CHESTER, Pa. – Maurice Edu wishes his first season back in MLS would last a little bit longer.
But despite the Philadelphia Union’s recent elimination from the playoff race, Edu is mostly pleased with how the 2014 campaign helped get his career back on track – and he’d like to return in 2015.
Edu was acquired on a one-year loan from Stoke City in January but the Union have the option to purchase his contract.
“These are things that need to be discussed,” Edu told MLSsoccer.com. “It’s out of my hands a little bit. But I’ve definitely enjoyed it here. This is a group I believe in. I have a lot of confidence about things we can achieve. This year we could have achieved a lot but we came up a little bit short. But we have a good group here. And if we’re able to keep this team together, I think we can be very successful in the coming years.”
After a rough stint with Stoke City, one of the biggest objectives for Edu was to once again get consistent playing time. Philly’s Designated Player certainly achieved that, putting in 90-minute shifts whenever he was available while being used as a workhorse by interim manager Jim Curtin at two positions: center back and central midfield.
Edu currently ranks third on the team with 2,609 minutes, logging three goals and two assists.
“Obviously with the way things were going at Stoke, I wasn’t playing much,” he said. “And what I needed to do was get back playing. Fortunately for me, Philly gave me this opportunity and I’m grateful for that opportunity. But after I came here, I wasn’t focused on personal gains. I’m still trying to grow as a player and improve and get better, but for me, I was more focused on trying to impact this team and be a leader as much as possible.”
Edu was certainly one of Philly’s leaders, wearing the captain’s armband for much of the final stretch. Naturally, then, it was difficult for him to see the team collapse in back-to-back games to drop out of the playoff race.
But he believes the team can learn from those mistakes next season – with him leading the charge.
“You saw a team that competed every game for 90 minutes,” he said. “Maybe it wasn’t always the best, maybe we came up short in some games, maybe there were some mental errors. But you can’t ever fault the effort. And I think from that, it’s a good starting point to build on.”
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At the very least, it sounds like Edu has no plans to leave MLS any time soon. The 2007 MLS Rookie of the Year spent six seasons abroad but has been rejuvenated since returning to the US, getting named to the MLS All-Star Team and to Jurgen Klinsmann’s preliminary World Cup roster.
And like other big-name players across MLS, he feels some responsibility to help the league continue to grow.
“The one thing I couldn’t fully appreciate was the standard of play,” Edu said. “Now that I’ve been back here and had a full season, I’m very impressed with the standard of play. I’m very impressed with everything – from the facilities to the fans to just overall where the league is right now. I’m proud to be a part of that and help to continue to progress this league to the point where hopefully, in the years to come, we can be one of the biggest leagues in the world.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
