Football Season Review

After an encouraging campaign in 2016, Philadelphia Union took a step back this season as they failed to make it to the playoffs, finishing eighth in the Eastern Conference and eight points short of sixth placed New York Red Bulls. A solid mid-portion of the campaign was not enough to help Philadelphia recover from a poor start and end to the season, with the club having had to wait until May to register their first win while managing just three victories in their final 11 games. New arrivals were a mixed bag for Philadelphia with Haris Medunjanin and Fafa Picault arguably being their two best players over the course of the campaign though Jay Simpson and Giliano Wijnaldum failed to impress and while Oguchi Onyewu could only be seen a decent cover in the center of the defense. Philadelphia were also not helped by loss of form of a number of players who started the campaign as integral part of the first team with Keegan Rosenberry, Richie Marquez, Joshua Yaro and Ken Tribbett failing to hit the highs of previous season while Ilsinho and Roland Alberg struggled for consistency upfront. CJ Sapong though was the standout player for Philadelphia, ending the campaign with a new club record 16 goals, but will need some better service next season as the club embark on a major clearout with a number of players having left. Maurice Edu's injury laden stint over the last couple of seasons is over with Philadelphia deciding not to extend his contract while Ilsinho, Onyewu, Tribbett, Wijnaldum, Charlie Davies and Chris Pontius all leaving the club while Alberg is also expected to move on and coach Jim Curtin and sporting director Earnie Stewart will need to get their signings right if Philadelphia are to stand a chance to make it to the playoffs next season.

Player of the Season: CJ Sapong