2022 MLS Season Previews: New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers FC
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Philadelphia Union 2019 Season Preview
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The Union faithful have been donning their Sherlock Holmes deerstalkers this offseason. They been dealt a small handful of clues to answer some pretty big offseason questions. Was their 2018 season really their best ever? What became of Borek Dockal? What new tactics will new GM Ernst Tanner ask Jim Curtin to employ? How did they actually land their biggest signing ever in Marco Fabian, and what does this all mean for 2019?
So let’s begin our tour to unravel these not-so-elementary mysteries, my dear Dr. Watson….
Read MoreRanking MLS' Best Foreign Goalkeepers
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It’s hard not to have a love-hate relationship with the MLS offseason. On one hand, we get to talk about goalkeepers more often. (A massive plus for anyone.) Typically the narrative wraps up a year-long performance in one or two sentences - “Goalkeeper X will look to build off of last year’s success by relying on his shot stopping and distribution skills.” - but that’s hardly a problem considering the larger headache that resurfaces this time of year. Every January we hear about an unnamed MLS team being linked to a foreign goalkeeper. We just had one happen last week, with a “lucrative offer” apparently on the table for a German goalkeeper.
Read MorePostseason Preview: Philadelphia Union
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Is this the year that the Philadelphia Union break through? That is the big question on the minds of the Union faithful. In their nine seasons the team has reached the MLS Cup playoffs three times and matched that with three US Open Cup Final appearances, but they’ve collected a record of 0 wins and 6 losses in those pivotal moments. Generally speaking they’ve been outclassed in these games as well, allowing 13 goals and scoring just 4. Are these results just the growing pains of a new franchise or is something else going on?
Read MorePhiladelphia Union 2017 Season Preview
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The Earnie Stewart era in Philadelphia has been marked by change but the Union haven’t quite been able to emerge from their history of mediocrity and underperformance. Change, mediocrity and underperformance - remember those words. They underpin the state of the Union. First let’s take a look at a picture of pure mediocrity - a history of the Union, through the results of their three coaches across seven years.
Fancy graphs after the jump.
Read MoreGold Cup Team Preview: Jamaica
/This is a young and dynamic team that has all the various attributes that are so often associated with Jamaica. They've got speed and are a very attacking club, but they come with a bit more technique this time around. Unfortunately, after just participating in the Copa America, this call-up is a bit weaker than what we'd normally expect for a Gold Cup.
Speaking of the Copa America, they only managed 8 shots inside the box against Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, and surrendered 16 across their three group games. Which seems… not good. Until you consider that Uruguay is ranked 12th , Paraguay is ranked 37th and Argentina is still number deuce in the world according to ELOrating.net. Things look suddenly a little bit more rosy.