Photo: Paul Rudderow
https://twitter.com/PhilaUnion/status/855910602484482048
Philadelphia Union
The Union PSP, CSNPhilly, BrotherlyGame, Section215, PattisonAve, and PhillyVoice.
In the quick hits, Alberg scored 2 goals, Sapong scored 1, and Gaddis got to make his season debut.
Postgame quotes. Before clicking, guess what Jim Curtin said!
Alejandro Bedoya has stepped up in more ways than one since moving back to his natural position.
The Union are soft in the middle.
The Union don’t need a break; they need to stop making so many errors.
“For 46 minutes, the Union suffered in slow motion.”
A reddit user made some new songs for Union fans.
Local
Bethlehem Steel are proving that they are learning everything they need to be part of the big club as they played a dominant first half full of missed chances before giving up 2 goals in the second half PSP.
4 former Union Academy players have signed with Reading United.
MLS
A recap of Week 8 MLS action.
F.C. Dallas is the league’s last undefeated team.
Is Nick Rimando’s age starting to catch up with him?
Houston Dynamo changed their formation and immediately kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win.
Around the globe
Leo Messi and Barcelona scored in the closing seconds of El Clasico to win 3-2 and make the rest of the La Liga season quite interesting.
Lyon beat Manchester City in the Women’s Champions League, in part due to a Carli Lloyd handball in the box.
The USA U-17 team managed by John Hackworth beat Jamaica’s U-17 side 5-0 as the latter tired under scorching weather and USA pressure.
Didier Drogba has officially arrived in Phoenix.
A Madrid derby was set in the UCL Semifinals draw.
Highlight of the day
Seba Le Toux, doing what he did so many times for the Union.
http://www.metro.us/sports/philadelphia/philly-unions-richie-marquez-getting-overseas-attention#.WP1WkjCyWV8.twitter
over what sea is Mexico? someone please get that writer a globe
Gulf of Mexico.
I agree with the weak up the middle argument. We can’t play a 4-2-3-1 with Medunjanin and Bedoya being the dmids. Either Bedoya needs to move to the wing or Medunjanin needs to move to the bench. The problem is Earnie has left this team without a defensive midfielder. Our option are the always injured Edu, Jones, Creavalle, Carroll, or move Elliot up (although who plays CB then, another major issue under Earnie). It seems that the Dutch league mantra of no defense is true with this team building.
WRONG. OUr DMid is Jones. and he looks very good and is young.
problem is Curtin seems to think MEdun is unbenchedable but hes not.
Why is this written like a hostage note?
yah, i got that vibe too.
Haven’t we all been held hostage by this Team?
Well that’s Earnie’s problem because he brought in both Bedoya and Medunjanin to replace Nogueria, but he never brought in anyone to replace our #6. They basically built a midfield of #8, because that’s what they view Jones as too.
Medunjanin cannot go to the bench. He’s the only real play maker on this team. The guy is a great addition whose work is being snuffed out by poor management and play all around him. Moving Bedoya out wide would help though. You could keep Alberg, Medunjanin on attack and task Jones with the #6 role. But without Medunjanin on the field, I shudder to consider how poor this team would be on the attack.
–
The next priority for this team needs to be a serious discussion about its identity (I’m assuming JC and his well-read copy of ScottyMac’s Tale of Two Halves is going no where). You can’t play as an attacking team without the right players. But you could consider being a lot stronger at the back. Perhaps a fix that’s easier and less costly. It’s one thing to have a budget attack, but to try that out with a USL caliber back line is going to just hurt us every game. It feels like 2015 all over again. Though worse.
“Medunjanin cannot go to the bench.”
Wrong. We haven’t won a game in 300 fucking days. No one is untouchable. I don’t care that he can make a nice pass sometimes. If you aren’t willing to change things up and try something when you are LITERALLY the worse team in the league you should be fired on the spot.
The dude is a black hole defensively and he isn’t ENOUGH of a playmaker to make up for the fact he makes the defense worse.
With all due respect, james, I get the frustration, but you bench players when you have reasonable replacements. Just because your center backs can’t track Anthony Jackson-Hamel, it doesn’t mean you bench the best chance creator on the team. What do you do? Replace him with Brian Carroll? You’ll stop some goals, but you won’t score any.
