Reviewing the Union's first season

The Union's first Major League Soccer season met with great success at the box office but mixed results on the field. Despite being an expansion team, the Union players and coaches stated their goal all along was to make the playoffs.

That didn't happen.

Eight of the 16 MLS teams made the playoffs, and in 2009 the Seattle Sounders FC earned a postseason berth as an expansion team.

That said, the Union were competitive in an 8-15-7 season, but the players and coaches felt a void.

"We felt like we should be in the playoffs and played the kind of soccer that was good enough to be there, and yet we know we made mistakes along the way," Union assistant coach John Hackworth said on Wednesday as the team continued training at the HealthPlex Sports Club in Springfield, Delaware County. "We didn't fulfill our end of the bargain in certain situations. So while we feel good about things, we did some great things on the field, wonderful things off the field, we know especially within the team we could have done better."

The team is already working toward next season, when the MLS will have two more teams and teams will play four additional games. The coaching staff is making its plans to scout college players and professionals abroad.

In fact, the players haven't stopped training together, even though the regular season ended with Sunday's 3-1 loss at Columbus.

According to Union defender Danny Califf, the MLS contract mandates that teams give the players six weeks off during the off-season. The Union will have more than six weeks off. They will shut down training Nov. 12 and report for preseason practice Jan. 20.

So there isn't much of an off-season. Here's a look back at a few positives and negatives of the first season:

Positives

Attendance. The Union were fourth in MLS in attendance, averaging 19,254 for the 15 home games. Even though they play at 18,500-seat PPL Park, they had their first two games at Lincoln Financial Field, which drew a total of 59,898 fans. There were four sellouts at PPL Park, and most games were played near capacity.

Sebastien Le Toux. After totaling one goal and three assists for Seattle in 2009, Le Toux racked up 14 goals and 11 assists for the Union. He might have been the most pleasant surprise in the entire MLS.