Alejandro Bedoya, playing for the U.S. National Team in Copa America
this summer, is set to be the Union's newest signing. (AP)

CHESTER >> The Philadelphia Union’s two-summer chase of Alejandro Bedoya is all but over.

The Union sealed the transfer of the American international Wednesday, per the website of his former club, French side FC Nantes.

The deal sealed the deal by reportedly shipping general allocation money, targeted allocation money and a first-round SuperDraft pick to Chicago to swap the Union’s No. 2 allocation order pick with Chicago at No. 1 to acquire Bedoya’s rights.

Reports indicate that Bedoya will earn a salary near $1 million in addition to a transfer fee of nearly $1 million to Nantes. Bedoya will occupy a designated player spot on the Union roster.

Bedoya, 29, is a native of Englewood, N.J., who’s spent his entire pro career in Europe. He played in Sweden with Orebro and Helsingborgs and Scotland for a season at Rangers alongside future Union teammate Maurice Edu. Since 2013, Bedoya has been at Nantes, the club of former Union young DP striker Fernando Aristeguieta. The Union attempted to sign Bedoya last summer, but the deal fell through.

“Alejandro is a good player,” Edu said. “I think anyone who’s seen him play for the national team or for his club teams, they know technically he’s a good player. He works hard on both sides of the ball. He’s a player who can create plays for himself and for other players. In any team that he plays, he’s shown that he’s a quality player and can impact a team.”

Bedoya has earned 53 caps with the U.S. National Team. He’s played primarily as a winger, but he’s likely to be deployed centrally with the Union to fill the void left by Vincent Nogueira at the No. 8 role.

Roland Alberg bagged his sixth MLS goal of the season Saturday
against D.C. United. (Courtesy of Philadelphia Union/Sideline Photos)

Lost in the onslaught of goals in the Union’s 3-0 win over D.C. United Saturday night, Roland Alberg earned a double dose of club history.

The Dutchman converted a 20th-minute penalty kick to open the scoring, his sixth goal of the season in MLS and eighth in all competitions, including the U.S. Open Cup. Alberg is tied for the team lead with Chris Pontius for most goals in MLS and total this season.

In the longer view, Alberg’s goal earned two other distinctions: He is tied for the most goals scored in a single season by a Union midfielder and the most goals scored in a single season by a Union foreign signing.

Alberg is level with Gabriel Gomez for both honors. Gomez scored six goals in the ill-fated 2012 season, the Panamanian setting the standard for Union midfielders. Vincent Nogueira scored five goals from midfield last season, as did Freddy Adu in 2012. Both are in Alberg’s rearview mirror.

Gomez owns the slight edge in style points, since only one of his goals came from the penalty spot, as opposed to three of Alberg’s. Alberg also forced the own goal by Chicago a few weeks back, so it’s really 6.5, like an away-goals tiebreaker kind of thing.

As far as foreign signings go, Alberg and Gomez are even again. The Union’s most productive seasons in terms of goals scored have been monopolized by American forwards, draftees and acquisitions from other MLS clubs, as is the case of former Seattle Sounder Sebastien Le Toux, who owns three of the top four and four of the top seven scoring seasons in Union history. Others that Alberg is chasing include Conor Casey (twice), Jack McInerney (twice), CJ Sapong, Danny Mwanga and Andrew Wenger.Read more »

UNION (4-2-3-1)

Blake

Fabinho-Marquez-White-Gaddis 

Lahoud-Nogueira

Le Toux-Barnetta-Ayuk

Sapong

Bench: McCarthy, Wenger, Creavalle, Carroll, Casey, Maidana, Aristeguieta.

Orlando City (4-4-1-1)

Ford

Shea-Hines-Collin-Boden

Winter-Ceren-Higuita-Rivas

Kaka

Larin

Bench: Mitchell, Ramos, Mateos, Carrasco, Avila, Neal, Ribeiro

Preview 

- The questions for the Union remain that same, at least those that haven’t already been answered. Andrew Wenger doesn’t rate another look at fullback. Fernando Aristeguieta can’t start up top. Zach Pfeffer can’t even make the 18. Andre Blake remains the guy in goal. Michael Lahoud, after a less than convincing outing at Red Bull Arena, retains his spot, largely on the logic that he played so well in the 0-0 draw with Orlando in August.


