MARBELLA, Spain—As the Philadelphia Union begin to wrap up their first leg of of the preseason training in Spain prior to their return to Chester, PA on January 31st, the club will play their final of three friendlies against Montenegrin side FK Budućnost on Thursday.
“I think it’s pretty much the same as as every other team right now, just trying to get the base loads, build up the fitness, progressively more intense and deliberate with our with our actions and the game model,” Union head coach Bradley Carnell said in his presser on Wednesday.
Through the first two friendlies of this preseason, Carnell and his staff have employed a variety of pairings in their matches, whether in the forward positions, midfield, or along the defensive line. In the coaches’ eyes, that is by design during this phase of camp.
In particular, Carnell mentioned Nathan Harriel and Frankie Westfield as players who are getting looks in different areas during the club’s time in Spain.
“We still have a couple more games,” he said. “I don’t want to say trial and error, but just testing combinations, testing different relationships. And, you know, we’re just kind of figuring out, you know, there’s a void that left back, how do we build up in a certain way to to potentially get Frankie, who had a great year last year with all his assists? So can we overload with Frankie, and can we create relationships down that right hand side?”
Outside of building relationships with one another on and off the training pitch, one topic that has been brought up as of late has been leadership, due in large part to the departure of center back Jakob Glesnes and left back Kai Wagner.
“It’s a lot of voices, to the point of, I don’t want to say cheerleading, but it’s been fun,” he said when talking about leadership with the club early on.
“I’m trying to get the guys to, you know, shouting isn’t leadership, right? So there’s this balance that the guys have to find, you know, how much is just overload of just trying to do a good thing, and how much is it?”
The Union manager mentioned the likes of Milan Iloski, Frankie Westfield, and Jeremy Rafanello as some who have had a very good voice in training and in matches so far.
Newcomer Japhet Sery Larsen has also caught the attention of the coaching staff since joining the club in preseason.
“Jeff’s come in now, and he’s a real calm, cool customer who means business,” Carnell said of the new center back. “And when he’s on the field, you know, he’s giving clear, concise information, he doesn’t get too high in the emotional state. So,I think he’s from the back there when we’re building up our play and progressing the play. I think he’s gonna be really key and vital to us.”
Carnell also praised Quinn Sullivan, who is with the squad while still recovering from his ACL injury, and mentioned how good it has been for both the player and the club to have him in Spain.
“[Quinn] around the group has been so good to have around here. I’ve enjoyed everything,” Carnell said. “It was a great decision to bring him, first and foremost one, to get the treatment with everybody here, and also just to be around the teammates and not get disconnected with the team.”
Carnell mentioned how depression can set in for players dealing with injuries, and mentioned he dealt with injuries himself during his playing career.
“But he’s been upbeat,” Carnell continued. “He shows a lot of character. He shows a lot of, just edginess and cool and yeah, he’s really good around the boys.”
One final note for Thursday’s match against FK Budućnost is that it will consist of three 45 minute periods, as it did in their last match. At the time of writing, it does not appear that the match will be available to stream, but it is scheduled for an 8:00 a.m. EST kickoff.
Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
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