Union's 2017 Schedule

In fairness to Barnetta, he played out his contract. He said when he signed that the plan was he was going to return to St Galen after his contract was up. Couple that with his knee condition, and the hope of him extending his stay here was highly unlikely.

Who knows with Ruiz. It felt like he was pushed out by King Piotr the Lesser, more then Ruiz asking to leave.

Valdez was basically damaged goods when he left. He has chronic knee issues which were exacerbated by playing in South America and the Union's lack of facilities/staff didn't help either. Also in fairness to Valdez.............would any of us have stayed in that situation? I mean the Nowak regime brought him here, and they were all let go. The team was an absolute shambles, plus Chester Park Bro! Nick Sak was running a muck as well.

I agree that the jury is still out on Bedoya, Medunjanin and Edu. We have to remember just how far this organization has come in the past 18+ months. When Curtin was named interim manager the organization was an absolute mess. Say what you will about Curtin learning on the job, his substitutions (or lack there of), line up choices and all, but he inherited a gigantic mess.

Think about it. 18 months ago this organization didn't have training fields, let alone a training complex or a USL team. Now it does. It also has a bonafide Sporting Director who knows what he is doing. Is it taking far longer than any of us would like? Yeah, it has/is, but this club had been an expansion team since 2010, or at least operating like an MLS 1.0 expansion team/USL team since joining the league.

We can at least see progress and the organization moving forward with a clear plan and direction that was sorely lacking before Earnie Stewart was hired/Nick Sak was asked to leave.

 

I agree with everything you say except I still feel like this team is behind almost everyone else except for a few. I'm being too hard on em, but looking at the rest of the teams in the league, its hard to feel like we are on their level. All I see is another year has arrived and we still haven't signed a game changer. We just sign players to patch the hole over and over again. Do you really think we are better this year? I mean, I hope so I just don't see it. We need new owners. Ones with money

 

I agree with you. The Union have been playing catch up since they entered the league. Unfortunately it's going to take a few more seasons for the Academy to really start producing enough talent to help this team compete regularly. I honestly feel that with Earnie at the helm, the Union and it's Academy will produce and develop 1st team MLS players on the regular. The question is: Can they sign the diamonds in the rough, unknown players to supplement the youth and move the team forward to compete for and win trophies?

Is this team better then last season? I'd say they are, BUT the rest of the teams in the league have improved as well. You are correct that the lack of signing a TRUE game changer is handcuffing this team. If the Union had a player in Mauro Diaz' level, they'd be a playoff team for certain. The Union have a solid team, but that lack of a game changer is the difference between wins, losses and draws. Curtin says it repeatedly: The Union need EVERY player to be on in order to compete game in, game out. When one or more players is even slightly off the Union struggle mightily, and painfully for us fans. Having a Game Changer helps to negate the off to bad performances of the others.

We need Owners who have more money, and who can compete on the Merrit Paulson/Del Loy Hanson level. Let's face it, the Union and most of the league for that matter, can't compete with the two LA teams, NYCFC, TFC and ATL when it comes to spending resources. Though it must be said, SKC's owners have money and they don't sign high priced talent.....so it can be done.

 

Union are "potentially" deeper. Better? Time will tell.

 

We already know they will have to get a lot of breaks to make the playoffs, and also compete on the road. They need to have outstanding form at Home (true for ALL MLS teams) in order to have a shot. In recent years, their home form hasn't been consistent enough.

I'm just happy that March 11 I'll be in Section 138 again with my friends and passionately cheering/jeering our team on.

 

They could start ok.....they could be 0-4 and Altidor.

I'm going to remind folks that for all the abuse the scorers took......Philly wasn't bottom of the league offensively. Owen Goal only had 2.
The collapse occurred because the best defense in the East by the time they faced the Rapids imploded in the second half under the weight of injury and schedule.

