I'm all for being a strong developer of talent but I think it's quite naive to think that is the only way to develop a MLS roster capable of winning championships. Especially since your championship level club of 2023 had 8-9 foreign starters on it. I don't think it's drastic to do both well. Why not do both well?
Player development doesn't just happen in youth academies. It also happens at the professional level. They need to be able to sign players from outside of the organization and develop them as well. Think of Jose Martinez, Leon Flach, Kai Wagner, Andre Blake, Jack Elliott, Daniel Gazdag, Julian Carranza, etc. These players weren't finished products when they arrived in Chester.
Is that what he meant? I don't think so. I think you're playing semantics. The term development isn't often used in reference to buying players to be star players on your first team to win a championship. Of course you want to improve each player but the players you mention weren't 'developmental' players.
A breakdown between Curtin and Ernst Tanner over the direction of the club. "They didn't speak at all this year," sources said. https://www.givemesport.com/inside-the-fallout-between-jim-curtin-and-philadelphia-union/ Inside the fallout between Jim Curtin, the Philadelphia Union and the reasons why he's no longer the head coach.At the heart? A breakdown between Curtin and Ernst Tanner over the direction of the club."They didn't speak at all this year," sources said.https://t.co/Uhsnx5FjkR pic.twitter.com/yLtbSQ6cOR— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) November 12, 2024
Puts into a clearer light why Curtain would have wanted to leave for a USMNT assistant role. In the end, if you are Sugarman and have to choose between Tanner and Curtain, that's not really a tough decision.
Did you know who any of those players I mentioned were before they played for Philly? Blake wasn't one of the best ever keepers in MLS on day one. Jose Martinez was a completely unknown player when he was signed from a small club in Venezuela. Kai Wagner played in the 3 Bundesliga. Gazdag was an unknown player out of the Hungarian league. Corey Burke was initially a Bethlehem Steel signing who went on to become a Jamaican International. When he spoke of development he specifically mentioned that it doesn't just apply to their academy, it applies to all players within the organization.
I think Curtin did a fantastic job over the last decade. Just time to move on. There's a real fine line between success and failure in MLS. They weren't many points away from making the playoffs. Once you make the playoffs, anything can happen. The top 3 seeds in the East are all out. Philly had a better goal difference than NYRB and NYCF, both in the conference final. The one thing I'd say is that Philly has been racking up some money on player sales. Gotta spend it on some impact players. You don't want to just put money from those sales in the bank and smile lovingly at your bank balance. Put it to use!! I love the idea of adding a couple of early-to-mid 20s kind of players that can impact the team now. And, of course, further developed for impact and (hopefully) sale. The types of players that the Galaxy have brought in to turn things around. Gabriel Pec, who they signed from Vasco de Gama. 23 years old. There's also some good players on the MLS trade market. Columbus and Cincinnati have been quite good in that regard. Not even stars. Just adding depth by that mechanism. Or bring a player like that back from Europe. Colorado has been adding players like that in Mihailovic, Cannon, etc. They may not be sexy names, but they'll win you MLS games. Add a player or two like that to the existing core and academy graduate group.................. That doesn't mean you stop the academy conveyor belt. If you want to compete for trophies in 2025, you just need to add more than that. There's a healthy gap between MLS and MLSNP. Just because kids have been good at the MLSNP level doesn't necessarily mean they're ready to impact MLS games next year. A few of them are.
So I'm suppose to know every foreign player before an MLS team signs them to their first team and if they win a game then they are developing them? Sounds like strained logic to me. That's not what developmental team means, that's not what he meant. If you think so, so be it, you continue to do you.
The role of a manager is different at every club. It's well known that Ernst dictates the style of play and even the formation they play- he's on record stating his disdain for wingers and how his teams will play with 2 strikers. That's not a situation many managers would tolerate. It will be interesting to see who they bring in for the job. That also makes it difficult to assign credit or blame to Curtin and LeBlanc for their roles. With Ernst wanting so much control, he needs a coach who is going to implement his high pressing style and integrate the kids when their ready. Ryan Richter has been promoted to Union II head coach. Guy is an excellent trainer and been around the 08s for a long time. Not sure where LeBlanc will end up but I think it's best if he leaves considering his kid is climbing the ranks at the Union.
Ernst Tanner literally said this in the press conference about Curtin's dismissal.... but hey, continue to do you. https://phillysportsnetwork.com/2024/11/12/philadelphia-union-takeaways/ “I don’t like the narrative that has been created that we are just doing youth player development, that is just not true. We need to develop every player on the squad, and player development is the strongest tool a club has. We have been doing not a bad job on that, but if you look at the last one or two seasons, we are stagnating here and that is also one of the reasons we are not successful.