- Interesting that Cristian Maidana starts on the bench. He enters tied with Toronto's Sebastian Giovinco for the league lead in assists with 15, one ahead of Sporting Kansas City's Benny Feilhaber. The flipside, though, is how badly he played last week in New York before being subbed off a halftime.

- One weakness that’s glaring (among many that are more concealed): There’s no defensive depth. Maurice Edu was shut down for groin surgery two weeks ago, and Steven Vitoria is suspended due to yellow-card accumulation. So beyond Richie Marquez and Ethan White, the next player with center back experience is probably Wenger. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that no one wants to see the season end this way.

- Orlando City needs a win, and a big one. They’ve got nothing to lose, but Adrian Heath isn't exactly throwing all caution to the wind. Kaka and Cyle Larin will be the focal points, but the fullbacks will have to get forward with regularity. Putting Brek Shea in the back four is a way to get another attacking player in the side, and expect him to get forward with gusto.

- The Union are thin in defense, but the Lions are at bare bones in goal. Tally Hall had surgery this week, meaning that long-time backup Josh Ford is in net while MLS pool goalkeeper Trey Mitchell, whom the Union used for their bench on two occasions this season, is the reserve. The Union should test Ford early and often.

UNION (4-2-3-1) 

Blake

Fabinho-Vitoria-Marquez-Wenger

Lahoud-Nogueira

Le Toux-Maidana-Barnetta

Sapong

Bench: McCarthy, Gaddis, White, Creavalle, Ayuk, Aristeguieta, Casey

Red Bulls (4-2-3-1)

Robles

Lawrence-Perinnelle-Zubar-Zizzo

McCarty-Felipe

Grella-Kljestan-Sam

B.Wright-Phillips

Bench: Reynish, Oiumette, Lade, Davis, Wallace, Peron, S.Wright-Phillips

- It’s evaluation time for the Union, and the questions for next year are myriad. Today, Jim Curtin hopes to get more information to answer some of them. Andre Blake can help solidify his hold on the starting goalkeeping job. Andrew Wenger could present himself as a viable option at fullback. Time is running out for Steven Vitoria and Fernando Aristeguieta (though the latter doesn’t start) to state their cases for extended loan stays. Against a team contending for the Supporters’ Shield, this is an opportunity to get quality intel toward those quandaries.

- The Red Bulls (54 points) are in need of a win to continue their Supporters’ Shield chase after FC Dallas (57) won Saturday night. They require any kind of result (or a D.C. United draw or loss) to wrap up home-field advantage through the Eastern Conference playoffs.

- Despite the importance of the game, the Red Bulls are shorthanded, missing defender Matt Miazga and Roy Miller. That leaves the less adept pairing of Ronald Zubar and Damien Perrinelle with deputized fullback Sal Zizzo. This is a good chance for CJ Sapong and company to attack, and there are likely going to be openings in teat backline that can be exploited on the counterattack.

Jim Curtin, seen in the U.S. Open Cup final Sept. 30,
is already pointing toward the future. (Times Staff/Tom Kelly IV)

As the Philadelphia Union has spent the last two weeks collecting the tattered remnants of a disappointing season, manager Jim Curtin has articulated time and again how vital an offseason this is. That sentiment doesn’t just stem from the fact that the Union, at four consecutive playoff-free seasons, carry the longest active playoff drought in MLS, solidified by Toronto curtailing its seven-year drought Wednesday night.

Part of the logic is rooted in the contract situation for the Union. Perusing the roster, in conversations with players and sources within the organization over the last few weeks, reveals very few players to whom the Union are committed next season. That offers flexibility for the kind of progress that Curtin has professed hope for.

First, a note about MLS contract structures. For all the efforts at transparency in the league (that’s a fun Google search), little has been accomplished in this arena. The MLS Players Union publicizes player salaries, but contract terms remain veiled by the well-worn, institutionalized boilerplate that “per league and club policy, terms were not disclosed.” Union officials are extremely reticent to speak on the record about the matter.

The other thing to remember is that exact contract lengths in MLS are largely illusory, thanks to this line in MLS’ Roster Rules and Regulations under the section titled “Contract Expiration”:

“When a player’s contract expires, the player does not count against the roster or budget of the club in question. Subject to the Re-Entry and Free Agent rules, a club retains the rights to the player indefinitely following the expiration of a contract provided attempts were made to re-sign the player.”

