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."
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(DFM/Mikey Reeves)

A lot is going to be made in the coming weeks about the future of the Philadelphia Union and where the club goes from a disappointing 2017. But first it’s worth taking a step back and getting a broad and dispassionate view of what transpired.

We have a 34-game sample on which to assess the team’s strengths and weaknesses, something the Union will do in the weeks and months leading up to December’s offseason frenzy. I’ll be looking more in depth into certain personnel groupings in the coming weeks. But for now, let’s get the overview and work from there.

The Individuals

- Sunday’s 6-1 pantsing of Orlando City provided the perspective for the individual accolades. CJ Sapong scored twice, his third multi-goal game of the season, to take his total to 16 and supplant Sebastien Le Toux for the single-season franchise record. Haris Medunjanin’s assist was No. 12, tied for second-most in a Union campaign. Those two numbers indicate the kind of top-line players the Union have found in too short of supply.

- Thirteen Union players scored MLS goals this season. That’s the same number as each of the last two seasons. Five more picked up assists without scoring.

- We can break that down by positional grouping. The forwards accounted for 17 goals and five assists (all but one goal via Sapong). The midfield was the nexus of creativity, contributing 29 goals and 35 assists. The backline had a hand in just nine goals (three goals, six assists). The Union benefitted from one own goal.

- The Union’s lack of activity in the summer was widely (and rightly) panned, but the winter signings have paid off (Jay Simpson notwithstanding). Fafa Picault was second on the team with seven goals and three assists. Medunjanin scored twice to go with the aforementioned 12 assists. In all, new arrivals accounted for 14 goals and 18 assists.

- Let’s talk draft picks: Marcus Epps and Jack Elliott played 3,300 minutes this season. That’s the second most for a Union SuperDraft class, trailing only the 2016 cohort of three first-rounders. It’s more minutes than the 2010 class of three first-rounders.

- Can we quantify luck? The Union conceded six penalties, one of which was saved by Andre Blake. The Union drew seven penalties, converting five. The Union had four opponents sent off (two in the same game). The Union were shown two red cards on the year – Derrick Jones against the Red Bulls and Josh Yaro against Atlanta. The three instances of VAR use in Union games benefitted the Union, wiping out goals against Atlanta and Dallas and nullifying a red card and penalty against Minnesota.

The Team
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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.”
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Union (4-2-3-1) 

Blake 

Gaddis-Marquez-Elliott-Fabinho 

Bedoya-Medunjanin 

Epps-Ilsinho-Picault 

Sapong 

Bench: McCarthy, Onyewu, Wijnaldum, D.Jones, Simpson, Alberg

Sounders (4-2-3-1) 

Frei 

Leerdam-Marshall-Alfar-Nouhou 

Svensson-Delem 

Jones-Roldan-Lodeiro 

Bruin 

Bench: Miller, Fisher, Wingo, Shipp, Kovar, Neagle, Dempsey 

- UPDATE: Chris Pontius misses out with an abdominal injury after originally introduced in the starting lineup. Marcus Epps is in on the win. Union go with 17 in the lineup.

- Two changes for the Union enforced by injury. Out go Warren Creavalle and Keegan Rosenberry; in come Ray Gaddis and Ilsinho, the latter playing the 10. That makes it closer to the customary 4-2-3-1 formation that the Union so often favor.

- Derrick Jones is back on the bench. It’s just his second time in the 18 since July 6.

- No Clint Dempsey for the Sounders from the start today, which puts the more bruising Will Bruin up top to battle with the Union defense. Watch for the interchange between Nicholas Lodeiro and Cristian Roldan: Roldan nominally starts centrally, but he and Lodeiro should move positions plenty, making a lot of work for the backline and Haris Medunjanin to track.

Alejandro Bedoya, right, delivered a sterling performance Saturday
in a reconfigured midfielder that yielded a 3-1 Union win over Chicago.
(Mikey Reeves/DFM)

Jim Curtin heard you, dear citizens of Twitter, and decided to change his formation as a result.

