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Philadelphia Union Majority Owner Jay Sugarman & Sporting Director Ernst Tanner's press conference after the firing of Jim Curtin & their thoughts on the future of the club.
0:00 - Opening Statement
2:40 - Firing of Jim Curtin
6:00 - Veteran Talent vs Homegrown Talent
8:30 - Ernst Tanner's Performance as well as the Union II's success this season
12:19 - Expectations for the 2025 season and closing statements.
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0:00
Thanks everybody for showing up today
0:03
Let me start by saying Jim has been a great coach for us and he's proven he's one of the best coaches in the league
0:12
I've taken a lot of pride in watching him grow from a youth coach, a first-time youth coach into a two-time MLS coach of the year
0:21
But I'm even more proud of the way he represented us in the league and in this city
0:26
But this was a tough year, and we need to look at everything we're doing and see if we can do it better
0:34
That starts with me and all the way down through the organization. We had a lot of injuries
0:42
We had not enough cap room. We had a lot of one-goal losses. We had a lot of home losses
0:47
Those are things that we have to fix, and we will fix
0:51
and everyone here is committed to our sporting strategy. Everyone has a responsibility to make it work
0:59
and we're all going to go to work right now to make sure we are a winning club going forward
1:07
Yes, thank you, Jay. Good morning, everyone, from my side. I just want to piggyback on what Jay said
1:13
and mention that this is definitely not a personal decision we are taking here and we have a lot of respect for Jimmy and what he did
1:26
Over the course of more than six years, we had a really good collaboration and we've been good times
1:33
We have been faced wins, we have been faced silverware, we have been a good collaboration, as I mentioned
1:42
and it was a good time, but over the course of, let's say, the last year
1:48
we felt that we are not really aligned with what we are doing here
1:55
I had at least that feeling. We had pretty much a discussion about what we are expecting
2:04
before we prolonged this contract last year. Unfortunately, things did not turn out like what we talked about
2:13
and the season was pretty devastating after all. And, you know, this business, I have to take that decision, if I want to or not
2:28
And it's not personal, but Jimmy made a brand for himself and he will definitely get over this as well as they come
2:39
Thank you a lot. Thank you. Jeff? What led ultimately to the decision to fire Jim
2:50
Was it something that over the course of the season you came to
2:54
or was it something that throughout your evaluations in the post-Affron season that led to the game
3:03
Yes, it certainly grew over the course of the season. I mean, we have been having a winning culture and if we would be over in Europe, then I would have taken that position probably earlier
3:18
I mean, we had a losing streak over almost three months, which is without an example in the club's history
3:25
And that would have justified it already. But, yeah, we won these two games before the League's Cup and we were all happy that we turned it around
3:36
But as we all know, there were some climpses of hope during the league's cup, but at the
3:42
end of the year it didn't turn out and it's better to take the decision now as if we would
3:49
hope for an improvement during the next season and then we have to do it and would be without the coach for a period of time One of the criticisms of this 2024 squad was there wasn enough depth
4:03
There was a gap between veterans and homegrowns. Do you take any responsibility for how the squad as a whole was built
4:13
And do you think it could have been built better in collaboration with Jim or not
4:18
Do you think looking back on it that the entire squad could have been built better, had more depth
4:24
Well, we never had that depth discussion over the period where we have been successful
4:31
And even this year, we had a lot of injuries and we had some releases for national teams as we all know
4:37
And even this year when everybody was in, Jimmy was telling me, hey listen
4:41
all of a sudden when everybody is here we have a lot of depth. So that discussion, I don't know where it is coming from, that is a little bit the wrong one, as we had not much space in winter in order to do any new signings
4:59
And we have a lot of depth in our youth and we have a lot of depth in our second team as we all know
5:06
My second team has proven that. And if you were watching these games and you see how much quality and how young they are
5:16
then you certainly need to assume that we have the best talent in the country, and probably most of it
5:22
And that's what also is something we need to discuss and bring them on
5:27
They train with us. But you're right, we had a little bit of a dispute with our team, in particular with all the players
5:36
I'm always hearing the young ones are not ready to play. And I tell you, I don't know if they are ready to play because we didn't try
5:47
So we would rather try to be sure. And that is a discussion we had for sure
5:54
And that is also one of the reasons why we are not aligned. Jay
6:00
Yeah, we have this conversation pretty regularly. Our core beliefs are not going to change
6:05
but you have to adapt as the league adapts. So we are absolutely committed to our core principles
6:13
but that doesn't mean we can't respond to things that are opportunities that present themselves
6:19
I think we've been challenged a number of times. Do we spend enough
6:24
Are we buying enough quality players? I have to say, from my standpoint, as Ernst said
6:33
I really believed in the group we had this year and when they were healthy, I thought we could go very deep
6:38
So I didn't think we lacked that, but we certainly lacked some depth, and we count on our academy to continue to bring up players who can fill roles
6:47
and become those top players in the future. So we're not going to change that strategy, but I have told Ernst
6:53
and you've heard us say it before, if we need more pieces, they are available
6:58
The one thing I think the fans need to know is when Ernst came to us
7:02
and said this strategy to really work requires us to put everything in one place
7:09
Our first team, our second team, our academy, our staff, our school
7:14
that's a $75 million expense. And we said, if that's what it takes, then we're going to do that
7:20
and that's what we're building outside. So this is not a question of we have a strategy and we aren't willing to fund it
7:26
This is we have a different strategy, and it's not a conventional strategy
7:32
It's not the easiest strategy to execute, and it's not the flashiest strategy
7:37
But when we brought Ernst to the board, that was the strategy we wanted to bet on
7:42
Now that doesn't mean we don't need really high quality players playing together collectively
7:47
