The Union’s return to the playoffs is a milestone moment for Bradley Carnell

When the ball rolls on Sunday at Subaru Park in the Union’s playoff opener vs. Chicago (5:55 p.m., FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV), most of the spotlight will be where it usually is: on the players.

But a little more than usual will be on manager Bradley Carnell, and not just because he’s a finalist for MLS’s Coach of the Year award.

A lot of people have been waiting all year for his first return to the playoffs since 2023, when he guided St. Louis City SC to the Western Conference’s best record in their expansion season.

The club crashed out of the playoffs in the first round to cross-state rival Sporting Kansas City. They weren’t just being swept in the best-of-three series but lost decisively: 4-1 at home in the first game and 2-1 on the road in the second.

How much of a fluke was that? How different are the circumstances with this Union team, having not just many veterans but many players who’ve been here for a while?

Given how much Carnell dislikes talking about himself, it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t want to answer those questions in his pregame news conference Friday. Nor was it surprising that the media present tried to find multiple ways to ask them.

» READ MORE: Bradley Carnell gets to celebrate the Union’s success for himself, too

Everyone knew they would come, and that this was the time.

“I think that’s a loaded question — it needs maybe a lot more time,” Carnell said when asked one of them.

“I do a disservice now planning for three games, as opposed to just planning for one every match day for 34 match days,” he said to another.

A moment later, he came the closest he got, but that was as far as he went.

“We don’t want to go back in the history books,” Carnell said. “It’s a clean slate now. It’s three games, and it starts with one, and everyone has to be dialed in from the very get-go.”

» READ MORE: The Union will face Chicago in the playoffs after the Fire knocked out Orlando City

He preferred to talk about the team as a whole and how far it has come since he took the reins at the start of the year.

“I think everyone has grown” Carnell said. “You have to face a bit of adversity to see what you can battle through and fight the demons and come out on the other side. And I think as a staff, as players, we’ve all been through this adversity from January, to find ourselves now to fight for something that’s greater than each and every individual one of us.”

He praised his group for its sacrifices, then realized he wanted a different word.

“If you have to call it a sacrifice, it means somebody’s forcing you to do something, right?” he said. “I think we all love to do what we do, and I think we all enjoy the process right now. So for us to give willingly, whatever, we’ve gone to great lengths to to get where we are and to earn ourselves [being] in a position where we are, credit to everyone.”

Carnell even admitted that his team has exceeded its own expectations.

“Now that we’ve won the Supporters’ Shield, I can tell you that our target was top four” in the standings, he said. “We wanted I think, 55, 58 points — [that was] the target was for the boys, and that’s thinking big picture. You have a big picture, break it down into small cycles, and that’s the way you go about building the puzzle.”

» READ MORE: Amid a Union injury bug, Cavan Sullivan will stay a little longer before the under-17 World Cup

The one moment where Carnell did talk about himself was when he was asked about being a Coach of the Year finalist.

“I’m so grateful to be in this community, the soccer community in the States,” he said. “It’s been eight years now, just growing and pursuing what I love to do, and what I love to do is my job and [to] help players develop.”

It means something to him that honor comes partially from his coaching peers, along with media, players, and front office staff.

“We look out for each other,” he said of the coaching fraternity. “And, yeah, we’re competitive, but we also have a lot of compassion for each other because we know what sort of job this is We’re the first ones when people are talking good things, and we’re the first ones when it doesn’t really go your way … and I’ve experienced both in a short span of time.”

» READ MORE: The Union lost their regular-season finale, but for once it didn’t matter

The Union’s reserve squad has reached the second round of the MLS Next PRO league playoffs, and will host Huntsville City — Nashville SC’s reserve squad — on Saturday at Subaru Park (6 p.m., Apple TV).

Union II finished second in the Eastern Conference this year and beat FC Cincinnati’s reserves, 2-1, in the first round last weekend. This game’s winner will face the reserves of the No. 1 New York Red Bulls II or No. 6 Chicago Fire II next weekend in the conference final.

There have been strong performances this year some few young players on first-team contracts, particularly Cavan Sullivan (six goals and five assists in 14 games) and Neil Pierre (MLS Next PRO’s Defender of the Year). In this game, many eyes will be on two other players: midfielder CJ Olney and 16-year-old striker Malik Jakupovic.

Olney also is on a first-team deal, but he didn’t crack the squad this year and then plateaued with the reserves. The Union tried to spark some improvement with a loan to Lexington SC of the second-tier USL Championship, but he didn’t play much there.

» READ MORE: The Union clinched their second Supporters’ Shield thanks to three key veterans

Since his return to town, though, the 18-year-old has been in great form: six assists in five games, and his team has won them all.

“I’m really happy for him that he went through this,” Union II coach Ryan Richter said. “Trying to develop as a professional is also how you respond to setbacks and how you respond to adversity and some of the low moments that you might have in your career. … For him to get back in [and] get on with it after a tough couple months, that shows a lot about his character.”

Jakupovic has been getting hype from scouts for a while, and has started to deliver. The 6-foot-3 Michigan native signed his first pro contract in May — after the Union fended off many European teams that wanted him — and has scored eight goals in 17 games.

“If he would have signed up for playing significant minutes in playoff games, and scoring eight goals this season — we all would have signed up for that in the beginning,” Richter said. “But he earned every minute that he got, and he’s performed well in every opportunity that he’s had on the field.”

Tickets for Saturday’s contest are $17 including fees, with all seating general admission.