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You Be The GM: Should Michael Lahoud Start, Stay Or Go?

If you believe everything you've heard so far this off-season then Michael Lahoud is currently a starter for the Philadelphia Union next year. What would you as GM do next?

By unionoscopy@JaredEYoung Nov 26, 2014, 10:00am EST

No I don't live in Denver. I grew up in Sierra Leone. - Frank Ocean

I'm not entirely sure what Frank Ocean is getting at in this lyric, but considering Michael Lahoud started his MLS career with the Colorado Rapids and was born in Sierra Leone, you have to wonder if this might be one of the most obscure references in the history of pop music? No? Okay, moving on.

Let's talk about more relevant references, like those made by Jim Curtin. If you take his recent comments about Amobi Okugo (not being back) and Maurice Edu (hopefully being back at center back) at face value, and you factor in that Brian Carroll is currently without contract, then Michael Lahoud is currently the Union's starting holding midfielder. Too early in the off-season to think about such things you say?

Here are Michael Lahoud's stats from the past two seasons:

Michael Lahoud Whoscored.com Stats
	Games	Minutes	Goals	Assists	Key Passes/Gm	Pass %	Tackles/Gm	Int/Gm	Clear/Gm	Rating
2014	8	458	-	1	0.4	80.4	1.1	0.9	0.8	6.29
2013	9	467	0	0	0.1	79.7	0.9	0.4	0.4	6.19

While his playing time was roughly the same as in 2013, Lahoud competed against a much deeper midfield and contributed more per game across the board. His numbers seem to be headed in the right direction. He certainly looked more confident on the field this past season. The Union didn't show any improvement with Lahoud on the pitch, allowing 1.75 goals per game in his four starts (three of which were on the road). But the sample size there is very small.

Lahoud is 28 years old and had a base salary of $99K last season. He may be near the top of his development curve but he does come at a reasonable price.

You be the GM. If Maurice Edu starts at center back and Amobi Okugo isn't resigned, are you comfortable with Michael Lahoud as your starting defensive midfielder? Will you go sign a new DM and keep him on the bench? Or will you start with a clean slate?

By the way, I wish all the readers a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with your friends and family and enjoy the MLS playoffs this weekend.

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