as a great team. We do And that I leave to Ernst to find those pieces put them in place and work with our coaches to make sure we are developing a team that can win
7:59
not just on Saturday, but every year. That long-term success is what we're investing in
8:06
But we still got to win every Saturday, or we need to win enough. And so that balance between youth development, player development at the senior level
8:16
and winning is a tough balance. It's not easy. No coach will tell you it's easy
8:23
But this is what we have laid out over the last six years is our strength
8:28
What we can do is evaluate the job that Burns has done in recent years. There's been a handful of new signings, guys like Ty and Danley that have come in
8:37
There's been a number of players that have come in and now played for the first team. You guys have maybe didn't maximize value outgoing with Julian
8:45
how would you evaluate the job that he's done over the last few, I guess, last five or six transfer windows
8:51
Look, as I said, we have to look at everything we've collectively done
8:55
and everyone has responsibility in executing the vision. Ernst and I talk a lot about the inputs, like how do we scout, how do we find players
9:05
That process is, you know, you're competing with some very, very large clubs in the world
9:11
who have tremendous resources. So we have to find our own path
9:15
I think we've had some tremendous successes. And obviously you'll always have some misses
9:20
and particularly when you're shooting at younger players, you're not going to get everyone right
9:25
But we have to be better at it, and we've started to really systematically yze who's coming in
9:32
how did they do, what could we have done better. And again, this idea that I always ask
9:38
the first question I ask is, will his player make the players around him better? Because that is the underpinnings of our system
9:46
It's rarely he's going to propose someone who's no good. They're always going to look good on paper
9:52
They've always done something to justify our interest. But how do they fit in our squad
9:57
And that I think he has the clearest vision in our organization of what that should be
10:03
But I won't speak for him. I do think we need to all take responsibility for what we're doing
10:09
and see where we can be better. A question for both of you
10:15
Given the recent success of the second team, and we talked about the development here
10:20
what are your goals and visions moving forward for 2025? And then currently, how would you assess the academy
10:27
And is there areas that can improve moving in the future? Yeah, I think I'll take that one
10:33
Well, the last couple of months probably have really shown what kind of quality we have in our second team and how talented the boys are
10:44
Despite of them, they are really young. We played with 18 and a half years in the final for MLS Next Pro Cup
10:52
against a three-year-old opposition. And that's what you saw in the second half
10:58
But it doesn't matter. I mean, for me, it's always important. Do we have enough prospectivity
11:04
Do we have enough future in the team? And clearly, yes. It will be our job now to, some of them are already integrated in the first team training
11:13
but it will be our job now to successively integrate them, develop them further on
11:19
and slowly integrate them in our first team. But that will not happen necessarily for all of them in 25
11:27
but there are quite a few who can already play MLS. That's pretty clear
11:33
And that's also, by the way, that's also part of the disalignment we had
11:39
And I think that we have enough good players, in particular with the young ones
11:46
I also think that they are perfect to fit in our depth And We maybe need to use or make better use out of our depth
11:57
Maybe for a lot we have the chances to do a better job in rotating players
12:03
do a better job in subbing players in, and give them more hope and more chance in the future
12:11
and then they will pay back. That's what I have seen in every club in the world
12:15
and why should that not be possible in Philadelphia? With Jim's firing, there is to be expected to be changes on the first team coaching staff
12:25
Can you give us an update on who may be coming back, who may not be
12:29
Well, this is a little bit early to talk about. I mean, I want to work with our first team coaches
12:37
They're all good guys, they're good coaches, fantastic staff. We have a few openings in the future that's clear and we will need to occupy them
12:48
But we also have to follow league protocol and that requires us to write the positions
12:55
out, do the interview process and that will also take some time
13:00
But there might be some changes. And then when you guys promoted John Scherer to the academy, you guys went out and hired
13:07
Chris Zittabarn from Colorado Rapids. The club never officially announced it. when you guys went through the process of hiring Chris
13:14
were you looking for somebody who's had success at the MLS level, and what would you see with this future at the club
13:21
Referring to Chris, I think we published it, right? Yeah. We published that, so that's not 100% correct
13:29
But, of course, we look into the league, we look internationally, we look everywhere where we can get the best men for the job
13:36
That's what we do. What was Jimmy? Heading into next season with things kind of out of standstill and some uncertainty as far as the head coaching position and things like that
13:50
what might you say to some fans that felt a connection to the prior coach and ultimately don't put a lot of thought into things like the sports complex or to luxury seating and just want to win
14:05
is there a message to those fans heading into next season with things kind of as they are
14:12
and is there something that they can look forward to or hang their hat on heading into the next season
14:21
Well, I want to get back to what really made us successful in particular in regards of our play is that the way we are playing
14:29
we definitely will have a couple of additions to the team but we also need to create some flexibility in our CFO part as you know
14:39
I think there is a lot of trust in the team we are having
14:44
And if you look at the value of our team during the season in the transfer market, like Jay mentioned
14:51
we have been always somewhere in between four and seven after we sold a couple of things
14:56
So there is obviously some value in that team. We certainly underperform, that's clear
15:07
We will add on almost every positional group a player in order to improve the quality of the roster
15:16
We will bring up players from the second team, that's also clear, in order to have a roster which is consisting out of 25-26 players
15:27
We will not have so many additional competitions last year, and we will probably have a little
15:32
bit more time to train and develop and prepare. And with everything together, I think the future looks really good for us
15:44
Alright, thank you, JNRs. Thank you guys for coming down and for those who joined virtually
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