Earnie Stewart's word cloud, if you're into that kind of thing.

Transcript in full. Earnie Stewart first, then Jim Curtin.

EARNIE STEWART
Opening statement: 
Obviously starting the 2017 season, one of the main points was building our roster and making that foundation stronger as we have started in 2016. For the most part, I can say that the building of the foundation was more from the bottom and from the side, (Tranquillo) Barnetta leaving and bringing Haris Medunjanin in, and not being of the possibility to sprinkle in from the top yet. From that part I think the roster that we had for 2017 was a roster that was better than it was in 2016. Obviously when we look at the season and the start of the season, I think that kind of determines how people look upon a team, as the Philadelphia Union, going into those first eight games of the season and not coming out with a win is a difficult period for each and every one of us in the organization, but I truly believe that that part is something that was – when you talk about progress and where we were last year in 2016 when we got off to a great start, where everything was new and when toward the end of the season it became a little bit more difficult to handle the stress situations that were there – the beginning of this year was totally different in that regard because we were in a stress situation right away and if I see how the technical staff and the team responded after that, after those first eight games, everyone counted us dead and out at that moment. There was asking for change; In my view, it was the worst thing that could happen at that moment, I believe I made a couple of statements about that, that I don’t believe in that. And I think the system-based approach that we have and that we had put in place in 2016 actually shows how important that is in this 2017 season. We came back from being down and out. A lot of words went on in our locker room area. I think the group responded, the technical staff responded to what we set out to do and stress situations are never easy. It comes down to having players do the things that we feel is important and once we knew that, you can see that we can get results at the same time. Obviously still disappointing because in everything you want to win, you want to become MLS champions and that is more maybe ambitions than a realistic goal, but I do feel that you have to set the bar as high as possible because if you just set it as making playoff or anything like that, sometimes you see you make playoffs and you go out. I do believe in setting the bar high and will do that for the 2018 season, just as well because I believe that’s very important in getting the best out of everybody.

The end of the season I would say when you look back and everything, the same amount of points from 2015 where we had a goal differential of minus-13 to 2016 when we had a goal differential of minus-3 to 2017 where we had a plus-goal differential of three. So when we talk about progress and what we’re trying to do in a system-based approach that we have and making sure people get chances and can show themselves, I think that part has shown throughout this year. I don’t think there were too many games that we were in where we were blown out at any moment. I can pretty much say that three or four games, five minutes before time we weren’t in a position to get anything from the game. But other than that, our coaching staff has done an excellent job in making sure that we were in a position to get results. Obviously disappointing from the fact that in the end, 1) we did not make playoffs, and 2) that we did not, even though we were in the position, we never really capitalized, especially in the away games to make sure that we could make the next step and take those points because that’s where the difference lies and that’s where we have to make sure that we’re a lot better towards the 2018 season. When I look at our home games for the most part, you can be very satisfied with the amount of points that we got there. Beginning of the season I think we played a couple of games where I think maybe we should’ve gotten more and maybe there were games towards the end or in the middle there where maybe it should’ve been less, but it is what it is. That’s real simple. That’s the way we look at things. That’s the way we view things and we’ve got to get better, especially on the road and that’s something that we’re going to do in the offseason, make sure we evaluate the offseason as much as possible and what we haven’t done because evaluation doesn’t only start here but it starts a little bit earlier but where we’ve done that and made sure in those away games we can get those points to make the playoffs in the next season.

Having said that, building to the 2018 roster, obviously one important part of that is the head coach, so I’m very pleased and proud to announce that Jim Curtin will be the head coach in 2018 and we’ll make sure that we keep going in the same direction that we have been going in. I think he’s a big part of this foundation that we’ve laid down. Once again, when we talk about progress, I think the system-based approach and the stability of good organization, continuity is very, very important and I think that has shown in this season and in a time where everybody thought we were down and out, we were at one point we were in a position once again to get back into the playoffs, and that is a great credit to Jim and his coaching staff, so very pleased with that, very pleased that he will be back.

Those sound real simple, but when you look back at the progress we have made and the players, there will probably best questions about that, what is the progress of a player? But I also look at my head coach the same way, and I think he has progressed in a great manner, and once again I’m very pleased that he’ll be part of this 2018 season and that we can build on the continuity that we have and look forward to the 2018 season.

On possibly underestimating the pace of improvement in the Eastern Conference?
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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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What does the future hold for Ilsinho and his fellow No. 10 Roland Alberg?
A decisive offseason beckons. (DFM/Mikey Reeves)

It’s been about, /looks at watch/, eight minutes since a query about the Union’s 10 position has been voiced. Feels like a good time to rehash it.

Plainly, this was the Union’s deficiency this season. The Union’s 4-2-3-1 system, that manager Jim Curtin scarcely deviated from (and when he did change, insisted he hadn’t changed), is predicated on a link between central midfield strength to the lone forward via that No. 10 in the center of the midfield triumvirate. That player is responsible for so much chance creation.

