Photo: Paul Rudderow

Shoot for the moon, the saying goes, and even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.

I have sometimes jokingly reformulated this aphorism differently: shoot for the moon, but if you miss you’ll drift off into the inky blackness of space with little hope of survival or rescue.

Same situation; two perspectives. Do you try to accomplish something unlikely, safe in the knowledge that you’ll accomplish more in the attempt than if you simply didn’t try? Or do you set your sights lower, afraid of the consequences of failure to meet a lofty goal?

For much of their franchise history — and especially the last three years — Philadelphia Union have been in the latter camp, satisfied with a perpetual goal of sixth place in an eleven-team conference.

This season, however, there are signs that the Union aren’t willing to settle for mediocrity.

It’s paid off in their hot start to the season.

Setting “franchise records”

For the last three seasons, the tag-team of Earnie Stewart and Jim Curtin preached patience and expectation management. The club’s leaders made it clear that they simply couldn’t hope to compete for the top spots in the Eastern Conference, and set about putting their team together accordingly.

The Union made almost no in-season transactions to gear up for the stretch run, ran out the same lineup week after week now matter how much certain players were struggling, barely attempted to win matches away from home, and seemed satisfied with squeaking into the playoffs.

(Is it fair to lump Curtin in with Stewart here? I think so. Curtin’s conservative tendencies were evident in 2014 and 2015, even before Stewart ever took the job. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t get credit for the job he’s done this season, but it does mean that we shouldn’t look at this season’s eight-game sample and call this “the real Jim Curtin.”)

Union marketing all winter long focused on the club’s “franchise-record” number of points earned last year. That is, of course, true — in the same sense that my latest YouTube video diary set a personal record with 657 views. (Note: this, mercifully for everyone, does not actually exist.) It’s just not very impressive when your “franchise record” is coupled with another pathetic playoff exit.

It seemed as if the Union were afraid to set their sights on the sky, to dream of accomplishing something great. (The closest Union fans got to “shooting for the moon” was the long-debated construction of Fabinho’s sun rocket.) Understandably, each passing season saw energy ebb from Talen Energy Stadium. Malaise and fatalism reigned over the Union’s long-suffering supporters.

But things have seemed different ever since Ernst Tanner took charge.

The winds of change

In his end-of-season press conference, Tanner made it clear that he expected more from his manager and his squad than first-round playoff exits and Open Cup runner-up trophies.

He backed that up with an aggressive offseason that saw the Union splash more cash than any that came before. Even with Sergio Santos battling injuries and Marco Fabian in and out of the lineup, inspired signings like Kai Wagner and Jamiro Monteiro have infused the Union with quality in key positions.

Curtin, too, has discovered the benefits of aggression. After season after season of an unchanging squad, this year’s Union uses a new lineup seemingly every week. Curtin has pulled the plug on struggling strikers more quickly than in past years, been repaid for his faith in Brenden Aaronson with a sterling debut season, and experimented with multiple formations — sometimes even in the same game!

(To be fair to Stewart, too, some of this is the long game coming to fruition. Years of investment in the Union’s academy have stocked the roster with young, cheap, talented players. Homegrown keeper Matt Freese jogging on to replace superstar Andre Blake on Saturday is yet another example of that foresight paying off.)

More than anything, though, it seems like this Union isn’t willing to set their sights merely on sixth place. Curtin made it explicit after an excellent win over Montreal, one of the most encouraging statements I’ve ever heard the Union manager make.

This Curtin quote sums it up: “I challenged the guys this week. Do we want to be average and be in that fight for 5th through 12th in the Eastern Conference, or do we want to be a team that moves forward? The guys really stepped up to the challenge today.”

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) April 20, 2019

This is the sort of attitude that is not only more likely to lead to success on the pitch. It’s the type of attitude that will get the fanbase — understandably disheartened after year after year of failure — on your side. That’s exactly what this franchise needs right now.

Now, the Union aren’t completely free of some of their old habits. Curtin and his coaching staff have always talked about road matches like any pitch outside Chester is made of molten lava, targeting just one point (at best) from each away game. The Union do have one away win this year, but bad habits seemed to creep in last week when LA Galaxy (who are, in fairness, in terrific form this season) punished a lackadaisical Union side that looked uninterested in doing what it takes to win.

That’s why this Saturday’s match in Vancouver is so interesting to me. There are plenty of excuses the Union could use to avoid going for a win: cross-country (and across-country) travel, injuries to Fabian and Blake, a historical lack of success in Vancouver, etc.

Going for the win on the road against a struggling Whitecaps side would be yet more evidence that the Union aren’t afraid of losing.

Are they ready to shoot for the moon?