The Philadelphia Union will begin their 2018 season Saturday, March 3, at Talen Energy Stadium against their northeastern rivals, the New England Revolution. The p.m. kickoff will mark the team’s ninth season in Major League Soccer, and (at the risk of eating these words several months from now) this year’s squad has perhaps the strongest team on paper in franchise history.
The Boys in Blue enter this season under the leadership of head coach Jim Curtin, who has 50 wins, 29 draws and 54 losses during his four years with the club. Curtin, who grew up in Oreland, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia, has been a hometown soccer hero for the Union after climbing his way up the Union coaching ranks. However, Curtin has come under fire in recent years for refusing to sign a big-time goal scorer and for leading the Union to a 16 game win-less drought between September 2016 and May 2017.
Despite failing to make the playoffs in 2017 and finishing near the bottom of the standings, the Union are returning in 2018 with a new acquisition that could easily make them a playoff contender: David Accam.
Accam, a 27-year-old left winger from Ghana, is in the prime of his career and has been wreaking havoc on opposing defenses for Chicago Fire during the past three seasons. In his three years with the Fire, Accam scored 33 goals and 15 assists in 78 games played and is also one of the fastest players in the league. A true goal scorer and tactical threat along the wing, the $1.2 million dollar signing is the first proven attacker that the Union has signed from Major League Soccer.
Accam will surely fit in well with the Union’s 4-3-3 formation that will likely see striker C.J Sapong up top, with Accam and fellow speedster, Fafa Picault, at the wing spots. Unlike previous Union signings from South American and European leagues, Accam is already well-versed in shredding up MLS defenses, so look for him and Sapong to create plenty of magic in 2018.
The front three for the Union will be accompanied by a midfield that has developed plenty of chemistry over the past year. Defensive midfielder Haris Medunjanin was one of the U’s most consistent players in 2017 and provides an extra threat on free kicks as we saw during his goal of the season against Tim Howard and the Colorado Rapids (If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth a Google search). Assuming Alejandro Bedoya plays well in the holding position as the other defensive midfielder, the two should create a nice blend of breaking up attacks and occasionally springing the front three forward.
Even with the partnership of veterans in Bedoya and Medunjanin, the Union are missing a piece of their midfield puzzle that is currently caused by the absence of injured Brazilian attacking midfielder, Ilson Pereira Dias Júnior. Commonly known as Ilsinho, he could miss two to four weeks with a hamstring injury, but his play has been streaky since he arrived with the Union in 2016, so his role in the No. 10 spot is anything but secure.
The transfer watch on Twitter has rumored Czech midfielder Borek Dockal to be the new play-making center attacking midfielder for Philadelphia. Dockal is currently at the preseason training camp in Florida with the team, but an official deal for the player has not yet been made. If a deal does go through for Dockal, his experience with the Czech national team should be enough for him to win the starting spot over 18-year-old academy product Anthony Fontana.
Although, fans should keep on an eye on Fontana as the season progresses because the young talent has impressed coaches with his finesse so far in preseason. “With the ball, he has soft feet, he is calm under pressure, but we still want him to be a little quicker, a little sharper and a little more decisive playing forward,” Curtin said.
With midfield versatility and similar playmaking mentalities, Fontana and Ilsinho could create a lot of chances as super subs this season when the team needs a little extra attacking power late in games.
On the defensive side, second year center back Jack Elliott is poised to have a breakout year after coming off a successful rookie campaign. And, the always-reliable goalkeeper, Andre Blake, is returning to the team with a new contract extension that secures his role as the backbone of this team for an undisclosed amount of years to come.
With a revitalized offense, familiar faces on defense, and hopefully somewhere between seven to 11 clean sheets from Saves by Dre,’ this Union team has the potential to finish in the top five of the Eastern Conference come next October. If Curtin can use his depth on the bench to overcome the goal scoring droughts late in games that have plagued the Union in recent years, a third or fourth place finish in the East is not out of the question.
Saturday’s home opener will bring an explosive atmosphere as the Sons of Ben have invited Eagles star lineman Jason Kelce to lead the chanting in the River End supporter’s section at Talen Energy Stadium. Given the explosive atmosphere in the crowd and the fact that Sapong and company have been on a scoring tangent in the preseason, expect a lot of offensive fireworks in a 3-1 victory for the Union.
Andrew Heller is a first-year graduate student majoring in English. ✉ AH8204286@wcupa.edu.