2011 Philadelphia Union season

Philadelphia Union

2011 season
Owner	Keystone Sports & Entertainment
Manager	Peter Nowak
Stadium	PPL Park (18,500)
Major League Soccer	Eastern Conference: 3rd Overall table: 8th
MLS Cup	Eastern Conference Semifinals
U.S. Open Cup	Did not qualify
Top goalscorer	Sébastien Le Toux (11)
Highest home attendance	19,178 v Toronto FC October 15, 2011
Lowest home attendance	15,149 v Seattle Sounders FC April 16, 2011
Average home league attendance	18,259 10 sellouts
Home colors Away colors Third colors
← 2010 2012 →

The 2011 Philadelphia Union season was the second season of the team's existence, competing in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The team was managed by former MLS player Peter Nowak, in his second season with the club.^[1]

Background

At the end of the 2010 season, Philadelphia was 7th in the Eastern Conference, which unfortunately was not enough to get them into the MLS Playoffs. During the off-season, the team lost Fred, Seitz, Salinas, and Moreno through re-entry and expansion drafts. The Union did acquire 2 new players before the 2011 SuperDraft in January: one through trade (Brian Carroll from Columbus Crew)^[2] and their first homegrown player (Zach Pfeffer).^[3] In the MLS SuperDraft, Philadelphia had selected three new players for the team: Zac MacMath (GK from University of Maryland and 5th pick overall), Michael Farfan (M from University of North Carolina, 23rd overall) and Levi Houapeu (F from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 41st overall).^[4] During the Supplemental Draft, the Union picked up another 3 players: Ryan Richter (MF/F), Josh Walburn (D) and Matt Marcin (MF).^[5]

Shortly after the SuperDraft, the team released MF Toni Ståhl, who had only played a handful of minutes with the team in 2010, and was sent off in the first game of the season with 2 yellow cards.^[6] Toward the end of January, Philadelphia released their other goalie from the 2010 season, Brad Knighton.^[7]

On January 20, Philadelphia introduced two new players: Colombians Faryd Mondragón (GK) and Carlos Valdés (D). Mondragón had recently come from playing with F.C. Cologne in the German Bundesliga, and has at least 50 caps with the Colombia nationaltTeam. Valdés comes from Club Independiente Santa Fe in the Colombian First Division, where he served as captain before coming to Philadelphia.^[8]

On January 11, the Union became the 13th team in the MLS to gain a shirt sponsor. Bimbo Bakeries USA will sponsor the team in exchange for US$12 million (three million for four years).^[9][10] Bimbo Bakeries has sponsored other teams in Mexico and Costa Rica, but this is their first time in the MLS.

Review

Preseason

Philadelphia Union will play their first pre-season game against the U-17 US Men National Team on February 6. They will then play two friendlies against university teams, University of South Florida and University of Central Florida, on February 10 and 13 respectively. Their last pre-season game in Orlando will be against Orlando City, a new team in the USL Professional Division, on February 19.^[11]

The club announced the signing of former MLS Most Valuable Player Carlos Ruiz on February 22.

March

Philadelphia Union's first game will be away against Houston Dynamo on March 19. Their first home game at PPL Park will be against the Vancouver Whitecaps on March 26.^[12]

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

2011 roster

As of September 23, 2011.^[13]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  COL Faryd Mondragón (captain) 2 DF  ENG Joe Tait 3 DF  COL Juan Diego González 4 DF  USA Danny Califf (vice-captain) 5 DF  COL Carlos Valdés 6 MF  BRA Stefani Miglioranzi 7 MF  USA Brian Carroll 8 MF  COL Roger Torres (on loan from América de Cali) 9 FW  FRA Sébastien Le Toux 10 FW  COD Danny Mwanga 11 MF  USA Freddy Adu (DP) 12 FW  CIV Levi Houapeu 13 MF  USA Kyle Nakazawa 14 MF  USA Amobi Okugo

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF  USA Gabriel Farfan 16 FW  SRB Veljko Paunović 17 MF  TRI Keon Daniel 18 GK  USA Zac MacMath 19 FW  USA Jack McInerney 21 MF  USA Michael Farfan 22 MF  USA Justin Mapp 23 MF  USA Ryan Richter 24 GK  TRI Thorne Holder 25 DF  USA Sheanon Williams 26 MF  USA Morgan Langley 27 MF  USA Zach Pfeffer 31 GK  USA Chase Harrison

Match results

  Win   Loss   Tie

Preseason friendlies

MLS regular season

The Union are 11-8-15 overall, 7-1-9 at home, 4-7-6 on the road.

