Photo Philadelphia Union II communications

As the final installment of the midseason analysis of Philadelphia Union II’s roster, we consider Union II’s eleven MLS NEXT Pro professionals. Nine of the eleven are contracted directly to Philadelphia Union II. Two are on loan from Venezuelan clubs for the 2023 season.

Only three are attackers. Eight of the eleven are defensively oriented. And those eight are dominated numerically by central channel players (seven).

That dominance reflects the first team’s retention of its own defensive central core for 2024, through 2025, and possibly into 2026. Andre Blake, Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, and Jose Martinez have chosen not to escape club control any time soon. There is no predictable need for the Academy to recruit and develop elite goalkeepers, central defenders, or defensive midfielders.

Here is a snapshot of our guesses, followed by discussion of each individual.

Signed

On loan for 2023

Promotable

Left back Juan Castillo is the only Union II professional with a chance to be promoted to the first team’s roster this year. The chance would occur in consequence of other outside back roster developments higher up the depth chart.

Reliable journalists report that Kai Wagner has twice rejected separate Union contract extension offers this season, and that the Union would accept his midseason departure if the compensation offered were sufficient. While those reports also suggest the Union has its eye on replacement candidates, deals take time to negotiate and roster depth can be needed immediately.

Castillo is the most credible in-house, stop-gap addition to the first-team’s left back depth. He would make up the numbers for first team practices and could cover an emergency.

He has replaced Union homegrown Anton Sorenson as Union II’s first choice left back. He has 14 appearances, all starts and 1,202 total minutes, with 12 shots, three shots on target, no goals and two assists. When Union II want left-footed service on restarts, he provides it.

Against the best right wingers and strikers in MLS NEXT Pro he shows sufficient but not dominant. He dominates the lesser ones. He has not yet become a long-term replacement for Wagner at left back. He could back up Matt Real when summer transfer windows open next month should that become necessary.

Returning

Goalkeeper Brooks Thompson is one of five keepers who practice and play at the professional level. Only Andre Blake is guaranteed to return for 2024. Within the remaining four, Joe Bendik is the outlier because of his age. Bendik’s 2024 return or departure affects the other three. This season the organization pays only four salaries to its five professional-level keepers because Andrew Rick is an amateur and does not turn 18 until January of next year.

Thompson has four 2023 starts for 360 minutes. He kept the club’s lone clean sheet this season, recording a “GA – XGA” (Goals Allowed minus Expected Goals Allowed) of -0.8 for the match against Atlanta 2. That means he made more saves than not that were above average. This season he produced a negative GA-XGA one other time, but the sample size of four games is probably too small for the data to be statistically meaningful.  Last season he produced negative GA-XGAs twice in eight matches. (In grossly unfair comparison, in 2022 MLS’s Goalkeeper of the Year Andre Blake produced a negative GA-XGA 24 times from 34 MLS regular season games.)

Thompson often practices with the first team as their fourth keeper, a frequent need. Unless there are provisions in his contract that would make him significantly expensive to bring back, Thompson should return to Union II next season.

Stefan Stojanovic is another Union II veteran  who probably will return for 2024, if he wants and would not become hugely expensive. Stojanovic shows as the most positionally versatile attacking player on the squad. And as a veteran he helps set and maintain the club’s culture for newcomers.

He has appeared in all 15 2023 matches, starting nine times for 884 total minutes. He is tied for the club lead in goals with Jeremey Rafanello at four. He has taken 17 shots, eight of them having been on target. When he does not start, he is usually the first offensive player off the bench. His engine is elite for MLS NEXT Pro. Having no access to proprietary club practice data, we do not know how it stacks up against the first team.

During both the 2022 and 2023 preseasons he spent time in Florida with the first team.

Boubacar Diallo plays either defensive central midfield or attacking central midfield in head coach Marlon LeBlanc’s 4-2-2-2 “empty bucket” player development shape. He has appeared in 13 games, but has started only five totaling 581 minutes. His playing time has been impacted by the emerging successes of the teenage midfield, specifically Alex Perez’s recent takeover of one of the defensive center midfield spots.

Diallo plays equally well as a “double six” or a “double ten.” He has been crucial to Perez’s engine-building, allowing the youngster to push himself to edge of overstrain without creating actual harm . It has been an unsung role, but one of real value.

If his contract terms or personal goals favor it, Diallo should return for 2024. there is no reason for him not to. We are assuming the organization holds a contract option and would exercise it.

Venezuelan youth international striker Jose Riasco has not yet stepped up to the higher levels expected of him. Physically he is taller and stronger than last year. Mentally he is more comfortable with his surroundings. In our sample of observed practices, he is more impactful than last year. But he is not yet more impactful in games.

His fewer accumulated yellow cards may indicate he is learning how to be effectively aggressive in the context of North American soccer.

Developmentally the organization has paired him with Rafanello or Chris Donovan upon occasion, presumably to discover whether partnering with older, better attackers creates developmental benefits.

