Union training camp: Digging deeper into comments from Jim Curtin and Earnie Stewart

There's a lot to process from Earnie Stewart and Jim Curtin's media availability this week.

The Union's sporting director and head coach spoke rather openly about a number of topics, from preseason trialists, to international roster spots, and possible player signings,. Stewart, in particular, seems to be a bit more comfortable with the Union media corps and even had a good laugh during one exchange (more on that later).

Here are some of the key quotes from Stewart and Curtin, with thoughts in italics below:

International roster spots and green cards

Brotherly Game: What is the international roster spot status?

Curtin: "The easiest way to put it is, between the two rosters, we have a lot more than the allotted MLS version. How’s that? Is that good? Is that vague enough?"

Brotherly Game: Is it 15?

Curtin: "Yeah, 15 allegedly, but you can buy and sell spots so it can always change. I think the easiest way for me to say it... if there’s a good international player, he will be on our roster. There won’t be... that mechanism will never prevent us from maintaining a strong international player. The numbers can change. There are green cards that happen at the snap of a finger now, so status has been changed on a player on our team recently, so again. It’s a crazy one, but it’s one where you have to always play the game and stay on your toes and find creative ways to keep everyone happy."

PhillyVoice: How about that player who might have had their status changed recently?

Curtin: "You're always baiting me into trouble."

PhillyVoice: Just following up.

Curtin: "We won’t comment on that one. We'll let that one be. But at the same time, there’s good things working, in terms of guys adding their green card that will change the amount of international spots."

Curtin basically admitted that someone is getting a green card. I don't know who would be next in line. I think it took Fabinho and Vince Nogueira at least two years to go through the process. Eric Ayuk seems the most likely candidate, or maybe Fabian Herbers or Josh Yaro, who both occupy international roster spots despite playing college soccer. Ilsinho and Roland Alberg haven't been around long enough, so I'd be stunned if they pushed through a green card for one of those guys.

Stewart: "I don’t want to get too much into it. We’re going to find a way to do that. Right now, we’re in a good position, between the first team and Bethlehem Steel you have certain spots, so we’re going to make sure that we fill those because that’s what’s ahead of us, and what’s needed. Getting into green cards is a bit difficult because you never know anything about that until the moment they have them. A couple of them are in process right now, but nothing that’s going to be done in a week from now. We’ll have to do it in this regard, in this way, and find the best way to fill those spots."

They're right; green cards and international slots will almost never be an issue. A few years ago, you might remember that the Tranquillo Barnetta signing pushed the Union into roster non-compliance. They were able to loan an injured Vince Nogueira to Harrisburg to clear an international slot, then got a green card approved for another player which allowed Nogueira to return.

Number nines

MLSSoccer.com: Can you talk about Jay Simpson?

Jim Curtin: "He’s a guy that’s scored goals everywhere he’s been, at all stages of his career. Again, a guy that we know if we get service in the box, he can finish. Between him, between C.J. (Sapong), between Charlie Davies, we think we have three good number nines that can push each other in the right way. Each has a little different skill set, but Jay is a guy who, character-wise, fits in with the group, and I’m really excited to get to work with him."

They do have three good number nines, but do they have a "great" number nine? On paper, I don't see a guy who is scoring double-digit goals for this team. Simpson can probably be that player if he gets consistent service. The same goes for Davies, who eclipsed 10 goals on three separate occasions – once with D.C. United, once with New England, and once with Hammarby. Sapong's career high is nine goals in a single season.

This was the same exact story going into 2016. The Union began the campaign with Sapong as the number one striker, backed up by a rookie in Fabian Herbers. C.J. is a solid player who does a lot of things well. The difference was that other teams in the eastern conference were rolling out Sebastian Giovinco, David Villa, Cyle Larin, and Ola Kamara.

'Controlling' midfielders

PhillyVoice: Earnie has used the term "controlling midfielder" in recent weeks. Is that a number six? A number eight? Maybe a box-to-box guy?

Curtin: "You can put the number on it, it would be more a guy that can slow the game down, a guy who has the range of passing. The title of that, controlling midfielder, it points more towards the six spot. Depending on who’s healthy, and who is available to draw from, you can share a little bit of that load. But there is still an ongoing search for that spot."

(same question to Stewart)

Stewart: "A number six. For me, a controlling midfielder is a defensive midfielder who is kind of in the mold of what Vincent (Nogueira) has, but also what Brian Carroll has. Their first thought, even when we have the ball, is defensive. They’re always in the right place at the right time, coaching at the right time, and being available to receive the ball. In the buildup from the back, your six is very, very important."

I found it interesting that Stewart immediately identified a "controlling midfielder" as a number six, then mentioned Nogueira, who was a straight-up number eight. But Earnie's comparison does make sense, since Vince technically was a defensive midfielder who liked to get on the ball and start attacks from deep-lying areas. He also tended to play in a conservative manner and didn't get forward all that much, which speaks to Stewart's idea of "defensive" thoughts. So, even though we think of Nogueira as a prototypical ball-mover, he usually found himself in the areas that a number six would occupy.

