2011 Philadelphia Union season

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.

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 and their first homegrown player. In the MLS SuperDraft, Philadelphia had selected three new players for the team: Zac MacMath, Michael Farfan and Levi Houapeu. During the Supplemental Draft, the Union picked up another 3 players: Ryan Richter, Josh Walburn and Matt Marcin.
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. Toward the end of January, Philadelphia released their other goalie from the 2010 season, Brad Knighton.
On January 20, Philadelphia introduced two new players: Colombians Faryd Mondragón and Carlos Valdés. 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.
On January 11, the Union became the 13th team in MLS to gain a shirt sponsor. Bimbo Bakeries USA will sponsor the team in exchange for US$12 million. Bimbo Bakeries has sponsored other teams in Mexico and Costa Rica, but this is their first time in 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.
The club announced the signing of former MLS Most Valuable Player Carlos Ruiz on February 22.

League Start

Philadelphia Union's first game was away against Houston Dynamo on March 19. Their first home game at PPL Park was against the Vancouver Whitecaps on March 26.

2011 roster

''As of September 23, 2011.''

Match results

MLS regular season

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

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
'''Overall'''

Squad information

Squad breakdown

Ages are as of March 19, 2011.

Statistics

Statistics are from all MLS league matches.

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
	11	AduFreddy Adu	[\|MF]	11	6	2	0	0	0	Signed	$594,884
	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
	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
	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
						44	35	46	3

'* = Not currently part of team.'''''

Goalkeepers

'* = Not currently part of team.'''''

MLS Cup Playoffs Squad information

Statistics

Statistics are from all MLS Cup Playoffs matches.

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

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.

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 or the holder of other special status.

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.