Union Off-Season Player Rumors & Movement 2013/14

Zac has not yet lost the job 9 days before the opener. With wording like that, he's got nothing to worry about.

 

We can only hope!!! (fingers crossed)

 

while the team has addressed almost all major issues to the starting 11 looking at the roster the one spot i feel will be detrimental to use will be up top.

yes we have jacmac however he is a poacher.
Casey is aging and (i doubt) will be able to stay fully healthy for the entire season
the rest of the guys on the roster simply cant preform for 90 minutes for 34+ games (not like they see that time)

i would like the FO to look to adding a flat our striker during the summer window. someone who can knock one in from 20 yards and can be a critical finisher in the box. With the midfield i think we are going to field there isnt much room for a traditional hold up striker (thanks to multiple box to box center mids) that being said a striker who can take the ball and make a serious run at a defense (not the cruz run into defense and fall over type either)
A player with that skill set should be able to work with the poaching jacmac yet relieve pressure from other offensive personal a la casey

 

Three word answer -Hop En Oh. Mark my words.

 

Jack - 12
Casey - 10
Seba - 3
Cruz - 3
Okugo - 3
Hoppenot - 3
Williams - 2
Carroll - 2

Last year's multiple goal scorers. All still on the roster. All expected to see significant playing time. Add Maidana. Add Noguiera. Add Edu. You can point at formational deficiencies or personnel to run them. I'll point at output.

Yes, we still need Jack and Casey to carry the load, but that doesn't mean we won't score with our current roster. Let's see how it comes together. Maybe we will need to add a striker in the summer. Not sure we have the cap room to do so though.

 

I would prefer to see Wheeler get a lot more minutes if Casey goes out. In the very limited field time he got last year, he was much more impressive than Hoppenot. He deserves a run of starts to show what he can do.

 

I'll point at output too, the Union were 12th out of 19 in goals scored. Jack an Casey accounted for just over 50% of the goals. His point is valid, all of the eggs are in one big basket and if 25% of last years roster is sidelined, well that's a legit issue. Hopps three goals don't fill one wi confidence,esp when one was a weird cross that floated in. Another striker is a need.

As for cap room, well some of those MFers won't be with us by the weekend.

 

I'm sure if we looked at every team......most of their goals are scored by a handful of players (usually 2-3). Vancouver lost Camilo and his 22 goals, which was roughly half of their team total for league play. Next highest scorer was Kenny Miller with 8.

Sporting KC, RSL, and Portland look like exceptions to the rule. Although SKC scored only 5 more goals then the Union did. Leading Scorer was Bieler with 10, next was Kei with 7 and he was only around for maybe a third of their matches too.

Point is that you can say this same thing about most clubs across the globe (exceptions would be Man City, Madrid, FCB, etc). Look at Man United. When Rooney and Van Persie are out they struggle mightily to score. This is why goal scorers are so coveted and cost so much money. They are also very difficult to find, let alone keep.

 

Look at Man United, right. Exactly. I was replying to a post saying we'll be ok (which was replying to a post saying we might could use an additional scoring threat). Your point about ManUtd bolsters mine, with one or both of their scoring options hurt (though Chicharito and Welbeck aint bad as backups go), they've tumbled down the table and face missing out on CL play next year. With Casey an injury possibility given his current fitness and not too distant history and Jack's Doug Henning-esque disappearance, the odds of the U faring well would be at serious risk. Do we have players who are nominally scorers? Yes. Would you feel confident that Wheeler/Hoppenot could carry the offensive load for a stretch of time? I don't. Could SLT move forward? Yes, but then we know what happens, rhymes with Looze plays 70 minutes down the side. Wouldn't a better solution be to move some of our excess midfielders for a forward? Especially with an eye to 2015, with Jack possibly gone and Casey another year older.

Anyway. I'm sure we'll be fine.

 

Any ideas on what Williams MRI will be about ? Hack made comment that one was needed.

 

No idea, but I'm suddently reaally glad that the team made Fabihno the LB, so Gaddis can be the backup for both sides.

 

Looked like a right ankle injury or possibly a right knee injury. He slipped when he tried to cross a ball.

 

The impression I got while watching the steam was that it was a muscle injury, most likely right quad. Depending on the severity, I'd say that's probably a good thing compared to something more serious but muscle injuries can also be easily tweaked leading to long set backs.

Also saw this later which kinda sorta confirms what my feeling was watching it live.

Sheanon Williams left today's game vs TFC early with a non-contact right quad injury. Doesn't look serious, but it's worth monitoring. #Doop

— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) February 26, 2014

 

Good catch. I was surprised to see Hack say yesterday that Ribeiro won't be available for the Portland game.

 

Yeah, he looked OK walking off. I use Stu Holden's facial expression from his injury in qualifiers as a baseline for determining how serious an athlete thinks his injury is, and Williams was like a 2 out of 10 on the Holden scale.

 

http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/ne...hifted-focus-courtesy-latest-team-acquistions

The next round of the kiss of death team post

 

No cut announcements?

 

With all the rumblings, I'd guess Keon is gone.

 

Hopefully no one gets hurt against Montreal.