For John McCarthy and the Union, the last year hasn't been great. (AP)

On this weekend a year ago, the Philadelphia Union was flying high. They had just handled Sporting Kansas City, 2-0 at home. With a record of 11-9-7, their 40 points were situated third in the Eastern Conference, three points from leaders Toronto and soaring over the red line for playoff qualification.

The question had ceased to be if the Union would end a playoff drought or even if they would break the franchise record for points in a season; needing just eight points from seven games, the Union would certainly blast through the 48 points they tallied in 2011 with even mediocre form.

Then the roof caved in. Seven winless to end 2016. Ninety minutes being comprehensively outclassed in Toronto on a Wednesday night in a gone-before-you-knew-it playoff berth. Then eight winless to start 2017 at so great a disadvantage that now, officially, has been deemed insurmountable.

For all the oddities of the MLS calendar, the schedule makers offer the Union symmetry. Saturday’s visit from Atlanta United marks the 34th regular-season game since that night 364 days ago against SKC.

Through all the ups and downs, what has this 33-game snapshot of Union existence shown? In short, it’s not good.

In that 33-game stretch of regular season, starting with the Sept. 3 loss at Chicago, the Union are 8-17-8. That includes the 0-5-2 stretch to end 2016 and the 8-12-6 mark they’ve stumbled to this year.

That’s 32 points in 33 games. There’s no result the Union can achieve Saturday against Atlanta to avoid falling short of the franchise’s lowest tally for a season, set in 2012 at 36.

A win Saturday is required to avoid falling short of the season-low set in the expansion year, when the club played four fewer matches. A loss Saturday would equal the franchise record of 18 set in 2012, which remains in play for the Union this year. (N.B.: I’m comparing this stretch to full calendar seasons, from the Union and other clubs, via MLS' Fact and Record Book. Even I’m not that much of a masochist to parse each team’s worst 34-game stretch across seasons, even if the info was complete enough.)

The Union in the last 33 games have a points per game average of 0.97. The sub-1 realm is where the truly terrible MLS campaigns reside. How bad? Well, bad enough that no Union team has ever been there before – the 2012 team came closest at 1.06 over a calendar season – and the Union have had some atrocious seasons.
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Saturday's draw for Alejandro Bedoya, right, and the Union
to Joao Pedro's L.A. Galaxy makes it 16 straight games without a win
for the club. (AP)

I made an attempt in Monday’s paper to hit whatever passes as positives with regard to the moribund 2017 Union season, and the dredging left me slightly spent. So in the constant drive for content and the absence of any positives on the team side, figured I’d steer into the skid as it grabs headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.

There’s ambiguity in the numbers that bothered me that I needed to get to the bottom of: I tweeted two weeks ago about the Union’s historical standing in the annals of MLS winless streak history. Those numbers weren’t cut and dry since I remained unsure if they factored in playoff games officially, since teams on historic winless streaks shouldn’t be making the playoffs, as I understand that concept. But the Union broke the mold with their slide last year somehow not precluding playoff positioning.

That led to a deeper dive to add texture and context to the teams the Union are chasing (read: praying to avoid). I was unsurprised – and you may be, too – to find a strong correlation between lengthy winless streaks and both missing the playoffs and low finishes in the standings. (You know, correlation vs. causation but in this case, just no.) By necessity this season, the Union have clung to the notion that they’re just one win away from a sea change in results like an ideological lifesaver. The truth is that there’s very, very little historical context to back that assertion, though the Union are bucking other trends.

Here’s the list of the eight most barren streaks in MLS history, annotated by the seasonal breakdown of those games and the team’s record in the streak. You’ll note that each winless gamut has bridged seasons.

