In a few short days, the Union will be flying to Florida, where they'll spend the majority of February preparing for the 2016 major league soccer season.
Before departing for the Sunshine State, though, the team spent the past week holding practices inside the Penn Park bubble - and their media day from Talen Energy Stadium (formerly PPL Park) on Thursday - and gave us a glimpse into some of the biggest early storylines in 2016.
Here's a look at the five biggest takeaways from the Union's first week of preseason camp:
1. Roster moves are coming
During their media-day interviews Thursday, both head coach Jim Curtin and technical director Earnie Stewart both said the roster isn't complete.
How incomplete it is, however, is still undetermined.
Stewart admitted that filling every roster spot isn't a priority, in part because they can call up players from their new USL affiliate, Bethlehem Steel FC. Instead, the biggest thing is finding "two good players in every position," the technical director said, before preaching patience.
"The ideal thing is before the first practice that Jim has all of his players in and we're set for the start of the season," Stewart said. "But it never works that way. You can't let time rush you because you'll overpay."
When pressed, Curtin said he'd be "happy" to choose a starting lineup based on the players he has in camp right now. Just for fun, that starting lineup could be as follows: Andre Blake in goal, Fabinho, Joshua Yaro, Richie Marquez and Ray Gaddis on the backline, Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira and Tranquillo Barnetta in the midfield, Chris Pontius and Sebastien Le Toux on the wings and C.J. Sapong at striker.
But he probably won't have to do that, and finding another goal-scorer will almost certainly be one of the club's biggest priorities over the next month.
"We're not a complete roster right now," Curtin said. "We still have a couple of roster spots open."
2. Edu's headed back to the midfield
On Thursday, Curtin confirmed what had long been rumored: Edu will move from center back to the midfield.
The captain actually started each of the last two seasons in the midfield too but ended up being switched to the backline to bolster a leaky defense. Curtin hopes he won't have to make that change again.
"The goal is to have him start at the No. 6 and the pieces around him to be better than they've been in the past to get a fair assessment," Curtin said. "We'll see during the preseason. It's something I'm confident in."
Edu has said multiple times in the past that midfield is his preferred position - and where he's played most of his life - but claims that he told Curtin before the season that he'd be willing to play in either spot this season.
"To be honest, I think the year before last if you would have asked me that question, I would have said, ‘Yeah, I would prefer playing in the midfield,'" he said. "But I think over the last season I played a lot in the back and I got a lot more comfortable in that role and it's something I grew into a little bit more."
The inclusion of Edu in the midfield makes it a potentially dynamic unit as he'll join two of the team's best playmakers in Nogueira and Barnetta with Leo Fernandes, who Curtin called the "sharpest player" in camp, coming off the bench.
But that does leave some question marks on the backline …
3. CB pairing will likely be inexperienced
The Union tried to set their defensive foundation for the future by selecting Georgetown defenders Josh Yaro and Keegan Rosenberry with the second and third picks of the draft. But that future may also be now.
With Edu moving into the midfield, either Yaro or new Brazilian signing Anderson Conceicao could be in line to start at center back, alongside another young player in Marquez.
Marquez, though, is coming off an eye-opening season in which he came out of nowhere to become one of the team's most reliable players - something Curtin believes will continue.
"Richie Marquez is a guy who shocked a lot of people," Curtin said. "Players like him are like finding gold."
Curtin also had good things to say about both Anderson and Yaro, who he said had his best day of training Thursday and is starting to get more comfortable with his new surroundings.
"His speed and athleticism will hold up in MLS, there's no doubt about that," Curtin said of Yaro. "The question will be getting used to the forwards and the different guys each week you have to deal with. That's not an easy thing for any young player but he has some really good starting points."
4. There's no goalkeeping drama, for once
Last year around this time, Rais Mbolhi was in camp and refusing to talk to the media. A couple of months later, the high-priced Algerian was essentially banished from Philadelphia, ending the latest and rockiest chapter in the franchise's seemingly never-ending goalkeeping merry-go-round.
This year, though, there is no such drama and everyone seems relatively happy, for once, with the team's situation in net. Blake, a former top draft pick, is the clear-cut starter, and John McCarthy, a well-liked Philly native, is his backup.
And Blake, who had a wild 2015 in his own right that included two knee surgeries, is feeling pretty good heading into the new year.
"It's huge for Andre to have the peace of mind to know that he's going to be the guy," Curtin said. "I think that's made him more comfortable in terms of knowing where he stands with the group. You can see it on the field - he's confident."
5. Earnie Stewart likes the media
Score one for the American media.
After spending the last decade in his native Holland, Stewart was asked the differences between the sports media in Europe and the United States. His response:
"I'd say if there's a difference, it's the questions asked," the former U.S. national team star said. "I do have to say that in the last two years, and you see that a lot in Europe, it's usually about the negative things in what's happening and hardly ever reflect on the positive things. And now in my experience with you guys, it has been that you get both sides of it. When it's bad, it's bad. It's as simple as that. But when it's good, it's also good."