MLS Cup Playoffs

U.S. Open Cup

Friendlies

MLS Reserve League

The Union Reserves are 2-7-1 overall, 2-3-0 at home, 0-4-1 on the road.

League table

Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sporting Kansas City	34	13	9	12	50	40	+10	51	MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
2	Houston Dynamo	34	12	9	13	45	41	+4	49
3	Philadelphia Union	34	11	8	15	44	36	+8	48
4	Columbus Crew	34	13	13	8	43	44	−1	47	MLS Cup Play-In Round
5	New York Red Bulls	34	10	8	16	50	44	+6	46
6	Chicago Fire	34	9	9	16	46	45	+1	43
7	D.C. United	34	9	13	12	49	52	−3	39
8	Toronto FC	34	6	13	15	36	59	−23	33
9	New England Revolution	34	5	16	13	38	58	−20	28

Overall

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	LA Galaxy (S, C)	34	19	5	10	48	28	+20	67	CONCACAF Champions League
2	Seattle Sounders FC	34	18	7	9	56	37	+19	63
3	Real Salt Lake	34	15	11	8	44	36	+8	53
4	FC Dallas	34	15	12	7	42	39	+3	52
5	Sporting Kansas City	34	13	9	12	50	40	+10	51
6	Houston Dynamo	34	12	9	13	45	41	+4	49	CONCACAF Champions League
7	Colorado Rapids	34	12	9	13	44	41	+3	49
8	Philadelphia Union	34	11	8	15	44	36	+8	48
9	Columbus Crew	34	13	13	8	43	44	−1	47
10	New York Red Bulls	34	10	8	16	50	44	+6	46
11	Chicago Fire	34	9	9	16	46	45	+1	43
12	Portland Timbers	34	11	14	9	40	48	−8	42
13	D.C. United	34	9	13	12	49	52	−3	39
14	San Jose Earthquakes	34	8	12	14	40	45	−5	38
15	Chivas USA	34	8	14	12	41	43	−2	36
16	Toronto FC	34	6	13	15	36	59	−23	33	CONCACAF Champions League
17	New England Revolution	34	5	16	13	38	58	−20	28
18	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	6	18	10	35	55	−20	28

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
34	48	11	8	15	44	36	+8	7	1	9	24	18	+6	4	7	6	20	18	+2

Last updated: October 20, 2011
Source: ^[21]
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

Squad information

Squad breakdown

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Date of birth (age)	Signed From
Goalkeepers
1	Faryd Mondragón		GK	(1971-06-21) June 21, 1971 (age 52)	Cologne
18	Zac MacMath		GK	(1991-08-07) August 7, 1991 (age 32)	University of Maryland
24	Thorne Holder		GK	(1986-04-04) April 4, 1986 (age 38)	F.C. New York
31	Chase Harrison		GK	(1984-04-02) April 2, 1984 (age 40)	Harrisburg City Islanders
Defenders
2	Joe Tait		CB	(1990-02-04) February 4, 1990 (age 34)	Dayton Dutch Lions
3	Juan Diego González		CB	(1980-09-22) September 22, 1980 (age 43)	Deportivo Pereira
4	Danny Califf		CB	(1980-03-17) March 17, 1980 (age 44)	Midtjylland
5	Carlos Valdés		CB	(1985-05-22) May 22, 1985 (age 38)	Santa Fe
25	Sheanon Williams		RB	(1990-03-17) March 17, 1990 (age 34)	Harrisburg City Islanders
Midfielders
6	Stefani Miglioranzi		CM/DM	(1977-09-20) September 20, 1977 (age 46)	Los Angeles Galaxy
7	Brian Carroll		CM/DM	(1981-07-20) July 20, 1981 (age 42)	Columbus Crew
8	Roger Torres		AM	(1991-07-13) July 13, 1991 (age 32)	América de Cali
11	Freddy Adu		AM	(1989-06-02) June 2, 1989 (age 34)	Benfica
13	Kyle Nakazawa		CM	(1988-03-16) March 16, 1988 (age 36)	UCLA
14	Amobi Okugo		CM/DM	(1991-03-13) March 13, 1991 (age 33)	UCLA
15	Gabriel Farfan		CM/DM	(1988-06-23) June 23, 1988 (age 35)	Club América
17	Keon Daniel		LW/RW	(1987-01-16) January 16, 1987 (age 37)	Puerto Rico Islanders
21	Michael Farfan		LW/RW	(1988-06-23) June 23, 1988 (age 35)	University of North Carolina
22	Justin Mapp		LW/RW	(1984-10-18) October 18, 1984 (age 39)	Chicago Fire
23	Ryan Richter		CM/LB	(1989-04-12) April 12, 1989 (age 34)	La Salle University
26	Morgan Langley		LW/RW	(1989-07-09) July 9, 1989 (age 34)	Harrisburg City Islanders
27	Zach Pfeffer		AM	(1995-01-06) January 6, 1995 (age 29)	FC Delco
Forwards
9	Sébastien Le Toux		ST/AM	(1984-01-10) January 10, 1984 (age 40)	Seattle Sounders FC
10	Danny Mwanga		ST	(1991-07-17) July 17, 1991 (age 32)	Oregon State University
12	Levi Houapeu		ST	(1989-06-22) June 22, 1989 (age 34)	UMBC
16	Veljko Paunović		ST/AM	(1977-08-21) August 21, 1977 (age 46)	Unattached
19	Jack McInerney		ST	(1992-08-05) August 5, 1992 (age 31)	Cobb Soccer Club