–
This is all sub academic nonsense anyway. Team isn’t going to win anything until the coach is replaced. I suggest the club start offering free parking in the official lots and slice the price of concessions or those stands at Talen are going to be 25% full at best.
Sure I understand. I just don’t think Medun is THAT special.
You have Jones at the 6 and all of a sudden you have a 6 who you can trust to cover space and win battles. He will get the ball to Bedoya/Alberg/future #10 star much more often then Medun. The more frequently Jones wins battles and gets other people the ball the more often we can try to create chances.
And instead of the offense relying on 40 yard diagonals (good ones, to be fair) and his set piece delivery, you are actually giving the ball to playmakers further up the field.
I kinda agree with James. If you have a midfield of Jones-Bedoya-Alberg, Jones covers a lot of area while freeing Ale to make runs and Alberg to create/score. As much work as Bedoya does, he’s not defensively sound enough to cover for Medujanin. Maybe if you bring Jones in and move Bedoya to a wing, you keep Mudujanin. He really is a defensive black hole that causes problems for everyone else.
i think that is exactly what should be done. put bedoya out wide (none of our wide players have been good anyway) and have jones and haris behind alberg
Medunjanin is not a defensive black hole as an 8. He’s a Nogueria clone. As a 6, yeah, he’s terrible defensively.
Can any of you seriously tell me you’d bench Medunjanin before Bedoya based on performance? If so, we haven’t been watching the same games. You don’t bench your best chance creator becuase you need more defense. If you want Jones or some other #6 out there, fine, but you find someone else to take out of the lineup. Medunjanin might not be THAT special, but on this club, he’s a regular Cesc Fabregas.
Pete, has what creativity Haris brings, been enough for the team to win? Has it outweighed his defensive liabilities? Let me know when he stops pointing at Piatti. I’d prefer to go back to basics defensively and try to grind out 1-0 wins.
Jones IS our D-Mid and Medunjanin leads the league in chances created, and I thought he played well with Jones. Then there’s Bedoya.
—
I think all 3 have played well – or I guess poorly depending on the way you look at it – and none of the 3 has really distanced themselves one way or the other. Might be time to look at 3 in the back when (IF) Edu returns, or go with Yaro:
Blake
Edu-Marquez-Elliot
Jones-Medunjanin
Pontius-Ale-Herbers
Alberg
Sapong
Edu will never return. His rocket is halfway to the sun. He’s close enough that goods face has already melted.
We don’t have the personnel for a 3 man backfield.
That said, Ale needs to play an oustide AM/wing, where he belongs. I actually think his workrate could help minimize Fabinho’s risk (I’m not anti fabinho–the league doesn’t have many options at lb, and as long as his risk is mitigated, he can provide some o).
Medunjanin is an 8. I was perturbed when I saw him as a 6. When we score, it’s a lot to do with his forward play. Pair him with someone like Carroll (as Nogs had), and it’s a different picture. Alberg showed a lot more as the 10–a lot more like last year. I think he can continue that.
I’m drawing a blank on the new kids name as cb, but i like him with marquez. Poor richie. He has regressed, and i think it’s because he’s had no solid partner and liabilities on the wings.
Ultimately, I don’t see is winning with the 4231, but put medunjanin at 8, please.
Also, no attacking mid and no striker. That’s not inherited from the Dutch. That’s just organizational incompetence.
I lent Jimmy my copy of Chaucer’s “A Tale of Two Halves”, the prequel to his more famous work.
.
My man took it to heart.
I think he’s already read it 7 times this year. He’s got it memorized now.
It seems as though Medunjanin has many offensive assets with his passing. He is also negated bc he is a massive defensive liability. Is there any remote chance he can play 10? Or is his speed and energy just not nearly enough?
.
Bedoya has played much better at the 8, so I tend to shy away from this, but I think he should play on the left out wide. Ilsinho is weird in that he seems to make so many plays and seems so talented, but I also struggle to think of goals he has or has created. Maybe swap him and bedoya up according to form.
I saw someone on Twitter suggest that Brian Carroll start in place of Medujanin. the strange part was that I wasn’t totally opposed to the idea. Hate on BC all ya want, but he was able to help keep the defense organized. Lacking that type of player is killing us.
