Union gearing system to players

Union manager Peter Nowak insists that he will fit his system around the players rather than the other way around.

During these opening weeks of training camp, he is using his time to evaluate the best system. The Union have been in North Carolina since last Tuesday in their first phase of camp.

Speaking yesterday following a conference call, Nowak said he was using the first month as a feeling-out process. The Union open the MLS season on March 25, at Seattle.

"It's not about one system, and right now they need to know what we expect from them," Nowak said. "And we are not telling them but instead trying to work with them on the best system."

He said the process would be sped up a few weeks before the season opener.

Nowak likes the fact that the players are away from distractions while working out at the Bryan Park Soccer Complex in Browns Summit, near Greensboro.

"We want them to get to know each other, and we believe keeping us in this kind of location in North Carolina gives us time to establish who we are and what kind of identity we will have," he said.

Nowak said everybody had been healthy so far during camp. Defender Michael Orozco will leave tomorrow to join the U.S. national team in preparation for its Feb. 24 friendly against El Salvador in Tampa, Fla.