After the club announced its 2025 roster decisions, Philadelphia Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner provided updates to the media about the club’s coaching search and roster build. Let’s look at the key takeaways from the press conference as the club embarks on a big offseason.
A Return To The Union’s Strength
While change happens every offseason in Major League Soccer, the Union’s winter break will see anything but the status quo with a shakeup in the locker room both on the technical and player side. The main goal for Tanner is to bring the club back to where it found success with a proven direct style that the Union faithful have come to embrace and expect.
“[We] have to get back to where we have been which is an aggressive team together who are working hard on the field,” Tanner remarked. ““We need to get back to our strength, we need to get back to our style. We need to get back to our grittiness. That sort of football our Philly fans love because everybody knows what to do. That's one of our goals and what we will when we sign new players first and foremost good team players, and that they are fitting in the collective and bringing us back where we have been."
Coaching Search Continues
With a philosophy in mind, it’s been a busy 20 days for Tanner as he’s been leading the charge for the Union’s fourth head coach in club history. Based on his comments on Wednesday morning, Tanner could very be close to having made his selection.
“I want to go for the best man for the job, like always, and it doesn't matter if he is foreign or domestic,” Tanner said. “I have my final tent together and we did a lot of work during the last couple of weeks. In regards of that, we will submit it this week to the league, and then we will go through the formal process.”
Where Negotiations Stand
Inside the club’s roster decision announcement on Tuesday were updates that the club was in on-going negotiations with captain Alejandro Bedoya, center back Jack Elliott as well as homegrown Brandan Craig. The current statuses were in the spotlight during the press conference with Tanner.
“We want to have Ale back and with Jack it’s a bit different because we sent him an offer that was really [respectful] and he’s looking for more money and that’s what we cannot do in regards of roster flexibility,” Tanner said on the two situations.
Tanner said that he views Bedoya as “a very important player in regards of the locker room” and its why like to see the midfielder return for a ninth full season. Tanner was quick to point out however that he’s monitoring the roster spaces as senior signed players can limit the other side of the roster but he’s very optimistic the two sides can find a way to come together.
While negotiations are underway, one player that will not be returning is Leon Flach who joined the club in 2021. Tanner was quite open saying that he wished to keep the 23-year-old midfielder with the club and that was an offer was extended but Flach wished to look at other options as he looks to be closer to family in Germany.
Offseason Targets
With 24 players already under contract for the 2025 league season, Tanner is well onto his way of looking to add additional pieces to the roster and was quite blunt about where he’s looking to sign players.
“We are in negotiations with a couple of others, and we certainly will look in our second team to bring up players. In addition, we’ll look outside and we'll definitely sign new additions in probably every sector of the field, apart from goalkeeping.”
During the summer, MLS announced roster rules modifications that gave clubs increased flexibility in roster construction and now Tanner is looking to maximize that this winter. All MLS rosters can now feature six prime roster spots which are comprised of Designated Players U22 Initiative Player slots. Teams can choose between two different roster construction models, both with six prime roster spots, increasing flexibility and creative control over discretionary funds. This also allows clubs to spend according to their roster-building philosophy. Tanner was asked about how the club would approach the changes and where he’d potentially look to use the U22 slot.
“It's pretty clear if we do another under 22 player, then it will very likely be in midfield,” Tanner said. “You can also consider our homegrown players coming up as sort of under 22 players and you look at Quinn Sullivan who was probably one of our best midfielders in during the last season and he signed recently for, let's say, under 22 conditions. We know about the positives of that initiative in regards of your [salary cap], so we likely will use that wherever we can but midfield certainly is a priority.”
