The Philadelphia Union opened up the 2017 season with a 0-0 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps. Fans got a good look at many of the Union’s offseason additions with Jay Simpson, Oguchi Onyewu, Haris Medunjanin, and Derrick Jones making the starting XI, with Fafa Picault being substituted into the game in the 71st minute for Chris Pontius. Jones made Union history, as he became the first player to play a game for the Academy, Bethlehem Steel FC, and Philadelphia Union. He made a good first impression, as he looked calm out there in the midfield with a number of key tackles.
Neither team had many opportunities to score, but Andre Blake was up for the task whenever he was called upon. The best chance for either team came in the second half when on a corner for Vancouver a shot from inside the box was parried away on the goal line by Keegan Rosenberry. All in all a good way to start the season, a tie on the road is never a bad result.
How did the Union players individually perform against the Vancouver Whitecaps? Fill out the sheet by rating the players on a scale from 1-10 using the guide below. The votes will be counted and in the future we'll compare the fans votes against other player ratings to see just how well the Union did.
Here's the scale:
1 - not a pro (USL/NASL/MLS) quality performance
4 - average USL starter
6 - average MLS starter
9 - MLS All Star