Statistics

Nat	No	Player	Pos	Apps	Starts	G	A			Acquired	Salary
	2	HarveyJordan Harvey*	DF	16	16	0	1	4	1	Expansion Draft	$63,125
	2	TaitJoe Tait	DF	0	0	0	0	0	0	Signed	$42,000
	3	GonzálezJuan Diego González	DF	0	0	0	0	0	0	Signed	$193,462
	4	CaliffDanny Califf	DF	33	33	1	0	4	0	Signed	$250,000
	5	ValdésCarlos Valdés	DF	32	32	1	1	8	0	Signed	$180,000
	6	MiglioranziStefani Miglioranzi	MF	17	11	0	0	1	0	Expansion Draft	$153,125
	7	CarrollBrian Carroll	MF	30	30	1	0	5	0	Trade	$160,000
	8	TorresRoger Torres	MF	25	9	3	2	1	0	On Loan	$108,725
	9	Le TouxSébastien Le Toux	FW	34	34	11	9	0	0	Expansion Draft	$179,000
	10	MwangaDanny Mwanga	FW	28	13	5	4	4	0	SuperDraft	$226,250 (GA)
	11	AduFreddy Adu	MF	11	6	2	0	0	0	Signed	$594,884 (DP)
	12	HouapeuLevi Houapeu	FW	0	0	0	0	0	0	SuperDraft	$32,604
	12	AgorsorChris Agorsor*	FW	0	0	0	0	0	0	Weighted lottery	$42,000
	13	NakazawaKyle Nakazawa	MF	22	14	1	3	1	0	SuperDraft	$44,000
	14	OkugoAmobi Okugo	MF	15	10	0	0	2	0	SuperDraft	$168,000 (GA)
	15	FarfanGabriel Farfan	MF	22	18	1	2	1	0	Signed	$42,000
	16	PaunovićVeljko Paunović	FW	17	16	3	3	1	0	Signed	$90,000
	17	DanielKeon Daniel	MF	18	9	1	2	1	0	Signed	$46,410
	19	McInerneyJack McInerney	FW	18	5	1	0	1	1	SuperDraft	$135,417 (GA)
	20	RuizCarlos Ruiz*	FW	14	13	6	0	2	0	Signed	$306,671
	21	FarfanMichael Farfan	MF	21	13	2	3	1	0	SuperDraft	$79,500
	22	MappJustin Mapp	MF	29	24	3	4	1	0	Trade	$183,333
	23	HouapeuRyan Richter	MF	0	0	0	0	0	0	Supplemental Draft	$32,604
	25	WilliamsSheanon Williams	DF	32	32	1	3	4	1	Signed	$42,000
	26	LangleyMorgan Langley	MF	1	1	0	0	0	0	Signed	N/A
	27	PfefferZach Pfeffer	MF	3	2	0	0	0	0	Signed	$65,000 (HG)
						44	35	46	3

* = Not currently part of team.

