Never mind the snow and the bitterly cold temperatures. Soccer season is back.
On Saturday, the Union will kick off their sixth season when they host the Colorado Rapids at PPL Park (4 p.m., 6ABC). And, as always, there are many storylines at play and questions the team must answer.
Will the Union snap a three-year skid of missing the playoffs and win their first postseason game in franchise history? How will Philly guy Jim Curtin do in his first full year of head coach? Will the decision to keep the roster mostly intact be a good thing for stability or will it simply lead to more frustration? Who will surprise? Who will disappoint?
Once again, CSNPhilly.com soccer writers Dave Zeitlin and Ryan Bright break it all down and offer predictions for what should be an interesting 2015 season:
Team MVP
DZ: Andrew Wenger — Last year both of us predicted this honor would go to Jack McInerney, who was promptly traded away a month into this season. Now, I’ll join the chorus of people and say that the guy that came back to Philly in the McInerney deal is primed for a breakout season. Everything seems to be in place for Wenger, most importantly the fact that the former No. 1 overall pick finally seems to have found a position that suits him perfectly. And with the talented midfield trio of Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira and Cristian Maidana — any of who could easily be Philly’s MVP too — feeding him balls, Wenger could rack up some huge numbers as a target winger.
RB: Fernando Aristeguieta — Since their inception in 2010, the Union have been in desperate need of a consistent scorer that ranks among the league’s best. They found it in 22-year-old Aristeguieta.
The Venezuelan was a preseason star for the Union, scoring four times in three games — a potency that will continue throughout the MLS season. As a top-notch aerial threat, Aristeguieta will capitalize on the Union’s league-leading penchant for earning set pieces and close the connection for playmaker Maidana, who is entering his second MLS season. Aristeguieta will be the Union’s most dangerous striker, which will help elevate the game of players like Sebastien Le Toux, Wenger and CJ Sapong.
Top newcomer
DZ: Fernando Aristeguieta — The Union didn’t bring in too many new players in the offseason, but the ones they did, they expect to have major roles on the team. Perhaps the most important one is Aristeguieta, a Venezuelan international who was acquired on loan from France’s FC Nantes in the middle of the preseason and immediately scored four goals in three exhibition games. The 22-year-old striker is tall and his biggest strength is heading balls into the net. That’s something this team desperately needs, and if Aristeguieta can get on the end of some corner kicks, he should be able to burst onto the MLS scene.
RB: Steven Vitoria/Fernando Aristeguieta — Although it might be lame to select both, the pair will have similar impact on the Union in 2015 from different sides of the field. Although the striker will collect much of the attention and accolades, it will be Vitoria’s presence on the back line that keeps the Union steady and afloat throughout the season.
Biggest surprise
DZ: Zach Pfeffer — I also said Pfeffer would be the biggest surprise last season and he failed to log 100 minutes all year. But after scoring his first career goal in the final game of the 2014 campaign, the 20-year-old midfielder has seemed to carry that momentum into the preseason with Curtin recently saying he’s challenging Maidana for a starting midfield spot. At the very least, the former homegrown signing should be able to finally earn some consistent playing time off the bench, something he’s failed to get since signing with the Union as a 15-year-old. When you combine that opportunity with a lot of talent, a great work ethic, a fierce desire to prove he belongs in MLS and more maturity, it could add up to big things for the Philly kid who’s no longer a teenager.
RB: Andrew Wenger — In 51 games with the Montreal Impact over his first three seasons, Wenger had six goals and three assists. He exceeded that in 2014, earning six goals and four assists in just 28 games.
Wenger capped off a productive six-game preseason with four goals and two assists, including a pair of goals against the New York Red Bulls to take the IMG Academy Suncoast Pro Classic title. Next to front man Aristeguieta and with Maidana setting up the plays, Wenger should have a career season.
