December 27, 2016
Daniel Gajdamowicz/Philly Soccer Page
Fernando Aristeguieta did not arrive in Philadelphia until February 20th, 2015, just 17 days before the start of the regular season.
This is the most wonderful time of the year ... when Union fans complain about the lack of transfer activity surrounding the team.
While other clubs are making intriguing signings and building their rosters for the coming season, the Union always seem to be sitting tight and waiting for the new year. The official team website is carrying feature stories and information about 2017 season tickets. The Twitter and Facebook feeds are similarly fluffy.
This is normal. The Union have always been relatively quiet in December and generally start to make moves in January and February.
This month, the club declined involvement with the re-entry and waiver drafts. It completed a minor trade to send Kevin Kratz, who never appeared for the Union, to expansion club Atlanta United.
That's about it. No big deals and no rumors that I've heard.
This is the Union section for transfer activity on MLSSoccer.com:
Communication in Chester is different these days, and Sporting Director Earnie Stewart has been difficult to break down since he arrived in Philly. It's been harder to sniff out transfer activity since the front office turnover that took place last season. I couldn't get through the firewall until this past summer when the Sebastien Le Toux and Charlie Davies trades took place. As far as I know, only one organized team leak took place in 2016, and that didn't involve PhillyVoice.
The lack of information coming from the club might make for a boring holiday season, but you should view this as a technical staff and front office that is now buttoned-up and operating in cohesion. People stopped talking because they're buying in. Everybody down there is on the same page and working towards the same goals in a comprehensive and cohesive way. Long gone are the days of the CEO bringing in a $400,000 foreign goalkeeper and then pinning that signing on the head coach.
For reference, here's when players were brought in last winter:
Ilsinho – February 24th
Matt Jones – February 9th
Roland Alberg – February 2nd
Keegan Rosenberry, Josh Yaro, and Fabian Herbers – January 14th (SuperDraft)
Anderson Conceicao – January 13th
Walter Restrepo – January 12th
Chris Pontius – December 7th
The only pre-Christmas roster addition was Chris Pontius, who came to Philly in a trade with D.C. United. Every other player was acquired in January or February.
It was the same deal in 2015, when Fernando Aristeguieta arrived on February 20th and Steven Vitoria signed on February 9th. The club was already training in Florida when those players were added to the roster via loans.
In 2014, the trio of Cristian Maidana, Maurice Edu, and Vince Nogueira were added on January 15th, January 27th, and January 30th, respectively.
It was a bit different in 2013, when Jeff Parke, Conor Casey, and Sebastien Le Toux all arrived in early December via intra-league mechanisms.
That's generally the pattern here. When the Union work with MLS clubs, you'll see deals getting done in December. Foreign signings don't take place until the new year.
I know that people like the "silly season" for transfer rumors and other tidbits associated with the club. It's always exciting to hear your team being linked with an interesting foreign name, or a blockbuster MLS trade. It's something that probably keeps you going until training camp starts in mid-January.
But the Union generally operate in a quiet and conservative manner, so try to relax and enjoy the holidays. Spend some time with the family or the PlayStation, or go see the new Star Wars film (it's better than the last one). Worrying about the Union in the transfer market is always a waste of time because the club historically waits until January to start making moves.