Colorado Rapids, 18 games (July 30, 2014-April 4, 2015 – 14 to end season, 4 to start), 0-13-5
Real Salt Lake, 18 games (Aug. 10, 2005-May 6, 2006 – 12 to end season, 6 to start), 0-16-2
San Jose, 16 games (Aug. 8, 2014-March 7, 2015 – 15 to end season, 1 to start), 0-9-7
UNION, 16 games (Sept. 3, 2016-present – 7 to end season, 1 playoff game, 8 to start), 0-10-6
Chivas USA, 15 games (Aug. 12, 2012-March 2, 2013 – 14 to end season, 1 to start), 0-11-4
D.C. United, 15 games (Aug. 10, 2013-March 29, 2014 – 12 to end season, 3 to start), 0-11-4
Real Salt Lake, 15 games (Sept. 23, 2006-June 17, 2007 – 4 to end season, 11 to start), 0-6-9
Toronto FC, 15 games (July 28, 2012-March 2, 2013 – 14 to end season, 1 to start), 0-11-4

Quick accounting note: For weeks, I’ve excluded the Union’s playoff loss from the streak or added it with a caveat, unsure if the other streaks were just regular-season matches while similarly ignoring playoff contests. Since the Union are the only member of this ignominious octet with a playoff loss, I’m factoring it in now.

In a class of their own
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We’ve reached the juncture in the season where it’s time to deploy this little tidbit about the Philadelphia Union.

I think we all can agree – even Jim Curtin acknowledges the possibility, to a degree – that the MLS Cup Playoffs will likely commence for a fourth consecutive season season without the Union, the final nail of many likely being the 1-0 loss Saturday to New England. Officially, the percentage of the Union making the playoffs is listed as 4.0. (The journalist in me who won't allow me to state assertions as facts is the reason for the hedging, so apologies.)

With seven matches (four on the road) remaining, they sit last in the Eastern Conference with 27 points from 27 games. They’re just two points behind Orlando City for the sixth and final playoff spot, but there’s also the struggling Montreal Impact in seventh with four games in hand and a crowd of four teams to hop over to get back into contention. The Union also have to travel to four bona fide playoff contenders (New York Red Bulls, Toronto, New England and San Jose) among their four games, so the likelihood of summoning the form to get back into the playoff picture, especially around the Sept. 30 U.S. Open Cup final date, is remote.

If – and it is still, technically, an “if” – the Union miss the playoffs this season, it would be the fourth straight time that they have failed to qualify for the postseason. Where does that rank in the annals of MLS history?

Well, it’s a thorny proposition to put that into the appropriate context in a league where a minimum of two-thirds of teams made the playoff through its first decade. Eight of 10 teams making the playoffs strips the accolade of much of its prestige while hiding plenty of warts on teams that qualified via numerical necessity. It may not be until we see several seasons of a 20-plus team MLS that we can gauge just how devastating a four-season absence is. Or if, you know, something that rhymes with "go/fell" happens.

Even so, if the Union miss the postseason in 2015, they’d join very, very select company:

Toronto 8 (2007-2014)*
Chivas USA 5 (2010-2014)
Union 4 (2012-2015)*
D.C. United 4 (2008-2011)
San Jose 4 (1997-2000)

(Two of those streaks are active and can continue. But, terrifying as this may be to some in Ontario, Toronto is pegged as a virtual statistical certainty to end its playoff torment, while the Union are extremely likely to perpetuate theirs.)

That isn’t the group you want to be in, not least of which for what happened after the droughts ended. Read more »

Former Chivas USA goalie Dan Kennedy: A Dispersal Draft pipe dream
for the Union? (AP)

There’s a fair amount of questioning as to what exactly will happen in Wednesday’s Chivas USA Dispersal Draft, a once-in-a-dozen-years reminder of MLS’ single-entity structure. The contraction of Chivas this season doesn’t affect the contract statuses of their players, who have deals with the league that will be transferred to new teams via the dispersal draft. (Here's the full draft order.)

That’s the easy aspect of the concept. But it’s more than, “hey, free players!” for a couple of reasons.

