Friday, not making the gameday roster for Sunday’s friendly with Serbia. Rosenberry admitted disappointment at that but also saw the positives of his training stint. “It was a good experience,” the right back said. “I was happy to be out there. Very honored to get the call and to be a part of it. Obviously disappointed not to be involved in the friendlies, but I think they’re in an interesting situation going into March with the friendlies. I just use it as motivation going forward.”

- Curtin said that both of the Union players to play against Serbia, Alejandro Bedoya and Chris Pontius, turned in solid shifts. Bedoya started and was replaced in the second half by Pontius, who came inches from firing in the game-winner in his international debut.

#USMNT sub: Chris Pontius replaces @PhilaUnion teammate Alejandro Bedoya to make his international debut. #USAvSRB, 0-0, 65' pic.twitter.com/siyF5Q1vml

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) January 29, 2017

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A hundred or so people turned out for Union open training Friday.

The Philadelphia Union held their annual open practice Friday morning, in blustery conditions that were far less hospitable than what YSC has offered in the past. Nonetheless, about 100 fans turned out to see the team practice for an hour and a half.


A few observations from the session:

- Still waiting on the arrival of Jay Simpson and Giliano Wijnaldum, neither of whom practiced Friday.

- Also absent from training: Fafa Picault. Though he’s not with the club at the moment, I’m told his trial isn’t over. (The Union are usually pretty upfront about when trials end, so his absence may be a precursor to a move.)

- One other new face in: Former Clemson central midfielder Alex Happi. Born in Cameroon and raised in France, Happi was eligible for the 2017 MLS SuperDraft but wasn’t selected. Sounds like a guy just there to stay fit alongside former college teammate Aaron Jones (Oguchi Onyewu is also a Clemson guy who remains with the Union), and it’s likely he’s being looked at more for Bethlehem Steel than the Union, if at all.


- It's not from Union training per se, but there's this from Keegan Rosenberry at U.S. National Team Camp:

US soccer announces that Taylor Kemp, Keegan Rosenberry, Brian Rowe, Wil Trapp, & Chris Wondolowski have been sent back to clubs. #usmnt

— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) January 27, 2017

- The last hour or so of training involved the Union in full-field 11-v-11. Here are the field players for each of the three teams (with some positional shuffling):

Blue Team
Fabinho-Tribbett-Yaro-Gaddis 

D.Jones-Happi 

Epps-Najem-Herbers 

Sapong

Pink Team
Real-Onyewu-Marquez-Ayuk 

Chambers-Creavalle 

Nanco-Alberg-Ilsinho 

Davies

No Pinnie Team 

Real-Trusty-Roberts-A.Jones 

Fontana-Elliott 

Nanco-Moar-Brown 

Burke

- You’ll notice five Bethlehem Steel players in there – Matt Real, defender Hugh Roberts, winger Amoy Brown, forward Cory Burke and of course James Chambers. Burke scored a couple of nice goals in interchange play with Brown. Burke will join Andre Blake with the Jamaican national team next week. Steel has alternated platoons of five guys training with the Union and five training together with Steel this week (Bolu Akinyode and Seku Conneh were among those present Tuesday).
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