Photo: Stephen Speer

With tickets from a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend, I was able to attend this match in person, my first since 2019. It was an incredible experience, shared with many of you, I’m sure. Complicating my role as match analyzer, the seats were field level. While I highly recommend going to a game at field level if you ever get the chance—it’s such a fun experience to be so close to the players, with nothing between you and the action—it made observing the shapes of the teams difficult, as well as understanding how off-ball movement was developing. I intended to watch the match again, but because it was carried on Univision, I haven’t been able to figure out how to do that. Luckily for me (though apparently not so much for viewers at home—the official highlights skip from Alvas Powell’s chance in the 7th minute to Kacper Przybyłko’s miss in the 82nd), the match was not very complicated from a tactical point of view, and the way it played out can be easily understood.

Stalemate

Much of regular time played out in the equivalent of a staring contest, with neither team blinking. The opposing presses kept the ball away from either goal, with the Union having less of the ball, but looking more dangerous when they did have it. The Red Bull defense came into the game as one of the few units arguably better than the Union’s, having given up fewer goals. But if the defense was better, the offense was objectively worse, and rarely looked threatening.

The problem for the Union going forward was a lack of pace to get in behind after breaking the press. But as the game approached the hour mark, the Union began to find pockets between the three-man backline, and it became clear that pace could get at New York. Enter Sergio Santos. It felt harsh for Paxten Aaronson to be substituted, after a good showing from the young man, but the decision made sense. Santos proceeded to repeatedly unsettle the Red Bull defense, and only a series of misses by the Union’s striker corps prevented the game from ending in a regular-time victory.

Extra time changes

Gerhard Struber brought on John Tolkin for the extra period, and whether because of him, specifically, or a tactical tweak, the Red Bulls came alive in a way they had not during normal time. The Union, pushing to find a goal and showing signs of fatigue, were pulled apart around the outside, with Tolkin the prime mover and shaker. The Union needed to change something, but with Jamiro Monteiro not available, Santos and Burke already in the game, and only Ilsinho or Quinn Sullivan attacking options from the bench, the choices were few.

Sitting in the cold, the sun having set behind the stadium, and the cold air off the Delaware putting a chill in me, I admit to feeling a sense of creeping dread. The first 90 minutes of the game had me feeling good, like the Union were definitely the better team, and were going to make the break through. In extra time, I couldn’t help but think back to the first ten years, of blown cup finals and late season failures. This was a game that the team from those earlier days would have found a way to lose. That they didn’t is a credit to their resilience, and the skill of two very bad men.

Andre Blake, and Andre Blake’s reputation

The previous team didn’t have the God of Thunder, of course, but it also didn’t have two-time Goalkeeper of the Year Andre Blake playing at the peak of his powers. Blake was only required to make one official save in the game, on a breakaway in the 95th minute. Blake got down low to his left to palm away a dangerous shot from Patryk Klimala. That was a great stop, but there were two other chances, one a minute earlier, also from Klimala, and another from Kyle Duncan in the 112th that hit the post, where Blake’s reputation basically made the save for him.

In both cases, the shots came from Blake’s left, at relatively acute angles. Shots from that area are not the highest quality, but are often scored, because if the ball is on target to the back post and struck well, even a properly positioned goalkeeper will struggle to get a hand down fast enough to block it. While the Union defense did a good job closing the shooters down, forcing them to shoot quickly, both Klimala and Duncan knew that in order to beat Blake, putting the ball on frame wasn’t enough. The shot had to be in the absolute corner of the goal, in the hand’s-breadth that Blake couldn’t possibly touch.

In short, Blake’s shadow took two difficult shots and made them almost impossible. Had Klimala and Duncan simply put the ball on frame, there’s a good chance they would have scored, but because they were so aware of Blake’s shot stopping abilities, they shrank their own targets too small, and couldn’t hit.

Finishing

Okay, so we can’t get out of this piece without talking about the strikers. First, I want to say straight out that I spent much of the game feeling like Przybyłko was doing quite well, trying to link up through difficult circumstances, and getting frustrated with himself for failing. I’ve been on Team Kacper, and think he does a lot of things well that get overshadowed because he’s basically the only guy scoring goals for the Union. When no one is scoring, it’s easy to blame the striker, because scoring is his job. But in truth, the Union have done a poor job of making and converting chances, and it’s not simply on Przybyłko to get the ball in the net. He’s scored a good number, considering the chances he’s been given. Getting more goals needs to be addressed holistically, not simply with upgrading at striker.

And yet.

There were two moments in the game that encapsulated the Przybyłko problem. The most obvious one is the miss in the 81st. Santos had done so, so well to create the chance, and all Przybyłko had to do was get his feet right, get his knee over the ball, and poke it into the net. He didn’t or couldn’t do any of those things, and it is maddening.

However, the moment that really got my goat came somewhat earlier. Santos had been subbed on and Red Bull were completely unbalanced, unable to deal with the Union’s formation shift and speed at the top. The Union turned Red Bull over in midfield, and Przybyłko had the ball in the center circle, with Powell streaking up the right side, Santos streaking up the left. The Red Bull defense wasn’t anywhere. But instead of picking one of his teammates, releasing the ball, and starting a 2v1 or 3v2 break, Przybyłko took a touch. And another touch. And then got tackled from behind and turned the ball over.

I cannot imagine what he was thinking. Literally, what was the calculus in Przybyłko’s mind that would lead him to keep the ball, rather than give it up to one of two teammates in much-higher-leverage positions? My mind is still boggled.

Strikers miss chances. Even the very best sky shots that seem easier to score. Santos himself missed a chance nearly as badly as Przybyłko, not to mention the possibly-deflected Cory Burke shot. But breaking the team concept in ways that hurt your chances of winning is simply unacceptable. If you’re going to call your own number at times when it seems like the wrong choice, you have to be clinical. You can’t be selfish and also miss. I think Przybyłko is better than what we saw in those two moments, but he needs to show his best self if the Union are to persist with him and be successful.

Tor

In the end, though, came Jakob Glesnes, to purify his team of its sins. Never before have I felt such an incredible, intense, electric catharsis. That goal will stay with me for the rest of my days. I have never seen anything like it in person. It still seems unimaginable, and I watched it with my own eyes.

JAKOB GLESNES BANGER TO WIN IT IN THE 123RD MINUTE!!!#PHIvRBNY // @Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/vEx5QBgWDg

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 20, 2021

Savor it, Union fans. Moments like that don’t come along every day.