Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
After a dismal and disheartening performance in last Saturday’s 4-1 loss in Columbus, KYW’s Greg Orlandini and PSP’s Eli Pearlman-Storch are joined by PSP’s Adam Cann to discuss the Philadelphia Union’s many troubles in the latest edition of the KYW Philly Soccer Show.
With the Union off to their worst season start in franchise history, topics include the questions surrounding the Sheanon Williams benching, how Steven Vitoria may have been oversold to the fans, John McCarthy’s struggles in goal and why hasn’t Andre Blake started yet, the possession issue, and more.
[haiku url=”http://nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d8/d8/dI/dE/188IE_3.MP3″ title=”What ails the Union”]
To listen to the pod, click on the player above or visit the Philly Soccer Show iTunes page. Follow the pod on Twitter at @KYWPhillySoccer.
Festivus.
For what its worth I listened to the end.
Bless you
Thank you fellas…
great show as always. it was really telling when adam said he did not have enough time to talk about all of the problems with the union midfield 🙁
Think about that statement then in relation to how much was said about the back four being a mess. It’s ALL wrong.
Thank you for putting this podcast together, I wish we could be talking about happier topics.
Let’s hope that your score predictions are as good as the one at the end that Blake has to play this week.
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I think the reason why people cut Gaddis more slack the Williams is the difference in their on field personalities. When he’s not getting in Mbolhi’s face, Gaddis comes off as a quiet, reserved professional. Williams, on the other hand, has the in your face type personality which can rub some people the wrong way and cause them to criticize him. He is in the middle of almost every confrontation the Union have been involved in for the past several years.
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One disagreement I have with my wife is regarding Williams. Personally, I see him as bleeding Union Blue and Gold more than any other player the Union have had to the point where I would have made him captain about two years ago. My wife sees him as a hothead who doesn’t control his emotions. Just different ways of looking at things.
maybe a bit of both. hotheaded corporeal.
I think his emotions do get the best of him sometimes, but I do agree with you Andy. As I said, or tried to say, in the podcast, Williams is as Union as they come. This team gave him an chance and he ran with it. That is one of the reasons why his benching is a mystery.
Eli. “Everyone turns and runs up the field like youth soccer players.”
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Sometimes I don’t see i2i with you but this is music.
Hard to disagree with the argument that Williams being singled out for the NE performance is ridiculous, when numerous other players played equally bad or worse. Gaddis in particular has had a terrible season this year and was at fault in both of the NE goals.
You are not wrong. The only difference that I would argue is: Williams has been piss-poor…while playing his preferred position. Gaddis has shown poorly…while playing on the left, where his game is not as strong. (This is not to let Ray off the hook…he needs to step up!)
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As for benching Williams, I think that it is a personal message, sent from a manager to a player (that is supposed to be one of the teams leaders). Williams has just been called out. How will he respond???
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Williams has been REALLY poor, for quite some time.
I thought he was excellent in the NYC FC games, but agree that he’s had some poor moments in a few other games, most notably NE. I still think a backline of Gaddis, Edu, Vitoria, and Williams….if left in place, is plenty good enough to be a competitive team. Give them better support from the wide MF positions and keep Nogueira in a bubble between games. THe support structure between MF and the back line really hasn’t been there.
He has not been piss poor. He has not been really poor. He definitely hasn’t been his best either. But again, regardless of what he does, he is being singled out. It continues to not make sense that Williams is the one picked out of for abuse. He is not deserving of anywhere near the amount of garbage he is forced to endure.
We will always be on the opposing sides of the Sheanon/Ray fence, Eli.
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Much of my disdain for Sheanon comes from the fact that he pushes Gaddis (to me,a better player) to a weaker position…and doesn’t really show well enough to justify the move. Aside from the throw-in schtick; I have not seen anything, beyond ordinary, from Sheanon’s game…in a long, long time. He is no longer the force on the right flank. He continues to look lazy, at times, and gets caught-out too often for my liking. He is the one guy, in that god-awful back line, whose efforts could be questioned. The rest have been shitty…but they are busting that ass for 90′. Is Sheanon Williams?
I tried understanding the benching of Williams but really could not make sense of it. The fact is if you want to win you go with your best. If Curtin feels Fabinho is better than Williams than he needs to go. There are many players on this team that need to be benched. I’ve seen many professional player have a bad game but benching someone doesn’t really solve the problem. The Union problem is bigger than Williams and it starts with the coach.
Great podcast. Sometimes the most entertaining podcasts come from a place of despair and disbelief. That said, I’m glad to hear Cory Ashe’s name out there as a target. I was saying this last year, and while I wasn’t shocked we didn’t sign him (because Sakofshit is clearly incompetent); seeing him now on the bench in Houston and seeing the crap we’re playing on the left side of the pitch (Gaddis, Fabinho and Wenger could all be replaced by Ashe) is disappointing to say the least. Talking about each player, and how disappointing they’ve been, is all well and good but I think we need to be talking more about how truly unqualified Curtin is to be our manager.
We’re playing terrible football (tactics, style, lack of possession, lack of effectiveness, defensive lapses), our players are unfit/unmotivated/unprepared to perform at the level needed; and his subbing is shocking. These are all key skills a manager needs. Until our FO makes a change at the manager level, we’ll never know how good the players we want to stay (Nando, Nog, Maidana, Edu, CJ, Ayuk, Wenger, Vitoria) can be. I have been shocked by the play of Wenger, Le Toux, Gaddis, White and Williams, but bottom line – they’ve all played better before, so have their talents declined or are they not being put in a position to perform/excel? This is the managers job.