This amounts, essentially, to the reserve clause that caused Major League Baseball’s revolutionary labor upheaval of the 1970s, and there are plenty of sources that excellently expound on that point. What happens after the expiration of the deal is based on age and experience in MLS, and this winter is the first offseason in which free agency is in play for players over the age of 28 with eight or more years of MLS experience.

Most deals are option-laden. They typically include somewhere between one to three guaranteed years followed by one to three options years, varying considerably based on player age, salary, international status, etc. In short, the system is designed to ease the burden of obligation on teams: Options are almost always in the hands of the team, allowing clubs to escape contracts they no longer want or need.

To bring this back to the Union, it means that the club has few long-term guarantees but the potential to pick and choose. The vast majority of the roster is on options for 2016, which allows whoever assumes control of the organization to handpick who returns.

Here’s a partial breakdown of the Union’s contract situation this offseason, cobbled together from media reports and various other sources. Read more »

James McFadden, seen here with Everton in the FA Cup
in Jan. 2012, is on a two-week training stint with the Union.
(AP)

Chester has been an interesting way station for a number of soccer characters this season. To the average soccer fan who gets bombarded with mid-table English Premier League games on television each weekend, names like Eidur Gudjohnsen and Wilson Palacios are interesting figures, if not necessarily the economical path toward MLS success. (Note that Gudjohnsen, who signed with a team in China, was technically on a training stop, not on trial like Palacios.)

The next name to add to that list is James McFadden, who’s been training with the Union last week and this. He’s a name many EPL fans will recognize, having played in the world’s most visible league with Everton from 2003-08 and 2011-12, Birmingham City from 2007-08 and 2009-11 and Sunderland in 2012-13. He’s also been caped 48 times, scoring 15 goals for Scotland.

Wednesday, Union manager Jim Curtin had some positive things to say about McFadden.

“He’s done well in training,” Curtin said. “You can tell that he has quality. He’s played at the highest level. He’s a guy that he’s been good in training. He provides an intensity level that is good for some of our younger guys to see. No decision has been made. We’ll probably take until the end of the week and then discuss it, but he’s done very well.”

There are some weird aspects to this match. First, McFadden, who Curtin said last week was recovering from an injury, has been out of contract since leaving Scottish Premier League side St. Johnstone in May. He reportedly trained at Motherwell, the club of his youth with which he’s spent parts of five seasons, without being offered a deal.

MLS has passed the deadline for adding players, meaning anything that could materialize for the 32-year-old would be delayed to the start of next season.

Tactically, it seems an odd fit as well. McFadden, who has 20 career EPL goals on his resume, prefers a withdrawn second striker role which doesn’t exist in the Union’s system. Even if we posit that the Union won’t acquire Fernando Aristeguieta on a permanent basis after his loan terminates, McFadden is hardly a direct replacement and would likely be shunted to a wing in the Union’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

Several practice days remain for McFadden, and it’s possible that the Union could decide to keep him around for the rest of the season to train and evaluate him. But don’t be surprised if McFadden joins the list of brief Chester cameos.

UNION (4-2-3-1)

McCarthy

Fabinho-Edu-Marquez-Gaddis

Lahoud-Nogueira

Le Toux-Maidana-Barnetta

Sapong

Bench: Blake, Vitoria, Carroll, Wenger, Ayuk, Casey, Creavalle

Sporting KC (4-3-3) 

Melia 

Sinovic-Besler-Ellis-Myers 

Feilhaber-Mustivar-Nagamur

Nemeth-Dwyer-Zusi 

Bench: Kempin, Palmer-Brown, Abdul-Salaam, Quintilla, Peterson, Lopez

Preview 

- The question on all the Union fans’ minds was, as always, goalkeeping. And the answer is Andre Blake. The Jamaican’s 10-save performance vs. New England on the weekend was enough to sway Jim Curtin away from John McCarthy, who was in goal for the four games that led to the final. It’s just Blake’s fourth match with the Union this season and seventh consecutive match overall.

