Over the last few weeks, MLSSoccer.com's Extratime podcast has been weaving together a Mount Rushmore of talent to represent each of the Major League Soccer clubs. Recently, the group chatted with Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin on who he'd have in the Union's Mount Rushmore.
Starting at 5:35 of the podcast, here is who Curtin picked for his faces that represent the Boys in Blue:
Sebastien Le Toux
Curtin: “Le Toux has to be obviously because of the goals, the success, the face of the franchise. He was a special player and scored a ton of goals and relates to the fans to well.”
Andrew Wiebe: "The French attacker leads the club in goals and assists by a wide margin. He scored a hat-trick to beat D.C. United, 3-2, at Lincoln Financial Field in the Union’s first ever home game. He scored the club’s first playoff goal. His goals fueled two US Open Cup final runs. He became the face of the club over two stints and six years. The love between Le Toux and the supporters went both ways. He met his wife in Philly. He even signed a ceremonial one-day contract to retire as a Union player in 2018. His face is the first up in stone."
Alejandro Bedoya
Curtin: “Bedoya I think is in that moment now where he is our leader both on and off the field. To have the guts to do what he did after he scored after D.C., he’s the epitome of a captain and a leader.”
Wiebe: "The Union signed Bedoya in the hope that his face would end up here someday. In Extratime’s estimation, the club’s current captain is already Rushmore worthy, for both past, present and future contributions. He’s already helped push Philadelphia higher than they’d been – read, regular berths and a first-ever playoff win – in the six years before the former Nantes, Rangers and Helsingborgs midfielder arrived. His legacy is still being written."
Brian Carroll
Curtin: “For me, a player that is always forgotten in our league for some reason. He was a champion, was a winner and had the burden of speaking to the press when things weren’t going so well in Philadelphia. Brian Carroll nearly played 200 games for the club and when you factor in Open Cup, he probably did. In different moments when you needed a voice in the locker room, I think of Bedoya and I think of Brian Carroll who were big helps for me.”
Wiebe: "Only Raymon Gaddis has worn the shirt for more games and minutes than BC, a quiet but immense presence in central midfield and in the locker room for six of Philly’s first seven years, a run that included their first playoff appearance and two US Open Cup finals on the bank of the Delaware River. Someone’s got to set a club’s culture, and Carroll is a foundational piece of what the Union built.:
Andre Blake
Curtin:“Andre has the All-Star games, the Goalkeeper of the Year, he has the individual accolades. It’s a tough one between him and Ray Gaddis because there isn’t a player you’d not want to have like Ray but I’ll go with Dre.
Wiebe: "Same for Blake, who is the only Union player not named Le Toux to be named to the MLS Best XI. The 2016 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year is the all-time leader in every statistical category at the club. If you listened to the podcast, the Jamaican got Jim Curtin’s vote, and we can’t really go against that."
