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| Union fans, from what I gather and despite everything. |
The Philadelphia Union limps into Providence Park this Saturday, mostly likely with a goal of playing for another draw or just not collectively expiring outright at the 64th minute, if not prior. Early as it is in 2024, the Union have got already around. And the experience has not always been pleasant (see, "violently ejected" below).
Some Basics
Were it not for the abandoned match versus the Seattle Sounders a couple weeks back, this would have been the ninth game of Philly’s season. Trips to San Juan de Tibas, Costa Rica and Pachuca, Mexico in the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup (CCC) (and Kansas City and Austin) padded their frequent-flyer miles but all that flying and shitty airplane air takes its toll. For good or ill – here, it depends on whether they value getting a little rest over their self-esteem - Pachuca violently ejected them from the CCC just over a week ago, giving the Union its first full week’s rest since February 20.
Meanwhile, back in MLS’s regular season, Philly have played three games and finished in as many draws, all against teams that barely impress their own fans, aka, Chicago Fire FC at home and Sporting Kansas City and Austin FC away. Because all those games struck me as non-events, I skipped ‘em. As such, last night was my first long look at the Union this season. I didn’t go in blind, mind you: a quick tour through the (mildly authoritarian) Philly subreddit provided some context. To parse the sum of two threads (here's the other thread), the blowout at Pachuca magnified some anxieties – mostly about the defense, if with a dash of pining for Leo Flach* – but a lot of commenters have embraced a long-view/Zen philosophy to their team’s sputtering start.
The Review
I heard rumors (here) about Austin ditching the possession-heavy approach of seasons past and drifting toward more of a transition model. That made the Union’s 2-2 draw at Austin last weekend feel like a good model for how Philly might play the Timbers. With that, lights, camera…replay!
Austin v Philadelphia, in General
The Timbers can go a long way toward making things easier this Saturday night by being clean on the ball – and, to be clear, Austin fucked up with and without pressure from Philly.
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| I find closed captioning endlessly entertaining. |
My greatest concern from watching (most of) this game? The Union was visibly the better team. They teed up a fair number of shots (17) and got the home fans to cheer “Stuuvvv” more often than they should like (Austin fans bleat(?) Brad Stuver’s name in something that sounds like “booo” after every save). Philly went up 1-0 early with an assist from a fortunate, yet valid handball by Alexander Ring (; you'll have to pick through the highlights for that; also "Daniel Gos dog" scored the resulting penalty kick, but didn’t do a lot after). To their credit, they’d been tightening the screws to that point and just pushed to a breaking point – which, of course, is the point of a press, or even just a high line of engagement. They don’t quite deliver the full energy-drink wind-up, but the Union does get after the ball and well up the field, so that’s something the Timbers will need to contend with - particularly after that date with DC and/or the blender. Related, between that full week off and the slow start to the season, I fully expect an energetic outing from them on Saturday.
The more significant thing happened when Austin got past that first wave of pressure. The Union’s defensive shape, for lack of a better word, came apart and this is where I’m going to loop back to Flach and full-blooded defending through midfield. *If there’s a common trait among all the fanbases I’ve spied on, it is a heart-bursting love of players who leave it all out on the field. They don’t have to produce, they don’t even have to be good: the willingness to mainline lactic acid is enough to seal the bond. Flach is exactly that kind of player – up to and including freeing Kai Wagner to operate from the fullback position. That appears to apply less to the shuttlers the Union started against both Austin and Chicago, Jack McGlynn and apparent/former child-actor, Quinn Sullivan. [EDIT: I forgot to mention Philly's preferred formation: a 4-4-2, with a diamond midfield; they get great energy out of McGlynn and Sullivan, but I think it also makes them vulnerable in wide spaces.] Both of Austin’s goals came after Austin got behind the first, often effective line of defensive and over to the weak side: in the first case, the absence of midfield cover left Hector Jimenez in a pasture, free to whip in a dipper, and, in the second case, to a 3-v-2 overload that let Owen Wolff cheat into a pocket behind Wagner (both Wolff and Jimenez were subs, fwiw). [EDIT: Both of those goals happened over a two-minute span, i.e., sometimes teams switch off fatally, as Philadelphia did in this one.] Basically, unless Flach returns to the line-up – or even if Jim Curtin starts Bedoya in the hopes of righting the ship – I feel good about the Timbers getting their chances in transition…on the flip-side, they’ll still have the problem of working past that first line of pressure – and without an (alleged?) key player.
