Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union Communications

On Tuesday afternoon, November 26th, the Philadelphia Union announced their roster decisions for the end of the 2024 season. The announcement kicks off the 2025 roster build. You can read the Union’s full announcement by clicking here. Additionally, you can find a presentation on the MLS website under “Roster Updates” by clicking here and scrolling down. The following morning, on Wednesday, November 27, Sporting Director Ernst Tanner held a press conference to discuss these roster decisions, provide an update on the head coach search, and share more insights on what went wrong for Philadelphia during the 2024 season. The video of that half-hour press conference can be found here.

Two surprises

The Union attempted to retain out-of-contract midfielder Leon Flach, with a respectable offer. However, Flach is facing a family situation that requires him to be physically closer to home, prompting his departure from the club.

In contrast, despite his age, the Union are in negotiations with out-of-contract midfielder and club icon Alejandro Bedoya. His significant roles within the club—on the pitch, in the locker room, and in the front office—underscore the importance of keeping him. Tanner indicated that Bedoya can provide guidance to younger players. It is believed that Bedoya will be expected to reinforce the Sporting Director’s desire to restore the team’s previous “grittiness,” direct play, and commitment to defensive effort.

Tanner has previously emphasized that the Union conceded 26 goals in 2022, 41 in 2023, and 55 in 2024. He reiterated these statistics, implying that he believes Bedoya can help turn this trend around.

All the decisions

First, we present the decision facts. Then we present what Tanner said and what we think the decisions mean.

• Five players are not coming back.
• The return of three others remains in negotiation but seems likely.
• The return of the 24 others is certain.

The most striking thing Tanner mentioned on Wednesday was that his MLS peers have noted Philadelphia has become easy to play against, particularly at home, and Tanner expressed his disdain for this observation. During his end-of-season press conference, Tanner addressed individual roster decisions and the upcoming appointment of a head coach.

Tanner’s comments

Tanner emphasized that Alejandro Bedoya can guide the younger players and acknowledged that Bedoya has been performing well in his front office role, although he did not specify what that role entails. Tanner wants Bedoya to return, but the underlying message in his comments about roster flexibility suggests he may be looking to reduce Bedoya’s salary.

Tanner highlighted midfield as a position where a new U22 player could potentially be added, which indicates that he was quite certain that Leon Flach was not returning.

A “respectable offer” has been made to Jack Elliott, but according to Tanner the club needs to maintain roster flexibility greater than the mere ability to sign more young players. His previous comments hinted that “roster flexibility” almost certainly means more room under the salary cap than in 2024.

Elliott is seeking more money than the club can offer, given their need for flexibility. Since Elliott is already a TAM player and is too old to qualify as a U22 player, it is likely that he probably wants designated player (DP) money. Given his age, this next contract may be his final opportunity at truly lucrative compensation, and understandably, he wants to capitalize on it.

Tanner’s discussion of Brandan Craig made it clear that the terms of his previously contracted option were not compatible with the salary cap flexibility needs. Tanner overtly said that he is still in communication with Craig’s agent and family. Interestingly, Tanner mentioned that the involvement of the new head coach in Craig’s situation would also be a factor, although he did not elaborate further. This comment could imply that there may already be a connection between Craig and a candidate for the new head coach position.

Second team strikers

Tanner was asked specifically about young strikers as reserves behind Baribo and Uhre. His questioner specifically mentioned Union II amateur Eddy Davis. Tanner complimented Davis, mentioning Sal Olivas along with him. He stated that ideally a number three striker would add hold-up play to the first team as an attribute.

However, he emphasized the difference in the physicality of defenders’ play against strikers in MLS itself as compared to that in MLS NEXT Pro. Tanner noted that, especially for strikers, it has always taken time to make the advances necessary to succeed in making a first team impact. He said Davis and Olivas will be brought up to practice with the first team to evaluate where they are on their paths forward, but it was clear that Tanner does not expect either one to step in immediately as the first-team’s third striker.

