Photo: Earl Gardner/Daniel Gajdamowicz
This might sound familiar.
Going into opening day, Philadelphia Union's presumptive starting goalkeeper is a former
University of Maryland All-American, U.S. youth international and top five draft pick. He was
coached by Union goalkeeper coach Rob Vartughian in college and apprenticed to a top veteran
goalkeeper in the pros.
Photo: Earl Gardner/Daniel Gajdamowicz
This might sound familiar.
Going into opening day, Philadelphia Union's presumptive starting goalkeeper is a former
University of Maryland All-American, U.S. youth international and top five draft pick. He was
coached by Union goalkeeper coach Rob Vartughian in college and apprenticed to a top veteran
goalkeeper in the pros.
Our 3-part series breaks down the 2012 Union roster by position. Today, the D. Tell us where we're
wrong.
D.C. United's preseason personnel surge continued on Wednesday with the acquisition of
Argentine centerback Emiliano Dudar from BSC Young Boys in Switzerland.
The 6-foot-4, 30-year-old Dudar is a player with experience on a number of levels and is a
one-time Swiss league Defender of the Year (2009-2010).
Why have the Philadelphia Union added a scrimmage against Florida Gulf Coast University, of all
places, to their preseason warm-up tour? With approximately 12,000 students including post-grads
and a "noteable alumni" list that consists of a professional monster trucker and Don Carman
(retired Philadelphia Phillies pitcher from the 80's), what put the FGCU Eagles on the radar?
There is one thing you have give to the Philadelphia Union, so far during this and the previous
off season they've had needs on the team and pretty much filled them up. After the inaugural season
it was painfully obvious to anyone that wasn't Helen Keller that Chris Seitz was not going to be
the answer at Goalkeeper.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every
Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011
season.
Faryd Mondragon looked like the answer in 2011.
Another MLS Cup, another expansion draft.
For most clubs around the league, that's what the year's final match really means. The day after
Sunday's championship game, MLS teams must submit to the league office the list of eleven players
they plan to protect in the Nov. 23 expansion draft.
The draft's rules are largely the same as last year, tweaked a bit to account for the Montreal
Impact drafting alone, whereas last year's draft had two expansion teams.
(Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz)
All this week, PSP will be breaking down the Philadelphia Union/Houston Dynamo playoff
matchup. PSP's roving correspondent Adam Cann lays out the big questions and Eli Pearlman-Storch
answers them. First up, we compare the goalkeeping of the second and third best teams in the
Eastern Conference.
Donovan Ricketts and his backup Josh Saunders have been some of the best keepers in 2011. (Getty
Images)
Before the start of the 2011 MLS Season I went through each position and ranked the teams by I
thought would be the best at that position in 2011. With the final week of the season upon us, I
figure it is a good time to go and revisit those rankings and call out where I was spot on and
where I was way off.
Houston Dynamo (10-9-12) vs. FC Dallas (13-10-7) September 24, 2011 -- Pizza Hut Park, Frisco TX
Attendance: 10,849
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Geoff Cameron 5 (Brad Davis 14) 87
Houston Dynamo -- Tally Hall, Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe,
Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo, Brad Davis, Danny Cruz (Je-Vaughn Watson 58), Brian Ching (Carlo Costly
78), Calen Carr (Colin Clark 64).
Photo: Kate Goughary
Will Juan Pablo Angel be joining the Union?
Speculation began to gain momentum when Faryd Mondragon, a close friend of Angel, tweeted, "What
a dream come true will be to have my "brother" Juan Pablo Angel to play for the Philadelphia Union,
he will fit perfectly in our Team!
Perseverance is perhaps the best word to describe Brad Knighton. Everywhere he's been Brad has had
to contend for a starting spot and despite performing well, circumstances have sent him elsewhere.
He's played in for the New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union and now Knighton plays for the
NASL leading Carolina Railhawks and is proving day in and day out that he is a top notch
goalkeeper.
When PSP runs our live commentary during away matches, we get lots of interesting comments
and questions from readers. We take those comments and try to put together a list of questions that
get to the heart of what Union fans want to know about the team.
The Question: Was last night's midfield lineup the most effective from both personnel
and positioning perspectives?
The Los Angeles Galaxy have been forced into starting their third goalkeeper tonight versus the
Seattle Sounders. Brian Perk sits as the potential starter for at least one game for the Galaxy
because of Donovan Ricketts' broken forearm and John Saunders' red card last game.
Drafted 49th overall in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft, Perk did not start a single MLS or USOC game
for the Philadelphia Union.
