It’s no secret that Earnie Stewart is interested in implementing a new soccer culture in Philadelphia, but one thing he is not interested in is playing the numbers game.

During the team’s media day last week the new sporting director was asked whether he is planning on filling every roster spot. His answer was a simple one, no.

“Our goal is to have two good players in every position, having said that, you’re not going to fill every roster spot there is. It’s not so much the numbers game. “

Throughout the offseason, a thin roster has been a main topic of discussion concerning the Union. Looking back to January, the team had only 14 players on the roster before heading into the SuperDraft (Carroll, Creavalle and Fabinho’s deals were not announced until after).

The team made some headway at the draft, adding six talented players but some are still concerned about not having a roster at full capacity. Earnie Stewart is not one of those people.

“As long as there’s quality and they make sure they raise the level of all the other players, those are the choices we’ll make. There’s obviously a minimum and a maximum, but we’re not looking to just fill roster spots. That’s not the case.”

Stewart later added that newly drafted players are doing a good job of pushing everyone during training, and also praised the addition of Bethlehem Steel being involved this preseason. He noted that their presence has made the process of finalizing a roster much easier.

Every MLS team can have a maximum of 28 players on their roster, but don’t expect to see the Union hit the threshold come regular season. While many may be use to a fully-stacked roster, perhaps a focus on quality over quantity is just what this team needs heading into the 2016 season.