It’s Getting Drafty in Here …
By: Andrew |
14 Comments
The list of players for the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft was released yesterday, and the interwebs are a flurry with predictions and speculation about the ten players the Union will choose. Since I’ve done my predictions as to who might be made available throughout the league (and in some cases WAY off base), it’s time to share my thoughts – and bring out my inner-fanboy – about who Nowak and company will choose Wednesday at 1 PM.
So, who do I think will make up the core of the Union’s inaugural season roster?
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Category: 2009 MLS Expansion Draft
Anticipating the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft [Part 4]
By: Andrew | 17 Comments
In the immortal words of Lando Calrissian …
“Here goes nothing!”
The 2009 MLS Cup is almost upon us, and with the conclusion of that comes an event eagerly anticipated by many of the Union faithful. The league has set the 2010 Expansion Draft rules, which are the same as those that the Seattle Sounders followed last year.
Some of the draft highlights are as follows:
- All teams must submit their protected players lists by 3 PM on Monday, Nov. 23.
- The League will distribute a list of the players available in the expansion draft to media that day.
- The 2009 MLS Expansion Draft will take plan on the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 25.
- At the conclusion of the Expansion Draft, results will be posted on MLSnet.com.
- The Union may not claim more than one player from any given team in MLS.
- Five teams will not have a player taken in the expansion draft.
So I’ve read the tea leaves, met with the oracle, had my palm read, consulted my crystal ball, shook up the Magic 8 Ball, eaten more than my fair share of fortune cookies, and have given my best wild ass guess as to the 10 players I believe may become the core group of the inaugural Union roster for 2010.
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Anticipating the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft [Part 3]
By: Andrew | 8 Comments
The wait is over. Here comes my highly anticipated breakdown of the Western Conference teams.
Similar to my analysis of the Eastern Conference, I’ve taken into account international and/or Designated Player status, MLS experience to-date, quality playing time (especially during the ‘09 season), contract status and current salary (where I could find that information), etc. Feel free to share your comments and let me know how you might have done things differently.
And when all is said and done, I’ll post a Part 4 listing the 10 players I predict the Union will grab in the Expansion Draft.
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Category: Union NewsAnatomy of a(n Anticlimactic) Jersey Unveiling [UPDATE]
By: Andrew | 5 Comments
It was like any other Friday morning in November, counting the hours until the work week was over, looking forward to a well-deserved weekend, nursing a slight hangover from happy hour the night before, antagonizing over those pesky little home improvement projects that keep building up. But mostly I was chomping at the bit to find out something – ANYTHING – about when the team jerseys would be officially unveiled. We were teased with news of them being available for purchase on November 20th (only one week away!!), but I was curious to know the team’s plan to finally unveil them to the Union faithful.
Sometime mid-morning on that fateful Friday, the day took a dramatic turn and caught everyone – the team front office included – by surprise.
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Category: Union NewsAnticipating the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft [Part 2]
By: Andrew | 7 Comments
I think Carnac the Magnificent may have a better go at this, but I did what I could and tried to comprehend all the Expansion Draft rules to come up with lists of players each team will protect from the Union’s grasp and which players will be exposed to Nowak et al. My biggest confusion is the Generation Adidas (GA) players … are they automatically protected, or are they exempt from the draft? Seems like I’ve seen it defined both ways (hence my confusion), so I decided to go with the latter (exempt). And of course, it’s up to the League to decide who “graduates” from GA just prior to the draft, which changes things.
Oh well, such is life.
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Category: 2009 MLS Expansion DraftAnticipating the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft [Part 1]
By: Andrew | 1 Comment
I won’t pretend to be an expert on the upcoming MLS Expansion Draft and tout all the inner workings of protected versus unprotected players, members of Generation Adidas (GA), the developmental roster, etc. I will, however, attempt to predict who I feel will be picked up by the Union by using the SWAG Method (that’s Scientific Wild Ass Guess in case you didn’t know). In a couple weeks’ time the roster will begin to take shape and we can start discussing the pros and cons of who the Union will be fielding in its inaugural season.
But I digress … looking at the rules for the 2008 Expansion Draft, I will assume the same will apply this time. A brief overview of the important rules, in my opinion, is as follows:
• All teams submit lists of protected players to the League by 3 PM ET on Monday, Nov. 23rd.