Duncan Fletcher, of SB Nation's Toronto FC blog Waking The Red, and I exchanged three
questions a piece, ahead of today's Philadelphia Union-TFC game at BMO Field. To read my
responses to Fletcher's questions, click the linked text here.
Scott Kessler: Last year saw the Union drop a game because of a silly
foul that resulted in a red card for Danny Califf and the resulting freekick, by Dwayne DeRosario,
that was fumbled by Chris Seitz into the net for a 2-1 loss (and of course the penalty that Seitz
gave up).
The U.S. U-20 MNT picked up a 3-0 victory against the FC Dallas Reserves today at Pizza Hut Park in
Frisco, Texas.
The FC Dallas side included a number of former youth national team players including 2009 FIFA U-20
World Cup veterans Brek Shea, Peri Marosevic and Josh Lambo and 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup goalkeeper
Chris Seitz.
Our beloved Red Stripes fell last night in Monterrey, Mexico to the UANL Tigres in the first
round of what could be the annual Rio Grande Plate. FCD took on Tigres a couple of years back in
a home-away set that drew thousands of fans to PHP. The game wasn't televised, and the only real
way to follow it other than the FCD Twitter was in Spanish on 1270AM.
[As we inch closer and closer to the Union's 2011 season opener this
Saturday in Houston, the Brotherly Game will analyze the roster as it stands heading into the
team's first competitive game. Today's feature on defense will be followed by the midfielders
tomorrow, and the forwards on Friday.]
After an inaugural season in which the Philadelphia Union allowed 49 goals (T-2nd worst in
league), it didn't come as much of a surprise when the team made a splash in the transfer market to
upgrade its defense.
Buzz Carrick over at 3rd Degree has been doing a pretty good job at keeping up with the current
rosters for FCD. So...I thought I'd give you a heads up as well. With the latest news that FCD
has let go of Maykel Galindo and Charlie Campbell, the updated rosters look something like
this:
Senior Roster (18 to 20)
MLS rosters are expanding to 30.
Seattle set a high bar for expansion teams in 2009. And it was clear early on that the Union
would struggle to reach similar heights during their inaugural campaign.
Still, 31 points from 30 games did not do justice to a team that seemed to undo quality
performances with sudden and unexpected errors.
Union
From the Union website, this piece details Chris Agorsor's road to recovery from a devastating
injury. Agorsor grew up playing with Zach MacMath and has long known Sheanon Williams. Coming from
just outside of Baltimore, Agorsor says he never wanted to play for DC United. He says Baltimore
"is a lot more similar to Philly than to DC.
Union
From the Union website, this piece details Chris Agorsor's road to recovery from a devastating
injury. Agorsor grew up playing with Zach MacMath and has long known Sheanon Williams. Coming from
just outside of Baltimore, Agorsor says he never wanted to play for DC United. He says Baltimore
"is a lot more similar to Philly than to DC.
By AVI CREDITOR
The training wheels have been taken off, and the Philadelphia Union is ready to ride with the
big boys.
After an inaugural season that ended well short of a postseason berth, the Union has made a
number of personnel moves to shore up what was a shaky defense in 2010 while providing support for
its budding attackers as well.
By ADAM SERRANO
One win away.
That is how close FC Dallas came winning the franchise's first MLS Cup in 2010. Fresh off its
crushing defeat to the Colorado Rapids in the final, FCD is ready to make a return run to the
championship in 2011.
On Tuesday, the Union announced that Brad Knighton, the presumptive second string goalkeeper
behind new signing Faryd Mondragon, had been waived.
The announcement was met with shock in some quarters. After all, that leaves the Union with, at
present, only two keepers: Mondragon and first round SuperDraft pick Zac MacMath.
More photos » Brian Bahr - Getty Images
Browse more photos »
Apropos of nothing really, except the news that Knighton was waived by the Union yesterday, here
are Philly's goalkeeper transactions in their just over one full year of existence:
- Nov 25, 09 - Traded 175K in allocation money and an agreement not to pick an RSL player in the
Exp Draft to RSL for backup Chris Seitz
- Nov 25, 09 - Selected backup Brad Knighton from the New England Revolution in the Expansion
Draft
- Jan 14, 10 - Drafted Seattle Wolves' Brian Perk in Rd 4 of the 2010 SuperDraft
- Jul 30, 10 - Waived Brian Perk (claimed by the Galaxy)
- Oct 24, 10 - Finished season with 2nd highest GAA in MLS
- Nov 21, 10 - Both Knighton and Seitz left off of the expansion draft protected list
- Nov 24, 10 - Seitz is added to the protected list after Shea Salinas is selected by
Vancouver
- Dec 8, 10 - Declined Seitz' option and left him available for the Re-Entry Draft
- Nov 15, 10 - Seitz selected by Seattle (and then traded on to FC Dallas)
- Jan 13, 11 - Drafted consensus late-first-rounder Zac MacMath 5th overall in the 2011
Superdraft
- Jan 20, 11 - Signed Columbian international Faryd Mondragon (hereafter known as the Moon
Dragon) after he was benched by Bundesliga relegation candidates FC Koeln.