We've always used the terms "8" and "6" to identify the roles taken by the defensive midfielders in the Union system. You have to differentiate somehow to avoid confusion, right? Both players do similar things, but they aren't exactly the same. In most 4-2-3-1 shapes, your six is going to be the guy who plays a bit deeper and protects the backline. The eight is typically a connector who can move the ball from back to front. There is a lot of overlap in skill set, but there is usually clear differentiation in how each guy plays.

If the Union do go out and get a number six, then I'd assume Maurice Edu will be the other defensive midfielder when he's finally healthy. You could theoretically start the season with a new face in Brian Carroll's position, then play either Warren Creavalle or Alejandro Bedoya next to him. I have a feeling Bedoya is set for the number ten spot, though.

Bethlehem Steel

PhillyVoice: In years past, draft picks were cut if they didn't make the team or couldn't squeeze their way into a Harrisburg loan. How much does Bethlehem Steel change that?

Curtin: "It’s a huge factor. It helps us in a lot of ways. It helps us with the foreign roster spots, the ability to have some flexibility there. It gives them games, it gives them a spot to, as the roster becomes more and more full, to put guys that we consider assets for the future. It’s critical to have two full rosters of guys that, yes they’re young, but they’re pushing the first team guys in training, but also they’re staying under the Union umbrella. I can’t stress enough how valuable Bethlehem has been for us, and you guys will see the roster this year will be a heck of a lot stronger than it was last year. Just from, naturally, us learning, the right mechanisms, the right age of players to bring in. It will a younger group this year, that is a certainty. You will see a lot of academy kids getting minutes there as well. And already you’re starting to see the depth of the first team spill over into Bethlehem. It’s strong, stronger than it’s been."

They only have 10 guys on the Steel roster right now, so they can add a bunch of the draft picks, then fill in the spots with academy guys.

That's the whole point anyway, right? People were complaining last year because the Steel roster was a barebones work in progress, but that's exactly what it's supposed to be. Steel could finish with zero wins and 34 losses for all I care. If the Union can pull another Derrick Jones or Auston Trusty from that squad, then the season will be a huge success. Bethlehem Steel exists solely as a pipeline to the Union first team.

Does anyone care if the Lehigh Valley IronPigs win? It's about developing players for the Phillies.

Andre Blake

Philadelphia Inquirer: There was speculation about Blake. What does that mean?

Curtin: "Speculation, right? He’s a Philadelphia Union player. Always has been. There was never anything that came up that would even hint at otherwise. It’s great to have him now with another year under his belt. Obviously, a very good year that he had. And now he’ll go to work with Oka Nikolov who will continue to make him that much better. He’s Jamaica’s number one, there will be call-ups, and he’ll get experience there internationally, which is good. He’s come in, he looks sharp in day one, but again it’s early and happy where Andre’s at. It’s important to have a good goalkeeper and Andre’s a good goalkeeper."

Inquirer: With Andre Blake, there’s all this speculation…

Stewart: "I don’t think that speculation came from us! (interruption and laughing)"

Inquirer: No, no. But apparently, nothing was even close. How glad are you to have him back?

Stewart: "He’s goalkeeper of the year, so that says a lot. I think Andre still has a whole other level he can go. He’s a great goalkeeper for us. And he’s talented. So he can go even further than that. And obviously our coaching staff, and mainly Oka Nikolov, is the guy that goes about that. But nothing has been close. We haven’t had any offers on the table, so that makes it really easy. In soccer there will always be speculations."

Inquirer: Does that surprise you? No offers?

Stewart: "Surprised, not surprised, it doesn’t really matter. You have to deal with the facts that there are. If they’re there, you look at it, see if you can do something with it. In this case, they weren’t there, so not even a need to be surprised or not surprised. Wasn’t there."

First, I don't know how much speculation there really was surrounding Andre Blake. I wrote a story in which I pushed the idea of selling Blake, then using the money on a striker. That's not transfer "speculation," that's just one writer's opinion of what the team should do.

The only real "speculation" I saw was a tweet from MLS Transfers that suggested that Blake might have a trial in Belgium this winter. Andre shot that down, but did admit that there was interest from Belgium two years ago. I was told he was close to being sold to Genk or Gent at the beginning of 2015.

After Stewart's first response, I chimed in with a paraphrasing of what I just wrote. I think the entire group got a good laugh out of it, and it was a way to disarm the situation a bit. Stewart responded well to that, which shows me that he's getting used to being around this group of writers. You don't always have to stand there in awkward silence.

That said, I don't believe for one second that there was no interest regarding Blake. This is the best goalkeeper in MLS and an international-quality starter. I'm 99.9 percent certain that the technical staff got a few phone calls about Andre.