UNION (4-2-3-1) 

Blake 

Rosenberry-Elliott-Trusty-Real 

Medunjanin-Bedoya 

Picault-Dockal-Accam 

Sapong 

Bench: McCarthy, Gaddis, McKenzie, Creavalle, Burke, Fontana, Ilsinho

San Jose Earthquakes (4-4-2) 

Tarbell 

Lima-Quintana-Cummings-Qwiberg 

Eriksson-Godoy-Jungwirth-Qazaishvili 

Wondolowski-Hoesen 

Bench: Bersano, Affolter, Salinas, Hyka, Alashe, Thompson, Amarikwa

- No surprise given the performances of Fabian Herbers the last three games that Fafa Picault returns from suspension and zooms straight into the starting lineup. Jim Curtin talked a lot this week about the Union’s desire to get Picault’s vertical and horizontal field stretching onto the field. Without any game action in the last month, he might be a little short on sharpness and game-fitness, but he’ll be a spark that hopefully ignites the technical powder kegs that are the scuffling Borek Dockal and David Accam.

- The Delco Destroyer backline gets its first chance to play in front of home fans, with Matt Real granted another start at left back next to Auston Trusty. The Drexel Hill native Real faired alright in last week’s 3-0 loss in Colorado, and a game on home turf should afford him the chance to get forward more and show what he can do on that natural left foot that Curtin so prizes. A little chemistry between Real and Accam on the left flank wouldn’t go underappreciated either.

- No surprises tactically from the Earthquakes, a team that has finally made a change in its fourth game, a little tweak at left back with Joel Qwiberg in for former Union man Shea Salinas. The Quakes generated plenty of chances in last week’s 2-1 loss to New York City FC but couldn’t only solve a stellar Sean Johnson once in net. The big key here is how to handle Valeri Qazaishvili, Georgian code name Vako. With Danny Hoesen and Chris Wondolowski occupying the center backs and the lack of a true holding midfielder, how the Union’s defense communicates and hands off the in-cutting runs of Vako from the wing will be vital to quell his threat. Vako did score against the Union last year at Avaya Stadium.

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.

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.

Union sporting director Earnie Stewart had plenty to say
Wednesday in evaluating players for 2017 and beyond.
(DFM file)

Earnie Stewart and Jim Curtin spoke for 45 minutes Wednesday afternoon at Talen Energy Stadium. The discussion got very big-picture and very granular at times. There’s plenty to parse out of the many informative digressions, and I’ll post a full transcript later (after I recover from the transcription).

But first, let’s hit the high notes, rapid-fire, player by player to offer the postseason assessment from Curtin and/or Stewart. So here goes:

- First, Roland Alberg, who Tuesday was introduced by CSKA Sofia. Here’s Stewart: “In the conversations I did have with the agent, it never really materialized that there was going to be a substantial transfer fee, so we would’ve maybe looked at that option. It wasn’t something that was there.”

Stewart had more praise for the Dutchman: “When you look at Roland Alberg and his biggest quality, anything that gets close to the 18-yard-box, everything gets on target. Even though he’s a midfielder, I want to say he’s one of the best scorers that we have out there. I’d say his role was very good. When we talk about possession and we talk about touches on the ball and having that, that’s something that we knew we did want to add that special part of Roland to the group, but now that we’re transitioning and trying to go a little further in, we came to the conclusion that the (salary) number that he was at, it wasn’t the right fit or the option number that was there.”

- Andre Blake, via Stewart: “In the offseason, because I remember we talked about Andre Blake, and I can still and will say there were no offers for Andre Blake. That doesn’t mean that there was no interest for him, but not that we were aware of.”

