Philadelphia Union coach confirms Danny Califf trade

There’s still more thread to pull out of this sweater, but at least this clumsily handled matter is moving along.

Word leaked out over the weekend that Danny Califf, the out-of-favor Philadelphia Union captain, was bound for Chivas USA in a trade. Only, he wasn’t exactly traded just yet.

At a press conference today Union coach Peter Nowak acknowledged that yes, Califf is being shipped to Southern California, to play for Chivas USA and perhaps wind down the career closer to his home. So we know that much.

But we still don’t know what Philadelphia is getting in return for the popular team captain.

Somewhere, from Chivas or from the international market of from Mars, the Union had better be getting a center back out of all this.

Because the back line looks thin as it is. And that thin back line is playing in front of a 20-year-old goalkeeper (Zac MacMath) who has exactly 17 matches of professional soccer to his name – not to mention a few rickety moments already in 2012.

Whether you’re giving a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to Nowak’s roster choices, and no matter how you feel about the departing center back, we can all agree on this: the personnel situation around PPL Park has been anything but boring in 2012.