Photo: Paul Rudderow

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has two words on its cover: Don’t Panic.

Philadelphia Union’s announcement that Vincent Nogueira was leaving the club should have begun with the same words.

Luckily, Roland Alberg has calmed fears with a series of stellar performances, culminating in last night’s three and a half goal performance. Since NYC dropped four on Chicago in the season opener, the Fire had given up 12 goals in 13 games. They normally protect the center of the box as well as any team in MLS, but without Matt Polster they entirely lost the script.

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Make no mistake: Alberg was the story. His finishing, movement, “dirty running,” and awareness were sublime. But there was a lot more to like about the Union performance than just their hat trick hero.

Midfield madness

Chicago came out in a 3-5-2, ostensibly so they could protect the center of the pitch and force the Union to settle for crosses. The three central defenders were supposed to allow the wingbacks to push up and facilitate counterattacks, linking the defense and the speedy strikers.

Nope.

The Fire would have been much better off with an extra body in midfield. At times, Eric Gehrig stepped into that role, but he looked as lost as a US soccer spokesperson trying to explain Jurgen Klinsmann’s strategy against Argentina.

Veljko Paunovic’s tactical mistake was compounded by Ilsinho’s tendency to drift inside and essentially give the Union four midfielders up the center. The Chicago back three were hesitant to step to the Brazilian, and Philly’s ability to possess in the middle third was often unchallenged. Additionally, Ilsinho’s inside movement meant Alberg could wander into the left channel to start his runs, sneaking behind the Chicago midfield like a kid making a midnight cookie run.

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Ilsinho’s movement meant the Union had an extra man in midfield all night, and, importantly, Rosenberry’s aggressive positioning meant that Chicago could not take advantage of the empty wing. When Ilsinho drifted inside, Rosenberry would quickly advance up the right, keeping Brandon Vincent deep so the Fire had no advanced outlet when they collected a loose ball.

In the clip below, Vincent finds the ball at the edge of his own box. Not only is he too deep to start a counter, but Brian Carroll has brilliantly stepped into the lane where either striker could check back to the ball so the only option is to go long.

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A huge problem for Chicago is that Paunovic cannot afford to make tactical errors. On the whole, it’s actually pretty doggone impressive that the Fire, with only Matt Polster and The Mistakes in midfield, have managed to be so tight defensively. Paunovic has oscillated between a back three and back four all season, recognizing that his side is usually going to be outclassed and needs to be greater than the sum of its parts (sound familiar 2015 Union fans?).

One of the biggest reasons Paunovic cannot guess wrong with his shape is that he essentially trots out a nine-man defense most nights. Kennedy Igboananike and David Accam are faster than my heartbeat when I see an Independence Day 2 trailer (Jeff Goldblum is the only real action hero!) but the Fire strikers don’t like to think about their defensive positioning.

In the buildup to the Union’s third goal, Accam and Cocis both drift toward Fabinho, who has the simple task of passing around them. This starts the Union’s forward movement into an empty midfield, and you just cannot be disorganized in midfield with a deep defensive line and Tranquillo Barnetta on the run.

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The final problem for Chicago was the biggest of all: They kept turning off. Take nothing away from Roland Alberg, who continually drifted away from his markers, but man… did the Fire think this was practice? Over and over the entire team seemed to treat a shot like the end of a play, and that makes it very easy to score off rebounds.

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Union issues?

One big question for Philly: Does playing with Alberg, Barnetta, and Ilsinho leave the team exposed defensively?

Chicago chances, final 30 minutes.

To a certain extent, it does. Against a team with any sort of possession game, Ilsinho’s inside positioning would be a potential hazard, forcing Rosenberry to step up and leaving Ken Tribbett on an island. Additionally, Barnetta’s tendency to carry the ball out of midfield means that he and Alberg can both get caught up-field off turnovers. This was no big deal against a Chicago side that couldn’t counterattack if they had an army of rabid kitchen counters at their disposal. But if a purely counterattacking team with a great facilitator like, say, Pedro Morales came to town…

Let’s back up a moment, though. The important point to drill home is that there was potential for the Union to get hit on the counter last night. The scoreline should not be taken to reflect that the team actually did struggle defensively, at least not during open play.