Talking Points/Loose Theories
1) Yep, There Will Be International Call-Ups
Sure, the Timbers will lose Maxime Crepeau and Kamal Miller, but, as noted in my notes to the loss in Houston, I won’t lose a minute’s sleep over Dario Zuparic stepping in and James Pantemis looked just fine in his one start. The Union, on the other hand, have a lot of players listed as absent, including Andre Blake, Gazdag, Nathan Harriel, Damion Lowe, Jose Martinez and McGlynn – i.e., six starters from the Austin game. Losing Martinez, aka, the player most likely to stymie a transitional moment, is enough on its own, but that’s a culling and it should help the Timbers.
2) The Low Path to Getting Behind a High Line
Going all-in on a press often means pinching toward one side of the field and the Union absolutely did that on both goals they gave up against Austin – and, just to note it, that pinch went to the right, i.e., the once and future spot roamed by Claudio Bravo, now occupied (capably, as I see it), by Eric Miller. That’s the Sullivan/Harriel side of Philly’s line-up and it’s a small wonder they push up that side given how much they got out of working that same side against Chicago, if back in Week 1. That should work in Portland’s favor if they can entice the Union into the same tactic: Eric Miller tends to like to stay at home while Juan David Mosquera seems to love being anywhere but. Moments in transition that get to Mosquera’s side and find him up high strike me as one promising path to goal – and either Santiago Moreno or Antony would make for a terrific foil.
3) I, Like You, Am Weary of Transition, But…
The way the Union plays should allow Evander to loiter deep and release players, while also allowing Cristhian Paredes (assuming he starts…as he should) to hunt the ball off Philly players. Within reason, of course, but Philly’s (not unreasonable) comfort with getting stretched vertically should allow space for movement and for long-range passing, whether on or off the ground.
4) Set-Piece Defending, Set-Piece Defending, Set-Piece Defending
Wagner serves up fantastic free-kicks. Even with Lowe out, Philly has good-sized and skilled pieces for attacking crosses in Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, Bedoya (if he gets on), Mikael Uhre, and Julian Carranza. Speaking of, and this is the last one…
5) Philly Has Good, Crafty Forwards
Uhre stretches the field better than half the players in MLS and Carranza is one of those multi-faceted nightmares to defend – as demonstrated by his numbers over the past two seasons. Even with Philly’s absences – which are tough, and to the point of calling this a must-win, because should-win – do not sleep on either of those players. You don’t see a ton of two-forward set-ups in MLS and this ranks among the better ones, at least when Philly are clicking.
The fact I tipped my hand goes without saying: between a home game, more starters than Philly and just…being better than Austin, I see this as a game the Timbers need to win. Banking three points today acts as insurance for the two to three points they’ll inevitably piss away against some fuck-wit team like…I dunno, San Jose or something. So, yeah, nothing to do, but to do it.
Till Saturday. Ooh, and I’m actually going to this one. Weeeee!!
P.S. Yes, I’m aware that Jonathan “Jona” (apparently*) Rodriguez has officially arrived in Portland. (* A thread on the Timbers’ subreddit says he doesn’t like the “Cabecita” nickname, so I’m going with Jona until someone corrects it.) While I’m excited as the next fan about his arrival, I’ve never seen the guy play, I don’t know anything about him beyond his attacking stats (of which…encouraging) and, now, the thing above about his preferred nickname. I have a general policy of writing only about things I've observed directly, so there you go. Still, I’m looking forward to getting to know him, getting to know all of him, etc.
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