The Philadelphia Union’s secretive preseason is coming to a close and the MLS season is just around the corner. I don’t know about you guys, but I am extremely excited for this season for MLS and specifically this year for the Philadelphia Union. On Wednesday, CONCACAF Champions League quarter finals kick off between the LA Galaxy and Toronto FC followed by Seattle Sounders and Santos Laguna. No matter what happens, an MLS team WILL reach the semi finals. Now onto the Philadelphia Union.
There’s a few questions swirling around every Union fan’s head. Who will score the goals? Who will leave for the Olympics? Is this Adu’s year? How will the goalkeeper situation plan out?
Only time will tell, but that doesn’t mean we can’t predict. The goal scoring thing will definitely not be a one man show. One individual may score more than another, but it will be a shared job.
Who leaves for the Olympics? Williams? Adu? Jac Mac? Okugo? MacMath? All five of our guys have the possibility to leave. This could go either way. The most obvious suspects to leave are Okugo and Adu, but could it be more?
Could 2012 be Adu’s year? It could be. He is playing great right now for the U-23 national team and hopefully he can transition that to the Union and motivate others.
The goalkeeper situation is tough. Sure, MacMath is a great keeper, but is he really ready to take over the starting role? Veteran goalkeepers are realistically not a lot of money and they are available. I think it would have been smart to bring in a veteran to man the net but if Nowak decided to bring in one now (he won’t, we have 3 keepers) it would shatter MacMath’s confidence.
This year could really go either way. Regardless of how it goes we have to be behind our boys. Let’s prove to the new guys that we are the 12th man on the field. Doop!
(image courtesy of philadelphiaunion.com)
