Is Tranquillo Barnetta Union’s All-Time Best?

A December 22, 2016 post on MLSSoccer.com authored by contributor Will Parchman stated that Tranquillo Barnetta is the Philadelphia Union’s all-time best player. His support for the claim was a quote from club manager Jim Curtin,

That’s basically all that was said. No mention of any other player from the seven years of the franchise, other than, “Union don’t perhaps have a single abiding international star name here.” That was true of the franchise this past season, as I don’t think anyone would consider Alejandro Bedoya an international “star”, but that can’t be said for the whole of team history. Parchman’s criteria are as follows:

“My own definition of “best” stretches across the spectrum…