Someone said earlier in the year something to the effect that Curtain was trying to ensure Philly's maximum place in the standings, and that playing and developing the youngsters wasn't a priority. I agreed to a point but it is important to take a broader view. First of all, aside from other obvious differences, MLS teams have two major goals....MLS cup and Supporter's shield. His job is to maximize the performance of the team in both efforts. Unfortunately, that may require some compromising. Older, or more injury prone players must be rested at times to preserve for the post season but are critical for the regular season as well. Playing young players may damage the prospects of hte team performance during the regular season while at the same time giving critical experience that may prove crucial during the post season. The biggest, most glaring issue that can be taken with any coach in this situation isn't as much how much to play the vets when a small mistake can make a big difference, but when the risks can be minimized. Risk can be minimized pretty much any time there is a multi goal lead in the second half of a game. Instead of giving 5 or 10 min (or even an injury time sub) with a 3 goal lead, that substitution could be made at the half or at 60 min. Of course, if Curtain really felt that his top young players would put the team at too much of a risk in situations like that, then perhaps he really doesn't have the confidence in those players and they need to move.
Yesterday was Brutal. Just ****ing.BRUTAL! That said, the Union finished tied with LAFC for most points. Lost out hosting the final to a tie breaker that pretty much no other league in the world uses as it's first tie breaker. They scored the most goals in the league, had the second best goal differential in league history, and gave up the fewest goals in a 34 game season in league history. Really the only marginally questionable decisions for MLS Cup were not making a late sub in AET after the go ahead goal. If for nothing other than to get fresh legs on the field. Hindsight says maybe sub in Real and Harriel for Wagner and M'Baizo who were both gassed. Bale's equalizer came from a cross from M'Baizo's mark, and the preceding throw in came from his tired clearance. He played a great game, but he was exhausted at the end. That said, I'm not sure Philly had any sub windows left to use. McGlynn played a good game. He's only going to get better. Bedoya's absence was clearly felt. Different player. His "Dirty Running" and defensive work really can't be understated. Wagner had to cover a lot more ground with McGlynn in from the start. Any other Eastern Conference team likely loses that final 2-0, 3-1 in regulation. Curtin's teams are probably the only team outside of the Galaxy that don't fear LAFC and the Banc. Philly had the bulk of possession in the game!!! They usually like to have about 30% possession, they had 55% possession. LAFC scored off of three restarts. McCarthy was not the MVP of that game either. The best players yesterday for LAFC were Ibeaga and Illie. Not taking anything away from McCarthy, but looking at the PK takers for Philly, it was inevitable that LAFC was going to take it.
Yup. That was a game that could have gone either way and there had to be a loser. It's just tough to take. I do think Curtin could have been more proactive with his subs. LAFC did have the deeper bench of experience. That's just how the teams were built differently. That whole sequence at the end looked like Philly was dead tired. It sorta reminds me of the USMNT against Portugal at the World Cup. The USMNT plays an amazing game against one of the best teams in the World. In a rain forest. At noon. And all anybody remembers is at the end an absolutely dead tired Michael Bradley running on fumes (who ran more in that event per game than another player on any team)...........gets outplayed by Ronaldo for the equalizing cross. All anybody is going to remember from that game and the season is that Gareth Bale goal. The bad part is that folks can't say "oh, these young players will all come back with more experience and we'll be better next year!!!" That's not how this works. Those young players will be gone. Ask FCD fans. The older players will be a year older. This is a league built on parity. The wheel of fortune will turn. What's great is that you can see in LAFC (and plenty of title winners before them like Portland.) that you don't have to use any academy or homegrown players to win trophies in MLS. But we have a group of clubs like Philly working hard to do it. They've gotten plenty of rewards, but that final accolade hasn't come yet. Nor has it for FCD. Nor did it for RSL or RBNY when they were the leading academy clubs.
That game wasn't played at noon.....Manaus is actually an hour ahead of EST....the game was played in Prime Time in the US, so that would it in the evening there, Still was played in rain forest. The US had used all three of their Subs as well. Two of those subs occurred a few minutes prior to the equalizing goal too.
Corey Burke to NYRB, so that in theory frees up the 3rd Striker in a Top 2 for the time being anyway.
I hope it goes to Sullivan or even, dreaming here, a HG deal for Pierre or Zambrano and we can work them in with a minor amount of minutes too. But unfortunately for the kids the most likely candidate is Riasco, the 19 year old from Venezuela we signed for 1 million last year. He started off slow in U2 but came on strong at the end of the year.
Sources confirm: New York Red Bulls finalizing signing of Jamaica int'l forward Cory Burke. The deal will be two years plus an option for 2025. @KristianRDyer first to report.Burke, 30, had 7g/5a in 1,177 mins for the Philadelphia Union last year. 25 career MLS goals. pic.twitter.com/GtQDINqMrJ— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) November 17, 2022 Not that @Kombucha needs confirmation
Zambrano signing isn't happening, unless there's a big change of plans. I genuinely have no idea why Riasco would get the spot over Sullivan. They are the same age, Sullivan was more productive for the reserves, he's already integrated into the first team, and has had some success with the first team. Riasco may be ahead of Pierre, but I don't see how they could justify Riasco ahead of Sullivan.
Official: https://www.philadelphiaunion.com/n...homegrown-paxten-aaronson-eintracht-frankfurt It's a big move, plenty of chances for it to go both ways. I think best case scenario is Scally. Spend 6 months with the team, get an off season, and then surprise everyone when given the chance.
Yup. I think that's a good timeline to shoot for. If he can get a token cap at the end of this season, all the better. (I think maybe Paredes got a bench appearance in that first spring season). Paxten is also a warning. Play your kids before they're gone, or you won't maximize their impact. Paxten Aaronson Philadelphia Union stat line: 4 goals 0 assists He's not a 16 year old prospect. He's 19.
I think him moving on now is good. I still don't quite get why Philly were so sparse in garbage time, in non-league games. I wonder what they are going to do with CCL next year. I will also say that while I saw plenty of good in his short time with Philly last year, the dude was definitely getting constantly bullied. He didn't have Brenden's impact in large part because of size and strength. Hopefully another year gets him there. I think he can be something pretty special. Any chance of time at Frankfurt?
They wanted to give him a hybrid contract where he would start in Next Pro, and then eventually move up to the first team. He didn’t want that. Likely has better options than that elsewhere, so he’d be taking a worse deal to stay with Philly. Can’t blame him.
Curtin believed they would win MLS Cup with veterans, and got close, but eventually not subbing Harriel in killed them. And there were no doubts that the combo of Paxten performance at the quals, and his last name would bring offers. Maybe Curtin thought that Aaronson overachieved at the quals?
Paxten Aaronson news:You already know the Union get $4 million up front.I understand the incentives could more than double the Union's total haul over time, but it is over time - not just one year.And the sell-on fee is over 20%:https://t.co/biLjbNNy3F(📸: @jomoreno007)— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) November 17, 2022
I time stamped it at a point where they talk about Paxten and also how many scouts are watching their practices. The beginning part of the presser Curtin goes into thanking a lot of the back room staff and speaks to the investments the ownership is making into the team and the academy.
Do you remember if the questions about Sullivan, McGlynn, Craig, and then where they mentioned they were adding another CB were towards the beginning, middle or end?
Closer towards the end, at least in regards to CBs. They envision Sullivan being Gazdag's backup next season.
Philly may have a lot of young talent, but I'm not sure they're the best place for development. Don't play their young players nearly enough.