Roundtable: New England Revolution

One game into the season, the Philadelphia Union have three points. We haven’t been able to say that since 2011 in part thanks to a really bad night for New England Revolution at Talen Energy Stadium on Saturday night.

I asked the Brotherly Game staff about whether the win to start the season has them more confident in the team’s chances this season.

“Not really. New England is a mess at present, and had two players sent off, one of which was early. It’s good that they didn’t make the match interesting by conceding, and getting the second goal, but I wouldn’t make too much of this win by itself.”

Nick Youngstein

“I’d say I’m cautiously optimistic. The Union looked good in stretches and had some really good looks at goal. Overall it’s a step up over the offensively inept team from 2017.

That said, they did look a bit suspect defensively and their performance was against a New England team that is probably going to finish at the bottom of the East and was down a man for most of the match (and two men late).”

Eugene Rupinski

“Even with Dockal not playing, I think this was an expected win. Playing up a man for more than an entire half, I would’ve liked to see the Union score another goal or two. With that said, had Sapong’s finishing been better, the game would’ve easily finished 4-0.

Trusty and Elliott looked good in the back, but Trusty’s passing looked a bit off (I’ll take into consideration the crazy wind, but his decision making wasn’t great and one bad pass almost turned into a goal for NE).

I’ll have a better opinion when an almost full Union squad (minus Fafa) plays against a Columbus team that took down the mighty Toronto FC.”

Jonathan Bach

“As much fun as it was watching the Union win the first game of the season for once and see so many play so well I don’t know that beating New England Revolution when they were down a man for 65 minutes and two in the final minutes is enough to change much for me. This team is going to need to show me a lot more, but this is at least a start in the right direction.”

Matt Ralph

“Kids were great, not sure if it changed my thoughts on the season as a whole but it was at least nice to see Elliott and Trus pair well.

Also shout out to Cory Burke for one hell of a debut.”

Evan Villella

“I’ll agree with Eugene. There were moments where the team looked amazing stringing passes and creating chances but we also had some hugeeeee defensive errors that we barely survived due to some very nice defensive plays. So I’m overall just cautiously excited from what I saw. We pulled away with three points and a clean sheet so so far they’re checking off all the boxes.”

Trey Madara

“I thought that all things considered they played well. Yes to be fair the early red card changes things a bit, but we’ve seen the Union sit back and not press countless times in the past when up a man. They kept attacking and pressing and trying to break through this time though.

The biggest standouts (negatively speaking) to me are the number of missed chances from CJ, not counting the one or two balls whipped in way too hard/fast for him to reasonably get to, and a few defensive lapses on the part of Elliot/Rosenberry. I was impressed with Trusty, and Fontana got much better as the match went on. Exciting time in my opinion to be a Union fan for the first time in a while.”

Brandon Lee Johnson