- The only other shock in the 18 is the exclusion of Fernando Aristeguieta. Curtin opts for extra defensive options, with Steven Vitoria preferred to Aristeguieta as the fifth international. There’s enough offensive cover with Andrew Wenger back to complement Eric Ayuk and Conor Casey.
- The rest of the Union XI is pretty standard for Curtin’s preferences. The attacking triumvirate of Tranquillo Barnetta, Vincent Nogueira and Cristian Maidana is intact. Michael Lahoud is preferred to Brian Carroll in the center of midfield.

- No surprises from Sporting KC either. Krisztian Nemeth returns to the lineup as a wing forward after three games out. Roger Espinoza’s injury strips some dynamism from the KC midfield, so it’s Paulo Nagamura out there next to Benny Feilhaber. Depriving Feilhaber space and time on the ball to distribute up top to Dom Dwyer, Nemeth and Graham Zusi will be key, and it largely falls to Lahoud to corral that. The bench, however, is fairly thin for SKC, with Jacob Peterson the biggest threat.

UNION (4-2-3-1)

McCarthy

Fabinho-White-Edu-Gaddis

Carroll-Nogueira

Le Toux-Maidana-Ayuk

Casey

Bench: Mitchell, Williams, Fred, Pfeffer, McLaughlin, Hoppenot, Aristegieta 

Red Bulls (4-2-3-1)

Robles

Lade-Miazga-Perrinelle-Wallace

McCarty-Felipe

Sam-Kljestan-Abang 

Wright-Phillips 

Bench: Reynish, Miller, Ouimette, Davis, Sanchez, Grella, Zizzo  

Preview

- I’ve written on several occasions about the buffoonery surrounding this tie at 4 on a weekday afternoon. Judging by how dead the environment is, it’s about as bad as I would’ve thought. Solid work, U.S. Soccer.

- Only the Union could keep MLS so engrossed by something so mundane as a backup goalkeeper. After an evening of hints on Twitter, MLS pool goalkeeper Trey Mitchell is on the Union’s bench to backup John McCarthy. He sat on their bench behind Brian Sylvestre in Vancouver two months ago.

- The limit of five internationals in the 18 severely hampers the Union, particularly with three Americans out (CJ Sapong due to suspension, Andrew Wenger and Richie Marquez due to injury). All five start, with Eric Ayuk in for Wenger and Maurice Edu returning from suspension to fill Marquez’s void next to Ethan White. Conor Casey (surprisingly, not Fernando Aristeguieta will fill in in Sapong’s stead.


- Jim Curtin had no qualms about his opposite number Jesse Marsch’s approach to this game, and those are verified by the lineup the Red Bulls coach assembled. The lineup is mostly the same one they used on the weekend, with Bradley Wright-Phillips the danger man up top and all the usual faces (Lloyd Sam, Sacha Kljestan, Dax McCarty) included. The backline is still without Kemar Lawrence and Roy Miller, which leaves some areas to attack.

A sprained left ankle will likely keep Richie Marquez, right,
out of Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal with the Red Bulls.
(Times Staff/TOM KELLY IV)

The Philadelphia Union travel to Red Bull Arena Tuesday to tangle with New York in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal that is all kinds of weird. In addition to the heat and 4 p.m. start time, the Union bring plenty of peculiarities to the table as well. Here are a few of the major oddities that manager Jim Curtin discussed prior to training Monday.

- Injury update: Following the injury that forced him to leave Saturday's game with Toronto, Andrew Wenger underwent concussion testing this morning before training and didn’t start the session on the field with his teammates. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he failed the protocols, though. In Curtin’s words, “He’s feeling better, but he has to be symptom-free for us to even have a shot to start talking about him getting back on the field.” All those qualifiers mean he’s doubtful, at best. Richie Marquez’s ankle will likely keep him out Tuesday. Curtin: “His left ankle is pretty swollen right now. He says it feels OK, but I just saw it. It’s not pretty. There’s some swelling and some blood on there, so looks like maybe out for tomorrow and possibly maybe back for D.C.” Curtin labeled Cristian Maidana’s knock against Toronto FC as “just a big bruise” on his foot that shouldn’t affect his status.

