The Philadelphia Union is a club at a crossroads heading into 2024. The team may not have club legend and captain Alejandro Bedoya back, and the same could be said for one of MLS‘s best left-backs Kai Wagner. This leaves some holes in Philadelphia’s starting lineup. Couple that with the probable transfer of striker Julian Carranza, and this club could be looking to fill three vital spots.
The transfer window has been open for a week, and there has been little rumble or rumor of Philly bringing in any players that would fill these possible vacant spots in their starting XI. Other teams in MLS are making big splashes and spending a whole lot of money to do so. This has been giving many Union fans that new signing FOMO; anxiety is rising surrounding this team, but this slow start to the transfer window is nothing new to Philly.
Union using the same transfer strategies to sign players ahead of the 2024 season
Union Sporting Director, Ernst Tanner has a transfer strategy. It’s almost predictable at this point. To kick off the offseason Tanner usually brings in a new crop of homegrowns and re-signs players on the roster to new contracts. This has been the case this season, but there hasn’t been much movement in those areas. Philly signed youngsters Isiah LeFLore (not a homegrown signing but a young player from Houston’s second team, and Nick Pariano to a homegrown deal; they then signed Chris Donovan to a contract extension. That’s the extent of Philadelphia’s offseason moves to this point, but it’s not surprising.
Tanner loves to get things settled “in-house” before adding more to the team. This could be why we are not seeing any signings as of yet; however, it also means we could know the fates of Bedoya, Wagner, and Carranza before any more signings come in. This strategy is consistent, but also frustrating for fans. Looking at Tanner’s tenure in Philly, he has never signed a new first-team player in the January transfer window before the 19th of January.
Tanner has had more successful transfers than unsuccessful ones for the team, but many of them have been diamonds in the rough that fit Philly’s play style. This is the Moneyball style of acquisitions that Tanner is known for, but is this the best for the club right now?
We saw at the end of 2022 that the Union was another quality attacking player, or creative midfielder away from winning the MLS Cup; they didn’t get that type of player in 2023, and the team regressed for the first time in five seasons. Philly still has the making of a contender in MLS. They have a great coach, and possibly the best defense and goalkeeping in the league. They still lack the attacking punch to get them over the hump to be champions, and now they may need to replace a captain in midfield, and a left-back that helped the team flow on both sides of the ball. That challenge will be hard to overcome playing Moneyball.
As of today, Philly is 16 days away from its first preseason match, and 43 days away from its first competitive game against Saprissa in the Concacaf Champions Cup (CCC). Time is running out to get all the pieces in place ahead of the start of preseason training camp.
16 days till the first preseason game
The Union will be readying themselves for the 2024 season very soon. The team’s preseason camp opens up on January 14th, with the team leaving the following day to go to Clearwater, Florida for training.
Eight days after training, Philly will play their first of four preseason matches, taking on Austin FC. They then will play a second preseason game four days later against NYCFC. This first leg of preseason is to get fitness levels up and simulate the congested periods of the season that will come in 2024.
The team will then return home at the end of January to have a week’s worth of training at home, before returning to Florida for the last leg of the preseason. The team returns to Clearwater on February 5th, and then takes on FC Cincinnati on the 9th and finishes their tune-up matches against New England Revolution on February 14th.
The preseason will be a month-long training session with matches near each other. Will we see this Philly team fully constructed at that time, or will they still be a work in progress?
43 Days till the first competitive match of the 2024 season
The Union has just over a month until their 2024 season starts. The team is still under construction, and it seems that will be the case while they are preparing for the start of their season as well. No matter what happens, Jim Curtin will have to have whoever the players are on his roster ready to take on a strong opponent in CCC to open the season.
We have seen a makeshift Union team open their season in Saprissa back in 2021. A good result there, along with the fireworks of a fight at the end of the match, helped solidify that team’s mentality for the season. Could the 2024 version of the Union have the same type of moment that helps them gel in their first game of the season? We’ll have to wait and see!
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