The Philadelphia Union have not been having a good season so far. The team has played 10 games and has a record of 2-6-2. Manager Peter Nowak has stated that he is proud of the team for the performance against FC Dallas. In that match, on Saturday, May 19, 2012, the two teams tied at 1-1. FC Dallas scored first and held off most of the Union's attacks but let one slip by in the second half. Though the team did end a losing streak, the game was not played that well.
The Union had several veterans on the team at the end of the previous season. Faryd Mondragon was a top goalkeeper but he decided to return to his original team for what is likely his final season. Fortunately, Zac MacMath has shown that in most games he is a talented and skilled goalkeeper. Every once in awhile, however, he has an off game, which is likely attributable to his youth. Sebastien Le Toux was a good striker who was a clean player. He could not only help lead the younger players, but also was a good role model of how to play the sport. He was traded to the Vancouver WhiteCaps. Justin Mapp had been left unprotected and was taken during the expansion draft by the Montreal Impact. Now, Danny Califf, the team captain, has been traded for Michael Lahoud and allocation money.
I think that mistakes have been made by the management of the Union. Though change is inevitable, and one of the changes was caused by the player's own choice, it still seems that there were too many changes. Plus the team is still very young on average. There is really no leader to help bring the team together. Had the Union spent the offseason playing against MLS teams, the players may have been more up to speed coming into the season. It seemed that there were significant problems in the final game of the preseason when a brawl broke out and perhaps those problems are continuing given the number of red cards that the team has so far received. I am still hopeful that the team can turn it around but time is running out for the team to be able to get to where it was last season.
Kristin Watt lives in central Pennsylvania and has no local major league sporting teams in the area .She has chosen to adopt Philadelphia's teams, including the Philadelphia Union, as her own home teams. Philadelphia is close enough to make a daytrip out of a game and still not have to get a hotel room.
