By Matthew De George and Dave Zeitlin
CHESTER, Pa. — It was billed as a change in eras but, in reality, the Philadelphia Union hope to stay the course.
Under sporting director Earnie Stewart, who left town on August 1 to take over as general manager of the U.S. men’s national team, the Union built from the ground up, modernizing their protocols and structures in every area of the soccer side of the business. With the arrival of Ernst Tanner, the Union hope to take things to the next level, maturing as a franchise.
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Hired as the club’s second sporting director Thursday, Tanner, 51, comes to Philly after six seasons at Red Bull Salzburg, the five-time reigning champion of the Austrian Bundesliga, where he served as the academy director for one of the most successful youth setups in Europe. The German’s past experience also include stints at 1860 Munich and Hoffenheim. He’s served as a coach, a sporting director and an academy head, and his emphasis on youth development and savvy tactics in the transfer market attracted the Union to his services.
What can Union fans expect from the new regime? The Athletic’s Dave Zeitlin and Matthew De George weigh in on Tanner, who was introduced to the Philadelphia media Thursday at Talen Energy Stadium.
Why should Union fans be excited about Ernst Tanner?
Zeitlin: On paper, there’s not much to dislike about Tanner, whose track record suggests he has an excellent eye for spotting talent and turning players into stars (look up Roberto Firmino for one pretty good example). And his quotes Thursday about a youth academy being “mandatory” to the success of any club, his “close connections” to the soccer-rich countries of Colombia, Brazil and Argentina, and striking a balance between winning games and developing players likely had most Union fans nodding their heads in agreement.
It also should help with his transition that Tanner has known minority owner Richie Graham for a while and said he’s had a strong desire to come to the United States after 24 years working in Europe.
De George: Tanner isn’t a household name, even for strict devotees of European soccer. But he’s a well-respected figure for those in the know about youth development on the continent, and this hire is a matter of substance over flash. Tanner fits the ethos of what the Union want to be: a smaller-market team (Salzburg would be characterized as a feeder club in the deep ocean of European soccer) that emphasizes youth development. He has a great track record of identifying and developing talent, and his primary role will be taking the (still young) Union Academy from a promising aspect of the team’s growth to a financially sustainable growth engine.
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What can you expect from Tanner in this job?
De George: So many of the values that Stewart espoused seemed hollow at times, since in truth they were unfinished and not backed up by results. That’s Tanner’s job now. Where Stewart articulated the identity of the Union, Tanner will look to put it into action. That means a carousel of talent out of the academy, turning young players into first-teamers, first-teamers into regulars and today’s regulars into profitable stars when larger clubs abroad come calling.
What most Union fans will want to see from him is more acumen in the transfer market, particularly in the arrivals department. Owner Jay Sugarman talked Thursday about reducing the risk when they spend in the market and making sure they don’t miss. Stewart missed often, from Roland Alberg to Jay Simpson. Tanner can’t replicate those misfires.
Zeitlin: You shouldn’t expect much immediately, since Tanner doesn’t officially start in his new role until mid-to-late September (while he finalizes the immigration process) and probably won’t make any big moves until the 2018 season ends. At that point, he’ll likely reshape the roster in his mold, perhaps cutting ties with some of the fringe players, making one or two splashes in the transfer market, and signing more Homegrown players out of the academy.
Like Stewart, you can expect him to split his time between YSC Academy, USL affiliate Bethlehem Steel FC and the first team, continuing to develop the pipeline and stress continuity from the oldest veterans to the youngest members of the academy. That kind of club-wide continuity, along with innovation and a development approach, are the “three pillars” that Graham and Sugarman often talk about — and what drew them to an executive in Tanner who specializes in all three.
How is Tanner different from Stewart?
De George: Their similarities stand out more prominently – experience in smaller European leagues, excelling in clubs with together budgets, emphasis on youth, etc. One difference appears to be in their tactical views. Stewart was a rigid adherent to the 4-2-3-1 system all through the Union pipeline. Tanner seemed more interested in standardizing the process than the formation, per se.