- Here's Curtin on Keegan Rosenberry: "A very good young player that we strongly believe in. Every player goes through highs and lows, peaks and valleys in their development. Again, if you think to when he was selected, obviously the Homegrown issue comes up, but at the same time, we were maybe crazy for doing so from the public perception, and then he went on to a very quick rise: All-Star in his first year, playoff team, U.S. national team player. So a really high high. This year there was the feeling of a low low for him. So again, we have full confidence that he can bounce back quickly. If he as great as the guaranteed, penciled-in, right back starting national team player? Maybe not. But he’s also not defined by just how this year went. So again a developing young player that is a very, very strong right back, an important position because we like to attack with our outside backs. But when you talk about development, there’s on-the-field development, there’s off-the-field development, there’s handling success, there’s handling the down times. These are all part of growth, and to now write him off and say that his development has stopped is silly, because now if he bounces back and we’re a playoff team next year and he’s starting again and is an All-Star, did we all of a sudden redevelop him? I don’t think that’s the case either. ... We believe in him. He has all the tools, all the assets on the field to be a good player, and we’ll pull that out of him. I know he’s going to attack this offseason with a chip on his shoulder, come back ready to go."
Read more »

No more "No Mo" questions. (DFM file)

A lot of things happened at Union training Thursday, a lot more than you’d expect before a finale between eliminated teams that carries little meaning. Brian Carroll’s retirement after 15 seasons deserves a share of the headlines, as does stunning news of Keegan Rosenberry’s tweet-inspired suspension for Sunday’s game against Orlando City.

That’s all to say that many of the lesser items won’t see the light of day in Friday’s Delco Times. So let’s round them up.

- First place for brevity goes to Jim Curtin. Two weeks ago, a report surfaced from Metro NY’s Kristian Dyer that Ilsinho’s contract included a vesting option triggered when the Brazilian hit the 75 percent threshold for appearances (which he has). Curtin’s response: “It doesn’t exist. … False.” Previous reporting indicated that Ilsinho is out of contract at the end of the season but a club option exists.

- Big day for tweets: Curtin had little to say about a tweet by Sports Illustrated’s Brian Straus earlier this week, in light of the reports about Columbus Crew shipping to Austin, about changes in USL for next year that could include the shuttering of Bethlehem Steel. The club released a vague statement via Twitter this week. Curtin added nothing to that: “The statement that was released is as much as I know.”

Below is a statement from the Philadelphia Union in response to last night’s USL rumors. pic.twitter.com/malG3KqeBb

— Bethlehem Steel FC (@BSteelFC) October 18, 2017

- Oh yeah, soccer. That Union are playing some Sunday. Carroll will be on the field, Curtin said. But more time Thursday was devoted to who won’t be. That includes long-term injury problems to Fabian Herbers (spots hernia) and Maurice Edu (leg/quad). “No one will be coming back in that I hoped,” Curtin said. “Herbers has been much longer that I anticipated. … Warren Creavalle is a possibility. … Maurice, obviously out.”
Read more »

The Union's 2017 season is likely lost. So why not give minutes
to young players like Keegan Rosenberry? (DFM/Mikey Reeves)

If you’re of the sort that trusts probability, the Union’s chances of making the 2017 MLS Cup playoffs are essentially nil. That means to salvage merit from a lost season, the sixth of eight in Union existence in which they’ve fallen at the manageable hurdle of playoff qualification, the goals must shift. (Even tanking for the sake of a draft pick is off the table, as you’ll recall.)

The remaining seven games of 2017 should be aimed at granular accomplishments. Time to take a page out of the Phillies’ book of perpetual rebuilding: The Union need to know who is worth keeping and who isn’t. The best way to glean that info is to let players take their lumps and, for better or worse, evaluate how they emerge on the other side.

SPI's @MLS playoff projections after the weekend. @ColumbusCrewSC up 22 points with the win and Montreal's loss. https://t.co/KqFHjJXNkg pic.twitter.com/QOrFqP60nD

— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) August 29, 2017

Let’s consider seven objectives, which care little how many of the 21 points on offer the Union reap.

Play. Your. Kids. Josh Yaro has struggled this year. Keegan Rosenberry has been up and down. But the Union are better off knowing if their rookie successes were outliers or the norm. Given the peaks and valleys, Jim Curtin and the organization need to know where the mean for each player rests. Yaro won’t travel to Minnesota in observance of his red card. He should play the last six games. We know well what Ray Gaddis brings at right back, and it’s unlikely to differ in the next seven games from his previous 138. (Not a value judgement, just an observation on plasticity.) What Rosenberry brings requires space to be sussed out.

