The Union fire Bradley Carnell with MLS's worst record at the World Cup break

The Union fired manager Bradley Carnell on Wednesday, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to The Inquirer.

After winning the Supporters’ Shield with MLS’s best regular-season record last year, Carnell was named the league’s Coach of the Year. But this year, his overhauled team started the league campaign with a six-game losing streak and one win in its first 15 games.

How much of this was down to that overhaul and how much was down to Carnell’s own choices was a matter of debate among Union fans — with sporting director Ernst Tanner’s suspension after an investigation proved allegations of discriminatory behavior another factor.

But a front office now led by interim sporting director Jon Scheer has now handed down a verdict.

The Union hired Carnell in January 2025 to succeed Jim Curtin, the club’s longtime manager fired at the end of the 2024 campaign. Carnell’s high-pressing system yielded immediate results in his first season as manager, as the Union went on an 13-game unbeaten streak that started in May and ended in June.

That unbeaten stretch, which occurred shortly after the Union transferred all-time leading scorer Dániel Gazdag to the Columbus Crew in April, helped the club power to the top of the league-wide standings by the end of the regular season. The Union won their second Supporters’ Shield in club history and finished on 66 points, one short of matching the club’s all-time points record set in 2022.

Signs of trouble with the Union popped up before the postseason, with the Union taking a 7-0 thrashing from the Vancouver Whitecaps in September. The loss at BC Place is both the most lopsided in club history and tied for the most lopsided in league history.

As the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Union made an early exit from the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Union swept a best-of-three first round series against the Chicago Fire before losing, 1-0, at Subaru Park in a winner-take-all matchup with New York City FC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The Union’s front office shed more veteran talent in the offseason, including MLS All-Stars Tai Baribo, Kai Wagner and Jakob Glesnes. The Union brought in younger players to shore up their lineup, including Ezekiel Alladoh, a striker who arrived for a club record fee of $4.5 million in December.

The roster turnover caused issues for the Union from the outset of their 2026 campaign. Carnell’s side started its season with a six-game losing streak in MLS play. It advanced past Trinidad’s Defence Force FC in the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup, but it was unable to beat Liga MX’s Club América in the tournament’s round of 16.

The Union earned just five points in their first 10 MLS games, the lowest point total for any Union teamSources in its first 10 games in league history.

Carnell’s side continued to slide as it approached the World Cup break. A 6-4 loss at the hands of Inter Miami left the Union winless in their last eight matches before the season went on hiatus.

A first-to-worst turn and a mid-season firing is familiar ground for Carnell, who endured a similar struggle at St. Louis City SC. With Carnell at the helm, City won the Western Conference in 2023, its first season as an expansion team, but lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Carnell was fired by St. Louis in July 2024 after a start that included a five-game winless streak and a nine-game winless streak. Carnell was dismissed after a 4-3 loss to the Whitecaps in Vancouver that dropped St. Louis to 3-7-10. City finished the season on 37 points, good for 12th in the West.

The Union’s front office will conduct a search for a new manager as the league schedule is on hiatus for the World Cup. The Union will return to Subaru Park on July 22 for a match against Red Bull New York.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.