With that need , the Union failed to adequately arm themselves. They entered the season with only Roland Alberg at the position, and he showed up to training camp playing fitness catch-up. The No. 10 shortcomings forced Alejandro Bedoya to be shoe-horned into the job, leading to tension and an eight-game winless streak to start the season. The club failed to reinforce the weakness in the summer window despite vetting several candidates. The story of the Union’s 2017 failures is the story of its No. 10 position.

The bright side is that this deficiency is known. Curtin has repeatedly said that the Union need to add difference-makers, and it’s not hard to read between those lines. The two primary occupants of the role, Ilsinho and Alberg, are on the final year of two-year contracts with team options. So let’s state the chases, looking back and forward.

Dressed to ‘impress’

Curtin turned heads with this haughty statement after last Sunday’s 6-1 slapping of Orlando City, which featured two goals and an assist by Ilsinho:

“The one thing that was talked about a lot this year was the number 10 spot and I guarantee if you take Ilsinho and Roland’s production in that spot, in hindsight now when you look back on it, it's going to be pretty darn impressive in terms of the numbers they put up, goals and assists. Having to remember now, probably six to seven games (Bedoya) played at the 10 as well, there was an Adam Najem game at the 10, so if you just separate all that and you look at those two on their production, it's a lot better than I think we all gave them credit for.”

So how “darn impressive” is it? Well, sort of, I suppose.

Bedoya played the first five games, then Sept. 23 and Sept. 27 as the 10, the latter two in a modified 4-1-4-1, notching one assist. Alberg played exclusively at the 10 this season, scoring seven goals and one assist. Ilsinho scored two goals in a run from May 13 to July 6, then a goal and two assists in a stretch of five starts in seven games from early August to mid-September. Ilsinho played the final three games of the season at the No. 10, tallying two goals and two assists. (You’ll note that for the purposes of this discussion, I’m omitting Ilsinho’s scoring from the wing.) Adam Najem started once, played five times, recorded no stats.

The grand total from the 10 spot: 12 goals and six assists, 18 total goals influenced.

Around the league

First thing’s first: There is almost no team in MLS with as strict an adherence to the 4-2-3-1 as the Union. The only exception may be Atlanta United, and if I was a coach with Miguel Almiron playing between Yamil Asad and Hector Villalba, you’d bet I’d keep going back to that high-scoring well.

Atlanta is the easiest comparison, thanks in large part to Almiron being out there almost unflinchingly until his recent hamstring injury. He posted nine goals and 14 assists, while his deputy, Julian Gressel, compiled two and two in his absence in September and October. That’s 11 goals and 16 assists, 27 total goals influenced.
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Most of the Philadelphia Union players were scattered across the country on a weekend off or away on international duty overseas when the club’s playoff hopes officially died Saturday.

That occurred 100 miles to the north, as the New York Red Bulls topped Vancouver, 3-0, to seal the sixth and final playoff berth in MLS’s Eastern Conference with two weeks of the season left. The Red Bulls, on 46 points, are untouchably ahead of the Union and three other teams stuck on 39, which consigns the Union (10-13-9) to a sixth playoff-free season in eight years.

Consolations are few and far between in a season that, after last year’s (probably ahead-of-schedule) playoff berth, can only be read as a disappointment. The Union cannot set the franchise record for losses in a season, which was once a question; more bizarrely, wins in consecutive games – at playoff-bound Chicago, then at home in the finale to Orlando – can tie the franchise mark for most wins in a season.

Regardless of what transpires, the Union for the seventh straight season will finish with between 10 and 12 wins over a 34-game schedule, a mind-numbing level of mediocrity.

With a win and a draw in the next two games, the Union would actually finish with their third-most productive season ever, even surpassing last year’s playoff season. Or to be more realistic, should the Union lose at Chicago and win at home against a similarly eliminated Orlando City side, they would match their record from last season to the game – 11-14-9 for 42 points.

Here’s where perception counts, both descriptive and prescriptive. The 2016 campaign – which featured that rarity of rarities, a first-place Union side, for multiple weeks and had the Union in playoff position nearly wire-to-wire – felt like a playoff campaign, even if it was dimmed by the slide to the finish line. This season, in which the Union never occupied a playoff position, feels like much more of a failure. Separate eight- and six-game winless streak exacerbate that feeling. At the end, though, they look exactly the same in the standings, a damnation by low standards.

The gulf in perception from 2016 to 2017 hits at a key debate that many anticipated. The Union – with the additions of Giliano Wijnaldum, Haris Medunjanin, Jay Simpson, Fafa Picault and a full preseason for Alejandro Bedoya – improved over last year in absolute terms, with more talent from one to 18 on the bench and one to 29 on the roster. The evidence is in the point total: Against a better and deeper East, the Union could yield the same number of points as last year.

