Happy Friday, readers. Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin held his first official press conference with media of 2024 yesterday and there were lots of topics covered. We’ll dive into a couple of them in today’s newsletter.

In the email today:

1. 🎙️Jim Curtin Meets the Press

Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin held his first official press conference of 2024 yesterday. He had a lot to cover, including updates on injuries, young players, Saprissa and more.

Injury updates: new left back Isaiah LeFlore is getting ACL surgery and will be missing extensive time. Curtin says he’s told that’s the first ACL surgery in team history. Leon Flach will also be out for a few months with a shoulder injury.

Players who have impressed/surprised this preseason: Curtin called out Damion Lowe, Quinn Sullivan and Julian Carranza as standout players this preseason. He also said Union II midfielder CJ Olney has been a “real surprise and bright spot.”

On David Vazquez, who the team is working to sign to a first team homegrown contract: “He’s going to be a first team player soon. That’s our hopes for him.”

On 14-year-old prospect Cavan Sullivan, who is with Union II for preseason: “His only job is to be a kid, have fun when he plays every day and he does that and will continue to do that, because that's what comes natural to him.”

On the summer when multiple starters will be away on international duty: “We’re going to be extremely short handed this entire summer. It's a busy schedule. It's gonna be one where we're missing let's call it what it is our top players for a lot of the year.”

On Saprissa: “We have to be really respectful of just how good they are as a team and know that we can't make any mistakes, especially them being already in season a little bit further along us being our first real test, that's a real dangerous thing for us.”

2. 🐍 Brandan Craig Loan Finalized

After an unsuccessful loan spell in 2023, Philadelphia Union is sending Brandan Craig back out on loan, this time to USL Championship side El Paso Locomotive FC. The 19-year-old Central Defender has appeared just one time for the Union’s first team, registering three minutes at the end of a 7-0 win over D.C. United back in July of 2022.

Craig recently went on trial at Premier League club Everton and has been training away from the Union since returning stateside.

Despite just one senior appearance, Craig has had a plentiful youth career, with 38 appearances for Philadelphia Union II and an additional 17 for the United States U20 and U23 teams, tallying four goals and six assists for both club and country.

Craig spent the second half of the 2023 MLS season on loan with Austin FC, where he did not play a single minute for either the senior team or MLS Next Pro Cup Champions, Austin FC II. Austin reportedly paid a fee of around $125,000 to complete the move.

El Paso will take Craig on loan through the end of the season, as the deal has no option for an early recall. Craig has already been training with El Paso, where former Philadelphia Union player Cole Turner also spent time on loan, appearing nine times in 2021 for the Texas club.

Craig is now the third active Philadelphia Union player out on loan, joining Nelson Pierre and Richard Odada.

-Evan Cohen

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3. ⚽️ Tweet of the Day: Goalzdag No. 4

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Former Union Player

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5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• The Union’s new primary jersey will be officially released on Feb. 14.

• Union II striker Jose Riasco played 32 minutes for Venezuela in their 2-1 loss to Brazil in Olympic qualifying, which hurt their chances of advancing to the Olympics as one of the top two teams.

• Former Union II striker Stefan Stojanovic has signed with FC Tulsa.

• The Union II schedule has dropped.

• Former Union attacker Michee Ngalina is reuniting with Brendan Burke at Hartford Athletic.

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