People can wonder about Jay vs. CJ. I wonder how the back is any better......there is still no 6. The CB pair may be even slower. Fabinho is definitely older.

Now; add in no established #10. The guy who was earmarked to play it said in so many words today he doesn't want it. Single high strikers are by their natures " no shoes, no shirt- no service" kinds of players. Given the formation demanded....left kind of wondering where the consistent help is going to come from.

I believe they are all reasonable concerns. The elephant in the room for me is Blake-and what's going on with his contract situation. I strongly suspect the carpet will be pulled out from under this club come July if Andre is indeed allowed to walk free at season's end. Letting that happen would be inconsistent with everything I've ever heard about Stewart. How much worse are they defensively when #18 isn't there? We'll get a small sample size during international windows.......

Given "things I think I think".............I would honestly tell all without apology I'm more excited for the return of MLS as a whole than I am about the Union right now. I really like the dynamics of the league, and I'm looking forward to seeing even greater quality across the country than perhaps has ever graced it before.

Like LFD; the biggest fear is being left behind. From afar, I just don't understand this ownership beyond the point that it goes against everything I've ever believed as a sports fan. This is year 8. It's all come full circle for me. Time to put up. (points)

 

Because he's a goalkeeper. He probably wants out too ha

 

I'm not sure many people remember Curtin repeating every press conference at the beginning of last year his goal of averaging a goal conceded per game. We were averaging that for a while (was it up until the centenario break?) and then fell embarrassing off the pace.

 

I guess this seems right the right thread for it, but there should be more pressure on Earnie to start producing. His signs so far have been a series of question marks. Anderson was a waste of space, Alberg doesn't fit the team's tactics, Ilsinho has a pretty dribble but no end product in the final third, Simpson is a giant gamble that doesn't look like the finisher we need, Gili is a backup that didn't do much in the preseason to earn a starting spot, Picault has been accused of being lazy with a bad attitude in the past, Gooch is a good veteran presence but doesn't look like a starter, and Haris may or may not fit our system but is currently set to play out of position. He's taken a whole lot of risks and ignored one of the biggest holes in the team (the 6). If these gambles don't work out, blame has to start to fall on his recruitment.

 

Looks like we need a "Fire Ernie" placeholder thread up and running. I was thinking the other day that the BS viewers were getting soft since there wasn't one already up.

 

He still has that "New Sporting Director Smell" and the "Replaced Nick Sak" good graces....

 

Any and all blame I still put fully on Nik Sak. He started this prison of endless suffering club on his Amex after all.

 

Like it or not, Earnie has done exactly what was promised by bringing in relatively inexpensive underachievers, castoffs and those with alleged potential mired in lower divisions. There is a clear Moneyball business model in effect.

Note that the Oakland A's haven't made it to the World Series using the Moneyball model. . .

 

However, from 2000-2006 they made the playoffs 5 out of 7 years with one of the lowest (if not lowest) payroll in baseball. It's a lot harder to make the playoffs in MLB than MLS. Those were great teams, and as is pointed out in the book, playoffs are a small sample size, and thus... a crapshoot.

 

If the Union make the playoffs (like they did last season) for the next 4 out of 6 seasons without ever making it to MLS Cup once in that seven year period, will you be satisfied?

 

uhh........ NO!!!!!

 

Only if they managed to win some Shields or Open Cups in that time frame.

 

Nope, just a pet peeve when people bash the A's (see what I did there?) for never making the World Series, like that somehow diminishes their accomplishments.

A successfully run team in MLS should make the playoffs EVERY year (at least until less than half the teams make the playoffs).

 

I may be writing an article on Earnie and his performance for PSP. It may upset some of the blue and gold tinted glasses folk.

There will be accountability.

 

You're going to make me look again, aren't you?

 

Well, I've got to do some work on the research first, but Dan and I agree on the premise.

 

If the team tanks this year, the Charlie Davies for 2018 1st Round Pick could go down as the worst intra-league transaction in team history.