First, the Dispersal Draft follows the rules for Stage 1 of the Re-Entry draft. Let’s let the league explain:

“MLS clubs acquiring Dispersal Draft players must take players at their full 2015 budget charges and options must be exercised, including any associated transfers or loans. If a team selects a player in the Dispersal Draft but leaves him unprotected ahead of the Expansion Draft on Dec. 10, he will be available for selection by either Orlando City or NYCFC at that time.

Players unselected during the Dispersal Draft will take part in the Re-Entry Draft, if eligible, or will be made available via the Waiver Draft on Dec. 10.”

Three big caveats to activity are contained therein:

1) Teams drafting a player in the Dispersal Draft must either do so thinking that they represent one of their top 11 players to protect from the Expansion Draft, or strategically select someone who isn’t of interest to either of the expansion teams.

2) Teams aren’t just considering adding a player for the heck of it or even at their fair market value; they have to add the player at the specific salary determined by their previous deal. A team isn't just drafting Nigel Reo-Coker; it is drafting his contract, which it must automatically assume for next season.

3) Teams that want players but don’t want them at their current prices can gamble that they can get them later, either though the Waiver Draft or the second stage of Re-Entry, where teams have the freedom to negotiate new contract terms.

Looking at the history, it’s tough to judge how much action there will be Wednesday. When the only other dispersal draft was held in 2002, divvying up the remnants of the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion, the 10 other teams in MLS selected 11 players. One team passed in the first round, and two teams opted, instead of a player, to grab the teams’ SuperDraft selections that were up for grabs. (That is not a facet of this year’s draft.)

Action will also be affected (I think, hampered) by the fact that picks are untradeable. That makes Dallas’ No. 1 slot less valuable in a way, or at least containing more inherent risk. (Instead of trading the pick to a team that wants Dan Kennedy, for instance, they have to assume the risk by picking him, then hoping they can deal him.)

By that metric, this could be a busy draft. If we look in terms of Stage 1 of Re-Entry, though, it casts a different story. Over the four years that that mechanism has existed, a grand total of 11 players have been selected; 65 of the 75 teams involved have passed their selections without picking a player. (Granted, that’s looking at cast-offs and ill-fits of teams league-wide, not the core of one (admittedly unsuccessful) club with some talent.) Also, it's important to note that the draft continues until all teams pass once; that means clubs like Orlando City and NYCFC could select more than one player.

So what does all that mean? Teams must be judicious. Teams at the top will have a chance to select valuable assets, either young players with upside or veterans. The teams in the middle will have to really love a player to go out on a limb. And the teams at the bottom, like the Union picking at No. 17, might not find much.

So let’s break down what is available:
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For the umpteenth time this season, I leave the PPL Park pressbox not quite sure what I’ve actually cobbled together for a game story or fully sure of what happened in the closing minutes. The scoreboard reads 3-1 Philadelphia Union over Chivas USA, and the standings show that the Union are in second place in the Eastern Conference, one point from the summit. So there’s that at least.

Amid the myriad facts that didn’t fit into the game story, allow me a few here.

Leo Fernandes does battle with Chivas' Carlos Alvarez
in the rain during the Union's 3-1 win Friday at PPL Park.
(Times Staff/Robert J. Gurecki)

- First, this quote from Union manager John Hackworth is the best explanation possible of his ejection by referee Jorge Gonzalez. Hackworth admitted postgame that he will not be suspended for the next game despite being dismissed tonight:

“I was upset because I thought there was a penalty. I thought when Sebastien (Le Toux) was on the ground by the near post, I think the player on the ground clearly takes his elbow and knocks the ball. (As an aside, it looked like it was red-carded Josue Soto who did contact the ball at the near post. In any event, him trying to play the ball while on the ground is generally a foul if it happens anywhere else on the pitch.) That’s a handball. It’s in the box. I don’t think I was the only one who felt it was a pk. I tell the fourth official, probably a little too emotional at that point, that I think it’s a hand ball and how did they not see that handball. He, for whatever reason, told me, hey, next warning you’re gone. I hadn’t said anything; I don’t think I used any profanity, I don’t think I said anything too bad. But then Jorge, the referee came over, and I’m in the box and I say ‘how did you miss that handball?’ and I go through the motion of what the player did. And he threw me out. It’s interesting because I haven’t been thrown out in a long time, and usually you have to say something – I can’t say what because there’s probably kids listening up in the club – but you have to say something to get thrown out, and I guess my actions were a little bit too much.”
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Philadelphia Union (7-6-6, 27 points) 