But the question entering the season wasn’t, did the Union improve? It was, did the Union grow sufficiently to keep pace with a more competitive Eastern Conference? Did the club take a big enough step forward from scraping into the sixth and final spot last year to lay a convincing claim to a playoff berth this year?

The answer to that is a resounding no, echoed with two weeks still left to play. The lack of recognition of soccer’s version of the proficiency-vs.-growth debate is yet another example of MLS 1.0 thinking (or whatever version the consensus says is outdated) on the Union’s part. And looking ahead, if the Union end up with an identical record as last season, the club’s higher-ups can’t be entombed by the same old lines of thinking, that this result somehow reflects satisfactory improvement.

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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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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For Union fans that forgot, this is what unveiling a new signing looks like,
via Orlando City CEO Alex Leitao, left, and forward Dom Dwyer. (AP)

The Philadelphia Union did precisely nothing in the summer transfer window, if you exclude cashing in an unfilled international spot for the equivalent of bus fare from Columbus, the team that could very well usurp them as this year’s sixth and final playoff qualifier. With Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Montreal at home, the Union would seem to be out of the playoff mix – 10th in the East in points-per-game with six of their final 10 games on the road and eight against teams in playoff position. It would take a near-miraculous reversal of fortune in the next two and a half months to change that.

Earnie Stewart spoke last week about the Union’s adherence to their internal plan for growth. Understandably, he follows an organizational compass divorced of outside influences, which is a sound process.

But I want to look at the Union’s summer (in)action in the relative terms of the Eastern Conference, juxtaposed against the teams with which they must vie for playoff positioning. New York City FC and Toronto stood pat, because y’know, they’re in first and second place in the conference. But every other team had fairly recognizable flaws that they repaired. (Standings placement is as of Aug. 6, prior to close of window):

3. Chicago – Christian Dean, Richard Sanchez
4. New York Red Bulls – Fidel Escobar, Muhamed Keita, Dilly Duka
5. Atlanta – Bobby Boswell
6. Columbus – Pedro Santos (DP), lots of allocation money for Krisztian Nemeth and Ethan Finlay
7. Orlando City – Dom Dwyer, Yoshi Yotun (DP), Dillon Powers
8. UNION
9. Montreal – Shaun Francis, Deian Boldor, Samuel Piette
10. New England – Claude Dielna (DP), Krisztian Nemeth
11. D.C. United – Deshorn Brown, Bruno Miranda, Zoltan Stieber (paid down with TAM), Russel Canouse, Paul Arriola (young DP)

By my count, that’s four new designated players in the East and eight in MLS, if you count Carlos Vela to Los Angeles FC, this summer.
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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.)
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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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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.

Maurice Edu, seen in last year's U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Chicago,
was dealt a difficult hand of injuries this season, but he's the outlier
for a mostly healthy Union squad. (Times File)

Earnie Stewart and Jim Curtin covered a bevy of topics Wednesday in their end-of-season media address. From specific personnel groups to philosophy on changes to a vote of confidence on Curtin from Stewart, the full range was covered.

But one particularly perplexing aspect of the Union’s season didn’t quite receive a definitive answer, and perhaps that’s because one doesn’t exist.

The travails of Maurice Edu have been a constant story line dogging the Union this season. His injury has followed a devastating trajectory, from a groin tear last year to sports hernia surgery in the offseason to a stress fracture to a more severe leg fracture. Somewhere along the line – perhaps at many junctures – reality deviated from the rigorous plan that the Union set for Edu’s rehab. So the question, more genuinely curious than accusatory, from me Wednesday was, does the handling of his injury by the staff require any reevaluation?

Stewart’s answer in full:

“Oh, yeah, also that, except that it’s, like you say, it goes from one into the other, and a lot of times you see that. If you have an injury left, you favor something else right and that might happen. I’d have to say a lot of things are very, very unfortunate, too, in the way that it went from, one, having a surgery, to it going into a stress fracture — a stress reaction first, and then a stress fracture. I mean, that has a lot to do with favoring and all that kind of stuff so it’s very unfortunate, his season is.”

That answer would seem to shift the reasoning – not blame, per se – for the injury onto the circumstances surrounding it. Edu had never before dealt with bone injuries, and he’d discussed that the process for rehabbing them is different that with muscle problems. By all accounts, the re-injury before the Red Bulls game in the season finale was a fluke on the training ground. How the original stress fracture was sustained has never been discussed beyond that Edu wasn’t progressing in his rehab in the preseason then got a scan showing the fracture that drastically altered estimates of his return.

The timeline set then, at the beginning of March, called for three to four months. Edu returned to the practice field four and a half months later, on July 15, and played for Bethlehem Steel for the first time Sept. 4 (six months after the original diagnosis). Edu made the Union bench for the first of three times Sept. 24.

