Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union Communications

Since the Philadelphia Union’s season has ended and the club is undergoing a self-declared roster transition, we expand our usual end-of-year analysis of the younger professional prospects to include the first team as well.

At the professional level, there are two major subdivisions in the Philadelphia Union organization’s roster. Each of those is subdivided into three parts. We will present several articles, combining or further subdividing the roster parts as seems wise.

We will finish the series with a depth chart of the professional portion of the organization’s players.

Fuller explanations of the chart below were made in part one of the series. Click here.

Union II players on first team contracts

Olwethu Makhanya, 2025 guaranteed. Left center back. The 20.5-year-old left center back from the Under 22 Initiative has dressed for the first team 20 times this season across all competitions, but he has never actually played in a match. He made 22 starts for Union II during the regular season, coming off the field at halftime once, totaling 1,935 minutes of playing time. He sat on the bench for the first MLS NEXT Pro playoff game behind Carlos Rojas and only came on as a substitute during stoppage time. He has given up penalty kicks at crucial moments in at least two matches, which likely impacted the outcomes and explains why he has yet to make his debut with the first team. Jim Curtin has publicly mentioned his tendency to make critical mistakes.

Nick Pariano, 2025 guaranteed. Defensive midfielder. Pariano has taken over the Union II single six role, which was vacated in mid-August when Sanders Ngabo returned home. Since stepping into this position, he has been a remarkable addition to the team. The 21.6-year-old midfielder graduated from Duke University and served as team captain for his last two seasons. He has occupied Supplemental Roster Slot 31 this season, indicating that he is on a season-long loan from the first team to Union II. (It appears the club has a 31st roster spot because it carries three goalkeepers.)

As Earnie Stewart would have said, he needs to build his engine. Earlier in the season, while playing as a shuttling midfielder, he suffered a leg injury and returned to play too soon. This led to him being substituted for Giovanny Sequera just 8 minutes into the match against New England II on May 19 without any physical contact. However, his performances as a single six during the late summer and early fall have necessitated him being replaced late in the game. It wasn’t until Decision Day in Illinois that he completed his first full 90-minute match as the lone defensive midfielder.

As coach Leblanc has noted, the experiment to try Pariano as a single six has “worked out.”

Markus Anderson, 2025 guaranteed. Striker. Since the end of March, 20-year-old Anderson’s only role with the first team has been as the fourth striker on the bench, used for emergencies or starters’ curtain calls.

Beginning April 15, he has made 11 starts for Union II and has had two additional appearances as a substitute. Injuries have limited his availability on two occasions this season. Towards the end of the season, he and Eddy Davis have formed an effective starting partnership at striker. Anderson has begun to influence play, moving beyond being just a placeholder. He has scored a goal in two of the last three games, otherwise asserting himself offensively. He has progressed in executing his defensive responsibilities as well.

The promise of the May 26 brace against NY Red Bull II in North Jersey has re-emerged.

Jamir Berdecio, 2025 purchase option’s status remains uncertain. Right back and defensive midfielder. We refer you to the discussion of the Bolivian player in the first installment of this series.

Berdecio is 22.2 years old and has exclusively played with Union II since preseason. He has made 28 appearances, starting in 23 of those games. He participated in every match for which he was available, ranking second on the team with a total of 1,983 minutes played.

While he shows promise as a ball-winner, he is sometimes over-aggressive and overruns his target. As previously discussed, his physical athleticism and mental toughness meet Union’s basic requirements. We speculate that if the terms of his purchase option are reasonable, he may choose to remain with Union II, which would secure him additional game minutes in the short term.

Andrew Rick, 2025 guaranteed. Starting goalkeeper. Rick is 18.7 years old, which means he needs all the experience he can get. Although he has been Jim Curtin’s second choice behind Andre Blake, he starts every match for Union II in which he is available. Along with Blake, he was nominated for Major League Soccer’s Save of the Year for a remarkable deflection of a chip attempt by NYC FC on September 18 in New York.

He started 17 games for Union II, totaling 1,529 minutes. The only minute he missed was during stoppage time on June 13 in an away match against Crown Legacy, when he received a second yellow card for time-wasting and was sent off. This season, he has successfully made three saves and has one loss in penalty kick shootouts for Union II.

The teenage midfield trio

Three teenage midfielders have earned first-team contracts as Homegrowns this season. Currently, they are primarily practicing but playing almost exclusively for Union II. All three players are left-footed and have been called up to the appropriate U.S. youth national teams during the season, although one has not been called in as frequently as the others.

