So much to discuss…

This is a looking like a long one. I left the Ruiz bit for last as incentive to get all the way through. Thanks for sticking with me.

First, the Union on the field…

“The Best Defense is a Good Offense”

This is clearly not a saying with which the Union have any familiarity. Otherwise, the Union midfield would have come out looking to attack Colorado rather than simply sit back and absorb their punches.

Friday night in Chester, Colorado did exactly what they were expected to do: they flooded the center of the pitch with bulldozers Jeff Larentowicz and Pablo Mastroeni dominating possession behind the lightning quick Sanna Nyassi. It has been their game plan ever since the season ending injury to Conor Casey with everything flowing through the three men in the middle of midfield.

Yet, somehow the Union didn’t get the message. Or see any video. Or read the paper or anything on the Internet.

Despite having already sustained a physical pounding from the Rapids on June 4 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the Union came out on Friday and let it all happen again. In June, a meek looking Kyle Nakazawa sat beside Brian Carroll for the entirety of the proceedings. Rather than fight in the midfield, one on one, mano-a-mano, the Union conceded possession, territory and their pride, falling deeper and deeper towards their own net, until a casual observer might have assumed they were playing a 6-2-2. Which game am I talking about? Honestly, it could have been either. It wasn’t good enough on the road and it certainly isn’t good enough at home.

In my match preview, I listed the Carroll, Nakazawa, Larentowicz and Mastroeni grudge match as the main priority for the Union: Keep a high line, let your defense worry about the wings and striker and simply focus on taking those two players out of the match and the rest would work itself out. There was nothing particularly insightful about my analysis given that as long as the Union has been in MLS, it has been the league-wide standard method for coping with this Colorado team. Yet we all saw what actually took place on Friday as Carroll could not do enough to overcome Nakazawa’s inability, shrinking from the challenge time and again, hiding from the ball, the action and ultimately the game.

The Nakazawa Conundrum

What are you?

What is Kyle Nakazawa?

He’s a midfielder. I think that much is certain, but then what?

He is not a wing, he’s not fast enough.

If the coaching staff THINKS he’s a wing, he should be playing behind Daniel, Mapp & Marfan.

He is not a holding midfielder.

He misses too many assignments (see the first goal and you could argue second goal,as well, against Colorado) and is not talented enough as a ball winner.

If the coaching staff THINKS he’s a holding midfielder, he should be playing behind both Carroll and Okugo.

He is not a top of the diamond, attacking center midfielder.

He does not play high enough up the field, struggles with ball possession and lacks the vision to switch fields and play balls into dangerous areas.

If the coaching staff THINKS he’s an attacking center midfielder, he should be playing behind Torres, Paunovic and probably Marfan.

Here’s the problem.

When the Union landed Nakazawa with the 33rd pick (1st in the third round) in the 2010 MLS Superdraft, the question surrounding him was whether he could adapt to the speed of the professional game. Following the 2010 season, the same question lingered and it seemed that he still had a long way to go. Sure he could strike a beautiful free kick, but in terms of the run of play, Naka looked out of his depth as play consistently moved around him, leaving the Union number 13 as a spectator.

What changed in the offseason? From the looks of it, a whole lot of nothing.

Well, almost nothing. Entering the 2011 season, Nakazawa got the Peter Nowak stamp of approval, not based on his performances in any matches mind you, but on his offseason training. Sadly, on this team of rampant favoritism (more on that later), the coach’s backing means a whole lot more than, say, your ability to play the game (ask Keon Daniel about that).

Thus, Nakazawa remains a divisive figure in Philadelphia. On one hand, there is no denying that he has the skill set to someday become a strong contributor in this league. His beautiful free kicks, on the rare occasion he is actually allowed to unleash one, display just a bit of the skill he possesses. On the other hand, that someday seems like a long way away as he continues to struggle in nearly every match he starts.

What the crap, Mapp?

