No love for Taylor Washington. Tsk tsk. Then there was that other, more recent time. https://www.philadelphiaunion.com/post/2017/01/13/meet-philadelphia-unions-2017-superdraft-picks
Worst part of modding: the parents screaming from the sidelines. Best part of modding: Carding snotty teenagers. Average day at the office: Merging double
There's a real sense of apathy from the fans this season. No one is screaming for Jim's head because, frankly, there's less and less people really paying attention. There's no hope that were gonna be a contender, and people are already checking out on the season. What little excitement there was has already been drained limping out of the gate. 3 goals in 3 games is close to the worst in the league. I'm not saying there won't be a turnaround if the team picks it up, but there's no disappointment if no one was optimistic to begin with
Watching attendance will be interesting this year. Also how the FO responds ... or doesn't. I think Sak's ego was the driver of a lot of decisions -trying to fill seats or deflecting criticism of his poor decision making. He never had a long term plan and never big picture to prepare for the 4th or 5th move. (BTW, have all the legal issues w/Nowak ben resolved?) For me, it's Earnie's project now, not Curtin's. If he or Shuggie are unhappy w/Curtin, I'm hoping they identify the replacement (or are at least in talks with candidates) before pulling the trigger. That's a solid metric to see if things have really changed.
Yes, and despite my disappointment at the draft in not taking Vincent over Rosenberry, they definitely made the right draft day decision. It was quite a decent haul for the first round! Honestly, the equivalent of three years of very good first round picks.
I hope Earnie realizes that the fan base is growing weary. People didn't grow up living and dying with the union, so our patience isn't at eagles rebuild level yet. Ten years of being not good isn't gonna cut it. I, for one, don't give a flying shit about the academy. I don't care about selling players, or lining ownerships pockets. We have the best academy in the league, but one the worst teams. Sounds great...
I feel like the recent updates and events adding to the gameday experience - food trucks, skydivers, pregame banners held by the fans, etc - are trying to draw people in, despite the on-field success, or lack thereof.
Getting back to the topic of the thread, I think Curtin gets until Yaro and Edu return to see what he can do. If he continues to crap the bed with the same tactics up to that point the seat is a lot hotter but if he is able to get them to post a few wins in the interim he will have a few more games to see what he can do. There is no telling what the actual time line is for return of those 2 but I'd guess mid-season. Of course, if there happens to be a former AZ coach who Ernie knows from his time there who would consider coming to the states we may have a snap change.
Don't worry, once JC gets canned in June, the Union FO will go on an exhaustive international search for a world-class manager. In July, the assistant to the traveling secretary will be named interim manager. In September, the Union will lose in the Open Cup final at home and miss the playoffs by 1-point. But at least we have a chief tattoo officer, right???
JC. Not really bad, but the fact that he might need to rely on the Union's current grifter for success. Sucks for him.
I'm not getting why Edu would be considered a "grifter". By all accounts both fracture injuries are due to him trying to come back too soon. He's been asked to play out of position and done so without griping (at least not publicly). No one would argue the fact that his time here has been a disappointment, but that's a pretty inaccurate label IMO.
Edu has been hurt. Its sports that happens. I have a hard time being upset at Edu for that. Its not his fault also that when he became available that the U targeted him because the price tag and the name made it look like the Union were "doing something" without busting the bank. You could really ask whether Bradley delivers value equal his much higher cost as well. In terms of apathy, yeah I feel it too. We had a little over 16k paid for game one. Its out there and I'm not sure the event additions really address that stuff. There's no buzz, identity, or something to feel excited about. There's no personality. The lineup choices are confusing, the squad make up confuses me, and the style of play is painfully predictable. This team is getting lapped by every expansion team that's come in around the same time. Seattle, good from the start won multiple cups, engaged suppoters. Portland, won MLS cup, great stadium and identity. Vancouver, had some exciting teams, engaged support. Montreal, has some exciting players and took advantage of the Mickey Mouse Canada cup to make real noise in the CCL. Atlanta, f-ing Atlanta set a record for STHs and spent $8m on one transfer fee, the team is stacked. Minnesota sucks but its getting an amazing facility as a home stadium. Orlando made a splash for Kaka, did consistently well at the gate and now has what I think is the best stadium in the league with plenty of demand to seat more people. FFS, we have a decent stadium in a vacant lot with a nice backdrop almost 20 miles from the city center, consistently bad teams, falling attendance, and an academy that may or may not be awesome and may or may not bear fruit some day. Derrek Jones is a nice player and I hope he's a sign of things to come, but we need something sexier than a holding mid.
D-mid is like my favorite position. If I could roll out Jones, McCarty, Juninho, and Schweinsteiger I would just do it and be like "Screw tactics, screw set pieces, go total football that shit and let me know what happens."
You can only do so much with hype, gimmicks and puffball stories on the website. A compelling product on the field is what I need to stay engaged. That is possible even when the team is not that successful (e.g., Le Toux before he lost his touch, Nogueira's first season). Winning helps, of course. Not confident Curtin can create a team that is 'compelling'.
Union have a core base of "true believer" fans. I'm guessing because of how the team came into existence. They're willing to go along with basically anything the team does... they're still just happy to have a team. They'll paint murals and write fan fiction, then post about it on Reddit.
I love the position too, you need guys doing dirty work but they are best when the guys in front of them can make something of their hard work.
As delusional as they can be sometimes, it's probably better than sitting around moping day after day.
I don't disagree with the overall assessment, but the 3 goals in 3 games "being close to worst in the league" is silly.... we are level with 6 teams, and ahead of 5 others when it comes to goals scored. it just sucks because aspiration seems so low... we are basically an MLS 1.5 team... and the league as a whole is moving onward to 3.0 and beyond..... the only real teams stuck in 1.0 or "1.5" territory are probably the Revs, Colorado and Chicago... not the best company. it is what it is... we joined in 2010 when the league was just beginning to get to that 2.0 phase and starting to stabilize, and we (the fans) are sort of a victim of that... I'm convinced at this point we would have been better off with a later entry.
Fill in the blank after that... ...can rotate the lineup ...can use all three subs ...can not make a sub at 60th minute ...can insert an offensive minded sub prior to the 89th minute ...owns any pants that are not "skinny" ...can make half-time adjustments ...can change tactics ...can remember any sequence of numbers other than 4,2,3,1 (probably his password) ...will not insist on at least one stupid dead ball trick play a game