Major League Soccer clubs have either opened up their training camp or about too. So it is a
perfect time them for the first MLS rankings of 2011, courtesy of the MLS Soccer.
There is little surprise that the team who made the single biggest splash this offseason is
ranked number one.
Well, you knew this was coming. The poll, I mean- not the news that the Philadelphia Union
have waived goodbye to the man who, when Chris Seitz's imperfections became irresolvable, was
asked to be our Knighton shining armor. He performed respectably enough, as second stringers go,
memorably providing our first ever shutout and otherwise manning the goal at least [.
Photos: Nicolae Stoian
In 2010, we embarked on a new journey. Our league debut was nationally televised. Our home
opener drew nearly 35,000 fans. Then, while we waited for the opening of our new stadium we began
an extended string of away games that demonstrated what can only be described as the season-long
woeful state of our away form.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
By AVI CREDITOR
The Philadelphia Union's goalkeeping corps is down to a 39-year-old veteran and a 19-year-old
rookie.
The team elected to waive Brad Knighton Tuesday, parting ways with the 25-year-old netminder who
started eight games in the club's inaugural season.
The Union announced tonight that they have waived goalkeeper Brad Knighton, who did not practice
with the team when they opened training camp yesterday. Knighton started eight games last year,
stealing the starting role from Chris Seitz for the last two months of the season. He posted a 1.10
GAA and was on the field for the Union's first clean sheet ever.
Union
Union preseason training begins today at YSC Sports. The training sessions are open to the
public, 11am through 1pm.
Rumors persist that Colombian striker Jorge Perlaza is a target for the Union but a contract
dispute between Perlaza and his club Deportes Tolima is reportedly creating problems.
Union
Union preseason training begins today at YSC Sports. The training sessions are open to the
public, 11am through 1pm.
Rumors persist that Colombian striker Jorge Perlaza is a target for the Union but a contract
dispute between Perlaza and his club Deportes Tolima is reportedly creating problems.
The Philadelphia Union introduced two new signings last week, Faryd Mondragon.and Carlos Valdes.
So far, Mondragon has been saying all the right things, emphasizing his work ethic, preparation,
and team spirit. He also seems like a character if his Republica Deportiva appearance and
interaction with fans are any guide.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on... we won't get fooled again!
Or will we.
Zac MacMath, Goalkeeper
After losing former Maryland star goalie and top five pick Chris Seitz to the expansion draft,
the Union grabbed Maryland star goalie Zac MacMath with the fifth pick in the 2011 SuperDraft.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on... we won't get fooled again!
Or will we.
Zac MacMath, Goalkeeper
After losing former Maryland star goalie and top five pick Chris Seitz to the expansion draft,
the Union grabbed Maryland star goalie Zac MacMath with the fifth pick in the 2011 SuperDraft.
Since the first MLS draft in 1996, 10 goalies have been drafted in the first round. The results
are decidedly mixed. And while some first rounders have been productive and others have been duds,
no goalie selected in round one has had a long and influential career for the team that picked him.
Brad Guzan for Chivas and Matt Jordan for Dallas have come closest to fulfilling their promise as
long-term number ones.
Union
Individual and group tickets for the March 26 home opener against Vancouver are on sale now.
John Hackworth on what the Union are thinking ahead of Thursday's SuperDraft: "We have specific
targets based on our needs...If there is a player that we feel is so good at a position (we don't
value as highly), we'll have to make some tough decisions on that, but we have specific needs in
this draft and that is how we are approaching it at this point.
Union
Individual and group tickets for the March 26 home opener against Vancouver are on sale now.
John Hackworth on what the Union are thinking ahead of Thursday's SuperDraft: "We have specific
targets based on our needs...If there is a player that we feel is so good at a position (we don't
value as highly), we'll have to make some tough decisions on that, but we have specific needs in
this draft and that is how we are approaching it at this point.