MacMath 

Gaddis-Okugo-Parke-Williams 

Fernandes-Carroll-Farfan-Cruz

Casey-Le Toux

Bench: Konopka, Albright, Fabinho, Anding, Kassel, Hoppenot, Wheeler

Chivas USA (3-10-5, 14 points)

Kennedy

Soto-Vilchez-de Luna-Delgado

Villafana-Farfan-Mejia-Alvarez-Avila

Correa

Bench: McLain, Burling, Borja, Iraheta, Rivera, Bowen, Morales

- Leo Fernandes gets another chance to impress, his third straight start, but we’ll see where that comes on the pitch. Conventional logic would place him centrally next to Brian Carroll, but he could also occupy the wing, with Michael Farfan taking up the central role. Or Sebastien Le Toux could tuck into the midfield, adopting a 4-5-1 with either Farfan or Fernandes tucking in behind Conor Casey. There are options a plenty, and against a team like Chivas with less than a half dozen games under coach Jose Luis Real, Union manager John Hackworth probably likes having options. 
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The Philadelphia Union manager had plenty to say after his team's two-game road trip and with a crucial game looming against Chivas USA at home Friday. Here are the details:

On the lack of playing time for Roger Torres:
The same thing we see and expect from every player on our roster. There’s effectiveness, there’s a commitment, there’s a preparation before you ever get on the field that you can play the game at the level that we’re demanding and that you know your role and responsibilities within the structure of our team. Don’t get me wrong, I almost feel like I’m defending our staff because we feel like we like Roger. He’s here for a reason, but he’s not playing for a reason as well, and there’s other guys who have continued to stay ahead of him and there are guys that have risen above him, and Roger understands that. But when he gets an opportunity like he did in Houston, he has to make the most of it. We’ve had several discussions as a staff, with Roger, he’s still a young guy that we believe in, we want him to be successful here, but a lot of that has to do with Roger and what he does on and off the field.

On what role new acquisitions Fabinho and Oka Nikolov will play Friday:
I haven’t made that decision yet. As with anybody that we bring in, at two different positions, they’re battling with other players on the roster. We don’t really want to rush a guy, but at the same time if a guy is ready and if he’s done it in training and had the kind of games for him to prepare, we’ll give them a chance. For both of them, we’re happy where they are and haven’t made the final decision on anyone.
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(Associated Press)

The other day, walking into Springfield's Healthplex for training, Michael Lahoud said he encountered some Union fans.

They weren't unlike others he had come across since Thursday, when the Union traded Danny Califf to Chivas USA for Lahoud and allocation cash. But what Lahoud's learned, in his few days with Philly, is that Union fans can be blunt.

"There have been a couple jokes here and there that definitely, from talking to people on the streets or going to places like the Healthplex yesterday, a couple people are like, 'Hey, you're the guy we gave up the captain for, right?'" Lahoud said Wednesday, at PPL Park.

Yes, that's Lahoud --- the 25-year-old midfielder for whom the Union traded their captain.

He expects he's going to carry around that banner during his time here, but Lahoud -- who debuted with the Union in the starting XI at FC Dallas -- said he's not feeling any more pressure to perform because of the departure of Califf, a popular guy among those in the locker room and in the stands.

“If there is, for whatever reason, I haven't felt too much of it," said Lahoud, who said a few players from the Union called him Thursday to welcome him after news of the trade trickled out. "If anything I've felt a lot of support, especially from the fans and the coaching staff. They've done a good job of taking the pressure off."

