In his rightful spot as the Union’s main striker, Milan Iloski is doing more than scoring goals
Much of the spotlight has gone to the Union’s young guns, but the limelight has been Iloski’s, to the tune of 16 goals, coming off a hat trick performance.
Just how much of a team player is Milan Iloski?
During an interview in March conducted while Iloski was serving in a hybrid role under former Union manager Bradley Carnell, both the coach and player confirmed that his role was essentially meant to be the glue, the bridge between the opposition’s final third and the goal.
But what did that message mean to Iloski’s subconscious?
Milan, you’ll still get your opportunities, but they’ll be fewer in your new role as the support system we believe we need offensively right now.
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Here’s how Iloski explained it back in March.
“For me, I love playing next to someone up top and I like scoring goals,” he told The Inquirer. “But also, I can be that creative player who can come inside or can float underneath the strikers. So, for me, I’m open to anything that can help the team. And I’m totally bought in. So whatever the staff needs from me is what I’ll try and provide.”
How diplomatic of him, knowing now that he was miserable.
Not miserable enough that he couldn’t still score a team high seven goals by the time the Union limped into the FIFA World Cup break. But enough to know that this role was not sustainable, even if he was taking advantage of his fleeting moments in front of goal.
But since the team’s return to the pitch, while much of the spotlight has gone to the Union’s young guns, the limelight has been Iloski’s to the tune of 16 goals, finishing that run with a hat trick against Orlando City on Saturday to head into a weeklong break for FIFA’s international window.
“When [interim coach Ryan] Richter came in and the new staff, it was really clear what we were going to do with me, and it was to switch me back into what I’ve been used to, and I was super happy to hear that,” Iloski said. “So really comfortable, really happy. And I feel like I’m impacting games, which is really important.”
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One can easily tell he’s much happier now.
Proof of that came by way of the smile Iloski flashed when talking about the freedom he has under Richter. He’s the club’s target man again.
“I mean, that’s what I was brought here to do and the position I was brought into to play, ” Iloski said. “It’s where I’ve had all the success in my career really.
The “fun” he had last Saturday led to an MLS Man of the Matchday Award alongside teammate Indiana Vassilev, who had a goal of his own and two assists in their 4-2 win. The team, now producing goals at a feverish rate, recently set the club record for an unbeaten streak at 12 games, and tied an MLS record for having taken the most points (32) from any 12-game span in league history.
Over those 12 games, you can credit Iloski with nine goals in that time. He’s also been sharing a good deal of the responsibilities with fellow striker Bruno Damiani, who has also turned it on as of late to the tune of five goals in the last five matches, including a hat trick of his own in the club’s 5-0 rout of FC Cincinnati on Sept. 9.
“Me and Bruno have a great connection up there and really work well together,” Iloski said. ”It’s been a lot of fun and a guy I’ve been pushing to play alongside for a while. When [coach] Richter came in and the new staff, it was made really clear that that was what we were going to do, and I was super happy to hear that.”
Iloski and the Union aren’t resting on these good vibes even though they were afforded a weeklong respite from MLS action due to the break for the latest FIFA international window. He noted that the job is not over and that there’s still plenty of work to be done.
The difference is, for the first time in quite some time, he did it with what felt like an all-knowing smile across his face.
“It’s important that we don’t allow ourselves to get too wrapped up in the moment,” Iloski said. “I mean you saw it in this [last] game [against Orlando] … it’s easy to lose a little bit of focus there when you’re up 4-0. We know what we want and how we all want this season to end. All of this doesn’t matter if at the end of the day we’re not in a good position to chase what every other team is chasing, so we just need to get out there and finish the job.”
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