|} Updated to match played October 20, 2011
Source: Philadelphia Union

Goalkeepers

Nat	No	Player	Apps	Starts	Record	GA	GAA	SO	Acquired	Salary
	1	MondragónFaryd Mondragón	27	27	8-8-11	28	1.04	7	Signed	$396,667
	18	MacMathZac MacMath	8	7	3-0-4	8	1.00	3	SuperDraft	$125,000 (GA)
	24	HolderThorne Holder	0	0	0-0-0	0	0	0	Signed	$42,000
	31	HolderChase Harrison	0	0	0-0-0	0	0	0	Signed	N/A
			35	34	11-8-15	36	1.03	10

* = Not currently part of team.

|} Updated to match played October 20, 2011
Source: Philadelphia Union

MLS Cup Playoffs Squad information

Statistics

Nat	No	Player	Pos	Apps	Starts	G	A			Acquired	Salary
	2	TaitJoe Tait	DF	0	0	0	0	0	0	Signed	$42,000
	3	GonzálezJuan Diego González	DF	0	0	0	0	0	0	Signed	$193,462
	4	CaliffDanny Califf	DF	2	2	0	0	0	0	Signed	$250,000
	5	ValdésCarlos Valdés	DF	2	2	0	0	1	0	Signed	$180,000
	6	MiglioranziStefani Miglioranzi	MF	1	1	0	0	1	0	Expansion Draft	$153,125
	7	CarrollBrian Carroll	MF	2	2	0	0	1	0	Trade	$160,000
	8	TorresRoger Torres	MF	2	0	0	0	0	0	Signed	$108,725
	9	Le TouxSébastien Le Toux	FW	2	2	1	0	0	0	Expansion Draft	$179,000
	10	MwangaDanny Mwanga	FW	1	1	0	0	0	0	SuperDraft	$226,250
	11	AduFreddy Adu	MF	2	0	0	0	0	0	Signed	$594,884
	13	NakazawaKyle Nakazawa	MF	0	0	0	0	0	0	SuperDraft	$44,000
	14	OkugoAmobi Okugo	MF	0	0	0	0	0	0	SuperDraft	$168,000
	15	FarfanGabriel Farfan	MF	2	2	0	0	2	0	Signed	$42,000
	16	PaunovićVeljko Paunović	FW	1	1	0	0	0	0	Signed	$90,000
	17	DanielKeon Daniel	MF	0	0	0	0	0	0	Signed	$46,410
	19	McInerneyJack McInerney	FW	2	1	0	0	0	0	SuperDraft	$135,417
	21	FarfanMichael Farfan	MF	2	2	0	1	0	0	SuperDraft	$79,500
	22	MappJustin Mapp	MF	2	1	0	0	0	0	Trade	$183,333
	23	HouapeuRyan Richter	MF	0	0	0	0	0	0	Supplemental Draft	$32,604
	25	WilliamsSheanon Williams	DF	2	2	0	0	1	0	Signed	$42,000
	26	LangleyMorgan Langley	MF	0	0	0	0	0	0	Signed	N/A
	27	PfefferZach Pfeffer	MF	0	0	0	0	0	0	Signed	$65,000
						1	1	5	0

Goalkeepers

Nat	No	Player	Apps	Starts	Record	GA	GAA	SO	Acquired	Salary
	1	MondragónFaryd Mondragón	2	2	0-2-0	3	2.00	0	Signed	$396,667
	18	MacMathZac MacMath	0	0	0-0-0	0	0	0	SuperDraft	$125,000
	24	HolderThorne Holder	0	0	0-0-0	0	0	0	Signed	$42,000
			2	2	0-2-0	3	1.50	0

Honors and awards

MLS Player of the Month

Month	Player	Stats
September	Sébastien Le Toux	7G

MLS Player of the Week

Week	Player	Stats
11	Justin Mapp	2G (11', 61')

MLS Goal of the Week

Week	Player	Report
10	Carlos Ruiz	[1]
18	Carlos Ruiz	[2]
20	Roger Torres	[3]

MLS Team of the Week

Week	Player	Report
1	Danny Califf	[4] Archived October 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
2	Brian Carroll	[5]
7	Sheanon Williams Carlos Valdés Keon Daniel	[6]
10	Justin Mapp	[7]
11	Justin Mapp	[8]
16	Sheanon Williams	[9]
18	Sébastien Le Toux Justin Mapp Carlos Valdés	[10]
28	Michael Farfan	[11]
29	Sébastien Le Toux Michael Farfan	[12]

