Subtle changes you may have missed this Union offseason

Whoever coined the phrase “Don’t sweat the small stuff” was probably not a soccer fan. We obsess over the smallest details, so we tend to notice when things change unexpectedly. When perusing the Philadelphia Union’s roster page, we noticed the following things had changed:

Roland Alberg has switched from the number 6 to the number 10, vacated by the departing Tranquillo Barnetta.

Andre Blake will now wear the number 18, last worn by Cameroonian winger Eric Ayuk at the end of last season. Blake had worn the number 1 since his arrival in 2014.

Eric Ayuk now wears the number 30. That number has been vacant since Pedro Ribeiro wore it last in 2014.

John McCarthy will now wear 23, which has been worn by Anderson Conceicao, Steven Vitoria, and Cristhian Hernandez.

Brand new signing Oguchi Onyewu will wear the number 5, last worn by Vincent Nogueira.

Even though Giliano Wijnaldum was originally given the 5 shirt, he’s now listed as number 32, which was Chase Harrison’s number back in 2012.

Ilsinho is no longer Ilsinho, preferring now to go by Ilson Jr.

Change is inevitable. When it happens, we will let you know.