Report: Philadelphia Union dismiss scouting director Diego Gutierrez, youth technical director Alecko Eskandarian
The Philly Soccer Page broke the news late Sunday night: Philadelphia Union director of scouting Diego Gutierrez and youth technical director Alecko Eskandarian are no longer part of the organization.
Report: Philadelphia Union dismiss scouting director Diego Gutierrez, youth technical director Alecko Eskandarian
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
The Philly Soccer Page broke the news late Sunday night: Philadelphia Union director of scouting Diego Gutierrez and youth technical director Alecko Eskandarian are no longer part of the organization.
Gutierrez and Eskandarian's biographies have been removed from the Union's website. The Delaware County Times has also reported on their dismissals.
It appears that this is an aftershock of the dismissal of Peter Nowak. Gutierrez and Eskandarian were both closely connected to Nowak, although it should be said that both brought qualities to the club that were independent of that affiliation.
Gutierrez joined the Union in August of 2010. A former teammate of Nowak with the Chicago fire, he has a wealth of connections in Central and South America, especially his native Colombia. He was responsible for bringing goalkeeper Faryd Mondragón and defender Carlos Valdés last year.
This year, Gutierrez played a role in the signings of defender Porfirio Lopez, midfielder Gabriel Gómez, and forwards Josué Martinez and Lionard Pajoy. To be sure, not all of those signings have been successful - Lopez in particular has been a bust, and the jury is still out on Martinez and Pajoy.
Eskandarian was hired in 2011, after spending a year as an assisant coach at Virginia, his alma mater.
He played for Peter Nowak's D.C. United squad, and the two won a championship together in 2004. Eskandarian's role involved not just overseeing the Union's youth team. He was also a regular presence on the senior squad's bench on game days. Neither he nor Gutierrez were on the sideline when the Union were in Houston on Saturday.
It would not surprise me if both men end up in other MLS front offices relatively soon. Gutierrez's contacts and Eskandarian's work ethic and public persona would benefit many teams in the league.
Union manager John Hackworth will address the media Monday afternoon. We will see what he has to say on these departures.
Good luck, gentlemen.— new commentator
More rats jumping ship off of the sinking USS UNION.— HappyBob
I can't claim to enough about these men, or their respective roles, to comment on them or the possible effects of their departures.
But as for the players mentioned in the article that they've acquired for our squad: I think Pajoy can contributte in a positive manner if used correctly (and I believe he hasn't been used correctly, so far). I'd like to see Martinez get much more playing time ( I believe he simply hasn't been used ENOUGH)- I meant to post this here but it ended up in the Houston "game" thread...
The timing of this -- less than a week after signing Soumare -- is a bit strange. Of course, we don't know how Soumare will fare for at least a couple of weeks, but like JT said, Gutierrez's record in bringing in players this year has been hit-or-miss. What I will say is that it looks like the team wants to move away from the "Latin-American Pipeline" philosophy of bringing players in, which is good considering the standard of personnel they are signing compared to other teams in the league.
It's clear, though, that the common denominator between these two is Nowak. What isn't, however, is Eski's dismissal. I can understand letting Gutierrez go before the transfer window fully opens, as that affects who they can and cannot bring in. But other than Nowak's ties, I'm not sure why Eskandarian, who seemed to be a very good mentor to the younger players, was let go. Very strange.
In any event, like JT said, they're two very bright soccer minds and they will latch on -- and succeed -- somewhere.— BigBrain61
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