Understandably, the Union aren’t placing a timeline on this latest injury. But the club also isn’t providing much explanation for the protracted saga beyond bad luck. Read more »

Jim Curtin, left, and Earnie Stewart wrapped up the Union season
with a lengthy press conference Wednesday.

For over an hour Wednesday, members of the Philadelphia Union worked either on the field or in the weight room, a coda on a long campaign and a gateway to the offseason. Then coach Jim Curtin and sporting direction Earnie Stewart fielded questions for 30-some minutes, wrapping up a playoff season that was and previewing an offseason of tinkering rather than rebuilding.

Those two, particularly Stewart, discussed a wide range of topics. Some takeaways:

- First, big picture. The Union announced options declined on six players: Loanees Anderson and Matt Jones, plus Cole Missimo, Taylor Washington, Walter Restrepo and Kevin Kratz (more on that later). It’s still mulling decisions on Charlie Davies and Leo Fernandes. Everyone else is back. That is a level of decisiveness and transparency that past squads have lacked.

- Breakup days of seasons past have been helter-skelter affairs – exit interviews, players slinking back to their personal lives, some informal workouts organized. This year, the Union are in Chester for two weeks after the season, working with the staff to prep for the offseason. Captain Brian Carroll indicated that that was a stark departure from the past, emblematic of the changes Stewart has instituted.

- Plenty of fans have opined about Curtin’s future as the coach of the Union. Stewart was unequivocal in assessing his performance:

“Really good, and I say that with a lot of confidence too. The way we set out the start of this season, I was curious in the United States how we go about practicing and do we go out with purpose, and Jim has exceeded those expectations in going out every single day. When we talked about roles and responsibilities as the players, you can go out and play games, or you can put a purpose behind everything that you do in the exercises that we have and in trying to create those moments of, the angled passes that we always talk about, playing forward that we always talk about. You can say it, or you can go out and practice it. I have to say Jim and his technical staff have been excellent in that in what I’ve seen, the level of training. And that’s my form of recognition to seeing how things go. If you see the progress in the beginning of the seasons in our keepaway and if you see the process now of where we are in our keepaway games, that’s a major, major difference and a lot has to do with the coaching staff in that.

“I think the beginning of the season showed that confidence level that we have, the way we can play. Do things happen during the season that we can’t reach that totally? Yeah. Do I feel that there’s open discussions about trying to tweak it left and right within our formation, within our style, within our system in getting better and getting those results? Yeah, they’ve been there. We’ve had open, honest discussions with each other which I think is fantastic and a very good way of working. That evaluation has been really good.”

- The Union adapted to a new training load, with two-a-days and other new tactics. Stewart was adamant that the increased burden didn’t precipitate the late-season swoon. “No, I don’t think so,” he said. “I do know how it works from a player perspective. That’s my own experience. When you win games, you’re never tired, and when you lose games, you’re very tired. And that’s just it. A human body can do way more than we think, so I don’t believe in that. That’s not an excuse.” Curtin added that per team data, he didn’t see players late in the season failing to reach the physical outputs they did early on. “To put in on fatigue, I don’t buy it,” Curtin said.

- The reasons for the late struggles remained elusive. Some of it was a young roster in the heat of a playoff chase for the first time. Some was untimely injuries. Part of it was the schedule getting tougher, leading to crises in player confidence. Some of it, as Stewart pointed out, is simple perception. Said Curtin: “We are examining and trying to pinpoint exactly what it is, too, and the harder we search and the more we look at the data, the analytics, the games, it comes back that it’s a variety of things.”

- Stewart has said that the club hasn’t received concrete offers for Andre Blake. The goalkeeper, who graduated Generation Adidas Monday, will count on the Union’s salary budget for the first time in his career in 2017. Stewart concurred that Blake has earned that and he would listen to offers for the Jamaican goalie, but they haven’t yet materialized. Stewart: Read more »

The Union brass gathered Thursday for the unveiling of the Power Training Complex,
an expensive asset that isn't unlike their expenditure on Alejandro Bedoya.

Alejandro Bedoya sat about 20 feet from the man who signs his checks Thursday afternoon, as Jay Sugarman stepped to the clear Plexiglass podium.

The Philadelphia Union Chairman proceeded to discuss the rationale surrounding the building that brought the Union front office, ownership, players and a few hundred others to Chester, extolling the virtues of the Power Home Remodeling Training Complex.

The terms that Sugarman selected so carefully could’ve applied as much to the new multi-million-dollar facility as it did to the newly-minted million-dollar midfielder, the first in club history.

Both were sizeable investments, massive on the scale of the Union’s history and substantial even by an MLS-wide lens. Both present risks. But both only made sense within a framework, the “well-articulated, cogently put together” strategy that new sporting director Earnie Stewart has assembled, to use Sugarman’s words.

