Union working on new-look roster
Indicating that the Union's roster is in no way set, team manager Peter Nowak said Wednesday that even with all of the team's offseason acquisitions, "the work is not over yet."
Indicating that the Union's roster is in no way set, team manager Peter Nowak said Wednesday that even with all of the team's offseason acquisitions, "the work is not over yet."
Nowak and the Union are in Orlando for training camp, where they earned a 1-1 draw against the under-17 U.S. men's national team on Sunday and have three more exhibition games over the next few weeks.
"This team knows, regardless of what happened last year, we need to be ready from the get-go," Nowak said. "You wish to have a perfect, balanced roster. We are trying our best to do that."
The Union have had a busy off-season. They recently waived defender Christian Arrieta and goalkeeper Brad Knighton. They also signed Colombian goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, whom Nowak said is a huge presence on the team.
"He is such a good guy that everyone is looking up to," Nowak said. "He puts everything on the line and is not looking for any free passes. Enjoys coming into practice and does extra work at practice. As a coach it's a dream to work with such a guy."
As for explosive striker Danny Mwanga, Nowak stressed a need "to explore more options with Danny soccer-wise," stressing that Mwanga needs to work on his play defensively.
"He is one of those guys that needs to constantly be reminded that the whole defense starts with the forward - the first line of defense," Nowak said. "That's something that we need to work on. Of course, we need to give him the flexibility and freedom to appear in different parts of the field so he is not only a pure striker."
The Union, who went 8-15-7 in their inaugural season, will open their second season in Houston against the Dynamos on March 19. The home opener will be March 26 against the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps.
Union Update
Training camp: In Orlando, Feb. 8-20.
Exhibition games: Thursday vs. University of
South Florida, 3:30 p.m;
Sunday vs. University of
Central Florida, 10 a.m.;
Feb. 19 vs. Orlando City,
7 p.m.
Season opener: March 19 in Houston.
Players in camp: 25.
Cutdown date: March 1.EndText
