Kerith Gabriel: Union Agree To Deal With Gabriel Gomez
by Scott Kessler on Dec 15, 2011 4:04 PM EST
in Offseason Content
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Kerith Gabriel, of the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com, is reporting that the Philadelphia Union have come to an agreement with Gabriel Gomez. An announcement should come sometime next week, according to his article.
A source confirmed to Gabriel that a Presna.com article proclaiming talks between the Union and Gomez had reached the finalizing stage was correct. When officially added to the Union, Gomez will become the fourth acquisition of Philadelphia's 2011 MLS Offseason, along with waiver draft selection Nazir Khalfan, Costa Rican international striker Josue Martinez and Home Grown Player signing Jimmy McLaughlin.
Gomez is a defensive midfielder with plenty of positional versatility. He can play anywhere on the backline, along with multiple positions in the midfield. Gomez's speed gives him the ability to play as a left back, which has had plenty of speculation throw about over the future of the position for the Union.
The 27-year-old has proven at both the club and international levels that he is able to dominate a game as a box-to-box midfielder, showing off his talent in Panama's win over the United States in this past summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.
The Union utilized a multitude of tactics during the 2011 MLS season, some of which included putting two central defensive midfielders in front of Jordan Harvey/Gabriel Farfan, Danny Califf, Carlos Valdes, Sheanon Williams and Faryd Mondragon/Zac MacMath.
Head Coach Piotr Nowak may see Gomez as a complement to current defensive midfield starter Brian Carroll, the team's starting left back or one of a number of other positions. Gomez brings versatility to the Union that Nowak seems to prefer in players that he brings into Philadelphia.
Though the signing may not cost the Union any money in terms of a transfer fee, Philadelphia does have an international roster spot problem heading into the 2012 MLS season. There are currently nine international players on the team's roster, with only eight spots allotted for such players in 2012.
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Union aquisitions
You said this was the Unions Third of the offseason. You forgot the Martinez siggniing which makes it the fourth
Oy vey.
Fixed, thanks for catching that mistake. I can’t believe I left Martinez out. Wow.
Managing Editor for Brotherly Game, SBNation's Philadelphia Union blog and contributor for SBN Philly. // @scottdkessler
"College is only 4 years, but the Eagles are for life." - Ironhank
by Scott Kessler on Dec 15, 2011 4:23 PM EST up reply actions
I hope we don't use him at LB...
Unless we switch to something like a 4-2-3-1 (which I wouldn’t mind at all), it could be that we plan to trade Carroll while he still has significant value. Can’t see Nowak doing that though, he seems to like him too much. But I really don’t want him at LB since he’s right footed, and I don’t really like the idea of inverted FB’s.
Author on Anfield Asylum - YNWA
There's nothing wrong with an interverted fullback...
so long as said fullback is a good player.
Managing Editor for Brotherly Game, SBNation's Philadelphia Union blog and contributor for SBN Philly. // @scottdkessler
"College is only 4 years, but the Eagles are for life." - Ironhank
by Scott Kessler on Dec 15, 2011 4:41 PM EST up reply actions
True, it can definitely work
Worked well enough for Glen Johnson at Liverpool last year (who is a bit underrated IMO, very professional player), but it’s just not something I personally like the idea of. My favorite formations are 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 with inverted wingers, and if you have an inverted fullback there you risk having no width.
Author on Anfield Asylum - YNWA
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