OK, no, that wasn’t the reason that Curtin flipped the Union from the 4-2-3-1 into what is more of a 4-1-4-1 Saturday, a move that certainly contributed to a 3-1 win over the Chicago Fire. To what degree is debatable. Curtin pushed the right tactical button by clamping down on the central midfield space afforded to Dax McCarty in a Fire side deprived of Juninho and Bastian Schweinsteiger. But the efficacy of Saturday’s switch has limits, and no one was more cognizant of that than Curtin, who cheekily faced up to a question about the formation change with a response that deserves to be published in full:

“Yeah you know, people get caught up in the graphics and how they get put out and as soon as I saw the graphic get put out that I figured that you would probably come with that as the first question. To be honest, it's still a 4-2-3-1, you know, just because it's written that way on a schematic that comes out, it's the difference between a yard or two in either direction. If you look, go back and watch the tape, as we will as well, by design we still always had someone next to Warren, so it is still the 4-2-3-1. The best thing about the formation is there can be fluidity in it. Warren is a guy who is a ball winner. We thought, matchup-wise, he's obviously been in good form and what Chicago likes to do, we thought that it was important to invert the triangle a little bit in some moments to get pressure to Dax McCarty, who for me is the engine of that team. So, yes, on paper it looks a little different. The running of five, six yards a little more forward from Alejandro defensively and from Haris is a little bit of a change, but still the same formation, the same idea, same principles that the guys, as you saw, when they execute them, are pretty dangerous and tough to play against.”

It’s been two and a half years since Curtin has done anything even remotely as different as this in his formation, so the temptation could be to read too much into it. So let’s assess what this move does, and what it doesn’t do moving forward for the Union.

- It does … minimize a weakness and maximize a strength. We can argue until we’re blue in the face whether Ilsinho and/or Roland Alberg has been given too many opportunities this season. There’s no rationale I’ll allow for saying that Warren Creavalle should be starting fewer than 10 MLS games. He’s just a better player than that, and his failure to find the field regularly lands squarely on the lack of attacking creativity in the other five members of the midfield/forward six. In this regard, it’s a smart move by Curtin given the constraints of his roster.
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The smiles for Marcus Epps and his Union teammates at home last Wednesday
quickly evaporated in a road loss to New England Saturday. (AP)

Discussion around the Union last week followed a predictable tack. After three straight road contests and no wins, the latest a punchless performance in Columbus, the Union returned home to thoroughly dominate the Crew, then again pulled up stakes for New England only to be routed in similar fashion.

The trends were so obvious as to warrant discussion in Jim Curtin’s two press addresses: That the Union have excelled at home yet failed to translate that form into anything close on the road. The path to the postseason for the Union (7-10-5, 26 points) is quite clearly laid out. With 18 available points in their six remaining home games and 44 points likely insufficient to earn the sixth and final playoff berth, the Union need to be spotless at home the rest of the way and steal a couple of results away from home. That’s a lot of questions about “must-wins” headed the way of Curtin and his players in the next couple of months.

There’s another way to look at that conundrum, beyond the cold standings arithmetic. The Union in 2017 have one away win, a 4-0 stomping of 10-man and last-place D.C. United May 13. The club has three times lost at Talen Energy Stadium – April 8 to Portland and April 14 to New York City FC as part of the eight-game winless streak that stopped the season’s progress before it really started; then June 18 to the Red Bulls thanks in part to Derrick Jones’ red card.

That ratio, of road wins to home losses (let’s call it RW/HL), isn’t much talked about in MLS (or really anywhere). But it’s a potent determinant of playoff fate.

