If the kids already there can’t get minutes, I don’t think adding De Vries to the equation makes it better for anyone. Someone needed to be sold, and De Vries made sense because he was already on loan to Europe.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/best-xi-top-eastern-and-western-conference-players-thus-far I had Brooks Lennon in the first draft of this column. The Atlanta United man has arguably been the best chance creator from the outside back/wingback position in MLS in 2022. Thing is, no right back is even remotely close to being the defender Harriel has been for the Union. The 21-year-old Homegrown won the job and he’s done everything Jim Curtin’s asked and much more. Here’s how he ranks in defensive actions among right backs with more than five games played at the position: Tackles: 1st Interceptions: 1st Clearances: 1st Duels: 1st Aerials: 2nd Recoveries: 4th Blocked crosses: 1st That speaks for itself. CONFIRMED: he’s got that dawg in him (and the Union academy is a dang pipeline).
Harriel and Flach in the lineup as usual against New England. Paxten Aaronson is also starting for the first time in MLS this season.
Philly's time to shine Starting XI by club:-Philadelphia Union (4) (!!!)-LA Galaxy-New York Red Bulls-Chicago Fire-San Jose Earthquakes-Real Salt Lake-Club Brugge-Orlando City https://t.co/WrNCfLHZUa— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) June 20, 2022
Olympic hopefuls & MLS-ready: Meet the Philadelphia Union's next homegrown wave Tom Bogert with a piece on Paxten Aaronson, Nathan Harriel, Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, and Brandan Craig.
Thought the comments on McGlynn were interesting. Tanner's probably talking his own book but it would be nice if he gained some athleticism (obviously).
Is that a lot it seems like a lot Philadelphia Union players have now accounted for 48% of the #USMNT U-20’s goals in Honduras. Crazy.— Larry Henry Jr (@lhenry019) July 2, 2022
The @PhilaUnion academy effect on the 🇺🇸 U20s:🇺🇸 Quinn Sullivan (18)⚽️ 6 goals🅰️ 4 assists🥇 Golden Boot leader🇺🇸 Paxten Aaronson (18)⚽️ 5 goals🅰️ 1 assists🇺🇸 Jack McGlynn (18)☑️ 3 starts, 1 goal🇺🇸 Brandan Craig (18)💯 5 clean sheets🐍🔥 pic.twitter.com/1nEhgm67xG— Football Wonderkids (@fbwonderkids) July 2, 2022
They need to start moving some of this along. They are getting to the point where they are producing enough good players where they are going to completely waste some good talents careers or are going to see none of the start of the careers of some of them. Matt Freese will be 24 in two months. He's one of the better GK's in MLS, but sits behind arguably the best. He cannot stay as Blake's backup for much longer. He has to leave, if Blake stays. He cannot be a backup for this club next season. Cole Turner is another one. He turns 21 in a few days. I've watched him a bunch in his USL stints. He's too good for that league. He'd be playing regular minutes for a lot of MLS teams. He normally can't even make the match day squad when everyone is fit for this team. He has to leave the club. He's not going to break in. Some of these U-20's are going to be in the same boat. These kids have interest from Europe. I believe 2 of the 4 have access to EU passports (Sullivan and McGlynn), while one has access to an English passport (Craig). Aaronson also won't struggle for European internet, so the lack of a passport won't matter much. These kids don't love the club so much that they are going to stay around forever to wait their turn. They will start to consider exploring other options abroad, if their minutes with the first team don't start seeing an uptick. I think the timelines might be a little different for all of them, but they aren't 16 years old. All these guys would be playing minutes for almost every team in the league. The club needs to start finding more minutes for them. Otherwise, they will leave without playing a big part for the club.
The real battle today... Two @PhilaUnion products have been on 🔥 for the @USYNT at the Concacaf U-20 tournament🇺🇸 Who will finish as the tournament's top scorer? pic.twitter.com/A3sXnWJjUJ— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 3, 2022
I’d say for Philly academy fans the biggest event today is then being in the MLS Next u17 final and it hasn’t been mentioned once on here surprisingly… go Crew
Paxten Aaronson: 7 goals, 1 assistQuinn Sullivan: 6 goals, 3 assistsJack McGlynn: 2 goalsBrandon Craig: 2 assistsPhiladelphia Union players: 15 goals, 6 assists at the CONCACAF U-20 Championships— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) July 4, 2022
I wonder how long they can use their position in the table as an excuse to not play these kids. Being on top of the east is kind of an illusion. They're around tied or below 7 other teams between the conferences. They play in the weaker 1. And they have 2 wins in their last 12 games, w/ 1 victory was at the death. They're coasting almost entirely off 5 wins and a draw in their first 6 games. Since they've been among the weaker teams in MLS. At least they should be starting one right away, making another a rotational guy, and the 3rd a super sub. They can stagger it. But so far they've done practically nothing. It's a double-edged sword they were so willing to release, because it reflected how little these players were valued to their present interests.