- Curtin said that the Union attempted to appeal CJ Sapong’s red card, but the petition got nowhere. “We tried to appeal that but there was no process, really, that goes on in the Open Cup, so they would not listen to any … as bad as the call was, they didn’t want to hear anything,” Curtin said. A reminder of what a borderline call that was.

https://t.co/mNxI9HtQP7 https://t.co/thQlZ6Rh6m

— Kevin Kinkead (@KevinKCBS3) July 20, 2015

- The Union remain in search of a backup goalkeeper for the tie. John McCarthy will start, but Brian Sylvestre is Cup-tied to Carolina and Andre Blake is away with Jamaica, where he’s fallen in the depth chart to third. (Dwayne Miller started all three group games, but was injured in the finale against El Salvador, replaced by Ryan Thompson, who started the quarterfinal win over Haiti.) That leaves the Union looking for just about any non-Cup-tied pro to sit the bench. The scenario of a keeper-less bench is in Curtin’s view “the worst-case. (It’s a) possibility obviously, but John will be called upon to play a good game for us. We do want to try to find a solution, but we do need a second goalkeeper.” In case you’re wondering, Rais M’Bolhi is not an option, per Curtin.
Read more »

Ray Gaddis got paid with a new deal last year.
Friday, we found out just how much.
(Times Staff/TOM KELLY IV)

The MLS Players Union at long last released its 2015 player salaries Friday, the day after announcing the formal ratification by player vote of the new collective bargaining agreement. The rest of the news week will be filled with highlights of the big numbers, but those emanating from Philadelphia Union land don’t exactly rate inclusion in those roundups.

Below is the full list of Union salaries with some explanatory notes at the end. Spots 1-20 indicate on-budget senior-roster players that count toward the salary cap, while spots 21-28 are the off-budget players, per the MLS Roster Rules and Regulations. This database, constructed by the Orlando Sentinel, is worth perusing as well for a more interactive form of the data.

(In alphabetical order, base salary listed, guaranteed compensations in parenthesis if different UPDATED)

1. Fernando Aristeguieta $350,004 (young designated player)
2. Maurice Edu $700,000 ($768,750 – designated player)
3. Fred $60,000
4. Brian Carroll $150,000
5. Conor Casey $180,000
6. Fabinho $114,000 ($118,500)
7. Ray Gaddis $130,000 ($132,500)
8. Antoine Hoppenot $60,000
9. Michael Lahoud $108,900 ($112,233)
10. Sebastien Le Toux $275,000 ($285,228)
11. Cristian Maidana $203,500 ($217,250)
12. Rais M’Bolhi $350,000
13. Vincent Nogueira $330,000
14. CJ Sapong $125,000 ($142,000)
15. Steven Vitoria $400,000
16. Andrew Wenger $180,000 ($282,000)
17. Ethan White $125,000
18. Sheanon Williams $145,000 ($150,000)
19. Richie Marquez $60,000
20. Dzenan Catic $60,000 ($75,000)

21. Andre Blake $85,000 ($123,000 – Generation Adidas)
22. Jimmy McLaughlin $60,000 (Homegrown Player)
23. Zach Pfeffer $60,000 (Homegrown Player)
24. Eric Bird $60,000
25. Raymond Lee $60,000
26. Eric Ayuk $50,000
27. John McCarthy $50,000 ($56,250)
28. Brian Sylvestre $60,000

Inactive 
Austin Berry $93,519 ($108,519)
Danny Cruz $125,000 ($131,667)
Leo Fernandez $60,000
Carlos Valdes $400,000

Other
Zac MacMath $130,000 (paid by Colorado via intra-league loan mechanism)

Totals
Union salary cap (Totals for players 1-20): $3,692,650
Union base salaries (Totals for players 1-28): $4,117,650
Union total compensation (including inactive roster): $5,578,401

- The Union would appear to be slightly over the salary cap of $3.49 million, accounting for Fernando Aristeguieta’s cap hit at the young DP threshold and Maurice Edu at the DP number. I’ll double check my math on that.

- (UPDATE: Thanks to this outstanding work by Paul Tenorio at the Orlando Sentinel, we see that the Union's total player expenditure ranks 10th in MLS, sandwiched between Sporting Kansas City and Portland, though Portland's signing of Lucas Melano Thursday certainly vaults them into the top half. The big split in fortunes is between teams five and six: Seattle at $11.3 million and New England at $6.5 million.)
Read more »

The Union's lineup vs. D.C. United Saturday and Columbus Wednesday,
a rare repeat XI for Jim Curtin. (MLSSoccer.com)

Jim Curtin hasn’t been one to make excuses this season. That doesn’t mean he didn’t have an ample supply at the ready.

