The Philadelphia Union’s offseason has been one of much turnover. But, does that mean the Union are moving in the right direction?
Organization Overhaul
While the actual roster moves are important, the key for the Union has been the revamping of the entire organization.
Two days after the Union’s U.S. Open Cup loss, the Union fired long-time Chief Executive Officer Nick Sakiewicz. To put it lightly, Sakiewicz’s tenured was mired in controversy and contempt from fans.
To go along with Sakiewicz’s dismissal, fans saw the emergence of owner Jay Sugarman as a leader in the club. Up until recently, Sugarman has not been much of a vocal owner. However, Sugarman has been ever-present this offseason by attending and hosting numerous press conferences.
With Sak gone, the position of General Manager was opened up for a team desperate for someone who has knowledge of developing young talent as well as working under a tight budget.
Keeping this in mind, Sugarman went out and signed Earnie Stewart as Philadelphia’s Sporting Director. Stewart, formerly the Director of Football Affairs at AZ Alkmaar, has extensive knowledge of developing young players, while using a “moneyball” mindset.
The former United States International will bring stability and a proven track record to a Front Office that has had extensive problems with eyes for talent.
To add onto a new front office, Philadelphia also unveiled a new USL side, Bethlehem Steel FC, which will begin play in 2016. The new USL team will allow the Union to send their younger and less used players to a close by club to gain valuable first-team minutes under Coach Brendan Burke. Burke was handpicked by Curtin to lead Steel because of Burke’s former work at Reading United, where 49 different players that played under the tutelage of Burke signed professional contracts.
With these two pieces put together, the Union aren’t necessarily more advanced than any other team. The Blue and Gold are now at the standards that are necessary to develop talent and compete in MLS. However, unequivocally, the organization is head and shoulders more secure than at the end of the 2015 MLS Season.
Roster Overhaul
In the past few months, the Union have traded Cristian Maidana, Andrew Wenger, Ethan White and Zac MacMath to teams within Major League Soccer for MLS SuperDraft Picks and Allocation Money.
To add, Philadelphia declined the options of Steven Vitoria, Fred, Eric Bird, Danny Cruz, Jimmy McLaughlin, Dzenan Catic, Conor Casey, and Antoine Hoppenot at the end of the season.
Also, the Union traded for D.C. United winger Chris Pontius in exchange for an undisclosed amount of allocation money.
To count, that is 12 players that were on the roster in 2015 that will not be in the Blue and Gold next season, a staggering amount of roster turnover.
Despite the lack of players currently on the rosters, the Union have been able to stockpile a plethora of targeted as well as general allocation money. With this money, Philadelphia and Stewart will have the money to compete for a big name transfer, if that is the direction that Stewart wants to go in.
Analysis of Roster Overhaul
In trading Ethan White and Zac MacMath, Philadelphia accomplished two key things. First, the Union offloaded two players and their salaries that did not have a place in the first-team. Second, the Union acquired draft picks, which is necessary for a team that is in need of talent.
To most reporters, MacMath returning to Philadelphia to be a back-up was unlikely to happen given that his contract was up at the end of the season and the fact that MacMath would be returning to a team where there is already three goalkeepers. To receive a 2017 second-round draft pick for a player who was unlikely to return and out of contract is good work by Sporting Director Stewart.
White is still a young player in this league, but struggled with consistency in his time with the Union. At his best, he was an athletic and strong centerback, who was able to provide a reliable partner to Maurice Edu. On the other hand, at his lowest, White would not use his physicality and gave little problems to opposing attackers.
The big trade though for the Union was trading Maidana and Wenger for Allocation Money and the number six pick in this upcoming SuperDraft. There are two diverging opinions on this trade.
One side believes that Maidana was the only creative midfielder on the current roster as well as the Blue and Gold’s best player currently. Further, without Maidana, this Union side will lack the spark it needs to create chances on the offensive front. In a tribute to his ability to serve the ball into dangerous areas and create plays on offense, the Argentine International finished in second place in MLS with 15 assists. His ability to start counters by going out to the wings to receive the ball cannot be discounted to this team that relied heavily on the counterattack.
One side believes that Maidana was not the correct player to be place in the central attacking midfielder slot in Curtin’s system. There is speculation swirling around that the Blue and Gold will play a 4-3-3 formation. In the 4-3-3, the three midfielders will likely be required to contribute to all aspects of the games, offense and defense. Maidana is not a two-way player. He contributes greatly on the offensive side, but is resoundingly lacking on the defensive front. To further expound on this, Maidana does not track back, which leaves stress on the backline to pick up for him, and does not have great speed.
If Curtin is serious about playing possession ball and a 4-3-3, then the trade makes sense. If not, the Union traded their best creative midfielder and worsened their team.
The only player acquired through a trade was D.C United’s Chris Pontius. Pontius, at his peak, scored 12 goals and added four assists in a MVP season. However, the 28-year-old midfielder is very much injury prone as he only played in 51 out of 102 of D.C. United’s MLS Regular Season games. When healthy, the veteran United player certainly has talent, but it comes at a steep salary price of $400,000. At that salary, Pontius is currently the third highest paid player on the roster currently. The move does not align well with the ideals of moneyball considering the high salary for what many believe will be an off-the-bench player.
How should fans feel?
Fans are obligated to feel however they would like. With this team, it may be a hard sell to ask for patience. The Blue and Gold faithful have only witnessed one playoff appearance in six years in addition to numerous failed acquisitions such as Rais Mbolhi.
Despite all of this, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic and somewhat patient with this team. The organization itself has finally been relieved of the albatross of Nick Sakiewicz and has added a bona fide Sporting Director that will focus on youth. At this new Sporting Director’s disposal is a new USL side as well as the Union Academy, which will only help youth player development.
Philadelphia has had little success with developing players through the draft. Even when the Union have promising young talent, the team has not given much of a run-out to such talent sans Andre Blake until recently. The team, as stated above, released their two second-round picks in Catic and Bird. With Earnie Stewart at the helm, there is the expectation that he will help develop youth players and the young players on the team could see more first-team minutes.
Overall
While there are some negatives that occurred this offseason, the Union are unequivocally going in the right direction as a responsibly-managed, competitive franchise. With teams like FC Dallas focusing more on developing young talent and succeeding, it is not unreasonable, with continued focus on player development, that the Union can reach some semblance of their success.