Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia Union scored three surprising and amusing first half goals to put away New York Red Bulls on Saturday. Andrew Wenger’s deflected strike started the scoring and his slow roller finished it off. In between, Fernando Aristeguieta speared a header at Luis Robles that the Red Bulls goalie ushered into the net like he was helping a scared rabbit find its hole. In other words, none of the goals were pretty.

But, and this is important, they were three of the Union’s only first half chances, and all three were on frame. And sometimes, when you put the ball on frame, crazy things happen.

When they weren’t scoring, the Union were absorbing wave after wave of Red Bulls pressure. Mike Grella and Lloyd Sam were granted space and they responded by challenging Philly’s talented fullback duo time and again. The goal frame and Rais Mbolhi ensured Philly held onto their lead going into halftime, and in the second forty-five the Union seemed more prepared to bunker and counter, though they were far more successful at the former than the latter.

Overall, it was not the type of performance that will have you predicting a playoff appearance, but it certainly suggests the Union know they have to create a system that maximizes the resources they have.

Rising

Rais Mbolhi

The Algerian goalie makes his second straight appearance on this list, and even his harshest critics can’t say he doesn’t deserve it. With Red Bulls streaming forward, Mbolhi controlled his box while showing stellar reflexes to keep his side ahead as the first half wound down. It was close to a flawless performance and will do a lot to endear Mbolhi to fans who are still put off by the way the Union have handled the goalkeeping situation over the past year. Two good performances do not make a season, but Mbolhi looks much more like a starting keeper than he did during his scattered and often listless performances last season.

Maurice Edu

If you are going to come out with a 4-2-4 lineup, and one of the middle two is coming off an injury, you better be sure your captain is ready to rule. And Mo Edu did his best to step up against near-impossible odds, as he continually forced Red Bulls to rely on wide men instead of Sacha Kljestan in the final third. Edu was playing almost a pure midfield sweeper role for most of the match, with the Union struggling against a 3-on-2 disadvantage in the middle of the park. Last season, Edu’s quality shined through only in short bursts: A sprint to cover his defensive partner, a quick, darting run up the middle to add some juice when the team was flagging. Thus far, Edu is acting like he wants to be a more consistently dominant force in the center of the park this year. He will have to be if Philadelphia is going to make a playoff run.

Andrew Wenger

If you asked Andrew Wenger, he would probably tell you almost every goal he has scored in his career was better than the two he scored on Saturday. But that doesn’t make the last two worth any less. Philadelphia’s system relies on the wingers to pin teams back so the kind of possession advantage New York enjoyed Saturday doesn’t translate into a glut of chances. Wenger and Le Toux did not provide the sort of consistent threat the Union were hoping for, but Wenger did what he often struggled to do last season: Put the chances he got on frame. And with Nogueira laboring, and Conor Casey AWOL in the buildup, Wenger and Le Toux can hardly take full responsibility for the peripheral role they played in the proceedings. In the end, it was another performance that will have opposition managers game planning around Wenger’s abilities. And that’s what the Union need if they want to create space for their newly signed striker.

Fernando Aristeguieta

Speaking of that new striker, the Venezuelan notched his fourth goal in three matches, pouncing on a free header and cheerfully celebrating when Luis Robles forgot what his job was. The most notable aspect of Aristeguieta’s game so far has been his ability to find space when crosses are coming in. With that in mind, the Union need to improve their crossing accuracy considerably if they are going to play a lineup like the one that started Saturday. Without an attacker in the hole, Philly might as well have tweeted out their game plan before the opening whistle. And a route one offense requires quality coming into the box for big strikers to feast on.

Falling

Ray Gaddis/Sheanon Williams

It was a disappointing night for Philadelphia’s fullbacks. They survived, but they did not smother Lloyd Sam and Mike Grella the way Jim Curtin might have hoped. Part of the issue was a system that allowed so much space on the wings that Sam and Grella could drift a little bit deeper and create a lot more space. Another part of the problem was Bradley Wright-Phillips, who had Ethan White on the back foot all game with a strong physical showing, meaning the fullbacks were essentially isolated and couldn’t be as aggressive as they would like. In those isolated situations, the Union fullbacks should thrive as two of the best in the league. But Williams bounced between strong (and very strong) challenges and allowing Grella enough space to cut and shoot while Gaddis had another oddly indecisive day, often a step slow to close down, a bit deep to challenge, and just a bit out of position all night. These are fixable issues, but they were fixable issues last year as well.

Steven Vitoria

It is still hard to get a read on Steven Vitoria. He has rarely been challenged directly, even after run outs against two quality MLS opponents (hat tip to Mr Edu here). However, if we can pinpoint the most positive and negative aspects of Vitoria’s performances so far, they would be his aerial presence and his acceleration respectively. Vitoria is a massive presence clearing the box, but he looks as slow on the turn as an injured Carlos Valdes. And injured Carlos Valdes turned like a full tanker ship going into the wind. Vitoria putting up at least MLS-average showings each weekend is key for Philadelphia’s season. This team should be able to score, but they need to lock up the back with Mbolhi and Vitoria in order to produce consistency.

Vincent Nogueira

Even on a grainy feed, on a team without jerseys, I expected to be able to pick out Vincent Nogueira. He moves at a different speed than most other players. The term “buzzing” has rarely had a soccer player that it fit so well. So it was worrying that Nogueira wasn’t simply off his game, he was hardly in the game as a whole. Injuries mean the Frenchman will probably be a bit behind the curve until he gets another week or so under his belt, but even an inaccurate or slow Nogueira remains enough of a threat on the ball to worry opposition defenses. On Saturday, Nogueira was rarely on the ball, and when he was he faced immediate pressure. A slow start may be inevitable, but the Union need Nogueira up to full speed before too long.

Conor Casey

OK… so a Casey/Aristeguieta lineup was based on Casey’s strong second half against Columbus right? The only justification that makes any sense is that Jim Curtin thought Casey could drop off and facilitate the counterattack during buildups, then move high as an outlet when the Union were under pressure in their own end. Since there was hardly any buildup possession, it’s hard to say Casey wasn’t capable of being a playmaker, but that is certainly not what he ended up doing. Instead, with New York using their width intellgently, Casey was relegated to doing windsprints between the central defenders and the fullbacks. It was hardly the best use of his talents, and it meant the Union had nobody to put pressure in the middle until Red Bulls reached the deep-lying Edu and Nogueira. That continuous pressure New York supplied on the Philly defense was not simply the result of a good plan by Jesse Marsch, it also came from Jim Curtin’s tactical missteps. But, hey, that’s what preseason is for.