Speaking of players who are struggling, why is Justin Mapp a 90 minute player for the Union? It boggles the mind. How many times can he force me to write that he:

1. took too many touches

2. refused to use his right foot

3. has only one offensive move

4. offers absolutely zero defensive cover

I’m tired of it. This is not a player who is good enough to start in MLS. At this point in the season, the issue feels black and white: Mapp simply is not good enough.

When the halftime whistle blew I turned to a friend and said, “Wow, Mapp sucked! Still, I’ll bet you a dollar they take off Keon instead.”

Keon. I don't get it either.

And you know what? My friend wouldn’t take the bet because he was thinking the exact same thing. Talk about a deeply troubling commentary on the manner in which the Union are being coached and evaluated by those who matter in the organization.

Keon Daniel had a very strong first half against Colorado. He held the ball, linked well with Garfan on the left and looked dangerous chasing down through balls played into his corner. If one of the wingers was due to be dragged off, it CERTAINLY, without a doubt, had to be Mapp. Yet, this is the status quo we must accept with the Union.

Despite my list of the big four Mapp-ups, it still feels worthwhile to reiterate just how poorly Justin Mapp played on Friday. Whether it was turning the ball over with nearly every attempted pass, dribbling the entire width of the pitch or offering no effort in terms of tracking back to support on defense, this was a performance that has become all too familiar in the matches following his one and only standout performance against Toronto, a match which feels like it occurred ages ago.

Further frustrating is the fact that a better option already exists on the Union roster. Michael Farfan has shown the potential to be one of the top rookies in the league—when he’s had the opportunity to see the field. Like his brother, Michael is not afraid to get chalk on his boots, consistently stretching the opposition defense and looking dangerous in every appearance. He will likely earn a start midweek in place of the suspended Sheanon Williams and maybe, just maybe, a solid performance will earn him more minutes higher up the field in his natural position.

Shut up Sheanon

Dude. Chill out.

Speaking of Mr. Williams.

MLS officiating is atrocious. Piss-poor. Disgraceful. Embarrassing.

And it has been for a long, long time.

It has often been said that the only consistent thing about MLS officiating is that it is consistently terrible.

While that is gut-wrenching thing to have to admit about our league, it’s the truth. You just have to deal with it.

So, yes, the play in question was definitely a foul. Drew Moor launched himself into a two-footed tackle where he got about 5% ball and 95% Sheanon. Any referee with even a modicum of ability could see that it was a foul. But again, this is MLS, so expecting anything other than the worst possible decision from the official is foolish. The bumbling assistant referee waved the play on, which was especially helpful for the match referee, who was too busy conversing with a Rapids’ player to have seen the incident occur in real time.

But it was not a malicious tackle, there was no intent to injure. Rather, it was the kind of strong, committed challenge that Williams himself puts in frequently during the course of a game. There would have never been a card issued for that foul, so rub your ankle, have a little gripe at the ref and GET ON WITH IT. A brief airing of your frustrations will make you feel better and perhaps you’ll get the call next time, but that has to be as far as it goes. Williams’ reaction stepped COMPLETELY over the line (any lip readers out there?—this one isn’t too hard to decipher) and his immature inability to control his emotions, even after receiving a caution, is unacceptable.

As fans, we can only hope that this is a simple blip in a talented young player’s development and maturation and he can quickly put it in the past. After all, the team is in Chicago on Wednesday. So when they line up at PPL in a week’s time to face Houston, he will already have served his suspension and be back in the lineup.

The chicken or the egg?

Bad finishing or good defense? Which kept the Union out on Friday?

Certainly, the finishing was inadequate, and that’s putting it lightly. Both Mwanga and Le Toux need to turn on the ball much more quickly and cut down the long release times that only allow defenders to recover. Despite displaying good touch and vision, Mwanga did not appear to have any interest in turning his hips up field and having a go at the slow, 36-year-old Tyrone Marshall. Instead, he checked back and played the safe ball to his midfielders all night. Where his confidence has gone, I couldn’t tell you. He certainly felt good enough to try an audacious bicycle kick. Yet, with the ball at his feet, he failed to take his chances and attack the Rapids’ defense with the voracity we are used to seeing.

Merde. Pas encore.

