Brandan Craig Embracing More Philadelphia Union Playing Time in 2023

Brandan Craig will be a component of the Philadelphia Union with a busy schedule on the horizon in 2023.

CHESTER — The Philadelphia Union have prepared Brandan Craig to be ready for his moment in the first team.

The 18-year-old defender is expected to receive a good chunk of playing time in 2023 as the club’s No. 3 center back behind Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes.

Craig, a member of the United States U-20 squad, received help from center backs past and present on the Union roster to prepare him for his first heavy workload at the professional level.

“It’s going to be different, but I think I’ll be ready for it,” Craig said during the first week of Union preseason training. “I’ve been training with Jack and Jakob, and even Stu (Findlay) last year, and getting used to their habits and everything. I think we play well with each other. It’s honestly not going to be as hard of a transition now because I’ve been playing with these guys day in and day out. It’s not like I’m just going to be thrown in there.

“I think it’s going to be a tough challenge. I’m 18, young, center back. It’s very tough.”

Aurelien Collin, who was with the Union from 2019-21, was one of the biggest influences on preparing Craig for his first-team role.

“Aurelien helped a lot,” Craig said. “He was a bit older and he would always help me and teach me little things just about anticipation, body positioning and little things as a center back that a lot of guys don’t tell you. Aurelien told me a lot of key things that I apply to my game now that I feel like I’m so much better than two years ago. Stu helped me a lot too. Even Jack and Jakob teach me little things so they’re all helpful.”

Craig got to see the off-the-field side of Collin, which was the opposite of his hard-nosed on-the-field persona that helped him thrive with Sporting Kansas City in the 2010s. Collin was the 2013 MLS Cup MVP and a member of the 2012 MLS Best XI with SKC.

“(Aurelien) was the nicest guy ever,” Craig said. “In the locker room, he was like my best friend. He’d help the young guys. Ale (Bedoya) would help the young guys. Jakob, Jack, Ilsinho, when he was here, was always helping the young guys.”

Craig could have eyes on him from abroad right away in 2023 because of his presence on the U.S. U-20 squad and the progression made by former Union center backs in Europe this season.

Mark McKenzie is generating interest from the Bundesliga because of his success in Belgium with Genk. Auston Trusty, a former Union player and Union academy product, has found a nice fit on loan at Birmingham City in the English Championship. He signed with Arsenal from the Colorado Rapids in 2022.

“Honestly, Mark did (the move to Europe) and those are the footsteps I want to follow in,” Craig said.

Craig knows what the pathway to Europe could look like, but he prefers to remain in the present.

After all, we are talking about a player hungry to play MLS minutes. He has three league minutes to his name in three years under contract with the Union.

“The goal is always Europe, but I want to live in the present now rather than focusing on things that are high in the sky,” Craig said. “I’d rather focus on the present now and helping the team, furthering my development and all this other stuff than thinking about the future when I want to live in the present.”

Craig is currently away with the U.S. U-20 team for a January training camp along with Union teammates Jack McGlynn and Quinn Sullivan.

“The national team is pretty big so if I can continue to work hard here and with the national team in their camps, I think I’m going to be in a good spot,” Craig said.

Craig was a key part of the US U-20 squad that qualified for the 2023 U-20 World Cup, which will be held in Indonesia.

“I’m in a good spot with the U-20s,” Craig said. “With them, it’s focusing on each individual camp and then our World Cup, which is important too. That’s going to be really fun.”

It’s also natural for one to imagine what Craig, and any other young American player, could look like in four years when the 2026 World Cup is played on home soil.

While that competition is still four years away, and Craig is focused on the U-20s, the dream of playing in a home World Cup has been thought of.

“I’ve definitely imagined it and it motivates me,” Craig said. “I want to play in a World Cup at the Linc in front of my friends and family. That would be surreal to me. That’s something I aspire to be on the men’s team. That’s one of the goals I have.”