The Union are fighting toward being a better team, but they’re not there yet
Despite a five-game unbeaten run, the team is still in 13th place in the East. The fact that a 5-10-5 record gets you within four points of a playoff spot only means MLS is too generous.
The team with “PHILLY” on its jersey, and a collar that looks like the Spectrum used to, got in a brawl with Lionel Messi and his fellow superstars. A guy from Bridesburg pulled a wrestling move, and his 16-year-old brother was ejected after a one-on-one scrap that included him taking a punch.
In the first half, that same 16-year-old set up a goal. In the second, he made a dazzling run across the field that ended with a yellow card foul from an opposing defender who used to play for Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.
Then there was the 20-year-old from Morrell Park who hit a perfect cross for the opening goal. Later on, he drew a foul off Messi with the kind of play that would have had fans howling if Messi did it.
There also was the 18-year-old from Harrisburg who used his 6-foot-7 frame to dust Luis Suárez and score a goal off a free kick. He did a lot of other good stuff too, but that play was an easy highlight.
At the end of the night, the Union were on a five-game unbeaten streak.
So things must be going well, right?
Maybe not. And not just because they still haven’t beaten Messi in six tries.
» READ MORE: The Union battle Miami and Lionel Messi to a wild draw in front of a sold-out Subaru Park
This team is still in 13th place in the Eastern Conference. The fact that a 5-10-5 (20 points) record gets you within four points of a playoff spot should be a criticism of MLS being too generous, not an endorsement of quality. (It will only get worse next year if, as the Guardian reported Thursday, the league expands the postseason field to 20 of 30 teams as part of a realignment to divisions.)
When the Union visit Austin FC on Saturday (9 p.m., Apple TV), they’ll be without Cavan Sullivan — their top creative force this season — unless the suspension that comes with his red card is unexpectedly overturned. They might be without Quinn Sullivan too if he gets supplementary discipline, which wouldn’t be a surprise.
It will also be the team’s third game in seven days, which means some lineup rotation was always likely to be in order.
And the forecast calls for near-100-degree temperatures at kickoff, and a high during the day of 107. MLS pushed the start time half an hour later to try to dodge the worst.
At full strength (and not in that heat), it would be a winnable game for the Union on paper, as Austin also has a 5-10-5 record. But the circumstances don’t just include that, or the fact that the schedule is pretty soft until October’s visits to Chicago, Nashville, and Cincinnati.
It includes Bruno Damiani not scoring on a first-half breakaway Saturday night, and Milan Iloski fluffing an even better chance off a gorgeous give-and-go with Cavan Sullivan with the score tied in the 71st minute. The latter will be the real standout moment of Wednesday’s game for some people, even more than the brawl, because Iloski is the Union’s leading scorer and he usually finishes chances like that.
Damiani, meanwhile, came into this game looking like he’d finally cleared his head of the mental block that held up his scoring form. Then he didn’t get it done on that breakaway, and also couldn’t stick home the rebound off that Iloski chance.
Even Sullivan fired just wide in the 78th minute with the score tied 2-2. Had that shot gone in, it would have broken some things on the internet.
» READ MORE: The Union are well-represented among the Philly area’s best athletes under 25 years old.
Instead, the full house at Subaru Park expected Miami to jump on all those misses and score, whether the thousands of fans in Messi’s pink or the rest in Union blue.
It felt just about miraculous when Messi twice put free kicks from just outside the 18-yard box into the Union’s defensive wall instead of into their net.
If all of this feels too cynical for the moment, here’s a Southampton, Bucks County native who went to William Tennent High and La Salle, and had a great view of all the action.
“We went against them and faced them up the right way, and I thought for the 90 minutes we were the better team,” Ryan Richter said. “So we need to take confidence from that, not get ahead of ourselves as far as, are we a good team? No, let’s focus on Austin, and focus on putting a good performance together on the back of this one.”
» READ MORE: The Union are close to a deal to bring back Mark McKenzie
It will be a different kind of test, but still a test between players’ fatigue and the weather. The interim manager is on guard for a letdown.
“On short rest, it’s easy to get up for a game against Miami at home — that’s always easy to bounce back and be up for that game,” he said. “Let’s make sure we’re able to get up again for this one. That’s going to be a real test of our mentality, and the way that we can approach this game.”
Richter added that his goal is “again going for a win away from home.”
Understanding all the context, it will be a fine feat if the Union get it.
