Philadelphia Union - 2014 Roster

I don't think Wenger will be used as a striker, but on the left wing. It's the reason I've said that this team now need to get a legit striker, a goal scorer. Also, scoring goals is not just about individual players and their personnal habilities. It's also the way you play as a team and you provide scoring touches for your forwards. That's why I think Wenger will be a good fit, he'll maybe score less than McInerney, but he'll have more inpact on every other aspect of the game. Now Keon Daniel's spot should be spent on a reliable scorer.

The team in my opinion should look like this:

--------------------McMath---------------------
Williams-----Okugo---Berry/Wheeler---Fabio
---------------Carroll-----Edu-------------------
Le Toux-----------Nogueira------------Wenger
----------------------Casey-----------------------

 

McMath
Williams Okugo Berry Fabio
Edu
Le Toux Fernandes Nogueira Maidana
Casey​

Tidied

 

Yea just saw this. Have a feel this won't sit well with people.

 

Nogs has 7 career goals and Edu has 14, right? (At work. Can't check). I don't think it is wise to assume that Hack and his great system will turn them into finishers.

We all know Seba is very streaky.

Leo could be a real option. Regardless, we can't depend on him to score the bulk of our goals.

 

I wish we had the personnel to play two forwards. I don't think our outside midfielders are getting it done to really work with only one striker up top.

 

good thing we just traded our leading goal scorer from last year. I said all along, when casey got healthy they needed to go with him and mac up front. oh well

 

But aren't 3 fwds better then 2? Maidana/Fernandes and LeToux have been deployed on the wings as forwards in a 4-3-3. With a proper holding striker in the middle, they will be able to in theory make runs off of that No. 9 to create scoring chances.

 

I was going by ZMan's estimation in the first post which said we had something sort of $200K left in salary cap space (and we have at least some allocation money that could be used if needed).

 

It works if you have the players on the wings who can beat defenders off the dribble and play combinations. The problem is that it hasn't created many goals, and it didn't for much of last season as well.

 

Well Fernandes can play combos, not sure about LeToux though.

Last season didn't we play a 4-4-2 and a 4-2-3-1? Well maybe it was a 4-1-3-2' except Keon kept tracking back deeper then BC for some strange reason.....

 

Perhaps not the 443, but I'm primarily thinking of Le Toux playing out wide and JacMac in the center (particularly the second half of the year).

 

I haven't seen Maidana play yet. Is he any good? He is a left winger right?

 

He had an excellent game and things started dropping off from there. He is/was injured though. So hopefully the Portland version of him returns.

 

Creepy? Speak for yourself.

 

Hack disagrees, and has said that he can play the lone striker role at his most recent press conference. The 4-5-1 lives!

Here's Wenger in training playing his new position.



Can't find him? Neither can the Union midfield.

McInerney on an island, Casey on an island, and now Wenger on an island. Rinse and repeat. The team is struggling to score goals so swap a guy who scores goals with a guy who doesn't and isolate him just the same. Makes sense. Irony is finally breaking the one goal cap on an attempted cross that takes a lucky bounce over the keeper.

Better players, worse results. Hacktics!

 

it goes back to Pajoy in an island too.

 

It seems like Wenger played everywhere on the field for Montreal (winger, central midfield, full back...). Not sure he's been used a lot as a striker though. That would explain his few number of goals. Maybe he'll play as the lone striker with the Union and in that case, I hope he'll be successfull even if I have my doubts.

Also, with Le Toux and Maidana playing, maybe the 4-5-1 will translate into a 4-3-3 on the offensive end. Last year, the system failed in my opinion because of the poor display of the midfielders (I like Carroll but he has no clue when it comes to create offence), and the defenders used long range passes way too often. With the midfield as it is now I trust the system to be more successfull (Nogueira and Edu are a major upgrade for this team).

 

Bundles of players (new/old) all want to be in the same spot(s) on the field. Simultaneously. Then there's LeToux. He has no set idea on anywhere he wants to be. RW an under appreciated need for this club. Particularly when left sided attacking options are limited to Maidana, Leo & Fab. *Assuming Wenger single high.

Union seem to be an outfit that brought in a good number of quality players w/o giving any real discernment into how it was ever going to fit together.

 

So, it seems with the updated/accurate salary info, we don't have any money to spend on a new mid-season acquisition without shedding salary, right? (Or, I guess, paying the entire salary with allocation money which sems unlikely.)

So, no reinforcements will be on the way.