What Else Is There To Do A Rainy Sunday?

By: Jerry | March 6th, 2011

It’s a wet and dreary Sunday here in the Philadelphia area, and I am sitting at my second job which requires me to talk for 30 seconds every 15 minutes, and then shut the hell up for the next 14 minutes and 30 seconds. It’s a pretty sweet gig, actually. One of the perks of this job, is that I have 16 satellite TV boxes and 16 cable TV boxes at my disposal. It’s really cool. I sit in a room all alone with 6 giant LCD TVs. Two of the LCDs are separated each into 16 different screens, each with a different channel on, and one 60″ LCD is for me to choose what I want to watch from those 32. There’s just one problem: There’s not a damn thing on. So, as I sit here glancing at two different movies on two different channels, and try to figure out the difference between Téa Leoni and Helen Hunt (really, I just can’t tell), I keep thinking about how the Union’s second season is going to shake out.

They look significantly different from last year, that’s for sure. Here’s the Union’s roster as of March 6 (New signings in RED)…

GOALKEEPERS
1 – Faryd MONDRAGÓN
18 – Zac MACMATH
24 – Thorne HOLDER

DEFENDERS
2 – Jordan HARVEY
3 – Juan Diego GONZÁLEZ
4 – Danny CALIFF
5 – Carlos VALDÉS
25 – Sheanon WILLIAMS

MIDFIELDERS
6 – Stefani MIGLIORANZI
7 – Brian CARROLL
8 – Roger TORRES
13 – Kyle NAKAZAWA
14 – Amobi OKUGO
21 – Michael FARFAN
22 – Justin MAPP
23 – Ryan RICHTER
27 – Zach PFEFFER

FORWARDS
9 – Sebastien LE TOUX
10 – Danny MWANGA
12 – Chris AGORSOR
19 – Jack MCINERNEY
20 – Carlos RUIZ

Many notable names from last year were released from this year’s squad: Brad Knighton, Toni Stahl, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Cristian Arrieta, Eduardo Coudet, Andrew Jacobson, Nick Zimmerman, and J.T. Noone. Chris Seitz, Shea Salinas, Fred, and Alejandro Moreno were all selected in one of the 142 different drafts that MLS holds.

Now, this roster seems a little short given that the every MLS team has been allotted 30 roster spots. From this list, we only see 22 names. There are a few players who are still technically on trial with the Union, but, since the gestapo says we’re not allowed to know who they are, we can only speculate that Keon Daniel, Gabriel Farfan, and Levi Houapeu are still trialists with the club. Even if they were to make the club, that still leaves 5 open roster spots. It’s anyone’s guess who will fill those out, but the Union do have until April 15th (Tax day. Bummer.) to fill out their roster before the MLS winter window closes.

Based on what we’ve seen from the preseason games, it looks like the Union will be going with a 4-4-2 formation. Although it’s not confirmed, here’s how the Zolo’s lineup should look like on Opening Night out in Houston…

Mondragón
Williams – Califf – Valdés – Harvey
Carroll – Nakazawa
Le Toux ———————–Mapp
Ruiz – Mwanga

From the looks of things, this looks like a pretty damn good lineup. We’ve got a national icon for a goalkeeper. We’ve got solid defending options in Califf and Valdés. We’ve got defenders who can move the ball forward in Williams and Harvey. We’ve got a solid central defender who can help out the centerbacks in Carroll. We’ve got two very good setup men in Le Toux and Mapp. We’ve got one of the MLS’ all-time scoring greats in Ruiz, and one of the best young strikers in MLS in Mwanga. I’m not going to say we’ve got a stacked team, but we definitely have got one that can, and should, contend for a playoff spot. If there’s any concern about this club, it’s going to be where it had problems last year: the bench. We only have one defender to come off should we need one, and no one is sure how versatile he is if he’s needed to play one of the fullback positions. Our midfield still only has one true option for outside mid, and that’s Roger Torres, but it’s uncertain if he can fill the outside mid role, as he’s more of an attacking mid. The one area I’m not overly concerned about is the attack. Le Toux can slide up into a striker role if he needs to. Jack McInerney, if given time, could be a dynamic scorer, as he proved in the Chivas friendly and his late goal against New England last year. Chris Agorsor was one of the most promising American prospects before his knee problems. If he regain the class he showed in his high school years, the Union could be very dangerous inside the box, which is something that they weren’t last year.

Overall, I’m confident that the Union can get to the playoffs with this lineup, but like every other Union fan, I’m also incredibly nervous about what happens if our players succumb to injuries. Of course, these are things that a fan can’t really worry about because injuries happen. A great team will press on from whatever injuries they suffer, and they will take their team to the promised land. However, if we see two injuries to our backline at the same time, and we don’t fill those holes, this could be a long season. Personally, I’ve got faith that lady luck will be on our side, and we’ll see some magic this year from our Zolos.

By the way, one of these channels I’ve been glancing at has been showing a Family Feud marathon, and I’ve seen like 10 different hosts. This season can’t come soon enough.

Only 13 days until Opening Night.

C’MON THE U!