Football Season Guide

The new campaign promises to be more of the same from Philadelphia Union who endured a disappointing campaign last season but have decided against any major surgery to the roster, instead relying on options from within. Philadelphia finished a disappointing eighth in the Eastern Conference and things could have been worse had it not been for a decent run of form in the final weeks that saw them win three of their final five games. The Union were never in the race for the playoffs following a poor start to the season and lack of consistency coupled with loss of form of key players meant that they spent most of the campaign fighting against the possibility of finishing at the foot of the table. There have been a few high profile departures, with Chris Pontius being the biggest name leaving the club while Oguchi Onyewu and Roland Alberg's options were not exercised. With Maurice Edu, Charlie Davies, Ken Tribbett and Giliano Wijnaldum also departing, Philadelphia's depth has been handed a big blow though the club has not gone out to strengthen the side, instead relying on Homegrown options such as Auston Trusty, Mark McKenzie, Anthony Fontana and Matthew Real to boost their options. So far the Union have made just one major acquisition, bringing in David Accam from Chicago Fire to act as direct replacement to Pontius. Accam's arrival means Philadelphia do have a fairly strong starting 11 but lack of options off the bench means that they would do very well to remain in the playoffs hunt come the end of the regular season.