Photo by Earl Gardner

The Union stole three points from Minnesota United on Saturday afternoon.

Strategically, the team shifted their formation from Wednesday’s 4-2-3-1 back to a narrow diamond 4-4-2, their preferred shape for 2019. The Union were narrow in this match, as much as they’ve been in all season. That sort of familiarity in form didn’t make the team’s outing any more beautiful however. United forced the Boys in Blue into a plethora of bad decisions and poor positioning, wreaking havoc in the middle and forcing fullbacks Ray Gaddis and Kai Wagner into endless pirouettes and recovery runs.

And yet, the fact of the matter is the Union won.

Conceding possession and 29 shots, needing 36 clearances that felt more like 360, 15 blocks that felt infinite, and nearly a half a dozen bookings that could’ve been a baker’s, the Union won.

Talking tactics today feels a bit like describing the decision-making process of choosing the underpass under which one desperately parked the minivan while the tornado bore down. Interestingly, there is a corollary:

Stay compact. Bunker. Survive.

Perception v. Reality: Midfield edition

Data courtesy of WhoScored.com

The Union’s midfield were overrun on Sunday, and each player in the diamond is guilty in their own way.

• Brenden Aaronson just wasn’t up for it this week, finding only 19 touches in 69 minutes of work. This is what mathematicians call a regression to the mean, a term that is often used derogatorily but is truly an essential part of an athlete’s growth. It is, however, a part of the growth process that looks in the moment like a player getting worse.
• Alejandro Bedoya, lauded at one point by the broadcast team for his work ethic in chasing down a ball, was only chasing said ball because of his own heavy touch that let it get away. Don’t get Union fans started on his clearances… (Devil’s Advocate: Would the reader prefer Bedoya’s haphazard lumps in Minnesota over Marco Fabian’s attempt to dance through traffic in Toronto that ultimately led to Alejandro Pozuelo’s free kick goal?)
• Haris Medunjanin was part of a defensive group that were pulled and stretched in every sort of direction, pressed into service far more often than necessary because of the team’s inability to keep the ball. As the metronome, it’s his problem if the Union can’t keep time.
• Jamiro Monteiro? Most folks in this author’s soccer orbit thought it was his worst match in a Union shirt, bullied and cornered, double-teamed and harassed, slow to make the obvious pass and worst on the team in WhoScored.com’s “Bad control” category.

And yet, the fact of the matter is the Union won.

For all the things they did wrong, this foursome scored two of the team’s three goals, connected on 86.4% of their passes as a group, and collectively contributed 10 tackles, 8 interceptions, 7 clearances, and a blocked shot in their day’s work.

Stay compact. Bunker. Survive.

Andre Blake in: Superman Returns?

For much of 2019, Andre Blake has been a bystander. Going 90 minutes at a time and facing only a flubbed shot or two, the Jamaican hasn’t looked his former super-self because a phone booth transformation hasn’t been required.

Just being Clark Kent was sufficient.

On Sunday, in the face of so many shots that LMFAO and Lil’ Jon might cry “Uncle,” Blake put together a few more for the highlight reel. Requiring a measure of courage more than one of deft, Blake put his body on the line to earn his four stops, each one more valuable than the one before.

One is certain, however, that Blake will want at least Minnesota’s first goal back. Hassani Dotson, he of 7 total professional matches and of 0 total shots prior to kickoff, found Blake’s near post from distance. Sure Blake was screened and yes the outcome was unlikely enough to not truly prepare for it, but it’s the kind of the flunge the Union keeper must parry (in fencing a flunge is “a combination of a lunge and fleche.” Fore more fencing terminology, this is a good resource).

Gut checks and the Tao of Jim Curtin

Absolute gut-chuck win for Philly. On the road, thoroughly outplayed, gave up two leads, coming off of three straight dropped results at home.

Huge three points. They're now back atop the East.

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) June 2, 2019

Indeed.

On the road, in a beautiful new building where the hosts were unbeaten, serving as extras in the new progressive officiating experiment known as The Allan Chapman Project, fighting all the emotions that go with trying to get off the schneid in a wide open, back-and-forth, chippy-as-all-get-out affair with, oh by the way, your primary rival looming ahead of your midsummer holiday…

***GASP***

…the fact of the matter is the Union won.

This is Jim Curtin’s team.

Of what might a defensive-minded skipper approve? Certainly enough blocks to build a brick wall.

Taking one’s chances when they come? You betcha, as they say in Minnes-OH-ta, and the Union scored on nearly a quarter of their attempts.

Making smart fouls and grinding out a result with a heaping tablespoon of second half gamesmanship? Loons head coach Adrien Heath told epluribusloonum.com:

“I thought they were very, very good at, shall we say, being professional: knowing when to stay down. I thought it broke the flow of the game, when we had the energy of the crowd going.”

Check and mate.

This is the squad Jim Curtin has always wanted. This Buddy Ryan’s Gang Green, Fred Shero’s Broadstreet Bullies.

This team is Gritty.

OK. This team is Phang-ey, perhaps.

Either way, it’s Jim Curtin’s team and the Union are in first place in June for only the third time in team history. To boot, he’s managed this feat with a roster that will consist on Saturday of (at best) 19 available first team players.

I love Jim Curtin, man. Love him. Cut through extreme hurricane-force headwinds his first couple years (not without his own missteps), and patched together a balanced 18 with Homegrowns and budget attackers. Love him.

— Will Parchman (@WillParchman) June 3, 2019