We know that injuries have persistently befallen the Union this season. But the number of absences has really been remarkable.

And Saturday, that total will eclipse the amount of injuries from all of last season even before hitting the halfway mark of 2015.

First, consider the lineup changes. The Union have played 15 MLS matches. They’ve fielded 14 unique lineups. Not until the 3-0 win over Columbus Wednesday did Curtin pencil in the same starting IX for a second time this season (and it withstood all of 37 minutes). That’s what happens when you use three goalies, five center back pairings and flip briefly between 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 formations.

The root cause of that upheaval has been the bevy of injuries sustained.

Note: Though MLS’s rules on injury reporting have improved significantly, they’re by no means standardized (and still voluntarily self-reported, which makes this database essentially nonviable), and the line between injured and unfit and eligible-but-overlooked is blurry. Antoine Hoppenot’s current hamstring issue, for which he’s still listed as questionable after being out then making the bench May 17 against D.C. United, is an example of one where the demarcations between fit and not selected aren’t clear. (As such, I don’t include injuries to Pedro Ribeiro and Richie Marquez to start last season and Eric Bird at the beginning of this season since they were likely to be absent even if healthy.) The numbers also don’t include the proportion of missed starts due to injury, like when Vincent Nogueira’s ankle knock allowed him to travel to Sporting Kansas City with very little real threat of playing. That means that numbers below are educated estimates, but the conclusion they illustrate even through the fuzziness is vivid.

By the best estimates last season, the Union lost 53 man games to injuries suffered by 14 players. They also suffered six one-game suspensions.

This season, through a mere 15 matches, the Union have lost 51 man games with injuries, affecting 14 players. With Conor Casey, Steven Vitoria, Andre Blake and Michael Lahoud not yet back to full fitness, they’ll certainly exceed last year's benchmark in Saturday’s visit from New York City FC. The 51 games through 15 matches puts them on pace for 115 man games lost over a 34-game campaign. That's in addition to nine game lost to suspensions, another figure that exceeds last season's.

Making things worse is how many different players have been bitten by the injury bug. It’s not as though one or two players have missed the entire season, skewing the number to the high side. Of the 11 players Curtin named in the starting lineup Wednesday, five had missed time this season, and the doesn't include the "play without training" plan that many, including Fernando Aristeguieta and Nogueira, were placed on of necessity at various points.

Here’s the grim reading of injuries:

2014 man games lost: Austin Berry 7, Danny Cruz 6, Sheanon Williams 5, Cristian Maidana 5, Conor Casey 5, Vincent Nogueira 4, Sebastien Le Toux 4, Ethan White 4, Zach Pfeffer 4, Brian Carroll 3, Fabinho 2, Michael Lahoud 2, Maurice Edu 1, Fred 1. Total: 53.

2015 man games lost: Andre Blake 10,* Steven Vitoria 6,* Michael Lahoud 5,* Conor Casey 5,* Antoine Hoppenot 5, Vincent Nogueira 3, Cristian Maidana 3, CJ Sapong 3, Raymond Lee 3, Sheanon Williams 2, Fabinho 2, Fernando Aristeguieta 2, John McCarthy 1, Ray Gaddis 1. Total: 51.

* absence ongoing

Fernando Aristeguieta is voicing his opinion
on what it takes to get a foul called in MLS.
(Times Staff/RICK KAUFFMAN)

The consensus among new arrivals to MLS is that the league’s physicality is among the most difficult aspects of the league to get acclimated to.

Fernando Aristeguieta is not exempt from that adjustment, a process which has forced the Venezuelan forward to recalibrate his definition of a foul.

It’s been fairly obvious to those watching Aristeguieta this season that he’s taken a beating. But he’s still getting used to what constitutes a foul and what the requisite level of punishment is to get a foul called in his favor.

Aristeguieta, near MLS’s lead in more auspicious categories like shots (fourth with 25) and shots on goal (third with 12), is tied for 20th in fouls suffered (15). He’s second on the Union in that category, trailing only the 17 fouls incurred by Maurice Edu. Five of those fouls came in the opener against foul-happy Colorado, including two punished by yellow cards.

