So here it is, PSP’s inaugural postseason readers poll.
This one focuses on Philadelphia Union. We’re curious as to what you think about a few things we know many of you are talking about. So we pulled out those questions, tossed them in a poll, and now leave it to you, the world of Philadelphia soccer fans, to have your say.
Take a spin through, answer the questions (just once!), and we’ll revisit the poll later to see what kind of results turned up.
You’ll notice we didn’t include some questions that people often talk about. (i.e. “Our tradition” regarding the national anthem, fans’ view of the Union’s ownership team, etc., etc.) Look for those questions to come up later on in a regular (weekly or monthly) poll feature on PSP. Feel free to suggest some questions we should be asking and elaborate on your vote in the Comments section below.
[yop_poll id=”9″]
[yop_poll id=”7″]
[yop_poll id=”8″]
[yop_poll id=”4″]
[yop_poll id=”2″]
[yop_poll id=”11″]
[yop_poll id=”5″]
[yop_poll id=”6″]
[yop_poll id=”10″]
[yop_poll id=”12″]
They should play Slayer’s Angel of Death before every match.
Side one of Yes- Tales from Topographic Oceans.
Truth.
I love Polls! 🙂 Would love to see future Poll questions in regards to the UNION’s Front Office (like Fan “Services”) and quality of PPL Park experience (parking lot attendants, loose seatbacks that were never fixed). Thanks! 🙂
Good to hear. We’re gauging how this one goes. If feedback is pretty good and people seem to be taking and liking the polls, we’ll do one on a regular basis, either monthly, weekly or biweekly. It would probably be a Question of the Week or Question of the Month or something like that. Suggestions are definitely welcome and appreciated.
Loose seatbacks are PPL Parks way of trying to get you to stand up for 90 minutes.
HA! I never thought of it like that 😉
The third question – “style of play” – was the toughest one for me to answer. The logical side of my brain screams, “False dichotomy!” and points out that we can have both. But that doesn’t make for an interesting poll or associated discussion.
.
I went with win. If I can only have one, I’d rather go to PPL and see wins and playoff games. But it was a tougher choice than I expected, to be honest.
Yes, you can have both. But we wanted to know which you thought was more important. I think it informs how you build a team. If as a manager, you know that your fans will support you as much when you lose valliantly as when you win cynically, maybe it changes how you do things.
Yep, and like I at least intended to say, sometimes creating a false dichotomy makes great discussion. Because clearly, if the poll was, “You can have pretty soccer, you can win even if it’s ugly, or you can have both wins and pretty soccer” everybody who’s mentally stable would select C.
Mentally stable? Bah. We have Flyers fans among our readership. 😉
If Im not mistaken the fanfare music and Machine Head is actually done before EVERY MLS match in every stadium.
this conspiracy goes deeper than I ever imagined.
The fanfare music certainly is. I remember the first time I heard it at another stadium I first felt relief (“It’s not just us!”) and then just thought “Wait a sec, it’s even more lame that everyone is subjected to this!”
I thought there would have been less support for cruz staying as a sub, but then maybe it’s because everybody knows we are going to be able to trade him.
I love how everybody wants people to stand. The problem, I have with that are the kids if everybody stands the kids can’t see the game I paid for a family of four to SEE!
we are NOT going to be able to trade him
Before her recent growth spurt, my daughter would stand on he seat and hold on to my shoulder. As long as they keep their feet toward the front of the seat, it’s generally safe. Of course, you can’t stomp your feet, jump in excitement, etc that way, either.
Possible question for the next poll:
.
Is John Ling the sexiest beast to ever write a fans’ view column?
.
A: Yes
B: Of course
C: Why are we even asking such an obvious question
BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT
*snipers*
great poll!!
That’s what she said.
I just wanted to say that you guys do the most awesome stuff. This is just another instance of that. I would also add that our most pressing need is not just an attacking midfielder, but a whole midfield makeover. Fix the midfield, fix our problems. Thank you PSP for all of your hard work and dedication to the Union.
I think a lot of what ails the midfield is, frankly, in the middle. Think of the task of rebuilding the midfield this way: if you could only bring in one mid, where would that person play? And I think everybody would say center attacking mid.
.
Whether it’s Brian Carrol or Amobi Okugo, we have a CDM. (And I would so love for that to be Okugo’s spot – another discussion, though). Le Toux played damn well on the right side last year as a hybrid forward-mid. I see no reason not to put him back in that role again next year. Farfan and Daniel can both play the left side. I know Daniel is a popular whipping post around these parts, but if you watch him play for his national team, he clearly has skills. Something specific about the Union sucks away those skills. My hunch is Hackworth wanted him to play a more holding role rather than attacking role. But even if you don’t want to slide him to the left, Farfan can play that spot quite well.
.
The one spot we can’t find a fit for given our current roster is CAM. That’s why it comes up. Really, if the Union starting midfield next season is Carroll, Farfan, decent attacking mid – not necessarily even a DP, and Le Toux, I’m OK with that. I think a lot fans would be. (Again, I’d *prefer* Okugo, but then you have to fill the CB role too, which makes this post even longer than it is now.)
Forget the players, forget the coaching staff, forget the front office, forget winning or losing….my main concern is getting rid of Machinehead. I’m not going to lie and say that I thought it was lame when I was in 8th grade – I thought it freakin’ rocked – but its time has come and gone. If it is a league mandate and everyone has to put up with it, that makes it a little better, but not much. It is time to make a stand and kill off Bush once and for all. Priorities.
