It was 37 degrees and pouring rain when the Union rolled up to training on Tuesday morning.
For a team that's dealt with snow, sleet, rescheduled games, and basically everything else over the last three weeks, what’s another hurdle, right?
Tuesday's session was energetic, with the team progressing from passing and possession drills to small-sided 7v7 with goalkeepers. The squad ended on finishing drills and some conditioning work as well.
Gabriel Farfan was a partial participant, doing fitness on the side with strength and conditioning coach Kevin Miller and head athletic trainer Paul Rushing.
According to manager John Hackworth, Farfan's hamstring injury is improving. Hackworth expects Gabe to be a full participant as early as tomorrow or Thursday.
Overall, here's what Hack had to say about Tuesday's session:
"It was a good session. Today is the first day back after a couple of days of recovery. There's a lot of volume, pretty good intensity, it was competitive, and we even threw in some fitness at the end. Our idea is to make sure we use this two week time between MLS games to improve. We want to improve on our technical aspects, our tactical aspects, and certainly our conditioning level. I like the mentality of our team right now. That kind of session emphasizes that we have some competition between three teams, all the way through."
Don’t forget to tune into streaming coverage of Hackworth’s midweek press conference tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. on philadelphiaunion.com/live
Moving on,
Amobi Okugo will be the featured guest on tonight's "The 90th Minute" radio show. Sponsored by Farmers Insurance, the show is live tonight from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Chickies and Pete’s in Northeast Philadelphia (11000 Roosevelt Blvd.). Carl Cherkin, Kerith Gabriel, and Chris Albright will host. Have a question for Amobi? Leave it with the hashtag #radioquestion via our Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Speaking of Okugo check out this video he did during the club's trip to Colorado:
Did you see Jurgen Klinmann's roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers? The USMNT is dealing with injuries and absences and will face Costa Rica (March 22) and Mexico (March 26) without the likes of Tim Howard, Timmy Chandler, Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson, Landon Donovan, and Steve Cherundolo.
The Union face Pumas de la UNAM in a friendly this Saturday, but we're keeping an eye on news coming out of New York ahead of next week's match with the Red Bulls. Thierry Henry is ruled out for Saturday's trip to Montreal with an mild MCL sprain in his left knee. The club did however reach a deal with veteran striker Peguy Luyindula, so we'll see if he makes his NYRB debut on the artificial turf at the Olympic Stadium. The league-leading Impact has yet to play a game on grass this season.
Don’t forget in addition to philadelphiaunion.com you can catch this piece and more soccer coverage on philly.com/philly/sports/soccer .
Contact Union writer Kevin Kinkead at k.kinkead@hotmail.com
