Doop Roundup: Philadelphia Union preseason opens Tuesday, where are all the signings?

The Philadelphia Union announce that their preseason will begin this coming Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019. While the club looks ready to get back to work, the roster is still not full. We’ll look at this in Philly Sports Networks’ latest edition of Doop Roundup.

Philadelphia’s Preseason kicks off next week, but they still have plenty of open roster spots. With the release of the Union’s preseason’s schedule, the lack of players is causing concern amongst the fan base. Here’s a look at the preseason schedule, and why the Union would benefit by making their signings before the team heads to Clearwater Florida.

Philadelphia Union preseason kicks off Tuesday:

https://twitter.com/PhilaUnion/status/1081294196835844097

The Union start preseason This Tuesday at Penn Park indoor field. They will be their for the whole week, and then travel to Clearwater Florida on Monday, January, 28th 2019 to continue preseason.

The trip to Clearwater will be the first stint of two through the winter months. The first stint is from January 28th to February 7th. during that time the Union will play three preseason matches, January 30th vs New York Red Bulls, February 2nd vs the University of South Florida and February 6th vs Birmingham Legion FC. This stint will show us a lot of what the Union will do in 2019. We’ll see the formation they will play, how new players gel with returning players and if any Steel FC or Academy players are given opportunities with the first team.

After the first stint in Clearwater, the Union head home for a few days, February eighth-10th. They then return to Clearwater for a second stint in sunny Florida. This stint is from February 11th through February 24th. Philly will play two more matches during this time, one on February 12th vs Orlando City SC and more preseason matches to be announced later. This trip leads

Preseason match Schedule:

January 30th vs New York Red Bulls – 3:00 p.m. ET

February 2nd vs the University of South Florida – 7:00 p.m. ET

February 6th vs Birmingham Legion FC – 7:00 p.m ET

February 12th vs Orlando City SC 12:00 p.m. ET

*more games to be announced later*

This schedule of games is exciting, but there are many spots on the roster still vacant, where are all the signings Ernst Tanner spoke of?

Where are the signings???

My chat with Ernst Tanner for @ProSoccerUSAcom:
—Club is in negotiations with a versatile midfielder who can play the 8 & 10.
–Club is in "quite a few negotiations" for new players.
–Tanner hopes something will be done this week. https://t.co/3iGk13F62C #DOOP

— Joe Tansey (@JTansey90) January 8, 2019

About two weeks ago Philadelphia Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner said the Union were close to signing several players that would fill positions of need. A central midfielder who could fit Tanner’s system a player that can be a box-to-box or creative attacking midfield player was one player Tanner spoke of, another was a left back possibly from Germany. Time has kept on ticking and no signing has been made.

There are 12 days until the Union depart for Florida. Tanner had mentioned he wanted to have his signings in before the team goes to Clearwater. This would be ideal, as the first stint in Clearwater will be when the first time the team really gets to train together, and test out competition. These next 12 days could and should be when the majority of the first team players are signed.

While Tanner wanted things to be done sooner than they are, that doesn’t mean they won’t get done at all. This next week will determine whether fans completely lose their minds that no actions have been taken, or if the squad is full for the first time in a while before the end of preseason. Hopefully the latter is what happens, if it doesn’t then we are in for more of the same from the Union.