Photo by Paul Ladelow
After losing 2-1 at home to RSL on Saturday, the Union suffered its second straight home loss against Seattle on Tuesday night. Following a rainy cancellation on March 9, the Sounders punched a rotating Union team in the mouth, scoring three goals in the first half. The roster rules associated with the restart caused some disruption to the game, but the Philadelphia club rallied to respond by bringing in some key pieces in the half.
Restrictions due to roster regulations
In this postponed match, each team was limited to using a squad that reflected the previous match, excluding injured and transferred players. Remember, the week of the last Seattle game was the weekend before Union traveled south of the border to play Pachuca next Tuesday. Therefore, the Union planned to rotate the team to rest McGlynn, Bedoya, Glennes, and (at the time) injured Carranza.
Andre Blake, Marcus Anderson and Damion Lowe are all injured. this Meanwhile, the Union were given three free substitutes to replace them.
However, it was a technical issue with this rule that made Ty Baribeau a victim.
Balibo was actually in the starting lineup for this game, replacing Marcus Anderson, but he did not actually start or play. The problem was that Julian Carranza wasn't on the team's 20-man squad for the original matchup, leaving Philly with their best attacker on the field, and with over 84 minutes left, Philly was forced into five substitutes with over 84 minutes remaining. One of them was forced to spend.
Unfortunately for Baribeau, he was a strange man.
When asked about it, Curtin replied: That's really true. Although Thailand is professional, we decided to go with other players. We wanted to make sure Julian started, so someone was going to go.We wanted to play our best team against Seattle's best team, but unfortunately the decision went against that. [Baribo]…And unfortunately, now it’s Chris. [Donovan] I'm ahead of him. ”
The challenges posed by the strict rules for resuming play clearly hindered the Union's tactics. Still, both teams were operating under these rules, so it's hard to say that the rules or the circumstances were responsible for the poor result.
Lack of strength/quality
Seattle sat deep in the first half, content to let the Union break through. Once Seattle got the ball, the team broke through with deliberate pace and speed, leaving Philadelphia behind. Seattle looked faster, sharper and more ready for the game in the first half.
(Union was lucky not to concede a goal in the 10th minute, as Seattle broke through from a defensive corner kick at 5-on-1)
The coalition was not completely aligned.
“I can tolerate mistakes, the first goal mistake, the penalty penalty mistake,'' Jim said after the match. “You can live with mistakes, but you can't live with losing to the competition. And that was true for a Seattle team that was desperate for points, and had a lot of experience and a lot of great players. , we just couldn't match their intensity in the first half.”
In the original matchup, Seattle opted for a flat 4-4-2, with playmaker Cristian Roldan filling the role of right midfielder. In this restart, the team adopted a 4-2-3-1, with Roldan playing in the center. Ten Jordan Morris has slid to the right from the striker role.
With Roldan in the middle, he saw more of the ball and gave Seattle license to attack. Also, Roldan was able to get quite close to Jose Martínez when Union had possession and was able to force Jose into some mistakes. Raul Ruidiaz was then able to press the central defender using his speed and clever decision-making depending on Roldan's position.
With McGlynn not on the field and Jose quickly shut down, it became a problem for Martinez and Bueno to pick passes to break through Seattle's defense. Bueno struggled to play up front and Sullivan struggled to find the space he usually finds in the half-space on the right.
Of course, this was a much narrower shape than what the Union Army was accustomed to. In the Union's 4-4-2 diamond, the outside backs provide width for the Union to break forward in possession, tasked with switching points of attack from one side of the field to the other with bypassing diagonal passes. owed. opponent's media.
Mbaiso on the right and Hariel on the left struggled to choose the right moment to come forward to assist in the build-up. Seattle's front four worked well together in Union's half, forcing the outside backs to step forward and relinquish their defensive responsibilities.
This kept Carranza and Oule silent for much of the first half. Without McGlynn's quality on the field, any build-up progression from the back to the front would have to be done by finding Gus Dag in tight spaces or hitting an opponent's head with a long ball with low probability. was obvious. forward.
It took Union a three-goal lead in the first half for them to take any action. Seattle was content to sit still with a three-point advantage, and the Union began trying to get a goal back before halftime, to no avail.
Replacement personnel rally the troops
At half-time, Union opted to bring on McGlynn, Bedoya and Wagner for Bueno, Martinez and Mbaiso. Harriel was moved from left back to right back, Bedoya filled in at number six, and McGlynn played in his normal left shuttler role.
Bedoya was visibly seen uniting the team during the pregame huddle. While this is exactly the role he should be playing, it's also sad that we need to put a 37-year-old on the field for the Union to actually match the strength of the opposition.
Union's attacking stagnation quickly faded, and with Wagner on the left and Harrier on the right adding width, the team was finally able to find a way to play up front.
Bedoya may have lost some man-to-man situations in the middle of the park, but his deft movement and coordination with McGlynn contributed to Union's improved second-half play.
Now, it's easy to wax poetic about what McGlynn brings to this team. I have long supported incorporating his game into the association's “defense first” system. Because when he has the ball, he's not defending. And perhaps McGlynn's most important characteristic is his swagger when carrying objects.
But what McGlynn brought to the team Tuesday night was more than his usual ability on the ball.
His movements are similar to Arsenal's Ozil. His playing ability as a forward is comparable to Chelsea's Fabregas. His left foot shot is similar to Lampard's legendary right foot.
His laced smash flew into the right panel of the net. It was exactly the shock the team needed to break free from their slump in the first half. His six progressive passes in 45 minutes matched Seattle's best in 90 minutes. His presence in the starting lineup is paramount to the success of this team, much like those who felt Leon Flach's presence in the eleven a few years ago.
Another thing to note is that this goal came from a broken set piece. Whether it counts as a set-piece goal or not, Wagner's set-piece seemed to find Union's head in a different way than Bueno's.
It was again McGlynn's pass that led to Union's second goal. Two touches and a pass were enough to force Seattle to retreat, allowing Daniel Gasdag to overtake Sebastian Letoux as the club's all-time leading scorer.
It's no coincidence that Wagner and McGlynn's play on the left side allowed Sullivan and Harriel to enter the game on opposite sides. Diagonal passes, which were lacking in the first half, were plentiful from Wagner, Bedoya and McGlynn, and the slightest touch was enough to switch play from left to right.
Gusdag almost added to his club record tally, but was called back for offside for a similar build-up pattern to his first goal of the night.
truth
The truth is that the Union could be a good team in any case.
The team was unfortunate to receive a bye at a time that caused the team to lose momentum. But the other truth is that if they were still in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the bye week would have given them the much-needed rest.
They started MLS undefeated and are in a good position in second place in the East with a few games left, but the team is now picking up pieces. Coach Jim Curtin said this after losing two games in a row at home and having one less game remaining. That's the reality I have to understand and I respect that. ”
The voices seem to be growing louder even within the camp. Andre Blake and Jose Martinez have both made unpleasant comments on social media, with both leaving cryptic messages that have now either expired or been deleted.
The voices from inside the building exceed the decibels of River End's Megaphone Man, forcing Curtin to fix the ship and continue sailing. truth For the summer.