He was pretty good at killing a game at the corner flag and wasting time I suppose... Beyond that... Its obvious why the Union were bad. A hefty number of their regulars are now in the USL, NASL, or out of soccer altogether...
If you haven't heard this week's "It's Always Soccer in Philadelphia" podcast with @Boyertown2003 , Dave Zeitlin and Matt DeGeorge, check it out. They count down the Top 25 "Most Union Moments in Franchise History." Definitely for the uber-fans (that's you if you're reading this) and definitely worth a listen. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
On the other hand, these guys can easily get themselves jobs at the White House when this is all over.
Nice to see the national media calling out Sugarman & Company. http://www.espnfc.us/major-league-s...-shows-mls-clubs-must-adapt-or-be-left-behind "The Philadelphia Union, meanwhile, have consistently flirted with taking their own fanbase for granted while nickel-and-dime-ing on the roster and leaving their coaches exposed to the consequences. Time will tell if Earnie Stewart's MLS version of Moneyball improves them -- on paper the roster is the best it has ever been -- but in a way, there's only so much he and coach Jim Curtin can do. The owners have to demonstrate that they have learned the lessons of the Nick Sakiewicz era, or the Union could be headed for the type of long, slow drift that has marked the likes of New England and latterly D.C. United."
"Headed for"? And I'd argue that, despite out relatively greater defensive depth this year, we had a stronger roster last year with Barnetta.
This year's roster is garbage, and what isn't garbage is left to rot by an inept coach and his equally inept staff. We were better last year because we had seasoned professionals that knew how to grab games by the balls and make things happen. They didn't need "development" or training by Coach Clueless. Now that those players are largely gone, you see the real ineptness apparent in our coach and his staff. They can't build anything. They were just coasting by on the leadership of guys like Barnetta. So yeah, maybe "on paper" we have more talent, but its talent that needs coaching and there's the rub.
Hold up.....Or should I Hold The Toast? Other then Barnetta, who are the Union missing from last season's team? Are you saying you are missing Brian Carroll, Fabinho, Sebastion LeToux??? Are you saying that these players would make THAT big of difference this season? The Union STILL lack a reliable stone cold finisher, and a number 10. Barnetta was a converted wide player (he is likely the most talented and accomplished player to wear a Union shirt). Face it, the Union are a medicore MLS team. They are part of the pack that will either finish a few points above or below the playoff line. They are both far from the worst and best team in the league.
With Barnetta and Nogueira we had 2 creative players with the vision and skills to change games. In MLS that is enough to compete. Not sure how often they both saw the field together and were in form, though.
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/soccer/philadelphia-union-haris-medunjanin-bosnia-israel-spain-maccabi-tel-aviv-lionel-messi-world-cup-20170804.html From Bosnian war to Philadelphia peace, the lifelong journey through soccer of the Union's Haris Medunjanin August 4, 2017
894577364117716992 is not a valid tweet id The season started on March 5th. The team has to play 17 games away from "Fortress Talen"
Team can't even keep good journalists around :/ Congrats Kevin though! Happy to announce that I'm going to @CrossingBroad to take a full time gig covering the Sixers, Eagles, and pretty much everything else— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) August 31, 2017
Kinkead, paraphrased in his final piece on the Union beat: Stop giving them your money. An open letter to @PhilaUnion fans@Kevin_Kinkead https://t.co/KwdSGmb9tk pic.twitter.com/NbsPCRsiSB— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) August 31, 2017 Honestly, not scathing enough.
Amazing promotion for Kevin. He deserves it. That being said, the Union's media coverage gets that much smaller. So many people who used to cover this team have moved on, or cut back drastically on their coverage. Tough to sell people on a losing team. Tougher to sell people on it when no one's covering it.