After a disappointing 2014 season, the Philadelphia Union face a critical off-season. With just one playoff appearance in the club’s five year history, the Union’s passionate fans are getting restless. They see rival clubs making big signings, and wonder why the Union never can sign those players. Even though the club has a beautiful stadium, PPL Park, in a picturesque setting along the Delaware River under the Commodore Barry Bridge, just south of Philadelphia in Chester, the club is almost always an afterthought when it comes to big name signings. French star Robert Pires is rumored to have shot down an offer from the team by saying he only wanted to play in a beautiful city, such as New York. 

Fans are frustrated with ownership that is seemingly happy with a full stadium and just being competitive. Fans want wins. The club nearly gave them a big win this past season when they hosted the Seattle Sounders in the final of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Union literally came within an inch of winning their first trophy, but a late blast by Vincent Nogueira hit the post and Seattle won in extra time. That loss seemed to deflate the team as they collapsed in the month of the season to miss the playoffs. It was a crushing blow to the team and the fans after the season began with much promise.

The fans had been demanding the club spend money, and in the months leading up to the 2014 season the Union finally did.  The ownership group, led by CEO and managing partner Nick Sakiewicz, acquired Argentine playmaker Cristian Maidana and French midfielder Vincent Nogueira. Maidana struggled to adapt initially but went on to become one of the better playmakers in the league and finishing among the leaders in assists. Nogueira was the midfield workhorse and probably the most important player on the team. He always brought energy and passion to the field and also showed his skill in several roles. He was one of the most underrated players in the league.

The biggest move was made just after the Superdraft when the Union acquired former U.S. National team midfielder Maurice Edu on loan from English Premier League club Stoke City. He had fallen out favor at Stoke and was looking to get back into the national team picture with the World Cup coming up in the summer. Edu was called into the final training camp but not selected for the World Cup.

Most of the fans’ ire is directed at Sakiewicz, an MLS lifer who helped fold the Tampa Bay Mutiny and was the General Manager of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. He has never won a trophy in his career. He seems to say all the right things, but then the club consistently misses out on big name talent. It is thought that the ownership group is one of the poorest in the league and they themselves have acknowledged that the club has to be more creative in how it spends money because they do not have the resources that other clubs do. One thing the team has been lacking is training facilities. The team has been training at the stadium or at a public park. Finally, toward the end of the 2014 season, the club began construction of two practice fields next to the stadium. The fields will be ready to go for the beginning of the season.

The season began with a couple of decent results but quickly turned into disaster and by early June the club was yet again playing under an interim manager after John Hackworth was fired. Jim Curtin was named the interim manager while Sakiewicz began a “worldwide” coaching search. The club was lined with several big names, including Owen Coyle and Fabio Cannavaro. Coyle was recently hired as the Houston Dynamo head coach. The name that was mentioned most often was former Manchester United assistant Rene Meulensteen, who was seen several times at Union matches and their academy. The job was given to Curtin permanently after the season because he turned the season around, nearly had them in the playoffs and almost wont their first trophy. A week later the club hired Meulensteen as a consultant to help overhaul the club and assist in searching for a permanent Sporting Director.

Another reason why fans dislike Sakiewicz and distrust the ownership is because of some peculiar player signings and mishandling of talent. The Union has a good young goalkeeper in Zac MacMath, but he had struggled and it looked like the team was trying to replace him. That is what everyone thought when they traded up to get the first overall pick in the draft and took Andre Blake. It appeared there would be a competition for the starting job but MacMath ultimately won and began showing rapid improvement in his game. Things seemed fine until the Union stunningly acquired Algerian Rais M’Bolhi after a strong World Cup. M’Bolhi would end up playing in just four games due to national team commitments and personal issues. His biggest contribution to the season may have been one of the biggest gaffes of all time.

Late in a match against Chicago, the Union had a costless kick near midfield, holding a 1-0 lead. Instead of playing the ball to the corner or out of bounds to waste some time the ball was inexplicably played back to M’Bolhi, who seemed a bit surprised.  He came out to play the ball, but instead of booting it downfield, he tried to simply chip it to a teammate. M'Bolhi horribly missed, it went to a Chicago player and they made him pay by burying in the net. The goal cost the Union a vital win and the dropped points helped keep the Union out of the playoffs. M’Bolhi is not a bad player but he was unnecessary and this incident just fueled the anger of the fans.

The Union have begun to retool the squad and made a couple of big moves already this offseason. The club traded the last remaining original Union player, Amobi Okugo, to expansion club Orlando City and then traded for Sporting Kansas City forward C.J.Sapong. Sapong will likely replace Conor Casey as the lone forward in their 4-2-3-1 system. Fans are growing impatient however with the lack of other moves. The Union has been linked to Danish midfielder William Kvist, who currently plays for Wigan Athletic in the English Championship. Kvist played for Meulensteen at Fulham and they have also been linked to former Manchester United U-21 captain Markus Niemayr. That team was also coached by Meulensteen.

The Union are still looking for help up top and need find a defensive midfielder to replace Okugo and former captain Brian Carroll, who is out of contract. Carroll may be brought, back but as of now nothing has happened. No matter what happens this is a big off-season for the club. They must make significant strides toward being a contender or risk losing a large segment of the fan base. Fans are justifiably concerned that the club alienates players and fails to adequately judge talent while also failing to properly guide young talent. Fans want to see homegrown midfielders Zach Pfeffer and Jimmy McLaughlin get some playing time this season.

If the Union continue to squander the off-season it will be another lost season for the club and the fans will not forgive them. The owners have signaled they are willing to bring in players, so the fans are waiting to see if this happens. One big issue is Maurice Edu. His loan is over but it appears that Stoke does not want him back. The club is trying to bring him back to the Union permanently and he is willing to return. It looks like this move is just a matter of time and should happen quickly once the transfer window opens in January. One thing that could cause problems is the negotiations over the new collective bargaining agreement as the current one expires at the end of January. No one is really certain what will happen and the players are fighting for full costless agency and a significant increase in salaries. The owners will fight to prevent both from happening. The Union should be a much improved team in 2015 but they must get the offseason right or it will be another failure.

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