The Union’s reserve team is also going to the playoffs

As the Union chase the Supporters’ Shield and cast an eye toward the playoffs, it’s not just the primary MLS unit, known as the first team, that has the postseason on its mind.

The club’s reserve squad earned a playoff berth in the debut season of MLS Next Pro, a league run by Major League Soccer for reserve squads and some other invitees. It’s at the third tier of America’s soccer league hierarchy, and it’s stacked with some of the country’s most intriguing prospects.

Scouts and analysts have flocked to Union II, as it’s officially called, thanks to the big-time pros the academy has produced so far. They undoubtedly want to know who the next Brenden Aaronson is, and perhaps how Brandan Craig became a star with the U.S. under-20s even while barely playing in MLS.

Some of the program’s top prospects will be on the field Saturday when Union II visits Toronto FC’s reserves in the first round of the MLS Next Pro playoffs (7 p.m., free live streaming at MLSNextPro.com). Under head coach Marlon LeBlanc, Union II finished third in the Eastern Conference, securing a postseason berth on the regular season’s final day.

For as much talent as there is in the Union’s academy, winning games hasn’t always been straightforward. LeBlanc, the reserves’ coach since the summer of 2020, has to manage gameday squads with teenage prospects, Union first-teamers who don’t play in MLS on a given weekend, and a handful of players on MLS Next Pro-specific contracts.

“It feels like we’ve significantly exceeded our expectations,” LeBlanc said. “To be fair, it’s hard to expect a whole lot out of a group that is put together the way we put it together. That said, it’s been amazing how much the players have bought into it.”

Ahead of Saturday’s game, LeBlanc gave The Inquirer a scouting report on some of the reserve team’s top prospects.

» READ MORE: The dream has come true for Brenden Aaronson, with Leeds United and the U.S. men’s soccer team

The Union made a big bet on the 18-year-old Venezuelan last winter by paying a $1 million transfer fee to acquire him. It took him a while to settle here, but he ended up tallying three goals and an assist in 15 games.

LeBlanc: “I think it’s pretty evident to see how much he’s changed from day one to now. It’s probably not very easy for an 18-year-old who doesn’t speak the language to adapt to the style of play that we have here. … The change in culture, the change in the way he defends, the elimination of the slow build and the high-tempo type stuff has been a big, radical shift for him from one side to the other.

But he’s gotten better at it. Is he there yet? No. He still needs more time. But he’s 18 years old, and he’s learning English, and I think we’ve had to be patient with him, and I think we’ll continue to be patient with him. But there’s certainly talent there. He’s scored some absolutely wonderful goals for us. Now, it’s just about the consistency of all the other tiny details.

To get him pressing like [Julián] Carranza does all the time, to get him running ahead of the ball and not just coming back to get it back at his feet. If he’s ever going to be able to mix in with [Dániel] Gazdag and play alongside [Mikael] Uhre, he’s going to have some more verticality to his game. And that’s what we’re trying to teach him.”

» READ MORE: Why the Union made a big bet on José Riasco

Standing 6 feet tall as a 17-year-old, the Harrisburg native was still 16 when he became Union II’s first official MLS Next Pro signing in March. The Union’s academy has yet to send a striker prospect all the way through the system to the pros. He’s a candidate to be the first.

LeBlanc: “He’s obviously a physical specimen. He’s got unteachable and uncoachable pace. He’s one of the fastest, probably, two or three players in the club, whether it’s a first-team guy or all the way through the academy. But now he’s running off the ball better than he ever has. I think for so long, he relied on just being able to outpace guys his own age. Now what he’s doing is he’s getting to the near post on an unselfish run that maybe opens the space for somebody else …

It’s the off-the-ball movement part that’s gotten better for him. And I think if he can continue to develop that side of things and learn more about the tactical side of counter-moving with the other forward, and when to stretch them and when to be kind of a decoy runner — his physical tools, like I said, are unmatched. It’s now just getting the brain to catch up with the body.”

» READ MORE: Union rising stars led the USMNT to finally return to the Olympics

It made news when he left Minnesota United’s youth setup in October 2020 to move here as a 14-year-old. Last year, he helped the Union’s under-15s reach the MLS Next tournament age-group final. This year, he played in 14 games for Union II and was invited to multiple U.S. under-17 national team training camps.

