Photo: Earl Gardner
Another road match, another loss.
More lackluster performances on offense led to just three shots on target and a 1-0 loss for the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night. Two of those shots came in the final 10 minutes. The players that were solid weren’t the ones that needed to be most. Don’t let the scoreline fool you.
Player ratings
Andre Blake — 4
Overall, it was an odd night for the usually reliable Blake. His mishap on the cross turned into the night’s lone goal out of halftime and honestly it looked like he didn’t even need to touch it. You’d expect Blake to catch a ball like that, but it was probably bending out of play. He made a couple very good saves near the end of the match, including a diving catch on a knuckling bender, but also mishit a few goal kicks out of the back. It simply wasn’t his night.
Keegan Rosenberry — 4
It was a very sloppy game for Rosenberry on the right side. He passed the ball straight to Columbus twice in the opening 11 minutes and was coerced into a silly foul by Cristian Martinez, who got the better of him on the night. No major mistakes on defense, but provided very little going forward.
Jack Elliott — 6
Elliott was sturdy enough in the middle of the defense. The ball slipped by him on the Crew’s goal, but he didn’t have a play on it. Blake was mostly to blame. Elliott also made a key block around the half-hour mark that probably prevented a shot on goal.
Auston Trusty — 6
Trusty, too, was nothing more than solid in the back. He kept Gyasi Zardes at bay for most of the match and held his own in front of net. He lost possession on a pair of long balls that rolled over the end line, but more or less did his job. His defending didn’t do the Union in either.
Fabinho — 5
The Brazilian surely hoped for a more productive return to the lineup. He was in the spotlight near the end of the first half when fellow fullback Harrison Afful blew by him and ripped a shot off the post. Fabinho didn’t even stretch to block it and was lucky it didn’t curl in. He didn’t appear fully fit at all.
Haris Medunjanin — 6
Medunjanin was very unselfish to dump the ball off to Sapong in the late goings and easily could have fired a chance on net. His apt vision wasn’t rewarded. He also took a cheeky early free kick in the first half, but Zack Steffen was ready for it. Despite a poor back-pass in the 51st minute that nearly sparked a counter, Medunjanin had a decent night sprinkled with some creativity.
Alejandro Bedoya — 6
The captain continued his recent form of late and had another solid match. He slipped through the back line in the first few minutes and nearly got a shot off and also slid a very inventive ball through the box in the 63rd minute, but no one was there to meet it. Bedoya, like many others, committed a needless foul or two as a byproduct of a physical play, but performed well as a whole. He’s one of a few players that isn’t contributing to the Union’s poor form.
Ilsinho — 3
Ilsinho had some completed passes and take-on or two. That’s about it. He doesn’t appear to be the answer moving forward. Cory Burke has provided more of a spark in limited minutes.
Borek Dockal — 4
Dockal’s highlight of the night came in the 79th minute when he fired the Union’s second shot on target. It was a very well struck volley on his left foot, but it flew right into the hands of Steffen. He also had a glaring giveaway or two in the midfield and was generally underwhelming yet again. Jim Curtin has suggested nothing other than he’ll keep playing.
David Accam — 2
Accam was a total ghost in the attack. After playing one dangerous cross in the opening five minutes, he abruptly disappeared, only to return when he walked off the pitch in the 59th minute. He didn’t have much help in this one, but he’s arguably been the most disappointing player of the season thus far. No flair, no pressure, no anything.
C.J. Sapong — 4
Frankly, Sapong probably should have scored on what was the Union’s best chance of the night in the 90th minute. Medunjanin slipped a nice ball into him near the six-yard box, but C.J.’s redirect was gathered by Steffen. He was matched physically by Jonathan Mensah and Lalas Abubakar for most of the match and clearly wasn’t 100 percent at that point, but still should have finished. It was the chance the entire attack had been waiting for.
Substitutes
Fafa Picault (59′) — 4
He was more involved than Accam, but so were the fans in the stands.
Marcus Epps (60′) — 4
The commentators said something about his first career goal and then poof, he’s gone. Not a productive pair of switches on the offensive end.
