The 2018 Philadelphia Union season was the club's ninth season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The team was managed by Jim Curtin, his fifth season with the club. The Union reached the MLS Cup Playoffs as the bottom seed in the MLS Eastern Conference. The club also reached the 2018 U.S. Open Cup final for the third time in club history, but finished runners-up to Houston Dynamo. The 2018 season was the Union's most successful to date, earning the highest points total (50) and most wins (15). Additionally, the 2018 season transitioned Sporting Directors with Earnie Stewart accepting a general manager position with the United States Soccer Federation, and the Union hiring Ernst Tanner; former academy manager for Red Bull Salzburg.
Background
MLS SuperDraft
The Union selected three players from the third and fourth rounds of the 2018 SuperDraft
Round Pick Name Position Nationality School3 54 Mike Catalano Midfielder United States Wisconsin 55 Aidan Apodaca Forward United States California Baptist University 4 77 Matt Danilack Forward United States Dartmouth
Personnel
Roster
No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth (age) Signed from Goalkeepers 1 John McCarthy GK Rochester Rhinos 18 Andre Blake (INT) GK UConn29 Jake McGuire GK University of Tulsa Defenders 3 Jack Elliott (INT) CB West Virginia University 4 Mark McKenzie (HGP) CB Bethlehem Steel FC 5 Olivier Mbaizo DF Bethlehem Steel FC 12 Keegan Rosenberry RB Georgetown University 15 Joshua Yaro (GA) LB/CB Georgetown University 16 Richie Marquez CB University of Redlands 26 Auston Trusty (HGP) CB Bethlehem Steel FC 28 Ray Gaddis RB West Virginia University 32 Matthew Real (HGP) LB Bethlehem Steel FC 33 Fabinho LB Sydney FC Midfielders 2 Warren Creavalle DM Toronto FC 6 Haris Medunjanin (INT) CM Maccabi Tel Aviv 7 David Accam MF Chicago Fire 8 Derrick Jones (HGP) MF Bethlehem Steel FC 9 Fafà Picault MF FC St. Pauli 10 Bořek Dočkal (DP) (INT) ACM Henan Jianye 11 Alejandro Bedoya (DP) CM/RM FC Nantes 14 Fabian Herbers CF Creighton University 20 Marcus Epps CF South Florida 21 Anthony Fontana (HGP) MF Bethlehem Steel FC 24 Adam Najem MF Akron 25 Ilsinho (INT) CM/RM Shakhtar Donetsk Forwards 17 C.J. Sapong CF Sporting Kansas City 19 Cory Burke (INT) CF Bethlehem Steel FC 27 Jay Simpson (INT) CF Leyton Orient
DP indicates Designated Player GA indicates Generation Adidas Player HGP indicates Home Grown Player INT indicates MLS International Player and qualifies for an international roster spot
Staff
PositionStaffNationality Head coach Jim Curtin Technical director and assistant coach Chris Albright Assistant coach B.J. Callaghan Assistant coach Pat Noonan Goalkeeping coach Tim Hanley Head athletic trainer Paul Rushing Team coordinator Josh Gros Sporting director Earnie Stewart Academy director Tommy Wilson
Competitions
Preseason
MLS season
MLS Cup Playoffs
U.S. Open Cup
Friendlies
Standings
Eastern Conference
League standings
Results summary
Position references Eastern Conference standings.
Statistics
Appearances and goals
! colspan="12" style="background:#041C2C; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #DFD1A7;" text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="12" style="background:#041C2C; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #DFD1A7;" text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="12" style="background:#041C2C; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #DFD1A7;" text-align:center;"| Forwards
Statistics are from all matches as documented by Soccerway.com.
Top scorers
PlacePositionNameTotal1MF Ilsinho3003 MF Bořek Dočkal30032FW C.J. Sapong2002FW Cory Burke20023DF Keegan Rosenberry1001MF Haris Medunjanin1001MF Alejandro Bedoya1001MF Marcus Epps1001MF Anthony Fontana1001Total 15 0 0 15
Goalkeepers
Nat.No.PlayerAppsStartsRecordGAGAASO 1 BlakeAndre Blake14 14 5–5–3 16 1.07 4 0 0 27McCarthyJohn McCarthy0 0 0–0–0 0 0.00 0 0 0 29McCarthyJake McGuire0 0 0–0–0 0 0.00 0 0 0 Total 5-5-3 15 1.07 4 0 0 Record = W-L-D
Transfers
In DateNo.Pos.PlayerTransferred fromFee/notesSource December 20, 2017 14 MF Fabian Herbers Philadelphia Union Signed new contract December 20, 2017 25 MF Ilsinho Philadelphia Union Signed new contract December 20, 2017 33 DF Fabinho Philadelphia Union Signed new contract December 21, 2017 21 FW Cory Burke Bethlehem Steel FC Signed January 18, 2018 32 DF Matthew Real Bethlehem Steel FC Signed as Homegrown Player January 18, 2018 4 DF Mark McKenzie Bethlehem Steel FC Signed as Homegrown Player January 19, 2018 7 MF David Accam Chicago Fire $1,200,000 allocation money April 17, 2018 5 DF Olivier Mbaizo Bethlehem Steel FC Signed
Out DateNo.Pos.PlayerTransferred toFee/notesSource November 1, 2017 4 DF Ken Tribbett Penn FC Declined contract option November 1, 2017 5 DF Oguchi Onyewu Declined contract option November 1, 2017 8 MF Maurice Edu Declined contract option November 1, 2017 9 FW Charlie Davies Retired Declined contract option November 1, 2017 10 MF Roland Alberg CSKA Sofia Declined contract option November 1, 2017 13 MF Chris Pontius LA Galaxy End of contract November 1, 2017 14 MF Fabian Herbers Philadelphia Union Declined contract option, re-signed new contract November 1, 2017 19 DF Aaron Jones Declined contract option November 1, 2017 25 MF Ilsinho Philadelphia Union Declined contract option, re-signed new contract November 1, 2017 32 DF Giliano Wijnaldum Williem II Declined contract option November 1, 2017 33 DF Fabinho Philadelphia Union End of contract, re-signed new contract
Loan in DateNo.Pos.PlayerTransferred fromFee/notesSource February 28, 2018 10 MF Bořek Dočkal Henan Jianye F.C. Loan for 2018 season
Retirement In May 2018, long time Philadelphia Union forward Sebastian Le Toux announced his retirement from professional soccer. Making a name for himself as a top player for the Philadelphia Union, Le Toux signed a ceremonial one-day contract to retire as a Philadelphia player. His retirement ceremony was held on June 23, 2018, during a home match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC, where he was the first inductee into the Union's Ring of Honor.
References
External links Official Website Philadelphia Union at ESPN FC