After the presentation with Power Home Remodeling execs and members of the Union ownership, Sugarman elaborated on the process that landed Bedoya in Philadelphia, an ordeal that dragged from last summer when it appeared imminent prior to French club FC Nantes wanting to hang on to the midfielder, and was resuscitated successfully this season.

Instrumental to the process is the evolving relationship between Sugarman and Stewart, hired as the point person for soccer matters last December.

“I think with Earnie, we have a great, open relationship,” Sugarman told reporters. “I said, ‘look, are you telling me this is going to lead to a championship? Is this the player you’re going to build around?’ And he said, ‘yes,’ and I said, ‘go do it.’”

The Bedoya transfer saga was protracted over multiple transfer windows. By this summer, at the risk of losing the opportunity a second time, Sugarman pulled the trigger. The increased gravitas of Stewart helped swing the pendulum.

“I think last year, we were at this point and there was seller’s remorse,” Sugarman said. “It just didn’t happen. I think given how clear the plan is this year going forward of what we want and what we need, the pieces just seem to fall into place. It was expensive, there’s no question. We had a lot of conversations about, how do you manage the MLS budget, and I think the conclusion continued to be, is this going to lead us to the place we want to get to? If this is the right player, then go get it done. We stopped quibbling about $50,000, $100,000, $200,000 and said, ‘this is the right player, go get it done.’” Read more »

This late season stumble by Andre Blake and the Union
at the hands of Montreal's Matteo Mancosu has become the norm
for the club in recent years. (AP)

There’s an exclusive club that the Philadelphia Union belong to, one they’d love to graduate from, one whose membership dues are being paid again this fall in accordance with a familiar and dispiriting pattern.

In MLS history, two clubs have never won more than 12 games in a season. One is Orlando City, which won 12 games in its inaugural season of 2015 and guaranteed in Saturday night’s drubbing by D.C. United that it will miss the mark for another year, sitting at seven wins with four matches to play.

The other is the Union, and the odds of the club escaping that miasma even in this resurgent season are getting slimmer with every passing non-win, even if Saturday's 1-1 draw in Toronto is objectively a positive result.

The Union’s season-best for wins ominously endures at 12, set not in the playoff season of 2011 but in 2013, when the Union accumulated 46 points yet finished seventh in the East (they could end up fourth this year and in the playoffs with fewer points, but that’s another story).

Looking at wins historically in MLS is fraught, given past practices like the shootout and vacillating schedule lengths. But if we narrow the scope to the parity-riddled expansion era of 34-game schedules since 2011, the Union’s lack of wins still resonates. Minus Orlando City and the Union, the other 18 extant MLS teams have not only won at least 13 games in a season at least once; they’ve all done so within the last four seasons. The longest such drought, beyond the Union, is Chicago and Colorado, each of whom won 14 games in 2013 and have struggled since.

That means 16 clubs have authored a better season in the last three years – including this in-progress campaign – than the Union ever have. (And by the way, MLS’s three extinct franchises – Miami, Tampa Bay and Chivas – all have at least one season of 13 wins or more.)

That may seem like piling on an undistinguished Union resume that needs no tarnishing. Edmund Burke never wrote about soccer, but the pertinence of this look back isn’t just trivial measurements. It’s the troubling trend it illustrates: The Union, as we’re seeing now, are atrocious at finishing seasons.
Read more »

Kevin Kratz, left, from his days with Eintracht Braunschweig
playing against Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga in 2013,
seems an odd fit for the Union. (AP)

Usually when the Philadelphia Union make a personnel move, this space is reserved for figuring out how he’ll fit in the team. Today, the objective is simpler: Make sense of what in the world Kevin Kratz is.

The Union signed Kratz Thursday, hours ahead of the MLS roster freeze. Already with 28 players on the roster, they’ve loaned Cole Missimo to Bethlehem Steel for the rest of the season to accommodate Kratz. Where they are on internationals, who knows? It’s a moving target.

Anyway, back to Kratz, who’s played in 277 matches in Germany. The plurality of those came in the 2.Bundesliga (108), most recently with SV Sandhausen. He has 14 games and one Bundesliga goal in Eintracht Braunschweig’s one top-division season in 2013-14. In short, he’s got a CV similar to what Walter Restrepo’s could look like in a few years. Or, honestly, a slightly improved Kai Herdling. 


Kevin Kratz 2015-16 Sandhausen (Bundesliga 2) from Justin Stone on Vimeo.

All that would be fine if not for:

1.) The glut of midfielders the Union have;

2.) The fact that Maurice Edu’s presumed return would put both Brian Carroll and Warren Creavalle on a bench that would also feature either Tranquillo Barnetta or Roland Alberg and now Kratz (Also, judging by this exhaustingly curated marketing video that for some reason brought this to mind, he’s also played out wide a fair bit, another area of Union strength);

3.) Its connection to the news that Barnetta could be returning to Switzerland after the season.
Read more »

Something unusual will happen Saturday evening when the Philadelphia Union host Toronto FC at Talen Energy Stadium: Of the 22 players chosen to start the game, nearly half will have experience playing for the U.S. National Team. And for once, the Union will actually contribute significantly to that tally.