The physical maturation is a clear positive. Whether the mentality will match it remains the question. Riasco’s “cruise control” during matches does not yet match the organization’s standard for ground coverage. The contrast between him and the trio of Stojanovic, Rafanello and Donovan is stark, but in fairness a 19-year-old is being compared to young adults. When Riasco does sprint, his pace is stronger, and he flows over the ground more smoothly than last year.

He will return because he is making some progress, the developmental cupboard does not have many players on its teenage-striker shelf, and the organization has invested a lot of money in him.

Venezuelan 22.4-year-old defensive center mid Pedro Alvarez has shown well in limited opportunities.  He has four appearances and three starts for 202 minutes. He has not yet played a full 90, the closest he came was 81. Engine-building may still be needed. For a time, he was injured, not even dressing for six matches.

In observed practices, he looks well-integrated into the group and knowledgeable about its systems of play. Coach LeBlanc has trusted him successfully to carry out specific instructions as a single six in an alternative late-game tactical adjustment.

He seems worthy of a full, fair evaluation, so we expect him to return for 2024.

Hugo Le Guennec represents an adjustment to the age parameters of Ernst Tanner’s player development philosophy as those were presented at the beginning of the Sporting Director’s time with the organization. The French Rutgers grad is 23.4-years-old.

We suspect his signing reflects the realities of creating a valid growth medium for testing younger players in MLS NEXT Pro, a league of varied developmental philosophies where some clubs consider a 23-year-old young. If a 16-year-old such as C. J. Olney can play successfully next to Le Guennec the teenager has been pushed to develop further and faster than otherwise.

Once the paperwork necessary to allow him to play in the United States as a foreign-born professional was completed and an ankle injury was recovered from, Le Guennec has become a recent defensive mainstay at center back. He has eight appearances, all starts, totaling 588 minutes. He was sent off once for a second yellow card. He was out for well over a month with the ankle. He has three shots, none on target, for no goals and no assists.

He is nearing the end of a full, fair evaluation sequence.

We suspect he will return as a replacement for developmental turnover among Union II’s center backs.

 Too soon to know

 Carlos Rojas is a 19.4-year-old left-footed Venezuelan youth international center back who was acquired on loan by Union II May 18^th. The club’s announcement indicated that there is an option to buy his contract from Deportivo La Guaira. He started six of nine games at the 2023 South American U20 championships in January and February.

He has three appearances with two starts in Union II’s most recent matches, both for the full 90 minutes. He has taken one shot.

Joining a new team midseason in a foreign country with a different way of playing is not the easiest of tasks. He seems to be adjusting rapidly.

So far, his offensive characteristics have not included many longest-range deliveries from the back line to strikers. Medium range passing has been fine. Defensively he is beginning to assert himself more aggressively in Union II’s system of play.

Rojas could possibly become a replacement for developmental turnover among Union II’s center backs. As does the organization’s own technical staff, we need to see many more game minutes to make meaningful judgments.

Leaving

Defensive center midfielder Maike Villero returned to Union II on loan for 2023 as he had been for 2022. In the beginning of the season when Richard Odada had the string of consecutive appearances, Villero was Odada’s primary partner.

In recent matches his DCM role has shrunk as those of teenagers Westfield and Perez have ballooned. Diallo has been selected as a bench backup over Villero probably because of greater positional flexibility.

The Venezuelan is a proven fill-in for matches. But his age and contract status throw a return for 2024 into doubt, especially since Pedro Alvarez is also a 22-year-old defensive center midfielder who has been less thoroughly evaluated by the organization while being directly signed by it.

Villero is likely a casualty of developmental turnover.

Gino Portella is probably another such casualty. Last year’s recovery from his long-term injury created improved athleticism and conditioning. They provided the basis for a fair, full evaluation opportunity earlier this season. Potella has ten appearances, nine starts, and 765 minutes. He has played through a broken nose using a mask, and has said he postponed full correction of his ability to breathe until the offseason.

But he has also accumulated seven yellow cards in those nine starts amidst 19 fouls, and has already served one suspension for yellow card accumulation.

Of greater significance is money. Because contractual legalities probably required him to be signed by the Union itself when he arrived in 2021 (Union II was not at the time part of a recognized league), we know his salary and his contract status for this season. He is playing 2023 on a first-team club option, and apparently the option raised his salary from roughly $85 thousand to $150 thousand. That raise is almost the full const of a new supplemental reserve roster signing.

Since his 2023 salary is the level at which the first team pays homegrown players it wishes to re-sign to extensions or second contracts, we doubt the organization will spend that kind of money in 2024 for a Union II player.

Simply put, Nathan Nkanji is not getting minutes. He is under contract and practices daily, but has only two appearances with one start for a total of 80 of them. The season is beyond its halfway point. An injury restricted his time for a few weeks. But among the professionals, he is last on the squad in minutes played.

The organization demands that its center backs contribute fully on the offensive side of the ball. That seems to be a standard that the 21.8-year-old Cameroonian-American does not meet.

Both Nkanji and Portella will be part of developmental turnover at center back.