Wow. Am I the only person willing to admit to liking Machinehead as the song to start the game?
yes
I’m curious to hear why people think Okugo has a better future at CDM than at CB. Clearly he’s great at both positions, and better than Carroll at CDM, but I think he has way more potential at CB.
My opinion only here.
.
I’m actually not too interested in where he has a better future; I’m interested in where he helps the Union most while he’s on our roster. And so with that in mind, the decision is: Okugo at CB and Carroll at CDM (presumably all year for both), or and Okugo at CDM.
.
The Union have never really had trouble finding CBs, it seems. So I’m willing to assume they can find another, either in MLS or from elsewhere. Maybe that CB isn’t as good as Okugo, but that’s not the only variable in the equation.
.
At CDM, Okugo offers more speed than Carroll, more aerial presence, better vision, better touch, better passing accuracy, and the ability to be more involved in the offensive side while still holding down his defensive duties.
.
That’s a lot. And that’s why I prefer Okugo pushing Carroll out of the CDM role.
AND he offers depth at CB while playing CDM
But I could make the argument that if Carroll had a true playmaker in front of him – a possession guy who can control the tempo of the game and distribute – coupled with a true right midfielder instead of Cruz, Carroll’s weaknesses would not be as glaring. He could instead focus on his strengths, which are breaking up the passing lanes and forcing turnovers. He has never been a box-to-box, speed midfielder, he has thrived as a “quiet” defender who just gets in the way and forces opponents into poor decisions.
Absolutely, Brian. Carroll is pretty damn good at what he does – passing lanes, supporting his CBs, reading plays quickly and getting into the right position, and so on.
.
But the point, I think, is that you can get all that – forced turnovers, etc – and more by sliding a player like Okugo into that field position.
.
There was a time when the CDM played exactly like BC does it, and he was really good at it. But the role has evolved, and teams now want that guy to also contribute – at least a little bit – on the offensive side of the ball, too. And that’s why I think Okugo is the better choice going forward than BC.
.
I do agree, though – put even Le Toux on the right in place of Cruz and a true attacking center mid as his partner, and BC will look better than he did this past season.
Thanks for some thought provoking questions. I am actually looking forward to the next poll! That isn’t much of a stretch since I always look forward to the next story on PSP.
Is there a Joe A or a Joe B? I think we just skipped right over them.
I think the question on Sack as CEO needs to be more of a rating system than a simple yes or no. As soon as I read it, I was inclined to give him a no, but I switched after giving it some more thought. When the recent 2012 team value and revenue numbers came out, I was pleasantly surprised to see we were making a small profit. I also can’t blame him for the lack of use of Kleberson and Roger Torres. Sack wasn’t the one picking the lineups every game. He knew this would still be somewhat of a transition year, and yet they still went out and got Parke, Le Toux and Casey. It’s not as if he was in a cave hibernating last winter.
Keep in mind that my vote may have been swayed by free parking next year.
I agree with you Joe C. At first, I wanted to give him a “no” because I’m still mad that they missed the playoffs. On top of that I am still mad about Brian C being the Captain and getting so many minutes. Finally, I am just sick of seing Cannonball Cruz smashing down the right side of the field while we have players with passing and finishing skills sitting on the bench. Then I realized that Sack has nothing to do with that. In fact, he did grab Parke, Le Toux and Casey with both his financial hands tied behind his back as you point out. So I had to give him the “Yes”…and the free parking will be nice too.
I wasn’t looking at Sak for just this year. The question seemed to be asking about his performance overall so I had to give him a no. He has outright lied on a number of occasions and he was the one who gave Nowak total omnipotence and then staunchly stood by him when the rest of us could see he was destroying the team. I’m not saying he can’t and won’t do better but I don’t feel he’s done right by the fans very often. Also, you canm’t count hin getting LeToux when he was okay with letting him go in the first place.
*can’t count him. Sorry, fat fingers.
Good suggestion. To be honest, we framed many of the questions like that to force people to choose and see what happened when they did. Was that a good idea or a bad idea? We’ll keep it in mind with future polls.
Yes. Good idea. Made for some tough choices, but that’s OK.
I liked having to put extra thought into the answers. Keep framing the questions that way! More polls sir…Please! And I am glad to see the runaway for Amobi Okugo in both best player and one to keep!
You had to give it more thought?! He’s the worst executive in the entire league by a country mile. His only real talent is being a pernicious cheapskate for one bad ownership group (Tampa, MetroStars under AEG, this sad bunch) after another. Frankly, I’m astonished that 67 people were crazy enough to click “Yes”.
A soccer poll in December! Fantastic !!! This has made my day and freed me from hot stove baseball blah! Thank you! I love this site!!!
I got an error when I answered “Yes” to should Hackworth return as Union manager in 2014? For a minute, I thought that that was on purpose and that whoever wrote the poll intended it to be a trick question. But then I clicked Vote again and it worked.
It’s the little things that amuse me.
I’m a bit surprised by the large majority that voted to keep Okugo over McInerney. Okugo certainly has the potential to be a great player, but goalscorers don’t grow on trees.
.
I think there’s a general overreaction to Jack’s drought, and despite that he still scored 12 goals. Imagine what he could do with a competent midfield? I love both players, but McInerney has the potential to be a 20 goal scorer in this league.
Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles?
I mean, what you say is fundamental and everything.
Nevertheless just imagine if you added some great visuals or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”!
Your content is excellent but with images and video clips, this blog could certainly be
one of the most beneficial in its niche. Amazing blog!