Here's what Lahoud wants fans to know: He's a good dude, a chill guy who's willing to work hard to get results. (Sounds like Califf.) But it's something Lahoud read about, to prepare himself for the supporters in Philly. In fact, he said, it's what he's carried with him every step of his career --- from counting Union centerback Sheanon Williams as a teammate with USL PDL side Carolina Dynamo back in 2008, through to the present day.

“From my experience, since I've been in the league, every coach I've had so far, that's something that's been pulled out of me," Lahoud said of his determination. "For whatever reason, I'm very grateful every coach I've had has demanded that of me to put the effort – whether it's training or, more importantly, in games. While I'm here, I just want to be me. Hard work, honest effort and discipline – that's my discipline.

“Just from talking to Peter, it's an extension of what I've been doing with my career. It's an honost effort on both sides of the ball. From what I've understood so far, it's an asking and a willingness to be more productive on the offensive side of the ball but still maintain defensively. Just be honest on both sides of the ball and be a two-way player."

Sounds like a guy everyone's going to like having around ... even if it meant trading away the captain.

(Associated Press)

His flight arrived in California, his home state, around 7 p.m. EDT, which is when Danny Califf said he got around to returning phone calls.

“I've been going minute-to-minute here," he said. "It's been crazy."

The Union traded Califf, their captain and starting centerback, to Chivas USA Thursday for midfielder Michael Lahoud and allocation money.

Here's, in question-and-answer format, my conversation with Califf:

What was your initial reaction to the trade?
“I was a little bit dumbfounded, I think. I guess these things happen all the time. To his credit, he came and told me or whatever. I was a little bit shocked that it was discussed because that meant it was being entertained."

Being that you're one of the Union Originals, any thought on how the Union will move on without your leadership?
“I think the team's going to move on. They'll find somebody else to step up and do that. I think team's find ways to do that. I'm obviously, my family and I are really sad to leave. We put down roots. Regardless of the other stuff, I understand it's professional sports, but I'm sad to leave an area where we really felt comfortable and I really enjoyed playing."

Was there any contesting a trade?
“There's maybe two players in the league who have no-trade clauses. Players don't have a choice."

How did this whole thing go down?
“(Union manager Peter Nowak) came and said they had offers from Toronto and Chivas. I didn't even know what to say. I couldn't say anything. I called Peter back later and said, 'Please, if you're going to make this trade, please don't send me to Toronto. If you have to make this trade, please don't let it be to Toronto.'

“When you're presented with a choice to go to Chivas or Toronto, which place are you going to choose? It got narrowed down Sunday, or Monday. Monday, maybe, I was told the deal was done. Then the deal wasn't done. Then Toronto came back in at the last second with something and I almost lost it. It just kept getting postponed, the date and time of the actual deal being finished. That was the hardest part, the uncertainty of the whole thing."

Any idea where you'll live?
“The first home (my wife Erin and I) lived in is in Orange. We have renters in it that don't seem to want to move. We'll figure it out."

This week, (the reporters) were told you weren't around. Did you get a chance to say goodbye to your teammates?

“I'd come in a couple times to basically say goodbye to the guys and get my stuff and I met with Peter and whatever. I was around them, so that was nice. It was hard, obviously. At least I was able to, you know, tell them goodbye."

Seemed like, from the beginning, the fans had your back. They identified with you. What's your impression of Union fans?
“It's been, I felt an incredible bond with the fanbase just about from the very beginning. It was really and it is really something that really vaults this club. It's such an integral part of what the Union is all about. I feel real fortunate that they appreciate the effort that I put out on the field. They appreciate it, they're knowledgable enough to see it even when I'm not perfect. They've been amazing to me from the outset, top to bottom. It's been absolutely, 100-percent been a highlight to play at PPL Park and in front of those fans. God's honest, 100-percent, the highlight. I can't say enough."

Associated Press

What was rumored Saturday and confirmed Sunday could be completed in a few hours or by the end of the week.

