Ilsinho at Union trianing: Always a good time.

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

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

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

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

Team 1:

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

Team 2:

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

Herbers-Ilsinho-Ayuk 

Simpson 

From that group, the center back pairings are interesting (Mark McKenzie rotated in for Marquez for the second round of games), restoring a certain right-left symmetry that Jim Curtin harped on in 2016 but relented on in 2017. It also raises eyebrows that Anthony Fontana is being deployed in a more withdrawn role, but I’d write that off as fewer central players sans Medunjanin. David Accam on the left with Fabinho is an attacking axis, though Matt Real seems to naturally gravitate higher up the pitch, which is promising.
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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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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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The Union's 2017 season is likely lost. So why not give minutes
to young players like Keegan Rosenberry? (DFM/Mikey Reeves)

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

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

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

— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) August 29, 2017

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

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

Two starts for Adam Najem. That’s at a minimum. I doubt Roland Alberg is in the Union’s plans beyond this season. I don’t know if Ilsinho is. I would hope the organization recognizes and will act on the glaring need for a No. 10. But ascertaining what it has Najem, in terms of starting potential or merely carving a positional niche, is vital.
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It's been nearly four months since Keegan Rosenberry, seen here in
the U.S. Open Cup fifth round at Red Bull Arena, has found his way
into a starting lineup for an MLS game with the Union. (DFM/Mikey Reeves)

Of the first 3,690 possible minutes in Keegan Rosenberry’s MLS career, the defender played 3,684.

In the Union’s last 16 MLS games, a span of 1,440 possible minutes, Rosenberry has played 56, all the while healthy as a horse and rotting on the bench.

That stat seems unthinkable for a player who so impressed last year that he became an MLS All-Star, Rookie of the Year runner-up and earned a call to a U.S. national team camp. But a year on, Rosenberry finds himself the subject of an incomprehensible stat: The native of Ronks hasn’t started an MLS game since April 14.

So how exactly did a player that was the apple of manager Jim Curtin’s eye come to such a pass? And when will he pull out of this spiral?

“It’s earned in training each and every day,” Curtin said Wednesday at his weekly press conference when asked what Rosenberry would have to do to play again. “I had a good talk with him today, keeping him posted and improve on in training. Defensively, different ideas of staying right off the outside (shoulder) of your center back. Keegan’s going to be a big part of the future of this club. I know he’s frustrated. He wants to get on the field where he can help the group. And that’s something that he’s working to improve each and every day. But again, it’s earned in training, and it’s earned in the 90 minutes. He’ll have another opportunity at some point. When that point comes, he’ll be called upon to be ready.”

That non-answer treads very close to the John Hackworth era “he has to play to be fit, and has to be fit to play” circularity. And it speaks to a frightening correction for a player who exceeded his anticipated talent ceiling last year and has plummeted through his talent floor this year.

Cracks formed in Rosenberry’s game late last year. An accomplished one-on-one defender early, teams started to figure out how to attack him, isolating him and forcing tough decisions on him by exploiting seams of space left by the positional awareness of what was, to be fair, a 22-year-old rookie. He contributed to and was dragged down by a collective malaise to end last season by conceding 17 goals in a nine-game winless streak, playoff cameo included. His gifts were obvious, but so too were flaws, including a youthful tendency to play out sequences instead of ending them early with a swift kick out of bounds.

So this year, when the Union tumbled and Curtin sought to stanch defensive bleeding, Rosenberry made sense as a temporary change. Ray Gaddis has stepped in and played capably, the defense has stabilized and Curtin hasn’t wanted to mess with a good thing that, for the Union’s lowly table placement, is the fourth stingiest defense in the East. Read more »

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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Ilsinho has started two straight games at the No. 10 role. Jim Curtin
seems to think he could be up for a third Saturday against Colorado.
(For Digital First Media/Mike Reeves)

CHESTER >> For the third time in eight days, the Philadelphia Union will suit up Saturday night against the Colorado Rapids. That backlog of games could mean changes are in the offing, though that conventional wisdom opposes the Union’s red-hot form, in search of the franchise’s first ever four-game winning streak and enjoying in five-game unbeaten run, with the Western Conference straggling Rapids visiting to boot.