There will be, however, some hats pulled low during the set piece video session.

In the past five days, the Union have played against the two other rookies that they could have ended up with at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions in the past SuperDraft. As phenomenal as Jack Harrison was on Saturday, Philly has to feel extremely good about the players they selected. Even when both of those players get beat on set pieces in the same game.

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First, Razvan Cocis beat Joshua Yaro to the spot to slide the ball past Andre Blake.

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Then, Khaly Thiam snuck in front of Keegan Rosenberry to notch Chicago’s third. The Union have been bested on set pieces before this season, and it will happen again. Many will remember Clint Dempsey picking Richie Marquez as a prime example.

Chicago second half defensive actions. That is what Union dominance looks like: Everything in the Fire half.

But if it takes set pieces and the grimy, grabby world that pops up in the box when they happen to expose Philly’s inexperienced back line, so be it. I would have expected many more teams to tear apart a defense populated by rookies and a left back who flips a coin to decide if his decision-making will be sensible or not each match.

Set piece defense is about knowing what tricks each player has in their bag, and with time Rosenberry and Yaro will be quicker to react. Does it suck to give up two goals off dead balls against a bad team? Yeah.

But when that is just about the only thing that bad team can do to do, the overall picture is still fairly rosy.

Player ratings

Andre Blake – 4

…Bounce back game coming?

Keegan Rosenberry – 6

A very mature performance tarred by Thiam’s goal. Also, if anybody can add a setting sun and spaghetti western music to this RosenWalk, I’ll be eternally grateful. 

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Ken Tribbett – 4

Struggled with the speed, but still put in a good performance overall. Smart passing and didn’t get cold feet about closing down the ball after having it backfire on him early.

Richie Marquez – 5

Not a great passing day, but dude was a clearance machine.

Chicago key passes/assists

Fabinho – 5

No major mistakes, and a strong passing performance in the second half. But all the Fire’s key passes seemed to come from his zone.

Brian Carroll – 7

The best part about his game was that Chicago couldn’t even get enough going to make him work, but he was still in the right places. And people are starting to notice.

Tranquillo Barnetta – 8

Simply Nogueirian with the passing. Plus the bursts out of midfield as an added element.

Roland Alberg – 10

Well, that was the easiest rating I’ll make all year. After the Union’s second goal, Paunovic switched Kappelhof and Gehrig to put a more, let’s say, aware defender in the left channel. Alberg didn’t mind; he found space wherever he went.

Ilsinho – 8

Read the game perfectly. Chicago had no answers when he came inside.

Chris Pontius – 8

Not as flashy as the other members of the front five, but worked his tail off and holy mackerel was that dummy beautiful. Also gave me the most frustrating moment of the night when he missed Barnetta’s run on this play. 

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Fabian Herbers – 7

His only shot of the game turned into an Alberg goal (as almost everything did on Wednesday). More importantly, Herbers played much better defensively and played his game offensively. He can’t hold the ball like Sapong, but Herbers kept the Chicago defense from advancing into midfield with curling runs into the corners and movement that took him out of the middle to open space for Alberg. It’s an unpolished game Herbers is playing, but it’s mature as hell.

Substitutes

Joshua Yaro – 5

Yes, Yaro was beaten on a corner and the third goal deflected off him and in. But he also took the Fire’s only major offensive threat out of the game. Paunovic tried moving David Accam onto Richie Marquez because there was absolutely nothing doing over the top with Yaro on the pitch. And it wasn’t even about the open field speed as much as the closing speed.  

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Sebastien Le Toux – 6

Saw a lot of the ball and didn’t do a ton with it, but three interceptions, a tackle, and a recovery in under 20 minutes is why he’s always going to get minutes.

Warren Creavalle – 6

So, I just stay in the middle here in case they counterattack? But they aren’t going to… OK, OK. I’ll hang out. So… know any good jokes?

Geiger counter – 3

Jaime Herrera didn’t give a yellow card for a yank-back penalty. Usually, either a penalty or a yank back alone is worth a caution. But that fit with the referee’s general policy of acting in the most confusing way possible at all times.