Losses aside, the Union say they are ‘so close’. What’s it going to take to get over the hump?
The Union put on an impressive display Tuesday against Club América, one of the best clubs in North America. But the holes in their game are glaring as the team comes to terms with change.
Close. Progressing.
Those words stuck out in Union manager Bradley Carnell’s postgame news conference and were impossible to forget — largely because he repeated them after the team’s 1-0 loss to Club América on Tuesday night at Subaru Park.
It remains a mystery why success has been hard to come by recently.
Actually, check that — it’s not a mystery. That would be an easy excuse for a team that finished with the best regular-season record in Major League Soccer less than six months ago, and now finds itself looking for its first win in league play.
But let’s keep it with Tuesday for a second. Against the Liga MX giants, the Union put on a noble display but now has to take a 1-0 deficit into Mexico City’s Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes on March 18 (9 p.m., FS2). And despite the loss in the Concacaf Champions Cup, Carnell says the locker room was buzzing after the team held its own against one of the best clubs in North America.
“I mean, [I’m] frustrated for the guys because they’re working so hard … and you can see it’s starting to click and it’s starting to work,” Carnell said. “And now we’re getting some sort of penetration through the sides and getting some dangerous crosses in, and, you know, [it’s] everything but the goal. So I’m really proud of it. And it just shows me we’re getting close, and that gives me motivation and inspiration.”
» READ MORE: Union woes continue following first-leg loss to Club América at Subaru Park
The roster includes five new players, all of whom arguably are projected starters, still trying to understand one another, especially now that the competitions are real and every touch matters more. Maybe remove fullback Philippe Ndinga from that group, considering that the Gabon native played 81 minutes Tuesday after just one training session.
It’s fair to suggest that six games is not an appropriate sample size to say that a season is in turmoil. But the Union are having a tough time doing the things they’re supposed to be good at. Last season, Carnell prided the club on hitting performance metrics when it came to being effective on set pieces and putting corners and free kicks away, or at least forcing goalkeepers to make a save.
That’s not happening.
But, according to Carnell, it’s really “close.”
“We had so many moments and so many close moments where we get first contact,” he said. “I think even in MLS play, playing over three games. I think we are among the leaders in first-touch contacts [on set pieces], top 10 for sure. The execution is there. We’ve just got to get the timing of the runs. Or maybe the first contact is not as clean as we would like or clinical as we would like.
» READ MORE: MLS bans two players, including a Union alum, for life for gambling on their own games
“It’s very, very close. And … I saw probably over the last three games and now the fourth game, we’ve seen a progression in each game.”
Fair, but it’s not about next gen stats and probabilities; it’s about results, and right now, the results speak for themselves.
Winless in MLS. Winless in their last three. No goals in the run of play in MLS competition. Panic? No. But there’s a legitimate cause for concern.
Bottom line: The Union are still trying to figure out how to return to their style of play with a bunch of new players. And as a result, they’re coming up short in competition.
So we know what’s wrong, but what’s going right?
Carnell’s decision to move Milan Iloski to an attacking midfielder, as a true No. 10, was a smart one. Iloski’s work rate to create opportunities has been impressive and was on display in the last 20 minutes against Club América, when he created two of the game’s biggest chances.
If not for unsuccessful shots, this could be a conversation about a comeback win over an opponent that brought the crowd to Chester.
But the deficit here is in the supporting runs (or lack thereof) in support of Iloski. Particularly in Tuesday’s case, there was a complete inability to cause a threat in the final third, including repeated long balls out of the back looking for targets on the attack, bungled final passes inside the 18-yard-box, or an inability to finish three clear chances that looked like sitters from a bird’s-eye view.
“We know we can do better, and we know we have to win and score goals,” Iloski said. “So I know a lot of that falls on me. So it’s tough times. But I’m really proud of the group for battling and pushing so hard. Can’t fault the guys’ effort. Everyone in that locker room wants it really bad, and the staff’s preparing us really well. And we just have to take care of business.”
The next chance to do so arrives on Saturday in a return to MLS play for a matinee against Atlanta United (3:15 p.m., Fox29, Apple TV). That match will kick-start another three-games-in-seven-day span as the run-it-back game against Club América is on Wednesday before the Union welcome Chicago to Subaru Park on March 21 (4:30 p.m., Apple TV).
» READ MORE: Union’s losing streak can be traced to few scoring opportunities, lineup shuffles
“I thought progressively now and [after this match], the guys are I want to say energized in there,” Carnell said. “They feel like, ‘OK, we’re getting there,’ you know, and this is the feeling at 30 minutes in … we got back together and [said], ‘Hey, this is looking OK. We’re getting in the game.’ And the confidence grew from there.
“You can see almost a release of the hand brake here. I’m just hoping they reward themselves with the goal pretty soon.”
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