Some notes from training Friday:

- Roland Alberg won’t be a part of any squad shuffling Saturday. Manager Jim Curtin ruled the midfielder out after an injection in Alberg’s strained quad. He worked to the side of training with the goal of prepping him for Real Salt Lake next week. “Difficult to not have him, but at the same time, we know that other guys can step up in his absence, but it looks more like next Saturday in Salt Lake hopefully,” Curtin said.

- Two of the more obvious candidates for change Saturday are the oldest legs in the side – defender Oguchi Onyewu and midfielder Ilsinho. Onyewu has played every minute of the three-game winning streak, and Ilsinho has two starts in the No. 10 role under his belt this week. The Brazilian logged 64 minutes in the win over D.C. United and 67 Wednesday against Houston. Here was Curtin’s answer when asked directly about Onyewu and Ilsinho:

“You look at the data: Gooch plays a position where it’s a lot of organizing, it’s winning your duels and he’s done an excellent job of that. It’s not a position where it’s as taxing on the legs. It’s still difficult, but I think he’s up for the task of turning it around. Ilsinho in a newer position for him, I think has adjusted well to it. He’s doing a lot of running defensively. It is tough on the legs, but we’ll look at everything. We’re kind of still in the process of picking the final lineup, but he tells me he’s feeling great.”

On paper, this looks like a decent time to get Adam Najem his first start – at home, against a struggling team, maybe lower expectations. But if Ilsinho is ready to go, he’s Curtin’s preference, it seems.

- One area where the Union have options to swap is the wing, in part because Curtin’s system asks so much of wingers defensively. Chris Pontius and Fafa Picault have forged a bountiful pairing, but Fabian Herbers could slip in a start Saturday, given how the wingers tired against Houston and contributed to the Dynamo applying more pressure than Curtin would’ve liked. Curtin Friday:
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UNION (4-2-3-1) 

Blake 

Gaddis-Elliott-Onyewu-Fabinho 

Medunjanin-Bedoya 

Pontius-Alberg-Picault 

Sapong 

Bench: McCarthy, Rosenberry, Wijnaldum, Jones, Ilsinho, Herbers, Simpson

Red Bulls (4-2-3-1) 

Robles 

Murillo-Long-Perrinelle-Lawrence 

Adams-Felipe 

Muyl-Kljestan-Royer 

Wright-Phillips 

Bench: Meara, Ndam, Zizzo, Grella, Davis, Veron, Etienne, Gulbrandsen

- All eyes on the backline, where Jim Curtin takes the safe route. A week after keeping a clean sheet in Los Angeles, he preserves the back four as much as in is his power, with Ray Gaddis starting for a third straight game at right back instead of Keegan Rosenberry. It would seem at home that the Union could’ve gone with a more attacking backline, but instead Curtin remains shackled by the result = no change equation. Oguchi Onyewu steps in for Richie Marquez due to illness, the first time Marquez has missed an MLS game since the 2016 opener.

- Injury precludes Ilsinho from taking part for a season straight week, which allows Fafa Picault to keep his spot in the lineup. Still no Fabian Herbers in the lineup, but Picault is being given the chance to show his stuff yet again.

- Giliano Wijnaldum sighting: He’s on the bench, for the first time this season. Baby steps.

- The Red Bulls cobbled together a makeshift lineup in Wednesday’s loss at Kansas City, so the first-team stance returns this week, with many of the rested names restored to the lineup. Felipe went the full 90 Wednesday, so he could be one to exploit in the middle of the pitch, but Bradley Wright-Phillips and Sacha Kljestan are plenty rested.

Yeah, Andre Blake and Jack Elliott, there's been a lot of that lately
for the Union. (Times File)

There is, mathematically speaking, a possibility the Philadelphia Union could win Saturday against Montreal. Odd things happen in MLS all the time.

On the off chance that that occurs (and that’s the last bit of snark for this post), the Union would banish their winless streak that has covered the last 14 meaningful games. So without qualifiers or the mudslinging that seems to popular online, let’s lay out what exactly this streak of futility has entailed.