Two starts for Adam Najem. That’s at a minimum. I doubt Roland Alberg is in the Union’s plans beyond this season. I don’t know if Ilsinho is. I would hope the organization recognizes and will act on the glaring need for a No. 10. But ascertaining what it has Najem, in terms of starting potential or merely carving a positional niche, is vital.
Read more »

Bosnian midfielder Haris Medunjanin is the latest
in a flurry of Union moves that comes close to completing
their roster. (AP)

MLS doesn’t adhere to the Deadline Day hysteria gripping the rest of the soccer world (or at least England, the only jurisdiction that really matters) every Jan. 31, but Philadelphia Union sporting director Earnie Stewart has given the impression that it’s a significant milepost.

By Feb. 2 or so, depending on some paperwork, the Union’s roster could be close to complete at 28 players and solidly structured for a season of MLS rigors. Stewart’s motivation certainly isn’t an artificial deadline, though he subscribes to the idea that the sooner you get guys in, the better. Hence the flurry of recent moves that have brought in Haris Medunjanin, Oguchi Onyewu and others.

On that account, the Union are making deals more quickly than in the past. Steven Vitoria, you’ll recall, didn’t join until the second week of February two years ago. Roland Alberg was Feb. 4 last year. Ilsinho was in camp but not signed until late February. The sooner guys like Medunjanin and Fafa Picault start training, the better.

The Union have 26 players under contract. The 27th is reserved for a third goalie. The 28th appears to be the only open one, pending an outflow (either by transfer or loan). That means diminished possibilities for the five rookies in camp, among others.

(Something to remember: Bethlehem Steel works like a traditional hockey or baseball farm team only in one direction; anyone playing for the Union would have to be among the 28. Essentially, if there’s any chance of a player getting into MLS games, they’ll be signed to the Union roster and loaned down, not the other way around.)
Read more »

There’s nothing quite like the first day of an MLS training camp. Enthusiasm, unbridled and often unfounded, abounds. There’s always a surprise in store in catching up on eight weeks of inaction, an eternity for a season that lasts as long as MLS can possibly stretch it.

The Philadelphia Union have never lacked for opening-day hijinks, from Freddy Adu to Carlos Valdes. Tuesday’s version to open the 2017 season was much more benign. Let’s hit the highlights:

- The big and surprising name in attendance was of course Oguchi Onyewu:

Uh here's your mystery center back. I believe that's Oguchi Onyewu. pic.twitter.com/jBE8McLKvp

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) January 24, 2017

(Full disclosure: It took us about 45 minutes of training action to pick out Onyewu. Then you couldn’t miss him. He’s still massive.) Anyway, Onyewu is just with the Union for training. That doesn’t put the Union in select company – he’s been with New England, Glasgow Rangers, New York Cosmos, and NYCFC since what apparently was his last full-time gig with Charlton Athletic in 2014-15. The 34-year-old, who has 69 U.S. caps, is staying fit, and the Union saw the benefit of allowing such a veteran to join the ranks. That doesn’t mean, even though the club is in the market for a veteran center back, that Onyewu is the guy.

“Gooch is here just training right now,” manager Jim Curtin said. “If it evolves into something more than just a training stint ... he’s in the D.C. area. Recently he was in with the Cosmos just keeping his fitness up. He was sharp today, looked good on the ball, organized things well. But at this moment, it’s just a training stint.”

Said Earnie Stewart: “First and foremost, he’s here as a player who wants to keep up his level of fitness and make sure to be ready for any moment that somebody steps in. He has a great history when it comes to soccer, so you have to oblige him. It’s really simple. I think it’s great for the young players around him to see his experience, and for us, it’s great to see Goochi here. … I wouldn’t want to go that far right now (on if it could be a trial). Never say never, but that’s really clear because that’s the way soccer is. Obviously we are looking for an experienced center back and it’s pretty easy that he fits that mold, but it needs to be possible and it needs to fit.”