• The Expansion Draft will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 25th.
• Results will be posted to MLSnet.com at that time.
• Teams may protect 11 players between their senior and developmental rosters.
• GA players who have not graduated at the end of the ‘09 season are exempt.
• Developmental Roster players (other than the GA players above) will be part of the Expansion Draft.
• A team may make available their total number of international players minus 3.
• Unless a Designated Player (DP) has a no trade clause, he does not have to be protected.
• A team may lose no more than one (1) player from its non-protected roster.
• The Expansion Draft will consist of 10 rounds.
Expect to see my team-by-team analysis of the Eastern Conference [Part 2] and Western Conference [Part 3] in the coming days. I’m curious to see how my predictions pan out. And depending on how this goes, I’ll then do my best to read the tea leaves and touch upon the Union and its participation in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.
Category: 2009 MLS Expansion DraftUnion Kit Release Imminent
By: Andrew | Add Comments
Emails have been sent to Founding Members regarding the upcoming Union uniform release. Rumors of them arriving before Black Friday and the holiday shopping season have proven to be true, and consumers are already able to pre-order many items (including the unreleased, not yet seen jerseys). The products will ship on November 19th for the November 20th launch!
There will be three – YES THREE – jerseys available per the official Union Team Store (which have since been edited, making me think the third/alternate jersey was meant to be a surprise to fans in attendance at the unveiling).
Home Jersey: Dark Navy/Natural Khaki
Away Jersey: Natural Khaki/Dark Navy
Third Jersey: Signal Blue (the light blue in the team logo)
The third jersey would obviously be a tribute to the Sons of Ben and their use of sky blue/yellow as the group’s official colors.
… our commitment is for you to be able to receive all merchandise the first day it’s available, which will be sometime before Thanksgiving.
You can now see all of our merchandise that’ll be available for sale except our jersey, and you may pre-order any of the gear, even the jersey, for guaranteed delivery on its first day of availability…. Until then, please take a second to look at the great Union gear that’s now available for you to pre-order.
No word on a jersey sponsor, but again I think this may be something being held close to the vest until the official unveiling sometime next week.
Category: Union NewsHackworth to be Announced as Union Assistant [UPDATE]
By: Andrew | Add Comments
I recently asked the Union FO if the rumors about Hackworth becoming the assistant coach were true. Their response was a vague “stay tuned”, obviously not a blatant “yes”, nor was it an outright “no”. These were the same rumors I posted back in early September, as reported by Ives Galarcep on his blog (SBI).
Well, Ives is reporting that John Hackworth will indeed become Nowak’s lead assistant coach, and this announcement will happen today (November 9th).
Click to read the SBI post.
-UPDATE-
Check out the OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT from the Union website.
Philadelphia Union, the expansion Major League Soccer club set to begin play in 2010, has announced the hiring of John Hackworth as Coach and Youth Development Coordinator. Hackworth comes to Philadelphia Union from the United States Men’s National Team that recently qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa.
“From the start, I knew I wanted John to work with me here in Philadelphia,” explained Team Manager Peter Nowak. “He has proven his ability to nurture young players and that talent will be essential in our plan to develop them into successful professionals.”
John will be formally announced on Thursday afternoon at the Union’s offices just south of the stadium.
Odds and Ends, Bits and Pieces.
By: Andrew | 2 Comments
Been a few weeks since I’ve posted, as all is very quiet on the Union front. There’s plenty going on behind the scenes, with Nowak and his team scouting players and preparing for the MLS Expansion Draft on the 25th (hope to finish up my draft analysis soon, and post it before it actually happens), among other things.
It’s the calm before the storm, people. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a Cinderella Story …
By: Andrew | 2 Comments
“… outta nowhere. A former greens-keeper, now, about to become the Union’s top goal scorer. It looks like a mirac … It’s in the goal! It’s in the goal! It’s in the goal!”
These words, slightly altered from those uttered by the legendary figure Carl Spackler, best describe what could possibly happen this November and December when the Union will conduct open tryouts. As I wrote in a previous post, Peter Nowak and his staff are looking at players from around the corner and around the globe who will play the game the Nowak-way, regardless of age, nationality, league experience, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Union Players
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