All of a sudden, things are starting to look up for the Philadelphia Union.
After a couple of ugly losses to start the preseason, and some behind-the-scenes difficulties acquiring new players, the Union opened the IMG Suncoast Pro Classic with an easy win Wednesday before — and far more importantly — bringing in a striker they covet.
On Friday, the Union announced that they acquired Venezuelan striker Fernando Aristeguieta on a loan deal from France’s FC Nantes with an option for a full transfer — the last big piece on the roster the team hopes can turn the corner and make the playoffs in 2015.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on the kid but I do see him as a guy set up to score goals in MLS,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said. “He can do it in a lot of different ways. He can shoot from outside the box. He can shoot off the dribble. He can run by a guy. He scores a lot from his head. He’s a big, strong kid and I’m excited to get him in the group.”
The Union’s pursuit of Aristeguieta was an interesting one, to say the least. According to Curtin, he’d been on the team’s radar since last year. Curtin said he and technical director Chris Albright flew to France to talk to him “the second our [2014] season ended.”
Curtin initially thought they “lost him for good” when Nantes loaned Aristeguieta to Getafe in Spain, leading the Union to pursue French striker Andy Delort and others. But, as fate would have it, negotiations with Delort fell apart around the same time that Aristeguieta’s loan deal with Getafe fell apart, leading to where we are today.
“It’s been crazy,” Curtin said. “Part of me thinks, ‘Wow, this is nuts.’ But you talk to other coaches and they have crazy stories as well. But we’ve had a few this offseason that you can’t make up.”
Because the Union don’t have the same kind of resources as other MLS teams, Curtin and Albright had to get a little creative to find players they think can make an immediate impact. And that’s partly why Aristeguieta and center back Steven Vitoria, who was brought in last week to replace the jettisoned Carlos Valdes, were acquired on one-year loan deals from European first-division clubs.
Both players weren’t getting enough playing time for their liking — for Curtin, that’s not a huge knock since they were at big clubs, behind big stars on the depth chart — and wanted to move elsewhere to prove themselves. Curtin called it a “mechanism where we can get the most out of the least,” even if the moves have gone down to the wire and caused somewhat of a stressful preseason.
“I like having a hand in the personnel we bring in,” Curtin said. “Would it be easier if things just went as planned and everything went perfectly smooth? Yeah, of course that would be better. But it doesn’t work that way. ...
“The way you piece together your roster, there’s no one way to do it. We’ve given ourselves some flexibility now to see where these CBA negotiations land. So we have some moves depending on what the salary cap and roster size go to. We have a lot of flexibility we can use going forward, and we kind of planned it that way. We’re still not a finished product yet, but we like the direction that we’re going in.”
While there still might be moves on the horizon, the lineup right now looks pretty much set. Leading into the March 7 season opener against the Colorado Rapids at PPL Park, you can probably pencil in Rais Mbolhi in goal in front of a backline of Vitoria and Ethan White at center back and Sheanon Williams and Ray Gaddis at fullback — a pairing that Curtin “would put up against any other combination in MLS." Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira and Cristian Maidana will likely form a midfield triangle with Sebastien Le Toux and Andrew Wenger on the wings and Aristeguieta up top as the lone center forward. However, C.J. Sapong will start some games either on the wing or in a two-forward set and Pfeffer could supplant Maidana in the starting lineup, per Curtin.
With most of those regulars getting the start Wednesday, the Union cruised to a 3-0 win against the Costa Rica U-23 team. It came a day after what Curtin described as the best training session of the preseason.
“That was the first time I’d say we looked like ourselves, like when we were in good form last year,” Curtin said. “And that carried over into [Wednesday’s] game. During the course of the preseason, you’re going to have some moments where you think you’re the worst team in the history of MLS and a game where you think you’re a lot better than you actually are. Those are the highs and lows of the preseason. The goal is not to have any of those negative games, but we got that one out of the way with [a 3-1 loss to] Jacksonville right off the bat. Hopefully that’s out of our system.”
And the team should only improve once Aristeguieta is successfully integrated into the lineup, which Curtin believes shouldn’t be too hard given his personality and skill set.
“He’s a good person when you sit down and talk with him,” Curtin said. “He got a great recommendation from (former Union striker and current soccer broadcaster) Alejandro Moreno as well. He went to the same school as him. He’s a very smart, educated player who we see with great upside and kind of a fit for our league just because of his work ethic and his ability in the box.
“Heading the ball in the box, he’s as good as I’ve seen.”