The Philadelphia Union played… a soccer game against FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night, and after several straight wins, the Union went back to Philly with just 1 point.
Objectively, it was a boring game. However, there’s actually still some significant stuff to talk about us, so stay along for the ride.
Stylistic Adaptations (or lack thereof)
FC Cincinnati wasn’t expected to come out on the offensive Wednesday night. FCC normally sits back and wins games with the back line. Against the Union, however, they pushed forward and made the Union work. Now, this shouldn’t be that big of a problem, as the attacks weren’t that strong, and once the Union figured out what Cincinnati was trying to do, they could counter their efforts. This wasn’t the case.
The Union was never really able to get a good attack of their own going, and they didn’t expose Cincinnati’s weaknesses. The Union didn’t counter, they didn’t make plays even with many Cincinnati players out of the frame, they didn’t make an effort. This falls on Jim Curtin for not reorganizing his team to push back against FCC. Because all it would’ve taken was a simple counter, and suddenly the Union is 3 points richer.
One (1) Rest for the Weary
Alejandro Bedoya has clearly earned his pay and then some this season. He’s played just about every minute, a feat that shouldn’t go unnoticed for a man of his… experience. Bedoya played a full 90 minutes against Cincinnati, and he looked clearly gassed.
To no fault of his own, Bedoya didn’t have that great a game. While he had his runs and his chances, he was a bit further behind the play than usual. Bedoya is simply tired.
Good news is on the horizon for the Captain, however. His suspension for yellow card accumulation means that he can take the day off this Sunday against Inter Miami FC, which is really a good thing. Bedoya gets a break, and it gives guys who wouldn’t normally start (cough… Anthony Fontana) some more minutes to make an impact.
Friendly Reminder, the Defense is Good
Even if you ignore the saves from both keeper Andre Blake and defensive midfielder Jose Martinez, the defense had a stellar night. The back line saw more action than usual, but Blake didn’t have to do a whole lot of work. Blake finished with just one save on the night, and outside of Cincinnati’s interesting corner kicks, wasn’t necessarily put to the test.
What’s even more noteworthy here is that most of the back line is injured. Jack Elliott and Kai Wagner were both injured coming into the match, and Ray Gaddis seems to have re-injured the hamstring that’s been plaguing him for the past few games. This means that the back line was composed of Mark McKenzie and three backups (though Jakob Glesnes isn’t really a backup-backup). Simply put, there is depth at the back line. I haven’t mentioned it in the past few weeks, but Olivier Mbaizo and Matt Real are playing great, and they deserve some recognition for it.
Now with that over with, I’ll go back to ranting about Anthony Fontana and Andrew Wooten.
What were your takeaways from last night?