2016 Philadelphia Union Player Review: Brian Carroll

2016 Summary: Brian Carroll entered the 2016 without much in the way of expectations, but the 35-year old career MLSer made more of an impact than many expected. Through five matches, Carroll unexpectedly became one of three players to play every minute of the season up to that point, and throughout the season continued to be a steady, albeit usually unspectacular, presence in the midfield whenever he was on the pitch.

What did he do right?: Brian Carroll proved to himself and others that even at 35 age is just a number, and everyone who expected him to be useless were shown wrong. His minutes, shot attempts, and shots on target were all at the highest they've been since 2013 while maintaining great distribution.

What did he do wrong?: It wasn’t all roses for Brian Carroll this season though. First off, the Union jettisoned Vincent Nogueira off to Strasbourg in France’s Ligue 2. While on his own Carroll can be a fine player, he was greatly aided by Nogueira’s presence in the midfield and without it his performance dropped off a bit (along with most of the 2016 Union’s performance). Secondly, Carroll suffered a torn plantar fasica in August keeping him off the pitch for over a month for a few vital matches down the stretch.

Most Memorable Moment: Not only did Brian Carroll score his first MLS goal since 2013 against Chivas USA (!!!), but it was a wonderful stoppage time equalizer on the road in a match where the Union had been outplayed by the Colorado Rapids. In hindsight, Carroll’s equalizing goal may have been one of the Union’s zeniths of the season that slowly began going downhill shortly thereafter.