The farewell that Union gave to José Andrés Martínez on Saturday was a great achievement by the team and the fans who paid him their last respects.

With his $2 million move to Brazilian club Corinthians all but complete, Martínez was given the honor of performing as pregame drummer – something Juliaán Carranza was unfortunately unable to do before his departure in June. Union manager Jim Curtin stood nearby and gave Martínez a big hug before they walked to the sidelines.

Martínez even made a surprise cameo appearance in the Leagues Cup quarter-final win over Mexico’s Mazatlán. Despite Curtin saying on Friday that the long-serving midfielder would not play (understandably to avoid injury), Martínez was given permission by Corinthians to sit on the bench and step in as a last-minute substitute.

He came on as a substitute in the 90th minute of the 1-1 draw and hammered Union’s first shot into the goal in the penalty shootout after four minutes of stoppage time.

” READ MORE: Union reaches the semi-finals of the Leagues Cup by winning on penalties against Mexican side Mazatlán

All of these moments drew huge cheers from the crowd at a one-third full Subaru Park. And there was another one when Mártinez did a post-match promotion with Jesús Bueno, the last kicker in the shootout and Martínez’s protégé at Chester and in the Venezuelan national team.

Even principal owner Jay Sugarman stopped on the field to say hello after Martínez gave a postgame television interview.

The sentiments were all nice, but don’t let them hide a necessary truth. Martínez’s departure is the first step in a roster restructuring that the Union needed last winter and didn’t do. Now they need an even bigger one next winter.

Given Martínez’s great performances for Union in his 4.5 years at Chester, it should come as no surprise that he will be part of this restructuring. There has been interest from abroad in the now 30-year-old for some time, and when a team of Corinthians’ stature – one of the biggest clubs in Brazil – offers $2 million for a player of that age, you take the offer.

Who else is likely to leave?

Soon the clock will start ticking for the other players likely to leave the club: Jack McGlynn being sold to Europe, Alejandro Bedoya’s retirement, Damion Lowe becoming a free agent – a move he has hinted at on social media.

It will no doubt be painful for Union fans to see all of this, but they should be prepared. Major League Soccer’s salary cap and roster limitations mean that a team has to rotate its roster every few years or it will be in trouble. And when the regular season went off the rails in early summer, it became clear that the desire to field the bulk of the 2022 MLS Cup finalist again this year has come back to bite Union in the ass.

” READ MORE: Union signs Haitian international Danley Jean Jacques from French Ligue 2 club Metz, likely successor to José Andrés Martínez

This is nothing new in football or any other sport. Just ask the Eagles. A core of players in the NFL gets more time together because there is more money floating around, but no football team remains as consistently successful as the Eagles without regularly turning over a significant portion of the roster.

Now take a close look at Union’s current roster. Seventeen of the team’s 33 players are in the final guaranteed year of their contracts, including players currently on loan. (That includes Martínez, as he hasn’t officially left yet.) Many of them have option years remaining, and Union will likely sign a fair number of them. But some names will make you think twice.

Is it worth keeping Chris Donovan when the reserves have a whole host of interesting forwards coming through? They may not all make it to MLS, but it would help to leave room in the roster to give them a fair chance. Is it worth keeping Jeremy Rafanello when Cavan Sullivan and CJ Olney have better chances as attacking midfielders? This question should answer itself.

Jack Elliott, Olivier Mbaizo and Quinn Sullivan are also among the players in their final guaranteed year, although they all have a good chance of returning. The same goes for future free agent Leon Flach.

One last shot before the curtain falls

These are all important decisions, and it is sporting director Ernst Tanner’s job to make them. It is also his job to point out, politely or impolitely, that if the team had stuck with the existing roster, it would have ended up in 10th place in the Eastern Conference after the regular season was suspended for the Leagues Cup.

” READ MORE: Jim Curtin wants the Union to win the Leagues Cup, but some fans protest

Is it fair to bring this up now, when Union are in the semi-finals of the Leagues Cup for the second year in a row? It may not be pleasant, but it is fair.

And yes, the Leagues Cup is very important for Union now, as it is their best chance to win a trophy before this era ends. The winner of the semifinal between Union and Columbus Crew on Wednesday will host the final, against either Los Angeles FC or the Colorado Rapids – no other Mexican teams are in sight.

Remarkably, Curtin has one of his former pupils to thank for this. Ten years after playing in the Union’s youth academy, Downingtown’s Zack Steffen led the Rapids to a surprise win over the mighty Club América to cap their quarter-final run.

A few hours before Steffen scored the final kick in his own team’s penalty shootout, Curtin said: “We won’t be the favorites” if Union reached the final. That might not be the case now. And although his players also spoke shortly before kickoff of the América-Colorado match, they already knew how much it would mean to them to win a trophy now.

“Obviously we know we’ve all been together for so long without having one,” Jack McGlynn said. “We’ve been so close and we’ve just found our rhythm. We’re playing really well at a good time… It’s definitely a great chance to get one together.”

Then it was Andre Blake’s turn to give a rallying cry, as co-captain who has witnessed so much of this team’s suffering over the years.

“We’re working as hard as we can to get to the final and give that final push to win the final. And I think Jimmy has trained us really well for the next man to come forward,” he said. “Of course we’ll miss José. But we have to work hard and win for him, Julián and everyone else fighting here.”

” READ MORE: Mikael Uhre scored an important goal for Union in the round of 16 of the Leagues Cup after an “honest” conversation with Jim Curtin