And what more can you say about Le Toux other than that he is in the mother of all slumps. It’s painful to watch as he desperately works for that breakthrough goal, running harder and harder, yet continues to over-hit his passes and under-hit his shots.

But before we kill the Union forwards too much, what about the defense?

Entering the match, it seemed obvious that Wynne and Marshall are one of the weaker centerback pairings the Union will face this season. Yet, as the match played out, they had all sorts of help as the Union’s continued lack of width again reared its ugly head. With Justin Mapp cutting into the center of the field at every opportunity and Keon Daniel being a center midfielder masquerading as a winger, neither outside back Kosuke Kimura nor Drew Moor was stretched wider than the confines of their 18-yard box. Subsequently they were always on hand to add secondary pressure to any work done by a Union striker. Add the fact that Kyle Nakazawa rarely ventured over the midfield stripe and it is not hard to see why Mwanga and Le Toux were enveloped by the Colorado defense at what seemed to be every turn.

And Finally, Ruiz OUT

Following what seems like months of speculation, Carlos Ruiz has finally made his exit from the Philadelphia Union.

And honestly, so what?

That is not to say that the goals he scored will not be missed. They will be. When Ruiz actually got around to putting in the effort, he proved that he still has something left in the tank. His nose for goal was the one thing he had going for him over the other strikers on the roster. But with so many other holes in his game, the Union will be better served in the long run without him.

I wish Carlos Ruiz the best of luck wherever he ends up, but no, I’m not sad to see him go.

It is funny that in the end his biggest fan and supporter, Peter Nowak, was probably one of the main reasons for his downfall. For all of Nowak’s grandstanding about developing a team first mentality and a roster not based around a single star, the Ruiz signing represented the absolute opposite mindset from the Union coach. Regardless of his level of play, Ruiz was never likely to remain in Philadelphia for more than a year, two years max, and his selfish, me-first approach to the game spat in the face of the well-rounded, quick-passing, hard-working soccer the team had worked hard to nurture in 2010.

Perhaps, plastering his face on every inch of the Union website and the rest of the hype was simply a case of overselling the player. Or maybe, in an offseason that netted Brian Carroll, Faryd Mondragon and Carlos Valdes, the Union’s use of their own propaganda machine to focus so heavily on Ruiz set the bar too high and he couldn’t live up to the expectations. More likely, however, is the fact that on a team of wildly friendly, outgoing players, players who appreciate the support they receive from the fans and never shy away from an opportunity to reciprocate the positivity that rains down on them from the PPL bleachers, Ruiz just didn’t care. We marvel at Sebastien Le Toux’s or Sheanon Williams’ willingness to stay on the pitch for 20 minutes following the match signing autographs and snapping photos with young fans. In his brief tenure with Union, Carlos Ruiz never even walked the pitch with his teammates following a match, regardless of the outcome. Respect is not given, it is earned, and Carlos Ruiz simply did not earn the fans respect.

So, Peter, it is time to shut the old pie hole. These most recent remarks blaming the fans are bush league, junior varsity stuff and are an embarrassment to the Union franchise. Sadly,  they are also not entirely unexpected from the coach who lives on the corner of Disillusionment Street and Egomaniac Boulevard.

Peter, you might want to write this down:

The fans made you and they can damn sure destroy you.

Without them, you’d be sitting at home waiting for Jurgen Klinsmann’s inevitable “Thanks, but no thanks” phone call.

We love our team. Never forget that. And never question it. We love the players on our team. When they succeed, we are over the moon about it. When they give it their all and come up short (most of 2010), we will stand behind them and give them the benefit of the doubt. But when they dog it and the team suffers, you’re damn sure we’re not going to sit idly by and say nothing. Because we love our team. The team that you preached was more important than any one individual.

We called Ruiz a diver not because of any preconceptions about him. We called him a diver because he dove. We called him lazy because he was. Yet when he got back from the Gold Cup with a new energy, we all acknowledged it, because he was a Union player and when he decided to give it his all, that was all we were asking for in the first place.

Photos: Paul Rudderow