Signings

Union re-sign Fabinho

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union announced on Friday the re-signing of left back Fabinho.

Union sporting director Earnie Stewart said in a statement, “Fabinho adds depth to our back line and we are happy to have him back with us ahead of the 2016 season. We have spent a great deal of time looking to strengthen our back line during this off-season and we are confident that Fabinho’s veteran experience will add value on the field and in the locker room.”

The announcement comes after head coach Jim Curtin confirmed at last week’s SuperDraft in Baltimore the Brazilian, who was out of contract after the end of the 2015 season after first joining the Union in 2013, would be returning to the team.

Competition for Fabinho at left back will come from second round draft pick Taylor Washington. Third round draft pick Mitchell Lurie also has experience at left back.

With Fabinho’s re-signing now official, 19 of 28 roster spots are now filled:

GK (2): Andre Blake (GA), John McCarthy
DEF (6): Anderson Conceicao (INT’L), Fabinho, Raymon Gaddis, Richie Marquez, Keegan Rosenberry, Joshua Yaro (GA/INT’L)
MID (9): Eric Ayuk (INT’L), Tranquillo Barnetta (INT’L), Brian Carroll, Maurice Edu (DP), Leo Fernandes, Sebastien Le Toux, Vincent Nogueira (INT’L), Chris Pontius, Walter Restrepo
FWD (2): Fabian Herbers (GA/INT’L), C.J. Sapong

DESIGNATED PLAYERS (DP): 1
HOMEGROWN PLAYERS (HG): 0
INT’L ROSTER SPOTS FILLED (INT’L): 6 (Blake, Fabinho, and Le Toux have green cards)
GENERATION ADIDAS PLAYERS (GA): 3
UNSIGNED DRAFT PICKS (3): Taylor Washington (No. 23), Mitchell Lurie (No. 44), Cole Missimo (No. 64) 

Players are due to begin reporting for the the team for medicals before the start of preseason training, scheduled to begin on Sunday at University of Pennsylvania’s Dunning-Cohen Champions Field.

22 Comments

  1. Looks like the draft picks are International Spots, after all.
    .
    Well, that makes Earnie’s life a little more difficult…

    • Here’s hoping that was an accounted-for inconvenience, and not an oversight.

      • I have to believe that was expected and there is a plan.
        .
        Right? Please?

      • I could be wrong but if they send Herbers and Yaro to BSFC would they still count as internationals on the roster? Cause this could be the plan until green cards are obtained by other players. This gives you 3 spots I believe to bring in players then and hoping mid season that you can get Nogs a green card and maybe others then you can bring them back up. Just a thought I have no idea if its true.

      • they would free up spots for as long as they are on loan there. i believe that last year nogueira was technically ‘on loan’ to harrisburg while he was injured because we were low on international spots.

      • Earnie and Jim seem confident in everything so far so that makes me hopeful there is a plan. I also think that Nogueria and Yaro could be close to green cards. Maybe even Herbers.

      • Old Soccer Coach says:

        Anybody out there an immigration and naturalization lawyer? I’m not certainly.
        .
        Would not Yaro and Herbers have been in country on student visas as long as they were in good standing with the schools academically and otherwise? Now they ase no longer in good standing with their schools as full time students, I would assume, since they have diverted away from a defined expected degree track.

  2. the language of earnie’s statement makes me think that washington will be signed to bethlehem steel and and that they are still looking for another left back. i definitely could be reading into it too much though

    • +1. “Fabinho adds depth to our back line” is most definitely a chin-rubber. I don’t think it’s reading too much into that to say that they are looking for another L back. (Which I’m glad about, not because I don’t like Fabinho, but because we need more depth than a couple of rookies.)

    • That’s how I read that statement as well.

