Photo: Paul Rudderow
During his tenure in Philadelphia, Michael Farfan enjoyed three seasons in which he was a rookie of the year finalist, an all-star, and a playoff participant. He managed several highlights during his Philadelphia Union career, including spectacular goals against Real Madrid and LA, shown below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGwkfKxShG0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPqvGKiRJrw
But despite such encouraging moments, Farfan failed to consistently produce through 2013 and was ultimately sold to Liga MX side Cruz Azul. While in Mexico, he struggled to break into the first team with only one appearance and found himself cut from the roster only six months into a three-year contract.
After spending time training with the Union last summer, he was then picked up by DC United through the allocation process and has enjoyed a successful season so far with six appearances and three starts, primarily in central midfield, for the second place team in the East. This early success was recognized with a MLS Team of the Week honor thanks to a beautiful assist to Bobby Boswell in DC’s 2-1 road win against Vancouver last Saturday.
While it’s great to see Michael Farfan enjoy a successful 2015 season, we at PSP would love to have him back in Philadelphia, especially with the current state of the Union’s midfield core. Hopefully he’ll go easy on his former team when he returns to PPL Park for the first time with DC United on May 17.
being a fan of this team is unbearable
The scathing irony of this is great- well played.
Some like to credit “The Little Fish” with the best franchise gol, but Marfan’s is my favorite. Made St. Iker look silly. Scored that goal against one of the greatest franchises in the world.
.
Boy those days seem so long ago….
Somehow I was field level for both and I gotta say Farfans was so much fun…had me stunned. Ruiz’s monster goal was less skill and more fluky, but right at the top of the balls flight I thought “hey this could go in!”
So in a few years, what current player will be on a different team making us think to ourselves, “damn, I wish we still had him”…?
Wenger? Watch him put it all together consistently for NE or NYRB in 2017.
I could definitely see this. He needs the right kind of coach to help him get out of his own way.
The next good player to leave this team will be Master Pfeffer.
His name is Pedro and he’s already making us wish we still had him!
Man, watching those clips makes me sad. Reminds me of when I actually loved this team.
Btw- the reason Farfan failed to be productive was no fault of his own. The Onion as usual asked him to be an AM. Union Sense. Guy could play. Farfan and Okugo. Yeah we didn’t need them- we have La Houd and Wenger.
Incompetent Front Office
Farfan’s case is a very clear and important reminder that form can be a very temporary or fickle thing and that the right club and coaching situation can get a lot out of individual players. Having the proper vision and structure for getting the most out of players can often be a pathway to larger team success. It’s very clear by a case like this (and there have been others too) that the lack of vision and sense of purpose that seems to permeate throughout the Union’s organization spreads to the players and may be keeping a lot of them from reaching their potential while here. A concerning trend I have observed in the past five years.
You sir are an erudite.
Problem with management and coaches are they don’t know quality players when they see them. Kleberson = skill so sit the bench. Farfan = skill so get out of town. Torres = skill, no we don’t need any skilled players on this team. Valdes, = world class defender, see ya, we got some dude from Canada to take your place. I’m surprised they didn’t get rid of Nogs or Chaco since the club doesn’t seem to want SKILLED soccer players on their club. Hope they fix it before those 2 are gone!
If you recall, he was in town looking for an MLS club over the holidays. We put our money with Le2 and Wenger instead of a quality/skilled player like Farfan. Too many mistakes in management with the Union! Things need to change!
We have to keep remember that Michael Farfan was with us for some time…much of it was filled with terribly unimpressive performances. I miss Gabe more!
I remember a player much better than what we have on the wings today. I believe the coaching staff is mainly to blame. As we can see, he had it before when he made the all star game, and he has it now as player of the week. You don’t get rid of players that can dazzle and keep the runners with little skill. This has been one of my biggest issues with this club the past few years.