Video Ranking: 4 / five
KNIGHT WANTED
Philadelphia Union manager John Hackworth has confirmed that the club are interested in signing Bolton defender Zat Knight before the start of the new season. Knight, though, is not the only transfer target for the club according to Hackworth, as they have other potential names in the mix as well. Knight is an experienced defender, who at 6 foot six will provide a huge physical presence for Philadelphia at the back. The 33-year-old has represented only four clubs during his career. He has been with Bolton since 2009 after making the move from Aston Villa.
However, the club may consider letting him leave since they are one of the favourites to get relegated to the third division of English football. The presence of an England international like Knight will be detrimental to the finances of the club in League One. Knight has featured for the England national team on two occasions. The player will turn 34 years of age in May. Thus, Philadelphia will have the oldest player in their ranks if they signed the defender. Hackworth has revealed that the next few pre-season matches will decide whether they bring in Knight or not.
After finishing seventh in the table last season, Philadelphia will be hoping for a much better campaign in 2014. They begin the new season with a match against Portland Timbers.
“Truthfully, we have been in some conversations [with Knight]. But at the same time, we are looking at a lot of different countries and have vetted out many different center back options. I would think it depends on how these next couple of games go and where we are. He’s certainly one of the guys we’re still considering. We still think we need to add a potential center back to our roster. However, it’s been a good battle with players playing well at center back so far,” Hackworth said.
Two Academy of Art University Men’s Soccer Highlights vs. Point Loma 9-15-12
Video Ranking: 1 / 5
NOT IDEAL
The manager of Philadelphia Union, John Hackworth, has said that losing Michael Farfan is obviously not an ideal thing for his team, but, since, the American midfielder himself was excited to make an away move; he had to sell him.
Farfan has recently left Philadelphia to join the Mexican club Cruz Azul. He played for the Zolos for 3 years and didn’t do a bad job for them. He made more than 80 league appearances during his time at PPL Park and scored 4 goals.
He was one of the very few experienced players in the Philadelphia side and there were speculations that he would not be sold, but, much to the surprise of the fans, Hackworth let him go
That decision of the Philadelphia boss has raised the eyebrows of quite a few people. The fans are upset with him and they have every right to do so. There is no point selling one of the key players of the side after a poor season, but, Hackworth has got the explanations for that.
Talking to the reporters yesterday, the 43 years old said, “The relationship between me and Michael is quite good. I am very close to him and I wanted him to stay with us, but, the offer which Cruz came up with was not easy to reject considering what our financial situation is at the moment.”
“The second thing is that the player himself was quite interested in that move and to force him to stay would not have been sensible.”
“He is going to be missed; there is no doubt about that, but, it’s up to us now to find out a player who can take his place.”
Philadelphia had finished the last MLS season at no. 7 in the Eastern Conference Points table.