MLS All-Stars 2011

Position	Player	Notes
GK	Faryd Mondragón	Hans Backe's Pick

Player movement

Transfers

In

Date	Player	Number	Position	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref
November 22, 2010	Brian Carroll	7	MF	Columbus Crew	Acquired for allocation money and a 2nd round SuperDraft pick	[2]
December 22, 2010	Zach Pfeffer	27	MF	FC Delco	Signed As Homegrown Player	[3]
January 20, 2011	Faryd Mondragón	1	GK	Köln	Undisclosed	[22]
January 20, 2011	Carlos Valdés	5	DF	Santa Fe	Undisclosed	[22]
February 14, 2011	Chris Agorsor	12	FW	University of Virginia	Weighted lottery	[23]
February 22, 2011	Carlos Ruiz	20	FW	Aris	Free	[24]
March 1, 2011	Thorne Holder	24	GK	Adelphi University	Free	[25]
March 1, 2011	Ryan Richter	23	MF	La Salle University	Supplemental Draft, 1st round	[25]
March 18, 2011	Levi Houapeu	11	FW	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	2011 MLS SuperDraft, 3rd round	[26]
March 18, 2011	Keon Daniel	17	MF	Puerto Rico Islanders	Free	[26]
March 18, 2011	Gabriel Farfan	15	MF	Club América	Free	[26]
June 13, 2011	Veljko Paunović	16	FW	Unattached	Free	[27]
August 12, 2011	Freddy Adu	11	MF	Benfica	Free, acquired via allocation process	[28]
August 22, 2011	Thorne Holder	24	GK	F.C. New York	Free	[29]
September 13, 2011	Joe Tait	2	DF	Dayton Dutch Lions	Free	[30]
September 14, 2011	Morgan Langley	26	MF	Harrisburg City Islanders	Free	[31]
September 23, 2011	Chase Harrison	31	GK	Harrisburg City Islanders	Free	[32]

Out

Date	Player	Number	Position	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref
November 24, 2010	Shea Salinas	11	MF	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Expansion Draft	[33]
November 24, 2010	Alejandro Moreno	15	FW	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Expansion Draft	[33]
December 15, 2010	Chris Seitz	1	GK	Seattle Sounders FC	Re-Entry Draft	[34]
December 15, 2010	Fred	7	FW	New England Revolution	Re-Entry Draft	[34]
January 14, 2011	Toni Ståhl	12	MF	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Contract option declined, free transfer	[6]
January 25, 2011	Brad Knighton	18	GK	Carolina RailHawks	Waived, free transfer	[7]
February 8, 2011	Cristian Arrieta	26	DF	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Waived, free transfer	[35]
February 14, 2011	Eduardo Coudet	21	MF	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Waived, free transfer	[36]
February 18, 2011	Andrew Jacobson	8	MF	FC Dallas	Traded for a 2013 SuperDraft 2nd round pick	[37]
March 1, 2011	Nick Zimmerman	23	MF	Carolina RailHawks	Waived, free transfer	[25]
March 1, 2011	J. T. Noone	17	MF	Harrisburg City Islanders	Waived, free transfer	[25]
March 2, 2011	Michael Orozco Fiscal	16	DF	San Luis	Loan expired; purchase option declined	[38]
June 2, 2011	Chris Agorsor	12	FW	Real Salt Lake	Waived, free transfer	[39]
July 7, 2011	Jordan Harvey	2	DF	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Traded for allocation money	[40]
July 26, 2011	Thorne Holder	24	GK	F.C. New York	Waived, free transfer	[41]
August 5, 2011	Carlos Ruiz	20	FW	Veracruz	Transfer	[42]

Loans

In

Date	Player	Number	Position	Loaned from	Fee/notes	Ref
March 8, 2010	Roger Torres	8	MF	América de Cali	Terms undisclosed	[43]

Out

Miscellany

Allocation ranking

Philadelphia is in the #17 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. Philadelphia started 2011 ranked #5 on the allocation list and used its ranking to acquire Freddy Adu. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.^[44]

International roster spots

Philadelphia has 8 international roster spots. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated 8 international roster spots, which can be traded. Philadelphia has not dealt or acquired any spots in trades. There is no limit on the number of international slots on each club's roster. The remaining roster slots must belong to domestic players. For clubs based in the United States, a domestic player is either a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident (green card holder) or the holder of other special status (e.g., refugee or asylum status).^[44]

Future draft pick trades

Future picks acquired: 2012 SuperDraft Round 2 pick acquired from Sporting Kansas City; 2013 SuperDraft Round 2 pick acquired from FC Dallas.
Future picks traded: None.

References

External links

• Philadelphia Union website