It’s true. It really is a shame, bc that should be exactly what Edu is, but we all know that story…
I got tired of writing “If Edu was healthy,” so I went with the idea of someone who can stand on his own. Yes, Edu is the exact player we need…but…
i would like to see bedoya out wide as well. we saw that even though he is better at the 8 than the 10, he and medunjanin together in the middle isn’t defensively solid enough. i would like to see
…………..cj
bedoya…alberg…fafa
…….jones..haris
gaddis..cb..cb..rosenberry
………..blake
i’m not sure which side bedoya or fafa should be on, but i would like to see them as the two wide players
I agree with this attacking idea. Medunjanin or Bedoya can play as the 8. Neither can play as a 6, unless we switch to 3 at the back (ha!)
I like this.
CB’s should be Marquez/Yaro. Speaking of…it’s time to get a real timetable on Yaro’s return.
Wasn’t he supposed to be back already?
I think the original timeline was right around now. I would LOVE to see him at least on the bench in LA.
Medunjanin is Nogueria, exceptNogueria always had a #6 playing next to him while Medunjanin is asked to play the #6 himself. We would be seeing the same results is Nogueria was asked to do that too.
If you think Medunjanin is in the same universe as Nogueira defensively, you need to go back and rewatch. Not even close. Medunjanin is a statue. Nogueira was everywhere. Not even comparable.
I remember it differently, but maybe you are right. Although it’s true that Nogueria was never asked to play the 6.
I think you are both correct. Nogs was more mobile than Medunjanin, but was most effective with a stay at home defend only 6 like Carroll than he was when paired with Edu, who also like to get forward himself.
–
Either way, I miss Nogs and Barnetta. Any changes with this roster is just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
I recommend the documentary ‘Eat Grass’ about Antonio Conte and how the Italian Calcio School-O taught him about the frivolity of being married to a formation. And how he learned there to be fluid in all manner of his management as evidenced at almost every in his teaching career where he saw something wasn’t right then Reworked His Team’s formation, drilled the expectation into his players then VOILA.
.
Eat Grass. Any one of you souls that visit this page that in anyway has contact with the coaches and manager of the first team. Psst. Pass it along.
.
Quick hurry. I know there is one if you here. Help your manager out. This would be considered joystick parenting if I was on the sideline of a child’s game which it appears I am so…. here’s me controlling it.
.
Alpha Omega. Hurry hurry scurry scurry. Get his ear. Give him this info to set himself free.
Way off topic here and I’m not sure who the hosting provider is or how PSP handles the comments section, but next time PSP does an upgrade or change to the site, can you please consider incorporating a like or thumbs up button for the comments?
.
There are so many good comments on this site under almost every article. I’d love to be able to just click a like or thumbs up, rather than comment “+1”. The hostage note comment from pragmatist above had me laughing hard.
.
Even though it’s a dark time for the U right now, I love coming to this site for all the content and commentary. I can’t say it enough, but I’m so thankful to have this site.
Glad I could help brighten up a dreary Monday.
.
I agree that this site is the light in the very dark place where we live. Some tend to skew towards the exceptionally apocalyptic views, while others find hope where none should exist. Some of us live in between.
.
But at the end of the day, this is hands-down the single best soccer website on the internet (with a little hometown bias, of course).
.
Maybe Dan and the boys can get a guest column now and then from Ives Galaracep, or Matt Doyle, or the MIB (that would be fantastic). Of course, we’d expect a Philly slant to whatever they contribute. It doesn’t hurt to ask, and it might help raise the profile a little more.
.
Just a thought…
Like, +1, upvote, whatever to both of these takes.
–
Former STH, sometime commenter, daily reader – what PSP offers – the quality of the posts – I’m told in the preview why we will SSM, the ratings will judge how much WSSM, and there will be detailed analysis of how WS’dSM – along with the regular commenters. Yes, all have our biases and favs/villans, but for the most part everyone stays civil, calls a spade a spade, and seems to come back week after week. Good luck finding that anywhere else on the Internet, regardless of the topic.
–
Rant over. Can we sign a real # 9 and 10 now?