The Union is now three weeks out from the start of its 2020 MLS campaign! The club is back in Clearwater Florida for the last leg of preseason training, and a major piece to the club’s success is back training with the team! Jamiro Monteiro is finally back in training!
Jamiro’s back training with the Union!
Jamiro was easily one of if not, the most influential players on the pitch for the Union in 2019. If he did not get injured in the middle of the season and miss a chunk of games, his impact could have kept the Union in first place down the stretch. Now, he is looking to build on last year’s successful season.
Monteiro is back training with the Union as of yesterday, and he showed he is looking to take a step forward as an impact player with the club. His play on the field shows this as does his willingness to take the number 10 shirt. While this doesn’t mean he’ll play as the Unions out-and-out number attacking midfielder, it does show he wants to be that impact player for the Union.
Head Coach Jim Curtin spoke of Jamiro’s dominance on the ball in possession drills after practice yesterday at a press conference. Curtin alluded to Jamiro being a guy who makes the team know when to go and when to slow down. This was evident last year, and it looks to be true again for 2020; Jamiro will determine how this team ticks. It looks like Curtin will want both Jamiro and Aaronson to play like 10’s this season, which could fit nicely into a 4-2-2-2 formation. Either way, Monteiro will be a vital piece to the Union’s 2020 puzzle!
To see how the Union were able to able to secure Jamiro Montiero to his multi-year Designated Player contract check out this story:
The last push to the regular season is here!
The Union has a busy last couple of weeks in preseason. The club is making it’s final push to the regular season. Philadelphia will play four more preseason scrimmages. They play this afternoon against FC Cincinnati and follows it up with scrimmages against Inter Miami (2/15), FC Dallas (2/19) and DC United (2/22).
While the club will be busy with training and scrimmages, they will also hope to not lose anyone to the injury bug. As of right now, it seems that Kai Wagner is still out injured, while Andrew Wooten is working his way back to full fitness; the rest of the squad is healthy and ready to get this last push of the preseason underway!
With under three weeks left, the squad will look to round into good form before they head to FC Dallas to open the season on February, 29th. The season is almost here!
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Peace out Union fans!
Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Union.com