The Union’s summer dealings can be characterized by many lenses. But one is the acquisition of players in Alejandro Bedoya and Charlie Davies, who’ve represented the U.S. internationally.

And so Saturday, using the Union and Toronto rosters, you can cobble together a fairly cogent starting XI of fully capped American internationals.



There’s some fudging position-wise. Chris Pontius is included, and while he has never appeared for the U.S., he’s twice been invited to camps and traveled internationally without getting in a game, and it’s reasonable to assume that had he not experienced such bad injury luck, he’d have that cap by now. (Consider this the start of the campaign for Pontius to play the role Ethan Finlay did at January camp and beyond last year.) There’s also no capped goalie, but Alex Bono, the former Reading United player, has played for the U.S. Under-18 team, so he’ll do.

The spine of the team is formidable. It features, when healthy, the U.S.’s top striker for the next World Cup cycle (Jozy Altidore), its captain (Michael Bradley) and arguably one of the first two or three names coach Jurgen Klinsmann pencils into the lineup in Bedoya.

That isn’t a bad team, if you could swap a forward for a truer fullback. It’s certainly a darn good one from a marketing standpoint, and it reveals a point about the Union’s direction.
Read more »

The Union's Josh Yaro, defending against Crystal Palace in a recent friendly,
is part of a rookie class that has contributed more than any other
in franchise history. (AP)

Thursday night, Keegan Rosenberry will represent the Philadelphia Union, along with Andre Blake, in the MLS All-Star Game. It’s a tremendous honor for a rookie to be playing with the league’s best and most expensive talent against a club with the quality and history of Arsenal.

But Rosenberry in particular symbolizes another aspect of the Union’s resurgence this season: His All-Star nod epitomizes a stellar rookie season being compiled by the Union’s SuperDraft picks.

Just 21 games into the season, Rosenberry has already set the Union record for minutes in a season by a drafted rookie. Likewise, the Union’s rookie contingent has bested the club mark for most combined minutes in a season by a draft class. In the process, they’re showing that the methodology of Earnie Stewart that prizes building through youth is on solid footing.

Here are the rookie numbers, which paint a rarely rosy picture for the Union:

Rosenberry has played every minute for the Union this season in MLS play, 1890 in all. He’s tied for second in MLS in minutes played, trailing only New York City FC’s David Villa (1906). Rosenberry is also one of three field players not to have missed a single minute for their teams this season, joining D.C. United outside backs Sean Franklin and Taylor Kemp (1800 minutes each).

Rosenberry’s total supplants the previous rookie mark for a Union draft pick, held by – appropriately enough – the man he replaced as the starting right back, Ray Gaddis. The second-round pick in 2012 logged 1,475 minutes that season, narrowly edging out Danny Mwanga in 2010 (1,461) and Michael Farfan in 2011 (1,460).

Rosenberry has vaulted past that with room to spare. And he’s still got nearly 40 percent of the season to go.

“I would date it back to day I was drafted, just how thrilled I was and blessed to have the opportunity to play for the team I wanted to, close to home and in a familiar organization,” Rosenberry said this week. “Every time I’m put on the field, it continues to build confidence that the coaching staff and the team believes in you, and it breeds more confidence. That I’m continuing to play and earn starts, it means I’m doing my job right or the way it needs to be completed.”

But it’s not just Rosenberry. The four Union SuperDraft rookies on the roster – Rosenberry, Josh Yaro, Fabian Herbers and Taylor Washington – have combined for 3,277 minutes. That exceeds the total set by six draft picks who made the roster in 2010 and logged a collective 3,087 for the inaugural Union. The Union’s rookie minutes bottomed out last year at a grand total of 12, all by the readily-released Ray Lee.

MLS minutes played by Union rookies per season.

Read more »

Jim Curtin’s weekly press conference Thursday afternoon was slated to include a significant team announcement. Instead, a perturbed looking Curtin had nothing to provide.
Later in the day, the complication in the matter became clear.

The Union have terminated the contract of midfielder Vincent Nogueira by mutual consent, Union sporting director Earnie Stewart confirmed.

The cause for the parting of ways was disclosed as personal health issues, which Stewart didn’t disclose. Nogueira will return to his native France.

“We want to thank Vincent for his contributions to the club over the last two years and we wish him the best, both personally and professionally,” Earnie Stewart said in a club statement. “At this time, it was our desire to enable him to be with his family at home in France.”

“I want to thank Philadelphia Union for their understanding of my situation and wish my teammates well going forward,” Nogueira said.