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“Basically, the 4-2-3-1 is not a bad system. But in modern football now, it comes up that you have to be a little bit more flexible,” Tanner told me. “I don’t know if we keep on that or if we maybe play a 4-4-2 in the future or a 4-2-2-2. That’s what we did very successfully partly in Salzburg. We need to find out what is the right system for the requirements we have and for what we need to do.”
Zeitlin: Looking at their resumes and even listening to them talk, there certainly are plenty of similarities. At Thursday’s press conference, Tanner reminded me of Stewart in a way, answering questions pointedly without going off on tangents or showing false bravado. And both had a lot of success at mid-level clubs in Europe before accepting a new challenge in the U.S.
A former U.S. national team star and World Cup veteran, Stewart was more well-known in the United States. But those connections didn’t seem to help attract national team guys or other big-ticket items while working within the team’s budget constraints (more on that below). If Tanner can do a better job scouting the global market and finding diamonds in the rough, he’ll be the kind of “different” Philly fans have craved.
With a new boss, will Jim Curtin keep his job?
Zeitlin: The good news for Curtin is that he does know the new sporting director a bit. When Curtin was getting his coaching start at YSC, Tanner visited the academy to give a presentation, with Curtin later visiting Hoffenheim while Tanner was there. That doesn’t mean Tanner will vouch for Curtin as vociferously as Stewart did. But I did ask Tanner after the press conference what he thought of Curtin, and he called him a “good coach” who he’s eager to work alongside.
With all that being said, though, new general managers often like to bring in their guys, and a coaching decision will need to be made between the 2018 and 2019 seasons. And if the Union don’t win the U.S. Open Cup or make the playoffs, it’s hard to see Curtin returning.
De George: Curtin has been the head coach for four-and-a-half years. The list of MLS coaches to last that long without winning a playoff game is, I would assume, pretty short. He has the power to impress his new boss by bringing home the U.S. Open Cup from Houston next month. If Curtin navigates the Union to a trophy and the playoffs, Tanner could have a hard time going in a different direction. If he doesn’t do those things, then Tanner would be justified in seeking a fresh start.
What should we make of owner Jay Sugarman’s press conference comments?
De George: Sugarman has always been a behind-the-scenes figure, but when he’s stepped into the limelight, he’s been forthcoming about the challenges he and the club face. While he’s not active in the day-to-day of soccer decisions, he is very engaged with higher-level thinking about it, and he brings the savvy that made him a success in business, trying to leverage some of the same applicable principles.
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That said, he still seems to struggle with the economic imperatives of MLS. He talked a lot Thursday about figuring out ways to avoid a like-for-like collision with teams of greater economic means, using the additive benefits of team chemistry or unconventional differences to give the Union the edge that they lack in finances. But that misses the fact that a base level of investment – the price of which rises annually – is necessary to stay competitive for the long haul in MLS. In the past, the Union haven’t met that. Sugarman has said that the resources will be there when the time is right, and that first the Union had to invest in the infrastructure (like that academy and the facilities) to make the money put into the first team pay real dividends.
Absent more money, at best that rhetoric sounds hopeful. At worst, it comes off as naïve.
Zeitlin: Perhaps because his media appearances are so rare — and because the questions from Jonathan Tannenwald and our very own Matthew De George were so sharp — Sugarman’s comments on trying to find a competitive advantage ended up being the biggest talking point of the day.
At one point, when discussing teams with bigger stadiums and more revenue, the Union owner said that “We’re not going to line up with them person to person and say we can out-talent them” — which, understandably, rubs some fans the wrong way. But he’s been open about that kind of thing in the past, and typically consistent and well-spoken about trying to develop stars through the academy and the Steel (where combined he claims the Union spend more on than any other MLS club) rather than buying them on the open market with steep transfer fees.
In a perfect world, the Union would spend a lot on both their first team and academy. But Sugarman can’t afford that and, unless he sells, it doesn’t look like that will sadly ever change.
(Top photo by Matthew De George)