The players are David Vazquez (18.7 years old, 5’9″, 143 lbs), C.J. Olney (17.9 years old, 5’9″, 153 lbs), and Cavan Sullivan (15.1 years old, 5’7″, 150 lbs). All three are physically smaller than average.

They consistently interchange among the three forward positions in the narrow diamond formation and are often pushed forward into the attacking third. This requires exceptional athleticism and soccer intelligence from both the fourth midfielder, Nick Pariano, and the four defenders behind him: Frank Westfield, Carlos Rojas/Olwethu Makhanya, Neil Pierre, and Gavin Wetzel/Jamir Berdecio.

By the end of the season, the trio has been able to dominate games for the first half hour. They apply the organization’s counter-pressing principles, but to fully aspire to the first team, the group needs to improve their game stamina and further enhance each individual’s size and strength.

It will likely take the group two or more years to take over the Philadelphia Union’s midfield entirely, and they will face many pitfalls and challenges. However, if everything works out, it will be exciting to watch their development.

David Vazquez, 2025 guaranteed. Right midfielder and reserve attacking center mid. The 18.7-year-old Homegrown, first connected with the Union’s Academy when they assisted him with a lost passport issue. He is the oldest of the three players but has yet to debut for the first team despite being the first among them to sign. His path has been affected by minor injuries and frequent international call-ups.

He has been a consistent starter for the U.S. U19 team, which recently finished second to Mexico in the Concacaf U19 Championship. During the tournament, he stood out by winning the Golden Boot, scoring three goals, and providing two assists. We anticipate he will be part of the squad next year for FIFA’s U20 World Cup in Chile next fall.

This season, his minor injuries may stem from his fully committed playing style, which is evident on both sides of the ball. He is a valuable player to have on your team if a 20:80 ball needs winning.

Recently, the plateau between the level of play of the second team and that of the first team has widened. It will likely take Vazquez at least two more seasons to fully bridge this gap. Meanwhile, he has been essential to the second team’s history-making season.

C. J. Olney, 2025 guaranteed. Left midfielder. The 17.9-year-old Homegrown is the second member of the teenage midfield trio mentioned earlier. He signed a first-team homegrown contract on August 6. He participated in the first phase of the preseason with the first team. Also, he was included in first-team game-day rosters at least six times, making a seven-minute on-pitch debut before officially signing as a homegrown player.

Olney leads Union II in assists with eight and, including the NYC FC II playoff win, is now second in goals with seven. In MLS NEXT Pro, he has made 24 appearances, with 22 of them being starts, totaling 1,957 minutes on the field. He leads the team with 49 key passes, which are defined as passes resulting directly in an attempt on goal.

Olney has been selected for MLS NEXT Pro’s 2024 Best XI as a midfielder.

Cavan Sullivan, 2025 guaranteed.  Attacking midfielder. The signing of the younger Sullivan with Philadelphia this May was a surprise. He was widely expected to join the City Group, which is associated with Manchester City in the English Premier League, and to leave for an academy in Europe once he turned 16 and was eligible to work in the European Union. Instead, he chose to stay at home until he turns 18, play for his hometown club, and pursue his education at the Union’s Academy in his native language.

Unknown are the objective criteria that would be used to decide whether he has “surpassed Major League Soccer’s level,” as one source phrased it, should he do so earlier than age 18. The existence of such a provision remains unofficial and unconfirmed but seems credible. City Group has never commented on the younger Sullivan’s signing.

Since he committed himself on May 9, he has begun practicing up with the first team, and playing primarily with Union II. He had five substitution appearances for them earlier in the season as he was acclimating to the new competitive milieu and then began to start with 14 total after early July. His MLS NEXT Pro match log page’s minutes column documents how his stamina is being built as a professional. (Click here.) We expect a similar growth pattern when he transitions to first-team play next year.

Sullivan debuted with the first team during a 5-1 victory over New England at Subaru Park on July 17, becoming the youngest male professional athlete in U.S. history. To date, he has logged only 10 minutes in MLS matches, playing three games and sitting on the bench for six others.

A final caveat: The younger Sullivan is receiving considerable attention from Major League Soccer’s public relations efforts. The league has made a point to feature him whenever possible. Remaining at home with his family may provide him with a supportive environment to cope, adapt, and focus amid the pressure. His older schoolmates may also play a helpful role in that regard.

 Next time: Union II contracted players.