The 28-year-old midfielder played 64 games with the Union, scoring nine goals and three assists. He played 73 minutes Wednesday night in the Union’s U.S. Open Cup win over Harrisburg City Islanders. His health issues are believed to be non-soccer related.

So numerous are the illustrations of change within the Philadelphia Union that the numbers no longer astound. Yet 365 days from the 2015 season opener, one more stat about the tumult and Earnie Stewart-overseen cleanout seems worth mentioning.

Thanks to a bevy of new arrivals like Fabian Herbers, left,
Vincent Nogueira is one of the few holdovers from last season's
Union lineup. (Digital First Media/Pete Bannan)

Of last year’s starting XI for the opener against Colorado, six are no longer with the Union. Coupled with Maurice Edu’s injury absence and (depending on who you ask) the tenuousness of certain veterans’ spots, it’s possible that CJ Sapong and Vincent Nogueira are the only two players to start consecutive openers.

Stewart’s rebuild is still in the nascent phases (Josh Yaro is to the Union as Michael Carter-Williams was to the Sixers?), and the club opted for the prudent course of building for the long term instead of spending more on short-term patches.

Those tempered expectations portend another season of playoff-free soccer at The Stadium Formerly Known as PPL Park, even if the elements thereof contain more redeeming and hopeful qualities.

For mocking purposes, here’s my prediction for the Union’s 2016 result:

11-13-10, 43 points, 8th in the East

The Union will improve. They’ll capitalize more often on opportunities afforded by MLS’s schedule, like games when none of LA’s designated players want to fly east or when Toronto has four guys on international duty. They’ll drop fewer points from leading positions, their hallmark. They’ll threaten for the playoffs before fading as other teams get serious and pull away.

But they also lack the firepower to consistently collect wins. Having Sapong as the lone striking option isn’t dire if the midfield responds by creating chances more consistently than last season (or if they splash some cash in the summer, maybe for some guy whose name rhymes with “Blatan”). Andre Blake’s stability in goal will be an unfamiliar yet appreciated boon.

By the end of 2016, the goal should be for the Union to have fewer liabilities within the squad and have identified the path toward remedying them and achieving regular playoff contention.

And now, league-wide predictions:

Eastern Conference

After stumbling in last year's MLS Cup final, Ethan Finlay
and the Crew are poised to be back in the picture again. (AP)

1. Columbus. Kei Kamara is paid and happy. Ethan Finlay is getting his due in the national team picture. The Crew hit their stride last year, and if Wil Trapp features more this year than last, the Crew are Supporters Shield contenders.

2. Toronto. The Big 3 are back, and even if Sebastian Giovinco doesn’t ascend the heights of last year’s MVP campaign, the rebuilt defense should even out the peaks and valleys to help the Reds collect points more consistently.

3. New York Red Bulls. The Red Bulls have won the Supporters Shield twice in three years. Any drop off this season in replacing Matt Miazga promises to be slight within a Jesse Marsch system designed to exceed the sum of the individuals.

4. Montreal. If Didier Drogba replicates what he did late last season over 30 (or because of turf, 26) games, the Impact will compete for MLS Cup. Smart offseason additions mean that the Impact are more than just a one-man team.

5. New England. The injury to DP acquisition Xavier Kouassi puts a damper on their offseason, but the passel of attackers entering their primes jelling for another year should eliminate some of the nagging inconsistency of the past.

6. Orlando City. The Lions threatened for a playoff place in their expansion year. While Cyle Larin may suffer a sophomore slump, less roster upheaval and more time for a young nucleus to coalesce should portend improvement.

7. New York City FC. The defensive issues have been addressed, and the team seems closer to competing. But accommodating Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard in the same midfield hasn’t become any more conducive to winning.

8. UNION. Earnie Stewart has improved the team in his first offseason at the helm. He’s positioned them well for the future. But those gains won’t yet bridge the sizeable gap between the Union and the ever-increasing standard for playoff inclusion.

9. D.C. United. With no replacement for Perry Kitchen, D.C.’s group is another year older and not that much wiser. The Ben Olsen hoodoo on opponents started to wear off last year, and this might be the year all the narrow escapes catch up to D.C.

10. Chicago. Vjelko Paunovic’s rebuilding project is on the order of years. He’s cleared out some lots of dead weight on the Fire roster, and David Accam is a valuable piece who will attract international transfer attention, but there are no expectations of an instant turnaround.

Western Conference

Kekuta Manneh, left, the the Whitecaps
are primed for a stellar season. (AP)

1. Vancouver. The Whitecaps are one of the most daunting trips in the league. They have so many pieces back from a squad that started to flourish last year, and that continuity should yield wins with alarming regularity.

2. FC Dallas. Dallas will contend for MLS Cup. After winning the West last season, their youthful core can still improve. The only reason for pessimism is the possibility of a hiccup if a foreign club woos Mauro Diaz or Fabian Castillo this summer.