Biggest disappointment
DZ: Rais Mbolhi — Despite playing in only a handful of games last year, and making one of the worst mistakes in franchise history, the Algerian goalkeeper still should be in line for a good season in 2015, right? Don't count on it. While Mbolhi clearly has some talent — which he showed at last summer’s World Cup — and has had a full preseason to gel with his teammates, there’s a reason why he’s bounced around so many different clubs. It’s hard to imagine him being the long-term answer at ’keeper for the Union and it’s hard to imagine how low his confidence will sink if he makes another crucial gaffe at home.
RB: CJ Sapong — Brought in as a young primary striker with size, Sapong will get lost in the Union depth chart, which will feature Aristeguieta, Wenger and Conor Casey. Eyed as the Union's top attacking bench player, Sapong will struggle for playing time and his production will take a hit, making him a disappointment in 2015.
Biggest controversy
DZ: Goalkeeping situation — I mean, what else would it be? The Union have been the laughingstock of the league because of their issues at goalkeeping over the years, and things probably won’t get better now that they loaned away Zac MacMath, who’s started most of the team’s game in net over the last three seasons. Mbolhi will start but could feel the heat once Andre Blake, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft, returns from injury. And because he has such a high price tag for a goalie, the Union may look to sell Mbolhi in the summer transfer window and hand the keys to Blake, who could actually be their long-term solution at goalkeeper.
RB: Depth & usage — While another goalie mess may seem inevitable for the Union, it’s Curtin’s depth choices that will get the most scrutiny in 2015. Zach Pfeffer, Jimmy McLaughlin and Brian Carroll become the most talked about players, as two of them won’t see enough playing time and one, Carroll, will get too much.
They’ll make the playoffs if …
DZ: The Union bolstered their attack in the offseason and should have one of the better midfields in the Eastern Conference. But the key to the postseason may rest in the young backline, especially the new center back tandem of Steven Vitoria and Ethan White. Vitoria, who came over on loan from the Portuguese club Benfica, has a solid pedigree in Europe and is a towering presence at 6-foot-5. But White has made fewer than 50 career starts and still has a lot to prove at the MLS level. If those two can mesh well together and Ray Gaddis and Sheanon Williams keep improving at the fullback spots, the Union may have enough talent to end their playoff drought.
RB: The Union used 10 different center back combinations and seven different center backs in 2014. It wasn’t until late August that the club found a semi-permanent pairing of Carlos Valdes and White. And even then, Edu was mixed in on a regular basis with both White and Valdes.
But 2015 is different. Four of those seven defenders are gone from the team and 6-foot-5 Vitoria has come in. Out of the gate, the Union will propose the pairing of Vitoria and White, while using Edu and Richie Marquez as primary depth. In this case, consistency alone is an upgrade for the Union and enough to keep them in the playoff picture.
They’ll miss the playoffs if …
DZ: One of the biggest reasons why the Union haven’t been in the playoffs the last couple of seasons is their failure to close out games, the most striking examples coming last October when two horrible collapses doomed their fate. The only way for them to become a postseason contender every year, as Curtin hopes, is finding a way to hold onto leads. And that has to start this season.
RB: The Union fell just short of the postseason in 2014 — a down year for the Eastern Conference. Playoff teams averaged 53 points last season, whereas they averaged 57.6 in 2012. With the conference expected to bounce back, and with the high-profile additions of New York City FC and Orlando City SC, the Union improve but don't improve enough to make the playoffs in a competitive East.
Where they’ll finish
DZ: The Union actually had a lot of talent last season and made what look like a couple of nice upgrades in the offseason. Curtin has also given fans reason for optimism with his honesty and hard-nosed approach. If the Union stay healthy, they’ll sneak into one of the last playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, especially now that six of the 10 teams get in, before giving their knockout round opponent a good fight.
RB: The Union were a mess in 2014. But that mess came just seven points from the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference and managed an impressive U.S. Open Cup title run. With effective new additions, a full season under Curtin and the MLS maturation of players like Maidana and Nogueira, the Union use the final three weeks of the season to scratch out one of the last postseason slots.