Quinn Sullivan’s new contract

Tanner tried not to expose next year’s special players structure choice (between three DPs and three U22s or two DPs, four U22s, and $2 million extra of General Allocation Money) when mentioning Quinn Sullivan’s new contract. He complimented Sullivan on his excellent versatile season and said that he had re-signed under U22 player “conditions.”

Out of whole cloth, we speculate that he did not want to explicitly label Sullivan a U22 Initiative player in so many words to maximize his options for intended future signings. Such reticence makes sense if Tanner faces as many as the three signing negotiations mentioned earlier in their initial stages. He doesn’t yet know whether he has to replace Elliott and/or Craig, and using official designations might help close deals. Given that he is overhauling the roster none of those three are likely to be older players as Damion Lowe was.

A return to two-a-days and IDPs

Tanner was asked to discuss the implications of having fewer extra competitions for the Union next season.

As is widely known, the Union will not participate in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Tanner also surprised everyone by stating, and this is verbatim, “… [B]ut we are also out of the Leagues Cup…” This is a point we have not yet been able to elaborate on or verify independently. We have reached out to the Union for comment. Information regarding the 2025 Leagues Cup has not been made publicly available.

Regardless of the circumstances, Tanner’s main point was that the club will be able to return to a full week of practice between games, with Individual Development Plans (IDPs) restored. In an assumed past example, Ilsinho noticeably improved his speed before retirement, and he added some change-of-direction agility to his straight-line pace. PSP has always assumed these improvements were the direct result of an individual development program implemented during the thrice-weekly afternoon IDPs.

It makes logical sense that the frequent mid-week games in 2023 and 2024 would lead to a reduction in two-a-day practices. However, this reasoning lacks direct confirmation beyond Tanner’s comments. We do not know independently whether these practices have diminished or to what extent.

It seems that any new coach will be expected to restore or increase the frequency of these practices. Next year’s schedule should allow for that, especially if Tanner did not misspeak regarding the Union’s status in the Leagues Cup.

Roster size

Tanner mentioned that there are currently 24 players under contract. When asked about the ideal roster size for next year, he commented that it, while never discernable in the abstract, might range between 25 to 27. Earlier in the session, he had mentioned there might be one addition to each aspect of the side excluding goalkeepers. Those might be an attacker, definitely a midfielder, and possibly a center back, in our estimation especially likely were Jack Elliott to leave.

We anticipate that there will also be Homegrown players added on affordable first-time contracts. These players may be designated as “off roster,” which means they wouldn’t be available for active duty. Two such spots could be taken up by Union II captain and left back Frank Westfield, who would be a 19-year-old Homegrown, and Union II right center back Neil Pierre, a 17-year-old US youth international, who would also be a Homegrown.

Head coach

Tanner’s comments regarding the team’s revamped objectives indicate that the new coach will need to meet several key criteria.

• The above roster’s entire midfield and its depth both at striker and on defense is youthful. That suggests that any candidate to be the new coach will have to be good at bringing young players up to MLS standards. That will necessitate playing them once their practice behavior proves they are close to ready.
• Tanner’s desire to return to being difficult to play against and to give up many fewer goals suggests the new coach must have a proven track record of creating defensive success in a pressing scheme.
• The doubling down on doing things the way they have “always” been done suggests the new coach needs a familiarity with playing the narrow diamond formation.

Tanner mentioned that he has already collected a list of coaching candidates, which he plans to submit to the league early in the week following Thanksgiving. He noted that the process will then begin, although he did not provide details on what that process entails. While we can assume it will include interviews, we cannot speculate further. He emphasized that he is open to both foreign and domestic candidates, as his priority is finding the right person for the job.

Tanner expressed concern about possibly losing some of his candidates to hires by other teams during the over-all process, and made it clear he intends to ask the league about that hazard.

Tanner implied that the new coach might be in place sooner rather than later. Following that announcement, we can expect news regarding roster decisions for Union II.