- The Union have lost 14 games in all competitions – the last seven of the 2016 regular season, the playoff game to Toronto and six straight to open 2017. In that stretch, they are 0-10-4. That’s a return of four points out of a possible 42 points or 0.29 points per game.

- Exclude the playoff game, and the Union have endured 13 straight regular-season games sans victory. Should that stretch to 14 (and 15 overall) with anything but three points against Montreal, they enter ignominious company in MLS history (from the league’s Facts and Record Book):

Should the Union fail to win Saturday vs. Montreal, it would be 14 straight regular season games w/o a W, tied for 9th most in MLS history pic.twitter.com/OiQrvUD9TW

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) April 19, 2017

- The Union have allowed 28 goals, a tidy average of two per contest. They’ve scored just 11 goals.

- On the concession side, the Union have kept just one clean sheet. More worrying, they’ve allowed multiple goals in 11 outings. Yet they haven’t allowed more than three goals in a game, that one breakdown that skews the numbers, indicating a steady stream of goals each week.

- Home field has been no refuge. The Union are 0-4-2 in home games, having allowed 12 goals (again, right at two per game) and scored just four. A loss or tie this weekend ties the franchise record for the longest home winless streak at seven, set from March 15-July 12, 2014. That run involved five draws at least, though it spanned the firing of John Hackworth. 
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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.

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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The question of Roland Alberg's fitness for the Union's full-time No. 10 job
will be tested this preseason. (AP)

The Philadelphia Union’s first full practice of the 2017 season will take place Tuesday morning at the Power Training Complex. And it will ensure an almost unfathomable level of consistency from the last time the Union assembled in the shadow of Talen Energy Stadium.

Of the 18 players in the squad last October for the Union’s first playoff game in five years against Toronto FC, 17 remain with the club. Ten of 11 starters’ jobs are preserved from last season, Tranquillo Barnetta the lone exception. I don’t even have to check past figures; that’s surely unprecedented for a club where roster churn has been the norm.

As I wrote Monday, the Union have the best of both words. They have the prestige and tangential benefit of three players prepping for the season with the U.S. National Team in its January camp, three who are certainly among the 10 given starters. Fewer regulars means more opportunities to see the contestants for the other slots on the depth chart battling it out.

So let’s look at the five positional battles sure to play out in camp this week and in Florida next month:

Roland Alberg vs. Expectations. Lest you think the Union have everything figured out, consider that one battle dictates several others. (I needn’t remind you how many returning starters Columbus had in place before last season, do I?) Parse the roster and the Dutchman is the only player you’d consider a No. 10, lest Alejandro Bedoya moves up into that spot and somewhat out of position. Doing so leaves the current reserve corps at the No. 8 remarkably thin. So getting Alberg to consistently play the 10 in a 4-2-3-1 system that the Union show little taste for changing is vital. Alberg proved last year he can play excel in spurts; if we allow the benefit of the doubt in his acclimation period to MLS, then the hypothesis to be proven is that he can be for the Union what Barnetta was last year.

Fabinho vs. Gilliano Wijnaldum. To dub this Fabinho’s job to lose would disrespect the work the Brazilian did last season. More apt is that it’s Wijnaldum’s job to win. Earnie Stewart put it bluntly: Wijnaldum didn’t come to MLS to sit the bench. And while Fabinho wasn’t necessarily the weak link in a defense that leaked 56 goals in 35 games last year, his left back spot is as logical a place as any to start searching for reinforcements. Read more »

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

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

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

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

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

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 »

UNION (4-2-3-1) 

Blake 

Fabinho-Marquez-Tribbett-Rosenberry 

Carroll -Bedoya 

Pontius-Barnetta-Herbers 

Sapong 

Bench: McCarthy, Gaddis, Edu, Creavalle, Alberg, Ilsinho, Davies 

Orlando City (4-4-2) 

Bendik 

Ambrose-Hines-Aja-Ramos 

Kaka-Higuita-Nocerino-Perez Garcia 

Larin-Rivas 

Bench: Edwards, Redding, Alston, Carrasco, Molino, Baptista, Barry 

Preview 

- A reminder of the playoff scenarios: The Union get in the playoffs officially with win and a loss or draw by New England. If the Union win and the Revs win, the Union go into the final weekend with a three-point edge and a monstrous advantage on goal differential. That means no champagne today, but it’s something.

