Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Posted: 6:42 p.m.
By Ryan Bright
CSNPhilly.com Contributor
The Philadelphia Union are still in flux.
Despite being two weeks into training camp with a roster solidified with new additions and headlined by numerous returning stars, the Union are not resting. Led by a newly developed expectation to compete, the second-year team is still searching by any means to find the best formula possible before the March 1 MLS roster deadline.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The roster is not set, said coach Peter Nowak in a conference call from the teams Florida training facility in Orlando. Roster compliance is March 1 and we need to make decisions at the end of this camp. There is nothing in place yet, we still are working on some things that will improve our roster.
Roster jostling began on Tuesday when the Union placed defender Cristian Arrieta on waivers. The 31-year-old appeared in 16 games for the Union last season but fell victim of a numbers game on the back line. For Nowak, who is turning up the pressure to win, Arrieta wasnt the answer.
We said after last season that this year the roster would be better, Nowak said. Its going to be more competitive. From captains to rookies, a guaranteed contract does not mean youre guaranteed to play. We tried to improve the roster to make it better. When you look at the roster, you always try to improve it, not make it worse, and that will be the basis of our decisions moving forward. We want to be balanced. In the next couple of days and weeks, well try to make that work.
With Nowak and the rest of the Union management actively searching for personnel improvements and added depth, the question turns to what position they are looking to upgrade. The answer, according to Nowak, is anywhere on the field.
Of course we would look at adding to positions offensively and defensively, said Nowak, whose mantra all training camp has been to push players through positional competition. Having a forward or even grabbing another defender is still in the works. But by adding Brian Carroll and Zac Macmath and a couple of other pieces, we have a solid core of players that can push us forward. Of course wed like to have the perfectly balanced roster, and we are trying to do our best to accommodate that.
Taking the next step
If the Union want to take the next step in 2011, it will be second-year striker Danny Mwanga that could take them there. However, according to the coach, it wont be his well-known ability to score that triggers it.
There is still a couple of things he needs to work on, Nowak said of the first-overall selection in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. Hes one of the guys who need to be constantly reminded that defense starts with the forwards. Thats something we need to work on.
Mwanga, 19, ranked second on the team in goals with seven in 24 appearances. Its no secret that the talented youngster lands heavily in Nowaks plans for the upcoming season.
We need to explore more options for Danny, soccer-wise, said the coach, which means presenting him more information than last season.
So far, he has adapted to the new information pretty fast.
E-mail Ryan Bright at ryanbright13@gmail.com