Philadelphia Union - 2014 Roster

Shame. It's very entertaining. How else are you going to know what Katie made Jack for dinner, why Hannah changed her hair color (and what Sheannon thinks about it) and what days Kendall has off so she can spend time with Seba?

 

no stalking. dudes walk off right in front of me

 

Now if THEY were pictured in the bath, I could be persuaded.

 

I was just watching CSN Philly's morning highlights of the Union game and the hostess literally said that new signing "Arsène Wenger" was not available due to a red card suspension. But, right now on the other channel he is coaching on the sidelines in the city of Liverpool--I think that's the real reason why he was unavailable yesterday.

 

Why couldn't the Keon situation get handled by the front office before the compliance deadline? If you're just going to cut a player, why wait until after?

 

Because it's the Union?

 

Keon leaves and the Union gets nothing in return. Pretty standard fare for this team.

 

There are a lot of "Most" gone from here. "the most talented", the "most MLS ready", etc. etc.

 

I had frankly forgotten that Keon was still on the team until this news broke. At least White makes the 18.

 

riiiiiinnnnnggg
"Hello, this is Dom"
"Dom! Buddayyy! How's things?"
"What do you want Hack, isn't there a U-12 team you could be scouting?"
"For sure, for sure, listen, in a jam, we're kinda capped out apparently, and I was wondering if you'd be up for sayyyy, a supplemental pick in 2016 for a capped international."
"What?! You ditched Kleberson, we all laughe...wait a second. You mean Keon. ******** off."
"Noooo, but yeah for sure, even I know Blake an Edu have value so how abou...click.......hello?"

riiinnngg
"This is Olsen"
"Benny!! My man. How's life in DC? Have I ever told you how much I respect you as a coach and a human being?"
"Really John? Gosh thanks. Cause I've been getting blasted for that Parke deal down here. "
"Noooo, for sure, that was a good deal for both teams. You got a lot of veteran savvy. I'm in a bit of a jam with an international player, just cant seem to find room and I'm looking to score some MLS magic beans Al O'Cayshun, can you feel me?"
"Wait...Keon? Dude, we play you. You know that right? Like, we've seen him, you know, on the field, in kit, jah dreads flowin'. No way"
click

"Hey Keon...yeah, we're not feeling you bro. Gotta term the contract for sure. No, it's definitely you, not us."

 

Sounds reasonable. Perhaps they held onto him this long in hopes for a trade. When it became apparent that all options were exhausted I suppose the only logical thing to do was allow him to move on?

 

I'm annoyed at this.

Last year, he was played as a creative midfielder, which he clearly as not. However, he played well at LM under Nowak. He tracks back more than any other wide player we have, and his bread and butter was short, composed passes.

I'd much rather see him come on in the 65th-70th minute than Bone, Cruz, or Hoppe.

At worst, he was cheap, left-footed depth. Wasn't he making under $90k?

 

Last year he was often called out as a poor midfielder in a poor midfield on the 14th best team in a 19 team league. Mostly, because, he was. We'll always have the visa issues of 2011, c'est la vie Keon.

 

Might be able to sign a new international player with KEon's exit.

 

I'm all for getting an international striker who would fit in the 4-2-3-1 formation we seem hell bent on sticking with. Realistically, it should be possible to find some Argentine/Brazilian forward for $200K that could help the team.

 

I've been following the Union for a long time, nearly since it's creation I believe, but I didn't watch a lot of game this past year. Lost track a little bit and now I see how the roster evolved and I'd like to post some of my feelings about it.

GK: McMath looks like he continues to improve and it seems he can become a very good GK in this league. You might argue he already is. I don't know Blake, but being a year older than McMath, I expect it's gonna be tough for him to get the spot in the starting 11.

Defence: Lot of depth, every player look like they can contribute (White, Berry, even Wheeler who impressed me a lot on his last stretch of games in this position).

Midfield: I'm french so I'm pleased to see Nogueira playing for the Union. He was a solid midfielder in the French Ligue 1 and is in his prime as he's only 26. With Edu and Carrol, it looks quite impressive. I also always like Le Toux, wherever on the field he's playing. I don't much about Maidana so I'll wait to see more of him.

Attack: This is the part that needs to improve. I actually like the McInerney trade, I think it's going in the good direction. With Hackworth's system, it just wasn't a fit. He wasn't enough physically strong to play as the lone striker, and his lack of technic skills and activity made difficult for him to play on the wing. It looks like Wenger, even if he'll score less goals, he's a better fit. Also, with Keon gone, I expect a move to get a real striker now, because Casey he's not getting younger.

Excited to see what happens next.

PS: on a side note, the team I support in France have now a US national: Alejandro Bedoya. He looks like a good player, with a surprisingly good aerial ability for a guy of his height. We just have some trouble to determine where on the field is his better suited (right winger, central attacking midfielder, striker?) He's having an OK season thought (27 games - 5 goals).

 

It's obvious you didn't watch that much of last year if you have faith in Hack and his "system."

I don't see how a striker who scores less is a good fit when none of our mids are goalscorers. Are we just going to rely on corners?