Philadelphia Union: Youth movement must continue with or without Earnie Stewart

Earnie Stewart may be leaving the Philadelphia Union for what he believes are greener pastures, but the path he has started down must be followed.

With rumors circling that Earnie Stewart is close to finalizing a deal to become the first General Manager of the United States Men’s National Team, the future of the Philadelphia Union is very much up in the air.

Stewart was hired by the Union as sporting director in October 2015. Since his appointment, youth has been of huge emphasis and promising, young players have quickly come into the spotlight. Regardless of whether or not Stewart stays in Philadelphia or jumps ship for the U.S. job, the club would be wise to continue down the path that he has started.

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Keegan Rosenberry may have very well been the first young talent to piece together an impressive season when he was named to the MLS All-Star team as a rookie in 2016. But since then, countless others have joined the first team and produced at the country’s top level. Earlier this season, Jim Curtin, backed by Stewart, started the league’s youngest back four in history when he rolled out homegrown players Matt Real, Auston Trusty, and Mark McKenzie alongside Rosenberry.

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In addition, Anthony Fontana joined the first team this year and even managed to score in his MLS debut. Fontana has since been relegated to bench duty since the club signed experienced playmaker Borek Dockal, but his future still seems to be a bright one.

Trusty has already played in an under-20 World Cup for the United States, and McKenzie and Real have been called up to Tab Ramos’s squad since then. Jack Elliott, a fourth-round draft pick in 2017, also logged over 2,600 minutes at center back in his rookie campaign.

Derrick Jones is another name that may be familiar to U.S. Soccer and Union supporters alike. Jones was another piece of the last U-20 World Cup squad with Trusty. Unfortunately for him, it appears that his second season in MLS may be similar to that of Rosenberry. After logging 702 minutes in eight starts and four appearances off the bench, Jones has seen just five minutes of a possible 1,260 with the first team.

Regardless, the Union are relying heavily on youth in 2018 and the signs have been promising thus far. There is nothing to suggest that it ends with those names either. The Union academy is one of the best in the nation on a yearly basis.

With players such as Michael Pellegrino, who verbally committed to play collegiately at Notre Dame in April, the pipeline from the academy to the first team seems to be firmly established. Pellegrino got his first action as a professional with Bethlehem Steel at just 16 years old and has been a regular in the U.S. youth national team set-up. McKenzie has been the only homegrown player that experienced college soccer, and even that was just one season at Wake Forest, so there is always the potential for the Union to lock up another piece for the future before he has that opportunity.

Paxten Aaronson, Selmir Miscic, and Patrick Bohui are three other names to keep an eye on. They may have a little further to go before they are in contention for the senior roster, but all three have recently been called up to the U.S. under-16 camp in Florida.

Whether these youngers are here for the long haul or not has yet to be seen, as is the case with Stewart. But ultimately, the Union are putting themselves in a great situation for the future. Obviously, if these players can contribute to the first team for years to come, the youth movement can easily be viewed as successful. On the other hand, if these players continue to develop and attract interest from other parts of the world, the Union can sell their young talent on and become a player in the global transfer market while cashing in and re-investing in their youth and infrastructure.

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It just makes sense to continue with what works, with or without Earnie Stewart.