It doesn’t help that the on-loan forward has suffered a pair of non-contact/accidental injuries, partially tearing a quad and getting stepped on by Sporting Kansas City’s Ike Opara to fracture his ring finger.

Aristeguieta’s ability to take those injuries in stride shows that he’s a gamer. But stomaching the inconsistencies of MLS refereeing is a more difficult feat.
Read more »

UNION (4-2-3-1)

McCarthy

Gaddis-Vitoria-Edu-Williams

Lahoud-Nogueira

Wenger-Pfeffer-Ayuk

Le Toux

Bench: Blake, Marquez, White, Maidana, Carroll, Casey, Sapong

New York City FC (4-4-2)

Saunders

Williams-Hernandez-Wingert-Brovsky

Velazquez-Jacobson-Diskerud- Grabavoy

Villa-Nemec 

Bench: Meara, Watson-Siriboe, Poku, Ballouchy, Calle, Mullins, Shelton

 

Preview

- The big name missing for the Union is Fernando Aristeguieta, who recovered from a broken finger but suffered a quad injury late in the week. That means the only Union player to score this season won’t take part. That leaves Sebastien Le Toux to lead the line, though with Conor Casey and CJ Sapong waiting on the bench, there are options if the Union can’t get the attack going that they want. This is a game where Jim Curtin has game-changing options (Cristian Maidana, Casey, Sapong) on the bench, and he can't be shy about pulling the trigger.

- Zach Pfeffer’s return to the lineup allows the Union to utilize the 4-2-3-1 again. Vincent Nogueira passes fit, and Michael Lahoud is preferred to Brian Carroll in the holding role, while Eric Ayuk gets another start.

- Sheanon Williams is back from two games out with a hamstring issue, which is good timing since both Fabinho and Raymond Lee are out, leaving Ethan White as the presumed fullback cover. The bigger ripple effect might be that Ray Gaddis and Andrew Wenger get a chance to reestablish chemistry on that left flank. Not having to cover for Fabinho might allow Wenger to get forward more often.

- The focal point for NYCFC is David Villa, and the Spaniard is back after missing time with an adductor injury. He and Adam Nemec give NYCFC a variety of options up top. They can counterattack effectively if the Union pour numbers forward, and Mix Diskerud will be running at the central midfielders when NYCFC is in possession.

There’s no two ways around it: The Philadelphia Union are off to a poor start to the 2015 season, the latest installment of which is a dour 1-0 loss in Chicago. The macro components of the Union’s malaise are easy to pinpoint – things like three games without goals, lax set-piece defending, two straight games with red cards, etc.

Sebastien Le Toux and his fellow Union attackers
are just not hitting the target with shots.
(Times Staff/TOM KELLY IV)

Those larger-picture issues are important, but it doesn’t say what the Union can do better to fix them, necessarily. So using the bevy of data available through MLS’ partnership with OPTA Stats, let’s dig a little deeper into what constitutes the slow start. Here are three figures that capture it pretty well:

4 – Saves by Rais M’Bolhi on shots inside the box

The Algerian goalkeeper played in a little tournament you may have heard of last year in Brazil, leading the Fennec Foxes out of the group stage in a historic performance. And while that’s all wonderful, the numbers in MLS are less favorable. He’s 1-3-4 in eight matches with the Union (still too small of a sample size to make a firm determination) having allowed 10 goals on 25 shots on target. This season, M’Bolhi has made four saves on shots inside the box. Two were against Fabian Castillo in the FC Dallas game (while Castillo's best chance hit the crossbar). One was against Jordan Allen and RSL, and one was on Kennedy Igboananike with a smart kick save against Chicago.

For comparison, Houston’s Tyler Deric has made seven saves on shots inside the box this season. Clint Irwin, who hasn’t given up a goal yet for Colorado, has six, including four against the Union on opening night alone. And they make a heck of a lot less than M’Bolhi does. To bring it back to M’Bolhi, he stopped five shots by Germany from inside the box in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 loss alone.