- With Onyewu in the fold, the Union have what my colleague Kevin Kinkead estimated to be 31 players Tuesday morning. That’s 27 field players and four goalies. By rough estimates, here were the squads of field players taking part in 9-v-9 drills:

Orange: Bolu Akinyode, Marcus Epps, Richie Marquez, Fabian Herbers, James Chambers, Jack Elliott, Adam Najem, Santi Moar, Ray Gaddis

Green: Derrick Jones, Auston Trusty, Fafa Picault, CJ Sapong, Ken Tribbett, Ilsinho, Sekou Kanneh, Aaron Jones, Cory Burke

White: Josh Yaro, Oguchi Onyewu, Warren Creavlle, Fabinho, Roland Alberg, Eric Ayuk, Anthony Fontana, Chris Nanco, Charlie Davies
Read more »

Clemson grad and English defender Aaron Jones, left,
is one of four foreign-born players taken by the Union
in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. (AP)

The Philadelphia Union Tuesday wrapped up day two of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft with three picks – forward Chris Nanco, defender/midfielder Jack Elliott and forward Santi Moar. The odds of any of the three having an impact on the senior club, this year or next, are fairly remote. But those chances are improved by the minutes afforded by Bethlehem Steel, and if nothing else, the three added Tuesday are intriguing pieces. A few takeaways from the draft in broad strokes:

Foreign flair. Four of the Union’s five draft picks were born outside the United States – Nanco (Canada), Elliott and Aaron Jones (England) and Moar (Spain). Nanco cut his teeth at FC Sigma and the Canadian youth national team. Jones played at Ipswich Town, Elliott at the delightfully named Old Wilsonians Football Club. Not sure about Moar’s upbringing. In the two drafts overseen by Earnie Stewart, six of the Union’s 11 picks have been foreign-born players (Josh Yaro went through Ghana's touted Right to Dream Academy, while Fabian Herbers was at FC Twente and a pair of German clubs before landing at Creighton). Considering that 31 percent of the available players in this year’s SuperDraft were foreign-born (75 of 238), the Union’s preference looks to be a trend.

What you can’t teach. Cliché as “you can’t teach speed” may be, it’s helpful to look at the Union’s picks through a risk-reward lens. There are plenty of solid players available in the SuperDraft with elite club and college upbringings who are what they are at age 23 – that is a five-foot-something center mid or undersized but cerebral center back or a college center mid turned right back because that’s his best chance. Call it the Eric Bird mold. The Union seem to eschew that and look not for a complete player who has met his (middling) potential but one who could have an elite skill around which the Union staff can mold a fully-formed whole. With Marcus Epps and Nanco, that’s speed. With Elliott, it’s his 6-foot-5 frame. (No Aaron Wheeler jokes, please.) Jones has exemplary set-piece ability and work ethic. Moar, I’m guessing by the 19 assists, can provide a final pass. None is a complete player. But it’s easier in the second or third round to find one arrow in the quiver that projects as MLS-caliber and coach the rest of the individual around it, especially since the Union have improved drastically from a development standpoint in the last few years. The chances of any contributing are long, so why play it conservative?

The Real deal. With all due respect to the three draftees enjoying a monumental achievement, the big story is Matthew Real, who should be the Union’s left back of the future in two or three years, signing his first pro contract with Bethlehem Steel. The Drexel Hill native has been in the Union youth pipeline since before there was a coherent vision thereof. He’s a fixture on U.S. Under-16 and U-18 teams. The former Wake Forest commit would’ve played significant minutes for Steel before leaving for school this year. Now they’ve finalized a full pro deal, Real joining the likes of Auston Trusty, Derrick Jones and Yosef Samuel to sign out of the Academy. Of the four, Real could end up being the most impressive. Expect Real to train with the Union regularly this season.