The big advantage

Home-field advantage in MLS is a much talked about concept, one that is more pronounced than in other leagues worldwide. Some of the reasons are obvious. Take the English Premier League, for instance, which draws its teams from a country roughly the size of Alabama (notwithstanding the Welsh clubs, Swansea City and Cardiff City). In any given year, five or six teams hail from Greater London, which means that a London club will have only a dozen or so true “away” games. One cross-country flight in MLS can cover more miles in a weekend than a Premier League club will log all season.
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In his first 'real game' with the Union, rookie Adam Najem impressed Wednesday.
(For Digital First Media/Mikey Reeves)

The Union are facing the last two installments of six games in 21 days, and the more granular stretch is a Wednesday-Sunday-Thursday span around the Fourth of July in an quirky schedule. The big news from training Friday was the return to full work for Maurice Edu, who’s approaching two years since his last Union game. You can read his reaction to this step in his recovery here.

A few other notes to send you into your holiday weekend:

- Let’s start on a positive note, shall we? Jim Curtin on Roland Alberg in Wednesday’s PK loss to the New York Red Bulls in the fifth round of the U.S. Open Cup: “I thought Roland Alberg had his best performance in a Philadelphia Union jersey. He was excellent.” Alberg scored in the 86th minute to send the game to extra time.

- Injury updates bring good news that extends beyond Edu. Andre Blake’s rib injury isn’t a concern, and he’s ready to go Sunday against New England, a team he’s demonized in the past. He got through training without issue Friday.

- Fabian Herbers cleared what Curtin called “the last hurdle,” shooting at full strength with his adductor strain that his cost him four MLS games. Sunday will be the fifth, as Herbers will join Bethlehem Steel for a home game with Richmond Saturday.

- Warren Creavalle is “ahead of schedule,” Curtin said, on his hamstring strain. But Sunday appears to be a bit too quick for the midfielder.

- Derrick Jones, who left Wednesday’s game with a knee knock, trained fully Friday, as did Ilsinho, who missed the RBA trip after a kick to his calf that led to bruising and swelling, which has dissipated.

- CJ Sapong left the Red Bulls game in extra time after a scary looking fall. Though he wasn’t out on the field for the entire session Friday, Curtin said he’s fine. Though the forward is sporting knocks to his shoulder and leg (“a little bit of a dead leg feeling that goes up into his back,” Curtin said without apparent concern), he should be fine for Sunday, though you wonder if Jay Simpson might be in line for the start to save Sapong for his return to Kansas City Thursday.
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UNION (4-2-3-1) 

McCarthy 

Fabinho-Elliott-Yaro-Rosenberry 

Jones-Medunjanin 

Sapong-Alberg-Picault 

Simpson 

Bench: McGuire, Gaddis, Onyewu, Tribbett, Najem, Pontius, Epps 

New York Red Bulls (4-2-3-1) 

Meara 

Lawrence-Collin-Perrinelle-Long 

Adams-Felipe 

Davis-Kljestan-Zizzo 

Wright-Phillips 

Bench: Robles, Allen, Metzger, Etienne, Lade, Royer, Veron 

Preview 

- Once again, the U.S. Open Cup allows Jim Curtin to use two forwards without abandoning the one-striker formation (shrug emoji). Jay Simpson starts up top, with CJ Sapong on the wing. The ability to spell either of them, with Chris Pontius and Marcus Epps, presents itself on the bench.

- Ilsinho isn’t in the side, which means that Roland Alberg has the No. 10 role all to himself. He’ll have chances to create offense with forwards all around.

- The backline roulette lands on Keegan Rosenberry and Fabinho on the outside. Josh Yaro is in for Oguchi Onyewu. On the whole, no surprises, though a rib injury apparently rules out Andre Blake (or the Union want to get John McCarthy some time since he’ll be the goalie of choice against Sporting Kansas City when Blake is away for the Gold Cup).

- Red Bulls’ lineup is a mishmash, featuring three natural center backs and four natural center mids. I’d opine that Sean Davis becomes a winger opposite the defensive-minded Sal Zizzo and Aaron Long pulls out to the left back role. But we’ll see it in practice.