LeBlanc: “It’s got to be really, really difficult to be a 15-year-old on a pro team, and to manage the expectations that go along with performance amongst your teammates. I think like any other 15-year-old, he makes a lot of mistakes. The big thing is convincing him that those mistakes are OK, and making sure his teammates understand that those mistakes are OK as well.

He played quite a bit with us in the middle of the season, had a little bit of a dip in form, and I think a lot of it had to do also with him just being away quite a bit — whether it be national team duty or something else, he spent a lot of time not in our environment. … But when he was called upon last weekend to start and he played 85 minutes in New England in a game that mattered [the regular-season finale], he played very, very well and stepped up. We’re going to have to lean on him again this weekend.

He’s a talent, for sure. He’s got an explosiveness, and he’s got moments that are unteachable moments that he can bring. It’s just also now the consistency, and it’s hard for a 15 year old to have that perspective. He’s going to know it better in 10 years, what I’m talking about. But he can do some things that 25 -year-olds wish they could do.”

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One of the youth academy’s top names, the 17-year-old from Ecuador was the top scorer at this summer’s MLS Next Cup in the age group. He also scored the winning goal in the MLS Next All-Star Game.

After playing for Ecuador’s under-15 and under-17 teams this summer, he changed nationality to play for the United States. He played two games with Union II late in the season. But he won’t be there Saturday, because he’s with the U.S. under-19 team at a tournament in Slovenia.

LeBlanc: “He started out in Clearwater [Fla., in preseason] with us. And then we brought in Chris Donovan, and Stefan Stojanovic, and José Riasco. We felt it was really important that he continued to play games, and so that was his purpose of going with the 17s [the Union’s under-17 youth team]. And then when the 17s’ season was over, he joined us.

But he had such a good season with the 17s that the next thing you know, he’s getting called into a youth national team duty. So interestingly enough, we didn’t get him right after the 17s finished up.

But yeah, the boy’s a talent. He can clearly score goals. He got a couple run-outs with us, but it was obviously a limited time, just because he hadn’t been around us too much. Marcos is a good center-forward who I think has a bright future — whether it’s here or somewhere else is above me — but he can certainly do some things up front.”

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He’s on a MLS rookie contract this year, and when he turned pro was seen as an heir to Kai Wagner. But the 19-year-old had to raise his game, just like so many other prospects who make the jump up.

LeBlanc: “Anton has improved dramatically, and I think in particular against the ball. He’s such a special talent with the ball. He can do incredibly creative things with the ball, he’s got pace, he can drive forward. Those things we’ve always known are good about Anton. It was the defending side of things that we really wanted to improve on, and just being able to play 20-something games has really helped him in those regards. He’s gotten significantly better defending one-v-one duels.

Almost everyone we play against plays with wingers. Whether they’re wide leaders or these, like, half-channel wingers, which most teans like to do now. It’s put him in a situation where he’s got to defend either that guy or slide through and get to the fullback on the other team that’s pushed up really, really high. And so he’s gotten better at reading those cues and doing a good job in those one-v-one moments.”

» READ MORE: Kai Wagner is the Union's best creator of scoring chances this year, as a left back

The 18-year-old Northeast Philly product was a sensation at the Concacaf under-20 championships, leading the U.S. to the tournament title and the end of a 16-year Olympics drought. He played in 18 games for Union II this year, made one late-game cameo in MLS in July. Among his skills is an impressive free kick, and he scored another for the U.S. U-20s at the Revelations Cup on Wednesday. He’ll also miss the playoff game, as he’s with the national team into next week.

LeBlanc: “You’re talking about an 18-year old who has played more minutes than most of the bench players in the first team. It’s not the same level, but for any 18-year-old playing in a U-25 [to] 26 league, it’s beneficial for him that he’s not just sitting every weekend. He’s gotten better.

We know all the things he can do with the ball. He’s probably the best passing centerback that I’ve been around in 20-plus years of coaching. He can hit a ball 60 yards, or he can break lines and take eight people out of the play with one pass. Again, now it becomes the defending side against the ball for a young 18-year old center back, and that’s what we’re harping on right now with Brandan, forward defending.

He’s similar to Jack Eliott where he’s not going to be a blazing-fast centerback — it’s just not going to be there. But reading the game, creating the angles, blocking passes, forward defending, that’s where Jack excels and never really gets exposed for pace. And that’s what we’re trying to teach Brandan now.”

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