His team scored plenty of goals. Shore up the defense with some mid-career hair Bulgarians and they'll be back in the playoffs. They'll have some losses in the next window that they'll also need to replace as well. Free agents, etc. There's so much parity in MLS. Every bad team in MLS also has good players. Chicago at the bottom of the East spends a lot of money bringing in players, has been bold trying to find DPs (most haven't worked), spends near the top in terms of salaries, has some good academy products, etc. Just can't seem to get the formula right. It's not easy. It really, really, really is not easy to maintain excellence in MLS like Curtin and the front office have in Philly. Particularly the 5 seasons Curtin had prior to 2024. Even harder if you're not in one of the "sexy" markets. It's easier to recruit a 23 year old Brazilian to LA than it is to Philly. Just a fact. Its also no doubt HARDER when you want to focus so much on the academy. Plenty of teams talk the talk when it comes to their academies. Don't walk the walk when the time comes. Philly has said "this is in our DNA" and made it a core part of their business plan. Kudos to them. Does it make it harder to them to win trophies? Maybe. Minnesota made the playoffs 5 of the last 6 seasons. Still in them now somehow. If you put a gun to my head and asked me to name Minnesota players, I'd really struggle. You don't need an academy at all to make the playoffs in MLS. [I guess I'm totally out of the loop paying no attention to Minnesota. I looked up who their leading scorer is to see if I knew him. It's Bongokuhle Hlongwane. Don't know him. Tells you I didn't watch Minnesota this year and don't care.]
I'm imagining an announcer who didn't do their homework looking at the lineup and panicking trying to figure out how to pronounce that name on the fly.
what Philadelphia Union U16s are currently putting up nearly 7 goals per game in MLS Next Flex 😤Unreal numbers pic.twitter.com/F8evLnqD2I— Youth Soccer Central (@yscentral) November 13, 2024
Pierre posts a pic at Gladbach stadium yesterday, then this: Sources: The Philadelphia Union have signed Academy product and Union II player Neil Pierre, 17, to a Homegrown contract. His Union II deal will convert to a Homegrown contract in January.Pierre has impressed at various U.S. national team levels and has also been invited to… pic.twitter.com/6hayJWnbEN— José Roberto Nuñez (@JoserNunez91) November 26, 2024
It was never in doubt. Has been signed for some time. The deal activates starting next season. Tanner lets these kids train/trial abroad. A lot of the other MLS clubs don’t. It’s one of the most appealing aspects of the club to young players and I think sways some to choosing the club.
Does Tanner help arrange the training stints given his contacts in Germany, Austria, etc.? Genuine question. I'd imagine he gets input from the academy staff on promising players who need some higher competition to push them further, and then looks for some good fits for short term training stints?
I'd say there's different levels to the players that go on these stints. For instance, Anisse Saidi (who has trialed at a bunch of clubs) isn't really too highly rated by Tanner and his staff at the club. Then you have instances like Jamir Johnson (trained/trialed at PSV) that the club wants to sign. I suspect he plays along and tries to do his part for all of the players, regardless of how the club rates them or what they think of them, because it helps the brand to act in such a way, but I don't know that he's really pushing any of them to try their hand training abroad. I think the impetus for that comes more from the players themselves and maybe their agents, and he might occasionally assist in helping get them a stint abroad.
I’m very curious about your Asaidi comment, because I’m a big fan of his and everything you post comes true. Can you provide any details? I still don’t see a better #9 in that age group.
Thank you for the kind words! From what I’ve been told, it’s kind of understood that’s where things are headed. Overall, i just think the club has a glut of #9’s in some of these academy age groups. You look at Davis (‘06) who came off one of the best seasons for any attacker in MLSNP. He’s still not signed last I heard. You also have Jakupovic (‘09) who has been playing up at times the last two years in higher age groups and is highly rated by the club. Then you have Presson (‘08) who has been injured for essentially two years, but has the talent. Could even extend that beyond the 09’s where there’s some notable talents making a name for themselves in the 10’s and below. Saidi just doesn’t seem to be in the plans of the club. If you compare his MLSNP involvement to Johnson, he’s just not gotten the same opportunities. Would of course add the caveat that Kellan LeBlanc has gotten more too, but that’s a delicate situation because his father was the coach until the end of this season, so we’ll find out a little better next season what the club thinks of him (my suspicion is probably even lower than Saidi). I would even hypothesize that Jordan Griffin is higher rated in ‘08 by the club than Saidi. Not as big of a MLSNP involvement gap compared to Johnson, but there’s a minor gap and Griffin recently got called into the US U-17’s. There was a whole saga recently when Chase Adams was making the YNT rosters over Saidi, and people were saying it’s because Columbus’ academy director was the coach or had some involvement with USSF too. I think it’s a little more nuanced than that. Saidi wasn’t making it because his club wasn’t going to bat for him. Whether Kelvin Jones had USSF involvement or not, he was going to bat for Adams. That’s why Saidi is now playing for Tunisia, for the most part. Don’t want to say it’s 100%, but I think the club’s opinion of him and his lack of USYNT callups isn’t detached.
Appreciate the info. It's strange because Saidi has been at Philly since u10/11 and has been the main guy for the super talented 08 team since it's inception- even after Cavan joined. Out of Olivias, Rocio, Eddy Davis, Presson, and Jakupovic (the top u20 strikers at the club), I would bet on Saidi. If he's not with Union2 this March, he should follow Chirila and find a new club. Seemed to have worked out well for him.
No one hates the draft more than Ernst Tanner Sources: The Colorado Rapids have acquired *all* of the Philadelphia Union's SuperDraft picks for the next three seasons in exchange $350k GAM (+ performance based add ons).Eight picks over three years, including three first round picks. pic.twitter.com/5ypH1Bbqm1— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) December 9, 2024