I agree with you. Replace Blake with a merely slightly-above-average MLS keeper and Philly is a mid-table team. But Blake keeps pulling them out of the frying pan. Philly is trending toward Chicago Fire-level bad to watch going forward. They willl not win MLS Cup without integrating a bit more offensive talent into the squad. And for them, that means playing their youth.
Philadelphia Union come back from 2 goals down to win the U17 MLS NEXT Cup Final 3-2. TOO MUCH HEART 💙💛TOO MUCH GRIT 😤TOO MUCH TALENT 🤩MEET YOUR U17 @MLSNEXT CUP CHAMPS! #DOOP | #BabySnakes pic.twitter.com/XOpDlkt2ux— Philadelphia Union Academy (@phlunionacademy) July 4, 2022
I'm not an expert on the U age groups but I watched some of it and the U17s looked really good. I wish the senior team looked like that more often. Just constantly lethal on the break. I think the biggest issue on the senior team is the lack of consistently dangerous offensive production from the 8s. Bedoya can still do something once in a while in the final third, but he is not that dangerous in the middle of the pitch and is also 35. And Flach is just a total black hole on offense. If we sell Wagner he should move to LB, and once we sell Martinez then he came become the 6. The REAL interesting thing for Curtin is that all the current HGs are not perfect fits for solving that problem. So I was wondering if there are any legit prospects in the age groups who project to be a pure 8 in the Unions system, preferably one who can actually produce on offense as well as being the great pressing midfield Curtin requires his midfielders to be.
If you and wait until 2026 and after you will see it all of the time. Remember, the pro youth pipeline has JUST STARTED PRODUCING. When Puli, Adams and Wes are 30 they will have a full fledged body of players from the top down. Right now it‘s just a bunch of young guys learning as they go, who have rarely been able to play together with the full crew (Dest, Musah, Reyna, Richards). Enjoy.
The U-17's have a lot of guys that can play, but I think it's probably going to end up being a less consequential age group than the 03's/04's, and then the current U-15's (07's and then 3/4 08's and the '09). I really liked their '06 age group, and then they decided to make all sorts of positional changes for some of their best prospects in that age group that haven't worked out. Both '05 and '06 aren't bad, but as far as I'm concerned the 05's stagnated a little and the 06's the club messed up. It'll still yield some players, and their best '05 IMO has been missing for months (I think he's injured). I think this may be a Championship age group you look back on any say that they had a number of names you recognize eventually, but not many players the caliber of McGlynn, Aaronson, Sullivan, and Craig.
I think Stefan Chirila (‘07) could be that player eventually. He can also play as a #6 or even a #10. Takes free kicks also for the U-15’s. Loves to shoot. Shoots too much IMO. Henry Bernstein (‘07) also can play as a #8, but I find him more passive and not as skilled offensively. He’s probably more of a #6 eventually.
Reminds me of the challenges that FCD was having years ago when they couldn't find time for Cannon, Pomykal, Ferreira, Reynolds, etc. over a couple year stretch. Philly is in the same boat. They're legitimately in the Supporter's Shield hunt with the guys that are getting playing time. FCD was gunning for trophies (semifinal of the CCL, etc.) when they were going thru this. So I get the challenge.......................... Its one thing to have a great academy and a nice conveyor belt of talent. The next step is going "whole-hog" and make them consistent starters in the league. And yes, the truth is that once they're getting lots of playing time..............Philly is going to be forced to sell them. FCD gave a lot more time to their generation of 01-03s. Then the challenge became that they sold or loaned them all out to Europe, leaving a gap. Some others left for bigger challenges. We'd think of FCD's influence on this U20 team as more substantial if Che, Gomez, maybe Sealy, etc. were on it. But they're all gone.