Bradley Carnell believes there are definite positives to take from the Union’s worst-ever start
The second-year manager says he's pleased with many of his side’s metrics during a 1-7-2 start that has put the Union at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
The Union have earned five points of a possible 30 in their first 10 Major League Soccer matches this season, which is the lowest point total through the first 10 games of a season in club history.
But Bradley Carnell is not hitting the panic button.
Carnell still likes the Union’s defense-first, high-pressure game model, and the manager has been pleased with many of his side’s metrics during a 1-7-2 start that has put the Union at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
“I see a lot of metrics, for us, within the game model, that I’m really proud of,” Carnell said. “I know this group is fighting with everything that they have to achieve the small successes that are coming our way right now, and four points in three away games and a four out of five [in a] tough road schedule that we’ve just overcome. These are things that we look to, and by no means [is it] our standard, but we have to start believing in something, right?”
Despite a sluggish start, the Union plan to “double down” on their model as they host first-place Nashville SC at Subaru Park on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).
“We could go away from the game model and create total confusion, or we could double down and stay locked in on what the club believes we should be and look like,” Carnell said. “There are two ways, and I think I know the way we should go about it, because we’re not second-guessing because results aren’t there.”
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Nashville (7-1-1, 22 points) sits only behind the San Jose Earthquakes and the Vancouver Whitecaps in the league standings.
Nashville’s attack, which leads MLS with 21 goals this season, will test the Union’s defense, which has logged just one shutout in 10 league games.
Nine of Nashville’s goals have come from Sam Surridge. Surridge, a striker who joined the team as a designated player in 2023, has been limited to four starts while managing hamstring and back injuries.
Despite missing time, Surridge is tied with FC Dallas’ Petar Musa as the league’s leading goal scorer. Individually, Surridge has scored as many goals this season as the entire Union team has in its first 10 league matches.
“He’s a lethal finisher in the box,” Carnell said of Surridge. “Blocking shots, taking space away, there’s a lot to mitigate. But when that lineup pops out, we’ll be prepared in a way that we expect their best and plan for their best.”
Surridge did not play in Nashville’s 1-0 loss to Tigres UANL in the Concacaf Champions Cup on Tuesday. According to The Tennessean, Surridge was considered week-to-week with a back injury ahead of that game. Surridge’s status for Saturday is unclear and won’t be known until MLS’s injury report is released Friday.
If Surridge is out, then the Union can expect a heavy dose of Nashville’s other designated players. Hany Mukhtar has recorded three goals and four assists in league play, and offseason addition Cristian Espinoza has three goals and three assists.
Until Thursday afternoon, it looked as though the Union would have to defend against Nashville without Japhet Sery Larsen, who was sent off in stoppage time of the team’s 2-0 loss to the Columbus Crew last weekend.
The Union appealed Sery Larsen’s red card, and MLS’s independent review panel unanimously decided to rescind the one-game suspension and fine that accompany it.
Each MLS team is allowed two unsuccessful red card appeals throughout the season. Since the Union’s appeal of the red card shown to Sery Larsen was successful, the club can still lodge two unsuccessful red card appeals before it runs out.
The Union were appraising bench options to replace Sery Larsen in the lineup against Nashville, like Geiner Martinez or Finn Sundstrom, but since the club’s appeal was successful, Sery Larsen will be available for selection on Saturday.
Since joining the Union in January, the Danish center back has been a first-choice defender for Carnell, logging 823 minutes in 12 matches across all competitions.
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Also on the back line, the Union are waiting to see if Frankie Westfield is able to return from an injury that kept him out of the lineup against Columbus. Carnell said Westfield trained with the team on Thursday and that his availability for the match against Nashville would be decided on Friday.
Carnell said Jesús Bueno is likely to miss Saturday’s match. The midfielder injured his ankle against Columbus and was brought off shortly before halftime. Bueno has scored one goal in nine MLS matches for the Union this season.
Saturday’s match against Nashville will be the penultimate home game for the Union before the MLS schedule breaks for the FIFA World Cup. The Union have one point in four MLS matches at Subaru Park this season and are still searching for their first league win at home.
“We feel we’re getting incrementally better every single day,” Carnell said. “We’re more competitive. We’ve had a lot of speaking, a lot of video, a lot of training, a lot of detailed discussions about how we can mitigate and regulate things. And then, hopefully, we can go and put it up against the best team in the league and perform for 90 minutes.”
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