The Union’s first loss in three months should be a cause for realism, not panic
New England is talented, knows what it’s doing, and played the entire game at full strength. The Union hadn’t faced that trifecta much since Ryan Richter took the helm.
It’s easy to say the Union were going to lose eventually, because that would happen to any team. And as Saturday’s game against New England drew nearer, it became increasingly easy to think that would be the game where it happened.
It duly did, and not just because Cavan Sullivan was out injured. In fact, the Union outshot the Revolution 24-12, and shots on target were even at 8-8. That was plenty of chances created in what ended up as a 2-1 defeat.
“We just weren’t at our sharpest tonight, that’s how I would put it for our performance,” interim manager Ryan Richter said. “I don’t think that’s a lack of energy or that we approached the game in the wrong way in any way at all. It was just one of those nights, it felt like. … We have to take this one on the chin and bounce back from it.”
From the press box, it also felt like a decisive factor was that the Union (13-11-7, 46 points) faced a better team. But it wasn’t that simple. New England (17-10-4, 55 points) is talented, knows what it’s doing, and played the entire game at full strength. Richter’s squad hasn’t faced that trifecta much since he took the helm and embarked on a wild 15-game unbeaten run in league play.
“It’s harder to play against good teams — you have to be at your best, and more of your mistakes will get punished,” he said. “That’s what we can learn as a team, not just the young guys. We have to take these games and get better from them, and understand if we lose focus in a play, or if we’re not at our best, it’s going to be a difficult night, it’s going to be difficult to win.”
The unbeaten streak brought the Union’s quality back to what everyone expects of them, at Subaru Park and leaguewide. Losing this game isn’t a problem on its own, just as there shouldn’t be alarm bells if there’s a loss Wednesday at Nashville SC (8:30 p.m., Apple TV). The league’s best team clinched the Supporters’ Shield on Saturday with three games to spare, boosting Philly-bred manager B.J. Callaghan’s candidacy for Coach of the Year.
» READ MORE: The Union’s unbeaten run finally ends with a 2-1 loss to New England, in a potential playoff preview
The Union will also be shorthanded again for that contest. Bruno Damiani will be suspended for yellow card accumulation, and we don’t know yet if Cavan Sullivan will have recovered enough from his ankle injury to play.
One loss shouldn’t fully diminish the impressive results the Union have earned against other playoff contenders. But it should be a reminder of those contenders’ weaknesses, especially teams that the Union might see again when the postseason arrives next month.
One is Miami, with all its stars but also plenty of weaknesses. That was proved just before the Union kicked off Saturday, when the Herons lost 2-0 at Red Bull New York. New England’s win pushed them up to second at Miami’s expense. If the season ended today, the Union and Miami would meet in the first round of the playoffs — a matchup that would no doubt have MLS’s marketing department salivating.
Another is Chicago, which the Union beat earlier this month. Before Jack Elliott’s ejection, the Fire led 1-0. Had he not committed a dumb foul to earn his sending off, the Union might have gotten a result anyway, but with lesser odds of it being a 3-1 win.
» READ MORE: Interim tag aside, Ryan Richter has as good a chance to win MLS’s Coach of the Year as anyone | Kerith Gabriel
The Union might also have beaten Cincinnati at home in early September, but an early red card in that game helped turn a winnable contest into a 5-0 blowout.
We’ll learn more about the Union’s true level on Wednesday, then again three days later at Cincinnati. That game will be a renewal of a grudge match and likely a must-win for the hosts, as Cincinnati goes to Miami on Wednesday with only a small cushion above the playoff line.
Will it be a must-win for the Union? Probably not, since their cushion is much bigger and the rest of the East keeps crashing into itself. But Kai Wagner said he sensed a little easing off things in practice lately, and he wants that fixed promptly.
“I think it reflects a little bit the last two weeks how we were training, and I think a lot of people need to know now that we are not in the playoffs yet, we didn’t make the step yet,” he said. “I think it’s a great run that we did, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t follow it up. And now we made it really hard on ourselves, because I think today we had the chance to do it for ourselves at home to go into the playoffs. Now we have two really hard away trips.”
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It’s a safe bet that a lot of other teams won’t want to face the Union in the playoffs. Still, it will be the Union’s responsibility to show why that’s the case.
“We know where we stand now,” Frankie Westfield said, “and we know what we have to do to take the next step.”
