The Philadelphia Union Thread

BREAKING: Eintracht Frankfurt and the Philadelphia Union have an agreement in place for transfer of US wonderkid Paxten Aaronson, per sources. Deal around $4m + add-ons + sell-on %.

Aaronson, 19, won Golden Ball at Concacaf U20 championships. Medical + finalizing deal next week. pic.twitter.com/teTi6JVLXB

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) November 4, 2022

 

This feels a little premature. Paxten is ahead of where Brenden was at the same age, but Brenden had a massive jump as a player in 2020 that isn’t guaranteed to happen for Paxten. I doubt he will compete for Frankfurt right away and hope he gets a loan to a decent side rather than play for the reserves.

 

People who know more than me are saying he may be the replacement for their current 10 Kamada who seems to be leaving in the summer. That means 6 months this spring to train with the team, get acclimated, and get any sort of minutes he can to learn.

If that is the plan, it doesn't sound too bad. Of course it's a risk - but all moves are - and this is a much clearer runway for his success than "Just sit behind Gazdag for however long".

Frankfurt is also a well run, successful team that has risen from the ranks of mediocrity in recent years. They seem to have a plan in place and are a good team, so this certainly feels more like Scally and less like Pepi.

 

Shrug. Its the same problem that FCD had with young players like Chris Richards, etc. These kids are coveted by Europe, and they want to go. So what are you going to do? Stand in their way? I think we all know Sullivan and McGlynn will follow. Its a matter of when, not if, they go.

Paxten Aaronson isn't a 16 year old prospect. He's 19.

Could he not get playing time right away? Of course. Plenty of examples. For an FCD one.................Justin Che.

Its very difficult for any club to plan any future with the overwhelming majority of these elite kids. They're gone. You cash in and use that money to invest in your squad. Philly has done that well. FCD has done that well for the first time this year.

Its just the nature of the beast. Same thing happens in Argentina, Croatia, etc. etc.

 

I thought for sure Gazdag was gone after the final- I can't imagine they'll sell him now unless crazy money comes in (+10m). I'm happy for Paxten, he's a very nice player. I still think Brendan is the better of the two but they aren't competing against each other so there's no reason to compare them (until WC2026 when they are both vying for the #10). Hope he does well but I wish he stayed, and played, in Philly another year. This will be a huge jump in class.

 

Offensively, he's ahead. Overall, I doubt it.

I hope there's a plan for playing time.

 

I imagine his family wanted a plan of action before agreeing to the move. The Aaronson Dad is involved in a good way and understands the sport.

Kamada is out of contract in the summer with Frankfurt and has turned down contract extensions. With how lethal Paxten is in front of goal, he'll get a chance.

 

I heard it described the same; that Kamada is out in the summer, Gotze is 30 and has a injury history, and another attacker is a Dortmund loanee who isn't going to stay.

So based on the Aaronson family generally making good moves, I'd assume Frankfurt has laid out a pretty clear plan for Aaronson starting with integration in the spring.

 

Kobi Henry?

 

I doubt its in the spring. They'll have a plan, though.
If things go to plan I expect him to be on a Kevin Paredes timeline.
He only had a couple of token appearances last season after moving in January. Now he's being incorporated more in his second season.

Frankfurt just made the Round of 16 in the Champions League. They have a ton of money to spend on prime replacements for the veterans you mention.

Interestingly, Frankfurt was one of the Bundesliga clubs that decided to disband their reserve team. THey decided to restart it in 2022. But that meant they started at the bottom in the Hessenliga. So they're in the regional 5th tier of German soccer. Way down there. So hopefully the plan isn't to have him play with Frankfurt II in the spring.

 

Eintracht has been negotiating for Paxten before the CONCACAF Championships.

 

McGlynn starts MLS Cup. The usual players on the bench.

The Dream Final 🏆

📝👉 https://t.co/Azobqg9Vwc#StartingXI | #LAFCvPHI | #DOOP | @MLS pic.twitter.com/HSxzb3yRld

— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) November 5, 2022

 

Paxten comes on for McGlynn in the 83rd minute. Extra time ahead.

 

Paxten is behind Brenden. At 18-19, Brenden was a starter for Philly, helping lead them into the playoffs, and making an impact there. Paxten is a bit player.

But if he ends up at the right club in Europe, even if it's in a top 4 league like the BL, he could breakthrough there in short order. Things are sometimes not linear. A half season after Scally was a little used sub for NYCFC he was a starter for BMG.

 

Have you heard anything about the interest in Sullivan? He didn't even play today. A low-level, older prospect was favored over him. Is this a sign of an impending move? @ussoccer97531 claims Frankfurt wanted Sullivan too this summer. But netting Aaronson may make that landing spot less likely.

 

Curtin let 9 of 11 starters go the full 129mins. The RB was so gone in the final few minutes that he cost them the title. He had the ball in space, inexplicably flicked it up to himself, volleyed it out for a throw, got beat on the throw for the cross to Bale.

 

Liked what I saw out of McGlynn: his ability to progress the dang ball translates even against the best team in the league. He even made a couple defensive plays, so he wasn't totally athletically overmatched. Just on sheer on-field production, there's not a better MLS-based u-20 player right now.

 

I think we saw the good and the bad from McGlynn.
He does get easily muscled off the ball at times. That's something that can be fixed, though. But in offensive areas, he's really quite good.

Frankly, this whole schtick of Curtin using his starters the most of any MLS club...................came to bear in this final. He was reluctant to go to his bench. They were on the precipice of a title so its hard to criticize too much................but you HAVE to have guys on the bench that you can trust to get the job done. He didnt' seem to trust these guys when the moment really mattered.

Speaking as an FCD fan whose team has only ever come up short in the MLS playoffs......................it will always hurt. The "what ifs" will always be there. You remind people that your team won the USOC, SS, reached a semi of a CCL............and it doesn't matter. You have to lift that MLS Cup or there will always be that empty feeling.

THe parity in MLS is such that its extremely difficult to do what Philly has just done. They'll have to do it again as a bunch of these players won't be around next year, and others are aging.

The wheel of future will turn to another.

And yes, that wheel of fortune can turn to a club like LAFC. How many minutes did LAFC give to homegrown academy players this year?

Depends if we're talking about this MLS season. Slonina just had without a shadow of a doubt the best season by a teenage goalkeeper in MLS history. [Hamid, Howard, etc. didn't start full-time until they were 20.] Of course, Slonina is out the door.

THe "experts" agree with you, though. On MLS' 22 under 22 rankings Slonina was 4th. The top teenager. McGlynn was 10th. After them came Cowell, Sullivan, and Vargas. I do wonder how we'd view Vargas if he'd had a full MLS season. Cuz the season started on such a damn high for him.

 

I'm only just coming back online after going radio silent over the past 18 hours for obvious reasons, but yeah Curtins lack of rotation killed us, and not just based on last night.

Looking back at the last game of the season, up 4-0 against Toronto, putting Bedoya in for the last 30 minutes or so when he was coming back from injury, only for Bedoya to injury it again, and then miss most of the playoffs, is something I'll always look back on as an awful mistake from Curtin.

I understand when you have MVP candidates all over the field you want to ride them as far as you can, but it hurt us. It hurt us a lot.

 

Philly was literally two minutes from winning the title and still had penalties to win it against maybe the best team in MLS history in their stadium. Hard to say Curtin did anything wrong with playing time/rotation. They stayed incredibly healthy, even considering Bedoya's injury.