What a week it was for the Philadelphia Union and for us here at the Brotherly Game. Here's a look back at the biggest topics of the week.
Jim Curtin loses interim tag
Probably the biggest story this week was the official hiring of Jim Curtin as the Union's manager. While we all knew it was coming, it still was a timely piece of business for the Union due to the...
Expansion Draft looming large
The Expansion Draft was a huge conversation point this week, with us asking our readers who they'd protect in the Expansion Draft, our very own Andrew Stoltzfus looking at subtraction by expansion, and a couple of excellent Fanposts that looked at the tough choices the club faces going into the Draft as well as looking at the expiring contracts in the offseason. Barry Evans also looked at all of the issues the club will face going into 2015. Our friends at Toronto FC published the list of upcoming MLS events a day before the league did, and on Friday night SI.com's Brian Straus confirmed that...
The Chivas USA Dispersal Draft will be held on November 19
Chivas USA dispersal draft Nov. 19. Draw conducted 11/14 to determine order. Playoff teams get 1 entry in draw, non-playoff+exp teams get 2.
— Brian Straus (@BrianStraus) November 7, 2014
@GolazodelGringo Draft is at 4 PM ET on 11/19 via conference call. No indication that call will be public/streamed.
— Brian Straus (@BrianStraus) November 7, 2014
This is to determine who wins the Dan Kennedy Sweepstakes (aka the Chivas USA Dispersal Draft). No, Cubo Torres will not be available through this - he'll be doled out to the LA Galaxy or Seattle Sounders via some mechanism that MLS hasn't made up yet allocated by an as-of-yet-unknown process. Our good friends at the Goat Parade put together a good guide on the players in the Draft. This should help our armchair GM's, because we put forth...
Three more You Be The GM Scenarios for your enjoyment
As part of an ongoing series leading up to the Expansion Draft, our Jared Young has been asking our readers what would they do if they were GM. This week, the questions were "Should Brian Brown Stay or Go?" (stay), "Should Conor Casey Stay or Go?" (go), and "Should Brian Carroll Stay or Go?" (go). Speaking of coming and going, we might also see some new faces coming from the Midwest because it looks like...
The Chicago Fire are about to purge their roster
Our friends at Hot Time In Old Town revealed that the Fire (Fire Fire Fire Fire Fire Fire....) are about to get rid of 1/3 to 1/2 of their players in the offseason. While there are some interesting prospects that could be available (I'd love to see Benji Joya come here if an equitable deal could be reached with Santos Laguna), our John Rossi thinks that Bucks County native and Reading United alum Greg Cochrane would be a logical choice. Speaking of youth prospects, there was a bit of news regarding ...
Youth Teams with ties to the Union
Not only were Union Academy defenders Andrew Aprahamian and Mathew Real called up to the US U-16 camp, but the USYNT hired ex-Union boss John Hackworth to be the new U-15 manager. And if that wasn't enough, college soccer season is in full swing. Matt Ralph shows a recap of how the Union's college-age prospects did for their respective alma maters. And finally, in news closer to home there were some...
Local goings-on in the area
The Philadelphia Fury finished up their inaugural fall season this weekend, but before they did Fury beat reporter Rich Ransom sat down with GM Graham King Charters for a Furyous Five Questions session. Also in local news, local soccer coutoure designers Live Breathe Futbol unveiled their newest collection 45' this week, and we got a sneak peek at it.