The Union's Alejandro Bedoya, center, is recovering well from a rib injury
unrelated to this knock against Montreal Sept. 10. Manager Jim Curtin
expects him to be fine for the Oct. 16 visit from Orlando. (AP)

The Philadelphia Union’s squad was a tad thin Wednesday during the international window, with Andre Blake (Jamaica), Warren Creavalle (Guyana), Derrick Jones and Auston Trusty (U.S. Under-20) away on international duty. But the team put in a lengthy morning session in the first of a double-workout day. I chatted with new signing Kevin Kratz, and I’ll have that story posted soon. A few quick hits:

- Manager Jim Curtin is keeping his team’s mentality as even-keeled as possible in the face of a five-game winless streak and a slide to sixth in the Eastern Conference. The Union control their destiny and require a home-field meltdown to miss the playoffs, so the group remains confident. From the manager:

“Obviously it was a road trip where it didn’t go the way we wanted. Obviously the three games, three difficult places to play, we’re disappointed with the amount of points we took, only taking one in Toronto. So you step back and you’re frustrated in that regard, but you do know you have two home games at the end of the season, which is good. I think we had stretches in all three games – in Portland, in Toronto and in Red Bull (Arena) – of good soccer, but we didn’t put together 90 minutes, and we got punished in some areas of those games. The goal now is, we know that we’ve been a good team at home, that if we play at the level we’re capable of and we get back to just the basics and putting together the complete 90 minutes, we still like our chances at home to get a result.”

As to whether or not the week off helps, Curtin’s not sure, though he’s grateful for the chance to reinforce certain points (cough, set-piece defending, cough) and recuperate. Curtin:

“I don’t have the perfect answer. This does give us a little bit of time to work on some things. Obviously defensively we can tighten things up. Giving three goals up on the road is something where we can look at the film and get some things corrected. I think it’s good to have the extra week. We obviously have a couple of guys that got banged up, so it comes at a good time. … It’s a strange time to have a bye for sure, I think for every team right now. But at the same time, it falls at a good time for us. We can regroup and know exactly what we need to do at home.”

Read more »

Thanks to the MLS Players Union, we can say for sure that Alejandro Bedoya
is the best compensated player in franchise history. (AP)

Do you feel that little nip in the air on a Friday in September? That’s the MLS Players Union letting you know that it’s newest batch of salary information is out. The final numbers for the 2016 season were released Friday, reflective of each teams’ final salary commitments after the roster freeze enacted in mid-September.

The summer’s action has been more intensive than usual for the Philadelphia Union, with the arrival of Alejandro Bedoya, the exit of Vincent Nogueira and Sebastien Le Toux and a couple of other moves. So here’s the Union’s current salary picture (grouped in fives for ease of reading; figures are “base salary/guaranteed compensation”):

Senior roster (20 spots)
Roland Alberg $328,000/$377,250
Fabinho $142,000/$150,008
Eric Ayuk $62,500/$62,500
Tranquillo Barnetta $650,000/$709,100
Alejandro Bedoya $1,100,004/$1,166,254

Brian Carroll $120,000/$128,000
Anderson $150,000/$174,166
Warren Creavalle $118,000/$125,666
Charlie Davies $108,937/$113,315
Maurice Edu $725,000/$793,750

Leo Fernandes $63,000/$63,000
Ray Gaddis $150,000/$152,500
Ilsinho $430,000/$478,333
Matt Jones $75,000/$80,625
Kevin Kratz $62,508/$76,758

Richie Marquez $63,000/$63,000
John McCarthy $79,000/$88,250
Chris Pontius $380,000/$411,000
Walter Restrepo $125,000/$139,500
CJ Sapong $225,000/$225,000

Supplemental Roster (8 spots)
Andre Blake $100,000/$138,000
Fabian Herbers $100,000/$125,500
Josh Yaro $130,000/$194,000
Derrick Jones $51,504/$57,404
Auston Trusty $51,500/$80,604

Ken Tribbett $51,500/$51,500
Taylor Washington $51,500/$51,500
Keegan Rosenberry $62,500/$68,312

Off
Cole Missimo $51,500/$51,500*
* Season-long loan to Bethlehem Steel.

Total salary budget (1-20): $5,156,949/$5,527,975
Total budget (1-28): $5,755,453/$6,294,791
Total expenditure (w/ off-budget): $5,806,953/$6,346,291

Some highlights:
Read more »