- If you hearken all the way back to the Union’s last game 15 days ago, Jim Curtin makes few changes. Ken Tribbett keeps his place without Josh Yaro fit to go. Brian Carroll is preferred to Warren Creavalle off international duty.

- Interesting to consider what the Union see with Maurice Edu making the bench. He’s the only guy on the bench who can play center back sans Yaro. You could also see him as a late-game replacement in central midfield to defend a lead (say for Fabian Herbers, Alejandro Bedoya moved out wide).

- For Orlando City, Curtin was right to be wary of formational changes. It’s a 4-4-2 this week, with Kaka nominally out wide. We’ll see how much he drops centrally and if that morphs into the diamond formation. Cyle Larin and Carlos Rivas will push the backline deep and create those pockets for Kaka and Matias Perez Garcia to operate.

At season's end, Tranquillo Barnetta will be headed back to Switzerland.
How might the Union replace his sizeable contributions? (AP)

The Philadelphia Union, in a surprisingly and laudably proactive announcement Tuesday morning, revealed that Tranquillo Barnetta will be leaving at the end of the 2016 season to rejoin the club of his youth, FC St. Gallen in Switzerland.

The possibility was long mooted, with Barnetta’s contract purposefully drawn up at 18 months from last summer to offer both club and player the flexibility to escape and the acquisition of Alejandro Bedoya, a player capable of playing the No. 10 role.

Barnetta will be missed, as he’s been an exemplary player over 37 games (plus whatever’s left this regular/postseason) and ambassador for the club. The “why” of the timing is fairly clear, with Barnetta having achieved his objective of an American experience and wanting to have something left in the tank for St. Gallen, but I’ll leave Barnetta to speak for himself if he’s available after training Wednesday.

I’ll stand by the declaration last summer that he’s the most decorated player the Union have ever acquired, and even with Bedoya, Charlie Davies and Ilsinho since joining, Barnetta retains that title with his wealth of Bundesliga, European Champions League and three World Cups worth of experience.

The conversation shifts as to how to replace Barnetta, a discussion we can have now and then shift to the backburner as the Union’s late-season run plays out. When Bedoya was acquired in August, I posited a Barnetta-less future that would seamlessly integrate Bedoya into the No. 10 role instead of the No. 8 that he’s a less obvious fit for. From the blog:

That’s not to say the Union would move on from Barnetta. But if they can't resign him or wanted to divest themselves of a potentially redundant asset, Barnetta could make sense. Or Bedoya could be the starter with some combination of Alberg and Barnetta as reserves or on the wing. And it allows (Derrick) Jones, hailed as the No. 8 of the future, a chance to grow into the job. What better way for him to do that than sandwiched between Edu and Bedoya?

Let’s alter the thinking somewhat. I’ll follow the lead of my colleague, Kevin Kinkead, in this. If you’re replacing Barnetta and have the $700k or so of salary cap flexibility, what could the Union get?
Read more »

Union (4-2-3-1) 

Blake 

Fabinho-Marquez-Yaro-Rosenberry

Creavalle-Bedoya 

Pontius-Barnetta-Herbers 

Sapong 

Bench: McCarthy, Gaddis, Tribbett, Fernandes, Alberg, Restrepo, Davies 

Sporting KC (4-3-3) 

Kann 

Medranda-Besler-Opara/Abdul-Salaam 

Espinoza-Mustivar-Feilhaber 

Zusi-Dwyer-Peters 

Bench: Kempin, Alvarado, Hallisey, Appiah, Nagamura, Davis, Rubio 

Preview 

- In naming an unchanged side from Wednesday’s win in Columbus, Union manager Jim Curtin again tries to strike the balance between consistency and squad rotation. His team is 3-0-2 in midweek MLS games this season, but 0-4-2 in weekend games immediately following those midweek affairs. If something changes, it’ll have to come from within this group, which includes a second straight start for Fabian Herbers. - It’s the third time this season that the Union’s set of three rookies all start, with Josh Yaro preferred to Ken Tribbett in central defense.

