Where have you gone Toni Stahl? (AP)

Among the least consequential yet most puzzling moments of last Wednesday’s valedictory address by Earnie Stewart and Jim Curtin concerned Kevin Kratz, a bizarre coda on a quizzical and abbreviated tenure with the Philadelphia Union.

Stewart in the press conference announced that the Union wouldn’t be retaining Kratz’s services and that he “was on loan so he’ll go back to Atlanta at one point,” referring to MLS expansion side Atlanta United FC. An Atlanta spokesman later clarified that the Union had agreed to trade Kratz’s rights to Atlanta in a deal that is pending the reopening of the trade window Dec. 11. Very MLS.

Either way, the German midfielder’s career with the Union, which started ahead of the Sept. 15 roster freeze and ended with nary a bench appearance, has come and gone in a blink of an eye. Kratz was originally announced as midfield cover, yet even as Alejandro Bedoya, Warren Creavalle and Maurice Edu picked up injuries (which the previous two played through), Kratz never entered the picture. Yet the player with Bundesliga experience presented an intriguing piece, perhaps even to build with next year, and seemed an engaging interview subject excited to be in Philly. Yet still, his blink-and-you-missed-it tenure came to nothing but a footnote to view someday and wonder, ‘who was that guy?’

Which got me thinking – Kratz isn’t the first player that Union have brought in to flesh out a roster late in the season. He’s not the first player to pop up, generate speculation, pique fan interest and vanish into nothingness. He’s not the first member of the Union whose tenure was so evanescent as to make you wonder if he really was even here or if it was all a peculiar dream caused by some by some bad Thai food too close to bedtime.

So to commemorate Kratz’s time in Philly – and in a vain effort to actual have him leave some tangible legacy besides his 5-foot-8 frame filling in at center back in practice during the October international break – I hereby bestow upon Kratz the 2016 Stephen Okai Award.

What is that, you may ask. It’s a way to mark the passage of Union time by enshrining each year’s most head-scratching personnel move of a certain exalted kind. It’s the one player each year who brings an abundance of under-the-radar hope, whose resume succeeds in raising the possibility that he could be something, whose praises are sung a bit too disproportionately by management, but who ends up never impacting the club. Sometimes it’s the player whose past travels make us in the media go, ‘but this guy was at (blank), wasn’t he?’ Others, it’s a player that so thoroughly impresses in practice and is recognized for it, but never translates it to a game.

In short, it’s inspired by the player who generates the most lopsided proportion of fan-generated Twitter mentions directed at Union writers to actual contributions on the field.
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Hope springs eternal for soccer fans the world over as summer dawns, months of labor bearing the fruit of new signings and new possibilities as the global deck of soccer talent shuffles itself to the hands of the highest bidders. The silly season is the habitat of boundless hope, where even the unlikeliest of dance partners can pair up like gawky teens in the last hazy, desperate moments of a high school dance.

Sheanon Williams is one of only two players
on the Union's active roster acquired during a summer transfer window.
(AP)

For the Philadelphia Union, though, there should be no delusions of grandeur as to the summer harvest. If history is any indication, the Union’s dealings this summer will trade in equal measures perplexing, unjustifiably optimistic and downright futile. The past missteps, many borne of fits of midsummer pique, have backed the club into a tight logistical corner ahead of this window, the curtain on which officially rose Wednesday. That should temper already low expectations, the chances of appreciably improving a squad in dire need of reinforcements looking modest.

Presented below is the ignominious track record of the Union’s front office in transfer windows gone by. It reads like a carnage of misfits, mysteries and mirages that define the organization’s half-decade struggle to find the playoffs, and more elusively, a consistent direction through the world of MLS.

Hyperbole aside, the most damning indictment of the Union’s blithering transfer ideology resides in a single number. The club enters its sixth summer transfer window, the period of movement that owns primary status in the world’s most affluent leagues but is rendered secondary to the winter window by MLS’ peculiar schedule. But when the club resumed training from its July 4 weekend break, only two players (Fabinho and Sheanon Williams) signed during a summer window were physically present in the group assembled at PPL Park. It’s a staggeringly low number.

(Since transfer window openings vary, this appraisal considers any player movement into the Union from June on. That includes free-agent signings of players new to MLS in September.)

2014 

If you look five years down the road, this could be the set of transactions that dooms the Union to prolonged mediocrity. All the rhetoric, in hindsight, seemed too rose-colored, blinded by afterglow of a little tournament in Brazil. To compete in MLS, read the script from which the media was often regaled, the Union required World Cup talent. So they splashed out for Rais M’Bolhi, oblivious of the risk that 120 minutes of glory in Porto Alegre against Germany could be overshadowed by a decade tracing a nomadic path across Europe’s club scene, and fought to return Carlos Valdes from loan, the defender strong-arming his way out of Argentina’s San Lorenzo through a daily soap opera broadcast 140 characters at a time. Fast-forward 12 months, and the Union can’t ship M’Bolhi out of town quickly enough while the combination of Valdes’ worn-down body and outsize salary have the Union presumably hoping that the another suitor will step in where Uruguayan club Nacional has reportedly soured on the Colombian. The odds of either ever returning to supplement their total of 17 combined matches in a Union kit since the latest jersey unveiling is slightly less remote than MLS Cup making an appearance on the banks of the Delaware in the near future, but not by much.