3. Seattle. Jordan Morris will have a role instantly with the Sounders, breathing new life into a side that seemed to stagnate last year. The regular season is just an elongated exercise in ramping up, since it’s MLS Cup or bust this year.

4. Portland. The reigning MLS Cup champs could experience a slight hangover. But they struggled early last year, too, and with the bulk of the team back and strategically reinforced, the Timbers will be in the conversation once again.

5. L.A. Galaxy. There’s too much talent for the Galaxy not to make playoffs, even while trying to replace Omar Gonzalez, finding a role for the aged Steven Gerrard and keeping the disciplinary report from being renamed in Nigel De Jong’s honor.

6. San Jose. The Earthquakes finally seemed to hit on something a little too late to salvage last year’s season. Dominic Kinnear knows how to win in MLS, and if they can maintain the same strong spine while finally unlocking Tommy Thompson’s potential, maybe the playoffs are in the offing.

7. Real Salt Lake. The dependence on Jamison Olave, whose knee ligaments are one tackle from oblivion, to anchor central defense is concerning. The return of Yura Movsisyan could be invigorating, but he’s struggled to score in MLS before.

8. Sporting Kansas City. SKC is better in most respects. Their defense is healthy, they have a bevy of MLS effective midfielders. But they didn’t replace the wing scoring of Krizstian Nemeth, which puts an uncomfortably large burden on Dom Dwyer after a lackluster season.

9. Houston. Owen Coyle is accruing pieces. But how they all fit together remains a question that requires time. Will Bruin could have a crazy breakout season to keep them in contention, and while they won’t be easy to play against, that doesn’t a playoff team make.

10. Colorado. Shkelzen Gashi could be one of the big surprises in MLS this year, and the Rapids season is in a holding pattern until the Tim Howard rumors resolve themselves. Stockpiling young talent bodes well, but the rebuild shows no signs of abating, even if Jermaine Jones makes it more interesting.

MLS Cup: FC Dallas over Red Bulls.

Supporters Shield: Columbus.

The Philadelphia Union have added three players in the last two days, Tuesday inking deals with Ken Tribbett and Cole Missimo and Wednesday finalizing the long-anticipated capture of Ilsinho.

And with that, I present the 2016 Philadelphia Union…

OK, maybe there’s no need for that level of drama. But in practice, this roster is essentially finished for the winter window, it would seem. The Union avowed in the offseason not to make hefty changes to the roster. Sporting Director Earnie Stewart has made it clear that the aim is not to fill every spot just to fill them. Jim Curtin has said – and other MLS clubs operating “II” USL franchises have illustrated – that a spot or two of roster flexibility is preferable to accommodate high achievers in the minors (which the Union have preemptively done with Tribbett).

This is not to say that the Union will absolutely, 100 percent enter the FC Dallas game March with this exact roster. The conclusion of camps often brings a flurry of trades and transactions as positional battles are settled, players are deemed expendable, strengths and weaknesses are weighed and injury subtractions are compensated for. If a low-cost, MLS-experienced, American forward were to become available, then maybe the Union could be enticed into an addition. (Please, no Amobi Okugo questions here.)

But barring that possibility, the Union’s roster stands at a healthy, albeit midfield-heavy, 26 players:

Goalies (3): Andre Blake, Matt Jones, John McCarthy

Defenders (8): Fabinho, Anderson, Ray Gaddis, Richie Marquez, Keegan Rosenberry, Ken Tribbett, Taylor Washington, Joshua Yaro

Midfielders (13): Roland Alberg, Eric Ayuk, Tranquillo Barnetta, Brian Carroll, Warren Creavalle, Maurice Edu, Leo Fernandes, Ilsinho, Sebastien Le Toux, Cole Missimo, Vincent Nogueira, Chris Pontius, Walter Restrepo

Forwards (2): Fabian Herbers, CJ Sapong

On the face of it, there’s a fair amount of balance. The goalkeeping situation has been ironed out. The eight-strong defensive contingent involves four center backs, two right backs and two left backs, with Ray Gaddis and Anderson Conceicao adding left-back flexibility, plus Warren Creavalle. The search to be two-deep at every position is taken literally for the center-forward pairing.

In the midfield, there are four players that can play at either the No. 6, No. 8 or No. 10 positions. One area of redundancy is the wings of the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 or whatever we’re calling it. Normally, that would be fertile grounds for a swap for a forward. But considering that the Union 1) just added Chris Pontius, Walter Restrepo and Ilsinho; 2) wrangled for the return of Leo Fernandes; 3) rightly see Sebastien Le Toux as the backup center forward; and 4) view Eric Ayuk's age and talent as an asset for the future on the field and for his sell-on value, a trade for a short-term forward stopgap seems unlikely.