- These teams have played so often that there are few tactical unknowns. So let’s focus on the psychological ones. How miffed are the Red Bulls at the pointed commentary Haris Medunjanin had for Felipe after last week’s waving away of a red card? How does Derrick Jones rebound for that red 10 days ago? Where is the mind of Sapong after his Gold Cup snub? How are the Red Bulls feeling after the rivalry trouncing by New York City FC last week, motivated or defeated? That’s plenty of subtext.

UNION (4-2-3-1) 

Blake 

Gaddis-Onyewu-Elliott-Fabinho 

D.Jones-Medunjanin 

Pontius-Ilsinho-Picault 

Sapong 

Bench: McCarthy, Yaro, Rosenberry, Creavalle, Alberg, Epps, Simpson 

New York Red Bulls (4-2-3-1) 

Robles 

Murillo-Perrinelle-Collin-Long

Adams-Felipe 

Royer-Kljestan-Muyl 

Wright-Phillips 

Bench: Meara,

Bench: Meara, Zizzo, Davis, Lawrence, Metzger, Veron, Etienne

Preview 

- The Union were strategic in resting veterans in the midweek Open Cup game, which allows some strategic reintroductions. Ray Gaddis regains his place at right back, Fabinho in at the opposite side and Oguchi Onyewu centrally. Chris Pontius and CJ Sapong, who divvied up 90 minutes on the wing against Harrisburg City, are restored to their regular positions, while Fafa Picault is back as the starter on the other wing and Ilsinho is in at the No. 10. It’s perhaps interesting that none of the reserves that performed well Wednesday impressed sufficiently to win starting jobs back (though Marcus Epps is again on the bench).

- When it comes to the holdovers, the central corridor is full of players who logged 90 minutes Wednesday. Jack Elliott (by manager Jim Curtin’s preference) and the central midfield pairing of Derrick Jones and Haris Medunjanin (with no other options) each went the distance against Harrisburg. We’ll see if that workload in the center of park has consequences.

- The Union get a big boost with Warren Creavalle healthy on the bench. Alejandro Bedoya's hamstring injury wasn’t pushed.

- Interesting that Richie Marquez is the odd man out today, not even in the 18. With Josh Yaro having done so much running mid-week, it’ll be interesting to divine what this means for Curtin’s center back pecking order with four healthy options.

- The Red Bulls have tinkered with the idea of deviating from the 4-2-3-1, but they keep returning to the familiar structure. Sacha Kljestan and Bradley Wright-Phillips both went 89 minutes against New York City FC midweek, and Felipe, Aurelien Collin and Alex Muyl went the full 90 (and apparently Aaron Long as an outside back). That could translate into a lot of tired legs, with the heat and high pressure today.

- So much attention was paid to the job that Tyler Adams and Jones did at the U.S. Under-20s. They’ll be going head-to-head today in the engine room of midfield. That’ll be one to watch.

Derrick Jones, right, has gone from Junior Lone Star's youth team
to the U.S. Under-20 squad at this month's World Cup. (AP)

“I think the future of soccer on the global stage relies on kids coming from the inner-cities.”

That sentiment was being relayed to me Monday evening at Penn Wood Middle School by Neewillie Saie, the first-team coach for Junior Lone Star. The club hits a milestone Wednesday when they travel to South Jersey to take on Ocean City Nor’easters in the first round of the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the first time that the club founded in 2001 has advanced to the main draw of the 104-year-old domestic cup competition.

Tuesday featured a bit of news with similar resonance for Junior Lone Star’s standing in the American landscape: Derrick Jones, the Ghanaian-born midfielder who traces his American soccer roots to Junior Lone Star, was named to the U.S. roster for the Under-20 World Cup that begins this month.

The two pieces of news aren’t related. Jones was famously plucked from Junior Lone Star at age 15, already an imposing midfielder who has grown into a 6-foot-4 stature, when the Lone Stars played a Union academy side. Since, Jones has been among the pioneering members of the Union Academy at YSC Sports in Wayne before signing as a Homegrown Player last summer, ending a nearly five-year drought in that department.