Peter Nowak said the Union are close to finishing a trade with Chivas USA to send captain Danny Califf to the California-based club for another player plus “something else.” According to Nowak, the trade is merely awaiting MLS approval.

And that's all well and good, that the Union are completing a trade they feel is in their best interests. For that, they should be commended.

Here's my hang-up … or three:

1. Getting experience. When times get tough and one loss becomes three, Nowak continually beats the 'these guys need experience' drum during his press conferences. Yet he and the Union are shipping away their vocal leader, their on-field captain, and the one guy in the locker room who holds himself accountable – win, lose or draw. Will a younger captain without such a leader be able to handle those responsibilities? My guess is no.

2. Who got the ball rolling? Nowak said Chivas USA reached out to the Union concerning the acquisition of Califf. But Wednesday, Nowak said California-born Califf – at some point – approached him regarding the desire to “go home.” When asked specifically about the root of the trade, Nowak backtracked and said “the initial offer come out of the blue. It's not like we go out and shop to sell Danny or trade him.” I guess it's a matter of who you ask.

3. Questionable timing. The Union are in a tailspin, having lost consecutive matches and requiring a winless Toronto FC side to stay out of the Eastern Conference's cellar. Granted, the Union's primary issues this season have been on the offensive side of the ball, but is trading Califf, one of the team's integral contributors on defense, a necessary thing at this stage of the season? Another couple losses could derail the entire season for the Union. My guess is no one can answer this question until the Union announce who they're getting in return.

Califf (Associated Press)

Angel (Getty Images)

As Sunday creeps closer to Monday, the rumored trade taking Danny Califf to Southern California seems to strengthen.

The latest word on the Web has Califf heading West, with Jack McInerney, for Chivas USA's Juan Pablo Angel. Early Sunday afternoon, we didn't even have that much detail.

Union boss Peter Nowak confirmed Sunday, following their 3-2 loss to New York, what had been kicked around online for nearly a day: That the Union, teetering on the brink of relevance, are listening to a trade offer for Califf.

But is this the right decision for the Union?

From Nowak's standpoint, it seems like an easy decision. The Union's strength is, and has been for two seasons, on the defensive side of the ball. So Califf, the 32-year-old captain of the Union, becomes expendable, especially when Chivas is waving Angel, a 36-year-old striker with a proven track record for scoring goals in bunches, in the Union's faces.

From the fans' standpoints, it's not so clear. The supporters of the Union see their team casting off another fan favorite – like when they traded Sebastien Le Toux Jan. 31 and released goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon a day later.

There's also the dollars-and-cents angle of this.

The Union, at 2-6-1 and closer to the Eastern Conference's cellar than its surface, are pointed toward a losing season. Through nine games, they've made the leashes for SuperDraft picks Chandler Hoffman and Raymon Gaddis longer than most of their untested rookies in previous seasons. And the Union's technical staff has made it clear that, if provided the chance to play Homegrown Players Zach Pfeffer and Cristhian Hernandez, they are more apt to take those opportunities than pass on them.

So trading Califf seems like a natural fit for a team that, on the surface, looks like it wants to get younger while shedding salary in the process. Win-win, right? Not necessarily. Califf made $250,000 in base salary in 2011, as reported by the MLS Players Association in September. And Angel? He made $1.25 million according to the same report.

According to MLS Pressbox, Angel is a former designated player, which means his salary has drastically decreased. Only $350,000 of a DP's salary counts against his team's cap. So if Angel's DP tag has been removed, his salary might be comparable to, if not lower than, Califf's.

That makes acquiring Angel appealing to Nowak and the Union. That is, before you allow the opinions of Califf's teammates to factor in. Califf is “the good guy” in the locker room who always “looked out” for the younger guys on the team, according to Sheanon Williams. Fellow centerback Carlos Valdes, the captain of the Union in Califf's five absences this season, called Califf “the leader inside the field.”

It's a toss up. Just depends on which side of the coin you stand.