The Philadelphia Union are in a weird position for this season’s MLS Expansion Draft. The fate of their final 11 protected selections will not truly be known until MLS releases the names of the players that will graduate the Generation Adidas program this year, meaning that they must be protected in the Expansion Draft.
MLS Mock Expansion Draft, 2011: Projected Philadelphia Union Protected List
Jack McInerney, Amobi Okugo and Danny Mwanga all await an update on their statuses. Mwanga is most likely graduating, but his two teammates may be safe for another year. If that is the case, then the protection list becomes must clearly and easier to decide upon.
Since the Montreal Impact are expected to sign Bill Gaudette to start, and also have signed fellow goalkeeper Evan Bush, Faryd Mondragon and third string goalkeeper Thorne Holder do not need to be protected by the Union. It also means that three other foreign players must be protected. The Union have Mondragon, Holder, Veljko Paunovic, Roger Torres, Juan Diego Gonzalez, Keon Daniel, Levi Houapeu and Joe Tait. Gonzalez is probably not going to return to the Union in 2012 after not playing in a single MLS minute in 2011; Hoaupeu was injured most of the season and probably isn't a risk for selection; Tait was a late season acquisition and seen as a project with high potential, but isn't a player on the Impact's radar; and Holder was oft-injured and the third string goalkeeper for most of the season. That leaves Paunovic and Torres as the two international players with the highest probability of being taken. Thus, I decided to protect both.
Sebastien Le Toux, Mwanga, both Gabriel Farfan and Michael Farfan, Danny Califf, Carlos Valdes, Sheanon Williams and Brian Carroll were selected because of their starting spots and potential to start next season. Add in Torres and Paunovic and that leaves one more spot to protect a player, which is Freddy Adu on my list. The 22-year-old may become a designated player in 2012 and seems to be part of head coach Piotr Nowak's plans for the team's future, despite a poor start to his Union career and MLS-rebirth.
Philadelphia Union: Sebastien Le Toux, Danny Mwanga, Michael Farfan, Gabriel Farfan, Sheanon Williams, Carlos Valdes, Roger Torres, Veljko Paunovic, Kyle Nakazawa, Freddy Adu, Brian Carroll. Automatically protected: Zac MacMath, Jack McInerney, Amobi Okugo, Zach Pfeffer.
Scott Kessler is the managing editor of Union blog Brotherly Game. Follow him on Twitter at @scottdkessler.
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