M’Bolhi isn’t playing poorly and certainly isn’t the biggest issue on this team. But it's about the larger picture. Instead of getting a veteran center back or a competent left back or defensive cover that had played in MLS before, the Union spent that money on M’Bolhi under the assumption that he could steal games for them in situations like, oh I don’t know, being down a man for a half. (Ahem, Irwin.) The spent all that money on him so that he could help the team take the next step in a way Zac MacMath couldn't for three seasons. So far, he's fallen far, far short of expectations.

28.9 – Percentage of Union shots on target
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UNION (4-4-2)

M’Bolhi

Gaddis-White-Vitoria-Williams

Wenger-Edu-Nogueira-Le Toux

Sapong-Aristeguieta

Bench: McCarthy, Fabinho, Marquez, Lahoud, Pfeffer, Maidana, Casey

Colorado Rapids (4-2-3-1) 

Irwin

Riley-Sjoberg-Burling-Harrington

Sarvas- Pittinari

Sanchez-Serna- Torres

Badji

Bench: Berner, Burch, O’Neill, Alvarez, Cronin, Brown

Season Preview  

Rest assured, PPL Park has shed its frosted look since Thursday.
(Times Staff/TOM KELLY IV)

- The lingering tactical debate for Jim Curtin this season is whether he’d opt for a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-1-3-2. For the debut, it’s nominally a 4-4-2, with the potential to morph into a 4-2-4. Cristian Maidana starts on the bench with CJ Sapong operating as a second striker behind Fernando Aristeguieta.

- Out with injury is Danny Cruz (hamstring), meaning we won’t get a repeat of this ugly tackle from Shane O’Neill this season.
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New Union striker Fernando Aristeguieta, left,
is one of two designated players on the Union's
2015 roster to start the season. (AP file)

Despite a lot of disagreement at the bargaining table, MLS’s 2015 season will begin in a matter of hours Friday. While details of the new collective bargaining agreement have leaked out, there hasn’t been much concrete info on the topography of the new CBA’s budgetary structure, with only figures and dollar amounts trickling out thus far.

In the absence of major alterations, it’s likely that the new arrangement will look a lot like the old one, which is what many MLS clubs were forecasting in the days and weeks before Wednesday’s pact was finalized. Union technical director Chris Albright offered Tuesday that, “Everybody’s got their guesses” about the roster ramifications that will emanate from the new CBA.

Regardless, the Union have a more-or-less finalized roster. In addition to their acquisitions in February, the Union this week announced the signing of Dzenan Catic (though that was actually old news) and came to agreements with trialists Eric Ayuk Mbu and fourth-round SuperDraft pick Raymond Lee. 

Those moves indicate that clubs likely have been given a good idea of how to prepare for the new season. As a guide, let’s utilize last season’s roster rules, which is likely what most clubs have done.

As a reminder, here’s what MLS’s Roster Rules and Regulations say about the composition of a roster:
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The Philadelphia Union’s season is slated to start in four days. The team running through its drills for the better part of two hours at the Bubble, the University of Penn’s Dunning-Cohen Champions’ Field, Tuesday morning didn’t seem like it was preparing for anything else. There’s uncertainty league wide, with the pall of CBA negotiations hanging over the start of the season. But on the field, there were a few notable points to the Union’s first training session in the Philadelphia in a month.

- First, the absences. Fernando Aristeguieta was in Venezuela tending to visa issues (something Union fans recall all too vividly from last summer.) Technical director Chris Albright said that the club expects Aristeguieta back Thursday at the latest. Also absent was the injured Andre Blake and Eric Bird, who remains with the team. It’s a groin injury on Bird, a problem that dogged him in college. Both of the Union’s MLS Players Union reps, Danny Cruz and Brian Carroll, remained in Washington for CBA negotiations.

- Among those present were trialists Eric Ayuk and draft pick Raymond Lee. It sounds as though the Cameroonian winger and the fullback from Saint Louis may hang around for a while.

- Conor Casey didn’t take part in half-field 7-on-7 drills getting his legs attended to. The striker did start in the final preseason game against

- On the field, Zach Pfeffer continued to look impressive, looking a bit more physical and sporting a beard. Sebastien Le Toux scored several goals on 7-on-7, while Union practice was plenty loud thanks to how vocal new signing Steven Vitoria is, complementing well with Ethan White and Rais M’Bolhi. Manager Jim Curtin was impressed by his team's sharpness after a couple of days off. It was likely one of the more intense practices of the week, with snow threatening Thursday's session.