  3. Meh.
    He is who he is, but I always felt we could do better.

  4. Part of me is excited and I will be scheduling trips to Philly for 5/6 games and also attending the Union during NY area teams. After last season I was not going to waste my time. The other part of me is holding my breath so as not to get my hopes up too much. Dammit I love this team and want them to be more than a 2nd rate outpost! To me this is the last chance for this ownership group. I know this is Earnie Stewart’s first year and he will need time, but as a fan it’s all we’ve heard from the Union for 6/7 years. Jay Sugarman, Earnie Stewart, Jim Curtain, Chris Albright and staff had better know that there is no more slow walking this fan base moving forward. In my opinion they need to start having more open dialogue with us. I was very impressed with the guys at KYW Soccer Show in their recent interview with Jim Curtin. The questions were direct, to the point, with no wishy washy sucking up. Jim Curtin answered and surprisingly there were no tired cliches and talking points. We done gentlemen!

  5. Old Soccer Coach says:

    eight or nine roster spots to be filled for the first team; the reserve team, aka BSFC, has signed less than a full eleven as far as I know – there is probably some web searching in my future between snow shoveling and dog walking tomorrow – let alone enough bodies to have enough players to fill two adjacent practice fields. of coursse the BSFC opener is March 25th, and last year the season was six games shorter. But how a fourteen team conference will interact with a twenty-eight game schedule is officially not yet revealed, even though home and away seems obvious as 28 = (14 x 2).
    .
    We need to start looking at a depth chart for the organization, not just the first team. Relying solely on memory, there are three signed goalkeepers total, and two signed strikers for both teams.
    .
    We can expect several not readily identified faces at YSC on the 27th, but the squad that will play Jacksonville will likely be a combination of both rosters plus such unidentified invitees as survive initial evaluations here up north. Last year at Jacksonville everyone got a chance to be on the field, in three thirty minute segments, and the last two segments were somewhat disjointed. To make 33 bodies they imported at least a couple of FL high school age amateurs.
    .
    Then they come home for a break to do laundry, kiss their sweethearts and find out who is invited to go to Clearwater.
    .
    Pray, cajole and beg for streaming of the preseason games.

  6. And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
    ‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find
    I’m not the man they think I am at home
    Oh, no no no
    I’m a rocket man
    Rocket man
    Burnin’ out his fuse up here alone

  7. The Chopper says:

    Earnie Stewart is here to identify and develop talent. It is going to take a few years for that to payoff. Meanwhile, it is clear that ownership is not going to spend any significant dollars to upgrade the first team roster. So we have a few more season of not much to look forward to.

  8. Hypothetical (although I kinda hope not):

    With Jordan Morris signed in Seattle, that means they now have Morris, Dempsey, and Obefemi Martins lined up as forwards. Unless they plan to play a 4-3-3, there is the possibility that one of them will not get the minutes they are expecting.
    .
    Would you give up someone like Nogs to get Martins? I doubt Seattle wants to part with any of them, but their forward line seems a bit crowded. And there is no way they will park Morris on the bench all year.
    .
    Just some food for thought…

    • I’d give up Nogs and my good kidney for Martins and I’m in the camp that Nogs is the most talented player on the Union. Martins’ salary is way too much for the U. Martins may move on anyway, but the Sounders will cash on him.

      LA is looking jammed at forward with Boateng, dos Santos, Keane and Gordon. Could a Jamieson or Zardes be pryed loose? If so, I think the player you dangle is Edu, not Nogs.

  9. I agree with shopping Edu, but who’s going to take his contract? The Union have gotten worse this offseason not better. Lost Maidana and got a bunch of collegiate players. Meanwhile Dallas and Columbus have signed Latin American midfielders? Huh? Oh yeah, and we have the same defensive-minded coach who can’t coach defense. If (and it’s a bit if) we sign some additional players (like a striker, you know, the guys who score the goals that are needed to win games) they won’t be here til at least the middle of preseason and so they’ll be poorly integrated into team. I suspect this team will be WORSE not better than last year. And maybe that’s Earnie’s plan: then he can fire Curtin and bring in some good players.

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