The third, less heralded (read: retrospectively reviled) addition was Brian Brown, on loan from Jamaican club Harbour View FC. It was a little too much, too soon for the 22-year-old, who notched two goals and one assist in eight games (one start). He’s got two goals in 11 matches with NASL side Indy Eleven this season, a level more aligned with his talents. But you have to wonder if the Union would’ve had greater latitude to take a chance on Brown when his loan ended had they not squandered two international spots and undisclosed piles of money in concocting their post-World Cup recipe for disaster.

2013 

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Philadelphia Union (4-2-3-1)

MacMath

Williams-Edu-White-Gaddis
Okugo-Carroll

Le Toux-Maidana-Wenger

Casey

Bench: Blake, Fabinho, Berry, Fernandes, Ribeiro, Brown, Wheeler, Cruz

Toronto FC (4-4-2)  

Bendik

Bloom-Hagglund-Henry-Morgan

Lovitz-Warner-Bradley-Osorio

Moore-Oduro

Bench: Konopka, Orr, Richter, Hall, Dike, Gilberto, Wiedeman

- Vincent Nogueira picked up a small groin knock that rules him out tonight, meaning the question of how Jim Curtin flows together all his midfield pieces will have to wait for yet another week. Cristian Maidana slots into the central attacking role, and Maurice Edu slides back into defense temporarily to pair with Ethan White in the absence of Carlos Valdes (international duty). Andrew Wenger, fresh off his brace against San Jose last time out, gets another deserving start at right wing.

- Look for the Union to try to exploit a battered Toronto backline missing Steven Caldwell and Justin Morrow. This is a team that has surrendered 11 goals in its last four matches, so expect the Union to get at them, perhaps targeting Nick Hagglund and Mark Bloom on the same side of the field with runs by Sebastien Le Toux and Amobi Okugo bombing in from deep in midfield.

- New manager Greg Vanney shakes a few things up for Toronto. In comes Daniel Lovitz, while it appears as though Dominic Oduro will be up front instead of on the wing. Gilberto apparently picked up a calf injury that will allow him to be on the bench, but his absence along with Jermain Defoe’s ongoing injury drastically hurts the Reds’ firepower.

- The key battle today, it would seem, is in the center of midfield. Michael Bradley can tip a game on its quickly, especially when he has a speedy forward like Oduro ahead of him. That puts the onus on Okugo and Brian Carroll to limit his touches and close down his time and space on the ball.

There’s been little shortage of discussion on the protracted (I can’t call it “transfer”, since technically it wasn’t) saga involving the Philadelphia Union and Union original Fred. All the machinations came to a resolution weeks in the making last Thursday when the Union were officially allowed to ink the 34-year-old player to a deal via an allocation draft.

That poses the question: Where does Fred fit into the 2014 team?

The value of Fred, seen here sliding in on D.C. United's Chris Pontius
in an April 10, 2010 game, is very likely to exceed the number of minutes
he gets on the pitch this season. (AP)

Part of the reason why the Union sought him out and allowed him to train with them for the entire preseason before finally securing his services is that Fred gives manager John Hackworth so many ways to answer that question.

“Fred gives us another option in the midfield, more depth, but also good leadership,” Hackworth said in his weekly press conference Tuesday at PPL Park. “I think he can play as the No. 10. I think in certain positions, you could play him in wide positions. Even as a No. 8, it’s not like he doesn’t have the engine to go up and down the field. But Fred’s creativity and ability to open up a game are certainly more valuable as an attacking midfielder.”

Through the admittedly small sample size of the Union’s three-game start to the season, there’s no indication that the current occupiers of those starting positions are in danger of giving way. Despite some stumbles here and there, it’s been by and large a purposeful introduction to MLS for the likes of Cristian Maidana, Vincent Nogueira and Maurice Edu.
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D.C. United (3-4-3 or 4-5-1)

Hamid

Iapichino-Woolard-Korb

Kitchen-Neal-Jeffrey-DeLeon

Silva-Pontius-Doyle

Bench: Willis, Martin, Seaton, Nyassi, Pajoy, Porter, Shanosky

Philadelphia Union (4-2-3-1)

MacMath

Gaddis-Parke-Okugo-Le Toux

Carroll-Daniel

Farfan-Kleberson-Cruz

Casey

Bench: Nikolov, Kassel, Gilberto, Fernandes, McInerney, Wheeler, Hoppenot

- Questions abound here that won’t be answered until kickoff. On what side does Sebastien Le Toux, the organization’s all-time leading scorer, play as a fullback? (I’d guess right.) Who occupies the central role in the midfield attacking triumvirate? (I’d go with Kleberson.) And which sides do Danny Cruz and the other midfielder occupy? (Who knows?)