Jones was among the minutes leaders for Bethlehem Steel’s inaugural team and has established himself as a regular with the Union this year, playing eight games and making five starts. He was cleared to represent the U.S. in a competitive match just last week, having played in one match and several training camps for the Under-20s. Jones previously represented Ghana at the U-15 level.

I happened to be chatting with the Junior Lone Star coaching staff and players Monday, so I figured I’d ask what effect Jones’ ascent has had on the club. (It’s one of many quality nuggets for which I simply have no room in the story in Wednesday’s Delco Times.)

“It changes a whole lot,” said Bobby Ali, a co-founder of the club and now the Under-23 coach after a successful stint as the first-team skipper. “It helps us get a lot of players because when they come here, they think they’re going to get the same opportunities that Derrick Jones had. It’s a good name for us, a good name for us. People feel that when they come here.”

Meet the ultimate #USOC2017 underdogs. @juniorlonestar, a refugees club, train on the worst pitch in Philly.

More: https://t.co/bjzYC3FIlW pic.twitter.com/2H9oCIBfcp

— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) May 9, 2017

Wednesday’s article focuses on the first team, but it’s worth pointing out that Junior Lone Star also fields U-23 and U-19 sides. The Under-23 team plays in the Philadelphia Premier Soccer League (PPSL) alongside a senior team, which also plays in the National Premier Soccer League’s Keystone Conference. The ultimate aspiration would be to get U-23s into the Open Cup eventually, and that could come to fruition down the road.

For now, Junior Lone Star hopes to position itself in an important role, as Saie indicates. They have a foothold in a community where many talents like Jones can go overlooked, and greater visibility for the club means greater chance of those talents being spotted.

UNION (4-2-3-1) 

Blake 

Rosenberry-Onyewu-Marquez-Fabinho 

Jones-Medunjanin 

Ilsinho-Bedoya-Pontius 

Simpson

Bench: McGuire, Elliott, Gaddis, Creavalle, Alberg, Herbers, Sapong

D.C. United (4-3-3) 

Hamid 

DeLeon-Birnbaum-Boswell-Kemp 

Harkes-Sarvas-Acosta 

Sam-Ortiz-Nyarko 

Bench: Worra, Franklin, Jeffrey, Opara, Neagle, Buescher, Le Toux

Preview 

- It’s steady as you go for the Union again this week. One change again comes on the wing with Ilsinho making his first start in favor of Fabian Herbers. Ilsinho has been effective as a late-game sub; we’ll see what he can do having to shoulder the defensive work for 60 minutes plus. The bright side is that with the depth available on the wing, the Brazilian’s mission should be compressed to an hour of exertion with Herbers able to spell him. Odd not to see Fafa Picault make the lineup; probably the odd attacking option out away from home. 

- Jay Simpson (rib contusion/bruised lung) is healthy enough to return to the lineup. Interesting that he displaces CJ Sapong up top, since Sapong has scored in consecutive games (plus twice in last week’s closed-door friendly with Bethlehem Steel). I suppose Simpson’s speed suits the counter-attacking the Union will likely do away from home.

- Jake McGuire, the rookie signed off waivers from Houston, will be the backup goalie after John McCarthy sustained a concussion this week that keeps him out.

- The big missing piece for D.C., which has yet to score this year, is forward Patrick Mullins. In his stead, Jose Guillermo Ortiz starts up top. That leaves former Union man Sebastien Le Toux on the bench.

- The big matchup is going to be how the Union’s midfielder pair of Derrick Jones and Haris Medunjanin handles the threat of Luciano Acosta. Jones and Medunjanin have paired well this season, but neither is the kind of dogged matchup midfielder to hound an opposing creative attacking midfielder (think Brian Carroll in his prime). Too much of the midfielders handing Acosta off to the center backs to defend will create space in the backline that Ortiz, Lloyd Sam and Patrick Nyarko can exploit.

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
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