Philadelphia Union (4-1-2-3)

MacMath

Gaddis-Okugo-Wheeler-Williams

Carroll

Edu-Nogueira

Maidana-Casey-Wenger

Bench: Blake, Le Toux, Lahoud, Hoppenot, Berry, Fabinho, Fernandes.

Houston Dynamo (4-4-2)

Hall

Sarkodie-Taylor-Horst-Ashe 

Driver-Clark-Garcia-Cascio 

Bruin-Barnes

Bench: Deril, Cochran, Lopez, Carrasco, Creavale, Sherrod, Cummings. 

- The thought midweek was that there was a plan in place with John Hackworth’s starting XI against New York to rotate the squad. He followed through on that with a handful of changes, including the reintroduction of Conor Casey, Brian Carroll and Sheanon Williams after rests.

- The chemistry in the center of defense will be a key today for the Union. The position next to Amobi Okugo has been rotated often this young season, and the relationship between he and Austin Berry, and he and Aaron Wheeler has been underwhelming. With Wheeler back in the fold today (an interesting commentary on Berry’s place), they will have to be much better against an experienced strike tandem like Will Bruin and Giles Barnes, which can break you down a number of ways.

- Sebastien Le Toux gets a day off, which could be beneficial for him long-term, as he hasn’t exactly wowed of late. Le Toux’s absence on corners, where his delivery is occasionally sub-par, will be helpful, especially with Vincent Nogueira or Cristian Maidana taking over.

- At some point after his acquisition, you had to think you’d see Andrew Wenger as a wide forward in a 4-3-3.

- Both goals against New York came from untenably large pockets of space in front of the back four. The Union can ill-afford to replicate those mistakes today, especially with Oscar Boniek Garcia slotted into the center of midfield with Brad Davis out. That eases the burden on the fullbacks – though Tony Cascio can be a handful – but raises the onus on players in the center of the pitch.

- The battle today could very well be won in the middle of the pitch. The Union possess a manpower advantage there, with Carroll, Maurice Edu and Vincent Nogueira patrolling the area against Ricardo Clark and Garcia. However it happens, the Union’s personnel needs to have a better push forward and be more responsible tracking back if they want to end their winless ways.

The Union are certainly putting a major emphasis on this year’s MLS SuperDraft (Thursday, Noon), and not just because it’ll be hosted by the city of Philadelphia.

Brek Shea, a No. 2 pick of the
not-too-distant past. (AP)

So let’s look at some historical perspective. The connection between the No. 1 pick and the most successful career in a draft is tenuous at best. Only once has the No. 1 pick been MLS rookie of the year – it’s a name Union fans have a piqued interest in, Maurice Edu in 2007. On only one occasion has the No. 2 pick turned into the rookie of the year (Jay Heaps in 1999), and never has the No. 6 pick been crowned MLS’s top rookie. That doesn’t mean there’s hasn’t been quality available at both spots, especially for attack-minded players at No. 2.


The Union have never held the No. 2 pick; the only time they’ve ever picked sixth was in 2010, when they got Amobi Okugo.

Here’s a look at some notable recent picks at each position: 

Recent No. 2s 

2013: Carlos Alvarez, M, Chivas USA
2012: Darren Mattocks, F, Vancouver
2011: Darlington Nagbe, F, Portland
2010: Tony Tchani, M, New York
2009: Sam Cronin, M, Toronto
2008: Brek Shea, M, Dallas
2007: Bakary Soumare, D, Chicago
2006: Mehdi Ballouchy, M, Real Salt Lake
2005: Brad Guzan, M, Chivas USA
2004: Chad Marshall, D, Columbus
2003: Ricardo Clark, M, NY/NJ

Recent No. 6s

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I strongly debated writing this post, if only because to opine on the events of the Philadelphia Union’s 1-0 loss to Houston Saturday would further preserve the game for posterity. It wasn’t a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination, two severely depleted teams with low morale desperately trying to carve out a result. What went wrong for the Union? Oh let me count the ways.

It was a tough day at the office for Conor Casey
and a makeshift Union lineup against Houston.
(Associated Press)

- Let’s get the crux of the problems out of the way. Houston was missing Will Bruin, Brad Davis, Corey Ashe and Kofi Sarkodie. The Union were without Jack McInerney, Keon Daniel, Kleberson, Danny Cruz and Michael Farfan. Sounds a lot like the first names you’d call if these two teams were drafting a schoolyard pick-up game. It was difficult to expect much beautiful or even coherent soccer from those two deficient sides Saturday. On that count, they delivered.

- I know it’s making the best of a bad situation. But you have to strenuously question John Hackworth’s formation. A central forward pairing of Conor Casey and Aaron Wheeler supported by “wingers” Sebastien Le Toux and Antoine Hoppenot. He gets away with fielding a defensively suspect side because of Houston’s atrocious attack (more on that momentarily). But the idea that somehow a bunch of forwards thrown haphazardly together and moving more or less in concert towards goal will translate into goals is seriously flawed. Casey was facing a second 90-minute run out in 90-degree heat in four days. Wheeler admitted last week that his fitness wasn’t all there yet, not to mention the sizable redundancy in the skill sets of the two front-runners. Hoppenot with 90 minutes to run aimlessly at guys was ineffective, squandering chances to shoot or cross on the rare occasions he found space. And we haven’t even gotten to the lack of possession (a paltry 38.6 percent with 71 percent passing efficiency) in a midfield that was just Brian Carroll and Leo Fernandes.
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