- Here’s one thing you knew for sure: That the Union was likely going to utilize two holding midfielders – as it did against Sporting Kansas City – to aid the rebuilt backline that is missing Fabinho and Sheanon Williams due to suspension. Michael Lahoud would be the logical choice to pair Brian Carroll had he not been missing due to injury, but instead it’s Keon Daniel, who could provide a little more going forward.

- It’s an interesting Union bench. Gilberto makes his first appearance after it was all but said that he wouldn’t have a role this season, while Matt Kassel is the nearest approximation to a defensive sub. The biggest role of the group today could be played by Aaron Wheeler, especially if this game becomes the type of ugly, set-piece game it has the potential to be.

- And there’s a bit of confusion at the D.C. XI. It’s possible the Perry Kitchen slots into the center of defense, making it a 4-5-1. But as written, it appears to be a 3-4-3, which would be, uh, unusual. Either way, look for Nick DeLeon and Chris Pontius to be manning the flanks and attacking the fullbacks. Luis Silva should slot into the space behind Conor Doyle.

With the close of the MLS transfer window comes the inevitable move from the MLS Players Union to release salary figures for all players and teams in the league. The figures for the Union are listed below, the three summer transfer window signings’ totals in bold.

A few takeaways from the numbers (and if you want a more league-wide perspective, check this entry at The Goalkeeper blog):

- The Union haven’t done a whole lot in the summer transfer window. But what they have done, it appears, are solid pieces of business. Fabinho is only counting $78,000 against the salary cap for someone who has played in all four – likely five by Saturday – games for which he’s been available. He’s more expensive than the starter, Ray Gaddis, but then not many teams have regulars playing at that high of a level for league minimum. It’s possible that Oka Nikolov may not play this year in a meaningful match. If he doesn’t, the fact that he’s making the league minimum makes it almost inconsequential. And then there’s the future project that it appears Gilberto is destined to be. His base salary is less than that of Cristhian Hernandez, so let’s control the expectations.
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With the return to health by several pieces of its midfield, the Philadelphia Union face a selection conundrum in the coming games, especially with regard to their central midfielders.

If there’s any solace to take in that jumble, it’s that at least their newest signing isn’t among the logjam.

Union manager John Hackworth wouldn’t come out and say at his weekly press conference Thursday that new Brazilian acquisition Gilberto wouldn’t play a role in the Union’s quest for a playoff berth in 2013, but he at least strongly hinted that was the case in detailing the approach for the 6-2 midfielder.

“We’re happy that he’s here. He is a good summer acquisition for us,” Hackworth said. “But this is a move that we’re looking a little more long-term than an immediate need. … We’re going to give Gilberto time to acclimatize in all ways to our club, to our program. We don’t feel like we’re in a desperate situation at all. We don’t feel like we need immediate help, and therefore I think that gives us a little bit more time to be patient with Gilberto and allow him to come to our club.”
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Another day, another Brazilian. That seems to be the m.o. for John Hackworth's era of the Philadelphia Union. The latest acquisition dancing to the Samba beat is Gilberto dos Santos Souza Junior.

Let's sum up what we know. He's Brazilian. At soon-to-be-25, he's not exactly young, not quite old. He's an interesting physical specimen at 6-2, 180. He's a holding midfielder. He last played for Clube Atletica Sorocaba in the Campeonato Paulista. That's the top flight not in Brazil, but in the state of Sao Paolo, though it does includes games against giant clubs like Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos and Sao Paolo. 

We also know that he's not this Gilberto (Silva, formerly of Arsenal). Or this one, though they may have played together at America Mineiro. Or this one. Or this one, though someone earlier today erroneously updated the current club to the Union. (And why were so many babies born in 1976 named Gilberto?)

We know he played 16 games and scored one goal this year for Sorocaba, per the Union release. Per this source, it's the only goal he's scored in 63 league matches in his career spread across a variety of competitions, from six matches in Serie A with Mineiro in 2011 to a stint in Serie D the previous season. So let's use a couple of videos (at bottom of post).

Here's what else is known. Gilberto was deemed important enough to occupy an international roster spot. By my reckoning -- and reinforced by the team sheet the Union distributed against Stoke City Tuesday with a column listing "status" -- Gilberto is the sixth international player on the team. The others: Fellow Brazilians Fabinho and Kleberson, Keon Daniel, Roger Torres and Oka Nikolov. Of the group, four have been acquired by Hackworth in 14 months. Four are midfielders.

You can debate what the ramifications of the Gilberto signing are. Whether or not he plays a role this season remains to be seen. It should be noted that both of his countrymen had international experience before coming to the Union this season, surely helping them integrate into the side faster. The midfield is crowded as it is, so a move to clear space could be coming (and I think of the above list, the target to be moved on is pretty obvious and logical).

Could he be viewed as a possible long-term replacement for Brian Carroll? Maybe. But for the time being, adding another midfielder for a team already scrambling to shoehorn three forwards onto the field on a regular basis doesn't seem to be one the club envisions as having an immediate impact.

Also this video from Vimeo that can't be embedded here