Raymon Gaddis (75′) — 5
Gaddis was fine, but was he really the right substitute down 1-0 on the road with 15 minutes? Was he ever going to change the play? Bring on Burke and switch the formation up. What do you have to lose?
Sapong MUST score on that ball in the 90th minute. I don’t care how great his hold-up play or defense or work ethic are, a striker needs to score when he gets service in the box at the end of the game with his team down by a goal — everything else is secondary.
But CJ was a little too slow, as usual.
Dude, I’m not sure what game you were watching, but Medunjanin deserves a 4 at best. He contributed a couple of good passes and that’s about it. I suppose he should’ve had an assist toward the end of the game. But he did his usual lackluster defensive work, and gave the ball away plenty.
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Worse than he was Dockal, who was a 3 if you’re being generous. The Union simply could not get the ball out of their own half. Who was to blame for that??? Columbus absolutely stymied our guys in the middle of the pitch, and they had no answer at all.
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Conversely, Picault was much better than a 4. He was the only one who actually played like he gave a damn about this match. I was ready to partially excuse Accam for lack of service until Picault came on and immediately played three times better. He should get a 6.
Yeah Dockal and Medunjanin are like… 2s maybe. Both were coughing up the ball in bad situations numerous times. And Haris needs to be way more aware of how the opposing midfield is playing and vary his ball movement. Dibble into midfield a little maybe instead of a long ball or an immediate backpass to the nearest CB. Picault multiple times was the only one pushing forward in the second half, much better than a 4.
These are way too high. No one had any energy or desire out there.
“Don’t let the score line fool you,” yet we give out an average starter rating of close to 5?
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I am sorry for being cantankerous. It should not be directed at the poor guy that has to rate this crap, but I would suggest a 3 point across the board cut is a more accurate representation of what happened last night in Columbus.
I defended the scores for last game but cannot do so for this game.
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quite literally could have posted one single word on a blank sheet of paper.
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IBID.
Way too generous with the ratings.
I feel like I am taking crazy pills…
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At this point, the whole “Curtin has a plan and a system, it’s just not working” defense that I hear is no longer a tenable stance. The players DON’t CARE. This team is bereft of belief, depleted of dedication, and have vacated their vocation under this coach. They don’t want to play for him. Please find a coach that can get players to play this sport in a professional manner.
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There are no consequences to playing poorly. You don’t play, only if you are injured. You have a high paid player that has not produced anything through nearly a quarter of the season (Accam/Medunjanin/Sapong, et al) and tell me a coach in any other sport that doesn’t sit the dude to think about how the pine feels on his rump, but here we are.
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We don’t play with the blood. (+5 hipster points to anyone who can name the reference)
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The only way you get benched on this team for poor performance is if you are under 25 and/or under $135k in salary.
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We have all seen the consequences at Talen this year, there is a true and easily identifiable economic consequence to poor play. Each game the white “UNION” lettering in the seats on the bridge side of the field becomes clearer and clearer. I can read, I’m sure you can too, but Earnie and Curtin (or should we just go with Curt & Earnie now?) can’t seem to draw the parallel between shit play and shit attendance.
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I desperately want to care about this team. I never played armored rugby, I sucked at funky cricket, was too short for roundball, and ice time is expensive (plus skating backwards is like–really freaking hard). I want to feel good about the local team in the sport that I know and love and still play. But the Union are more interested in great deals on denim jackets than great players on the field.
Word
STH since our inception, I’ve watched more games from home this season more than ever.
These player ratings are too high. This team continues to lack discipline in passing and urgency in attack. No quick play going forward, 1-2s, overlapping runs. etc. NOTHING. Zero creativity. Where in the F- has our offense gone? Did it leave with Nogs?
I would be interested in reading passing statistics within this team. I can’t believe what I’m seeing when one of our professional players just kicks the ball upfield with their head down. Drives me mad.
Something needs to change and it starts with who bears the most responsibility.
And he who bears the most responsibility would be… Earnie Stewart??? Or Jay Sugarman???