- No surprise that Ilsinho (foot) and Brian Carroll (foot) remain out. Curtin said Friday they’re on pace for a return next weekend in Chicago.

- SKC gets a little relief from its defensive injury backlog with Ike Opara back in central defense. That allows Graham Zusi to move back into midfield to cover for Brad Davis, who misses out. The front six is first-choice for SKC, but they are very thin on the bench and have an exploitable backline that the Union have to attack from the start.

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 »

Per Union coach Jim Curtin, the club is weighing an appeal to the red card
shown to Ilsinho in Sunday's draw with the Red Bulls.
(Digital First Media/Pete Bannan)

The price of national-television exposure Sunday night is a quick turnaround Monday morning – and all week, really – for the Philadelphia Union. Some 10 and a half hours after a contentious encounter with the New York Red Bulls ended in a 2-2 draw, the Union returned to the training pitch, prepping for an Open Cup tie with the New England Revolution Wednesday and a trip to Montreal Saturday.

A few notes from training:

- With time to reflect on Ilsinho’s red card in the 72nd minute, the Union are considering an appeal to MLS, manager Jim Curtin said. The final decision hasn’t yet been made, but as it’s a straight red, there is an avenue to protest. From Curtin:

“We’re just discussing talking about maybe appealing it. I don’t think it’s a straight red. You could see maybe if they give a second yellow in that case, you could maybe understand it. But it’s for me not a straight red, especially with different tackles that were happening in that game. There was a lot far worse than that. You just want the consistency to be there. Again, it’s a hard call for the ref in the heat of the moment; I wish he just maybe took a moment to take a breath, think about it, talk with his fourth official who maybe has a different view. But when you go quickly to the red, once it’s gone, you can’t go back on it.”

Ilsinho wasn’t available to comment Sunday, but Curtin spoke to the Brazilian winger about the incident, which occurred after Ilsinho, carrying a yellow card, was fouled by Red Bulls left back Connor Lade, a tactical infraction for which he was shown a yellow.

“I talked with Ilsinho, and he didn’t even know the whistle was blown,” Curtin said. “He was trying to continue. He had Lade on his back for a while and he was just trying to keep playing and maybe stuck his arm out. I don’t think it was malicious. I think to give a straight red means that it was a malicious act, and it wasn’t for me.”

- Maurice Edu (left tibial stress reaction) trained fully Monday, a third time in four days for the captain who’s been out since the start of the season. His progress continues to please Curtin.
Read more »

UNION (4-2-3-1) 

Blake 

Fabinho-Marquez-Tribbett-Rosenberry 

Carroll-Barnetta 

Pontius-Alberg-Ilsinho 

Sapong 

Bench: Jones, Gaddis, Anderson, Creavalle, Fernandes, Le Toux, Herbers 

D.C. United (4-4-2) 

Hamid 

Kemp-Opare-Birnbaum-Franklin 

DeLeon-Sarvas-Jeffrey-Neagle 

Espindola-Kamara 

Bench: Worra, Boswell, Robinson, Vincent, Sam, Saborio, Acosta 

- For the first time since June 1, CJ Sapong reenters the Union starting lineup, bringing an end to the false-nine experiment. This introduces a tantalizing first for Union fans – the first minutes all season that Sapong, Tranquillo Barnetta, Ilsinho and Roland Alberg are on the field simultaneously. You would think that with the success of those other pieces sans Sapong over the last month, the Union should kick it into another gear with the center forward back. Time will tell.

- Ken Tribbett comes back into the lineup with Josh Yaro suspended. That enforced change means Jim Curtin keeps the fullbacks the same around him.

- On the injury front, the Union get some relief for their forward line. Fabian Herbers and Sebastien Le Toux have both shaken off injury problems to get back to the bench.

- D.C. changes things up against this week. It’s a two-forward look, with both Alvaro Saborio and Luciano Acosta on the bench and Fabian Espindola pairing with Alhaji Kamara, presumably. Newly acquired Lloyd Sam also makes the bench, while Kofi Opare is preferred to Bobby Boswell in central defense. That’s a lot of options at Ben Olsen’s disposal on the bench and a lot of ways they can change the formation from the 4-4-2.