Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union

Editor’s note: To read each post in the Player to Watch series, click here.

Haris Medunjanin is the answer to the question Philadelphia Union have been trying to answer for eight months. The question is just how good an answer he’ll be.

Philadelphia Union have been trying to replace midfield fulcrum Vincent Nogueira since the Frenchman suddenly departed the club last June. At the time, they were 6-3-5 and near the top of the standings. They went 5-11-4 the rest of the way and backed their way into the playoffs.

With Nogueira, they were a team that could work the ball upfield on the ground, switch fields as good as anyone in MLS, and hold possession to give their back line a break and allow their attackers to get into good scoring positions. Without him, the Union defense often had to skip past the midfield to find target forward C.J. Sapong with long balls, taking the striker out of dangerous positions and forcing a vey different style of play. It hurt them offensively and defensively.

In Medunjanin, they appear to have a player who could be close to a like-for-like replacement for Nogueira, which raises hopes that the Union could replicate their early season success from last year.

• Both are deep-lying, possession-oriented midfielders who like to get on the ball.
• Both fill similar areas of the field and like to look for the long ball.
• Both show patience in possession.
• Both leave a little to be desired defensively.
• Both can pose issues in finding the appropriate center midfield partner(s), since each likes to sit deep in possession and control tempo, but neither is a defensive No. 6 stopper. So they may require a partner in center midfield who can be a defensive destroyer who also likes to fly upfield in attack.

But there are definite differences, ranging from height to quickness, and the question will be just how well Medunjanin can replicate what Nogueira did well and exceed what he did not without creating new problems in the process.

Why to watch Medunjanin

Medunjanin may be the key to the Union’s fortunes this season.

The Union need him to slow the pace of the game, cycle the team’s ball movement, drop deep to provide his center backs a reliable outlet against high pressure, and generally provide vision that starts and links to the attack. Nogueira was fantastic at all this.

We haven’t seen much of Medunjanin in a Union uniform, but we’ve seen enough to raise expectations and questions.

In his first preseason outings, he seemed to be filling Nogueira’s shoes, although he did it just a bit differently. He hasn’t shown the tendency to switch fields like Nogueira did so brilliantly, but he has demonstrated an inclination to look for the killer key pass more than his predecessor.

On the other hand, he was mostly invisible in the Union’s final friendly, a 3-2 loss to D.C. United, and he seems to be about as fast as Oguchi Onyewu currently is, which is to say not fast at all.

Which is the Medunjanin we should expect? The 31-year-old Bosnian international has a good track record overseas, but MLS is not every other league. The travel schedule is unforgiving, and Medunjanin, 31, hasn’t really had an off-season after playing a half-season in Israel.

Best case scenario

• Medunjanin adequately replaces Nogueira.
• Derrick Jones and eventually Maurice Edu hit the field as advanced and very fit destroyers to support Medunjanin in defense and fill the spaces farther upfield in attack while the Bosnian sits deep. Warren Creavalle provides depth till Edu comes back.
• Alejandro Bedoya and company adequately man the No. 10 role ahead them and adequately link with Medunjanin.
• Medunjanin stays healthy and yields to Brian Carroll (or some other center midfield combo) for regular rest to keep the newcomer fresh, accounting for his lack of an off-season.

Worst case scenario

In center midfield, you’re only as good as your chemistry. Who can forget the problems that Vincent Nogueira and Maurice Edu had, whereas Nogueira and Cristian Maidana seemed to share a telepathic link?

Medunjanin is neither your standard deep-sitting, hard-tackling No. 6 defensive midfielder nor your typical, motoring box-to-box No. 8. His vision is offset by his lack of quickness.

If the Union can’t find the right center midfield trio, Medunjanin could find himself as frustrated as Nogueira sometimes did. If they play him at the No. 6 next to Bedoya, as they did against D.C. United, they could leave a porous midfield that doesn’t adequately shield the back line, much like the Union found last year when they moved Tranquillo Barnetta to the No. 8 to accommodate Roland Alberg in front of him.

The talent is there. The question is whether they’re healthy enough and deployed in the right roles. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle without directions. The Union coaching staff has to figure it out.

Outlook

Union sporting director Earnie Stewart let the Union cycle through options on the roster last year while he patiently looked for the right replacement for Nogueira.

Medunjanin looks like a fair analogue who lacks the quickness but adds size.

The question now will be lineup chemistry.

Based on the lineups he sent out in preseason, Union head coach Jim Curtin will likely spend the first several weeks of the regular season toying with his central midfield trio to find the right combination. It looks like he wants to find a way to get Bedoya, Medunjanin and an attacking midfielder all on the field together, and you can’t blame him for seeking a way to put his most talented and dangerous 11 together on the pitch, particularly with Derrick Jones untested in MLS. However, that doesn’t always produce the best unit, chemistry or defensive shape, as we saw last year when Curtin tried to get Alberg, Barnetta and an overweight Ilsinho on the field together last year.

Don’t be surprised if Jones is the chosen one to pair with Medunjanin. This may provide some bumps in the early going, as Jones didn’t look MLS-ready last year, but he definitely impressed enough in USL and in MLS preseason this year to make you wonder if he can be the guy to bridge the gap as the Union wait and hope for an Edu return.