Photo: Marjorie Elzey
Philadelphia Union entered last night’s match looking to break a five-game winless streak and a habit of losing leads. They did manage to not give up a lead, but extended their winless streak to six with a rotated squad against a struggling Inter Miami side.
On to the ratings.
Player Ratings
Andre Blake – 6
Wasn’t tested too much during the match, but was lucky the right post was on his side on Campana’s shot.
Olivier Mbaizo – 5
If this was Mbaizo’s chance to get back into the starting lineup, he certainly didn’t take it. Was pinned deep too many times and not involved offensively.
Stuart Findlay – 6
Gave Findlay an extra point for seeing limited action recently and coming into the lineup. Did a fine job in defense, would like to see him more a threat on set pieces.
Jakob Glesnes – 7
A similar outing to Findlay defensively, and almost scored another long range effort if not for the post.
Kai Wagner– 6
An okay outing for Wagner, could have been involved more offensively but recovered defensively.
Leon Flach – 5
Tried to do his best Jose Martinez impression with the midfielder out of the lineup, and did an alright job. Was unfairly cautioned on a clean tackle early in the match.
Alejandro Bedoya – 5
The Union needed more from their captain in a match missing a few starters. Less effective in his role without Martinez covering and had to share more defensive responsibilities.
Daniel Gazdag – 7
One of the the best players on the field for Philadelphia, and should have had a goal or two if his chip attempt wasn’t cleared off the line. Another good outing for the Hungarian.
Jack Elliott – 5
Seemed a little slow in the midfield, even for a defender. Elliott is best when attackers have to slow when coming in on goal, not at the midfield position he was forced into.
Cory Burke – 5
Another just okay outing for Burke, who runs a lot but never seems to be in a finishing position. A chance for both strikers to show their worth, and both left something to be desired.
Sergio Santos – 5
Santos does well with his speed and willingness to run, but has been snakebitten all year. Much like Burke, had a chance to prove something and didn’t take it.
Subs
Paxten Aaronson – 5
Brought some energy in his 30 minutes, but not enough to find a goal.
Nate Harriel – 6
Got in more advanced positions than Mbaizo and wasn’t caught out defensively.
Quinn Sullivan- 5
Looked to be the speed option replacing Santos up top but couldn’t really get anything going with Burke.
Jack McGlynn – N/A
A brief 10 minute spell for the homegrown in the dying stages.
Player of the Match – Daniel Gazdag
In a scoreless match where neither goalie stole a goal, it has to go to the man who scored the closest goal. Gazdag has been vital to the Union attack and almost added another goal.
Geiger Counter
Fotis Bazakos – 4
Called a pretty even game, but shouldn’t have given a card to Flach for an early tackle, forcing the midfielder off around the 60 minute mark. Let some fouls go during the match.
Ratings are nearly spot on. I would mark Elliot lower though. He was constantly pulled out of position, and didn’t present himself as an outlet nearly enough for the backline. As excellent as he is as a center back, he was very much like a baby giraffe on ice at the base of the diamond.
Definitely agree that Elliott was poor at the No. 6. I asked Curtin about it after the match. I’m paraphrasing, but he basically said that they expected to have more of the ball and thought Elliott would be best in that role. Reflecting after the match, Jim said it was probably “unfair” to put Elliott in that position.
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You can really see how valuable Martinez is when you take him out of the team. Elliott couldn’t replace his ball-winning, the amount of ground he covers, or his role in moving the ball when the team has possession.
Great point about how Martinez’s attributes are difficult to replace.
Most casual soccer fans struggle to appreciate a good cdm.
Not to mention for as critical a role that Martinez plays for the Union he’s underpaid, almost criminally so.
I’m curious if Flach would do a better job replacing Martinez in that role, given the lack of possession.
I would argue for bumping Blake up to a 7. Thought he made a good number of key interventions, coming off his line to make several potentially catastrophic things appear to be routine collections on his part. Just rock-solid on the night.
Made some terrfic saves.
A draw against the 12th place team and no one gets below a 5? Sorry, back to the drawing board and republish with ratings that reflect the results and an inability to score.
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The yellow may have been harsh, but when you slide tackle from behind and take out the man, you are going to get called for the foul 9 times out of 10 even if you get the ball first. And a yellow is frequently not far behind.
Andy — commanding that we “republish” an article with ratings that are more in line with what you’d like to see isn’t a helpful contribution to the discussion. If you’d like to write the player ratings for a match sometime, feel free to reach out.
Peter, you and the team at PSP do a much better job than I ever could with these, both at with the writing and paying enough attention throughout the game to be able to come up with an individual number for everyone. That’s why I usually only comment on one or two.
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That being said, I wasn’t seriously suggesting you republish the article so much as stating that given the result the overall ratings are, in my opinion, too high. As a comparison, the average rating for the draw at LAFC was only about a third of a point higher than these. I think we all agree that a draw at LAFC is a much better result than a home draw against Inter Miami.
Going all Negadelphia here.
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No MOTM for this game. Disjointed effort from a mish-mash of players that haven’t seen the field together enough to mesh.
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Game was there for the taking. No one wanted to grab it.
Amen Rob… no one stepped forward and wanted it. That’s all on Curtin.
Considering the opponent, and the outcome, very poor effort from the entire squad. Just a boring lackluster match.
Does anyone know why Harriel was subbed-out in the pink cows match and why he didn’t start against Miami?
He looks tired lately? As refreshing as he was early on, his passing and his defensive marking have suffered. Rotation often keeps players fresh and hungry especially during a busy stretch.
I think it was related to having 3 games and a cross country trip in 8 days. Would rather see him get some rest this time of year than have him gassed come late October.
General aggreement with above, however, for the record, McGlynn hit better passes in his 10 minutes then the whole team did for 80 min. As an example I thought he was more viable than Quinn.
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There is value worth numerating there I think.
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Carry on.
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Union are fine. Need them to sign Wagner to a new contract. That is the pressing issue today.
And Martinez, or at the least give the man a pay raise.
based on rumors wagneris going to a top league in europe this summer…
If the rumors are true about Wagner going to Europe this summer, seems fairly urgent give Flach or someone else some time at left back.
Sorry but Real is not starter-level for this team.
Is it fair to be critical of Jose’s replacement? After all, and this is the elephant in the room, if there was someone on the bench that would have measured up to Jose at that position we would probably be used to seeing him frequently, saving Jose from 2nd yellow cards. My point being, if we have to borrow our best center back to fill in at defensive mid, what does that say about our team?
I feel partly responsible for this winless stretch. After the last U win I pointed out the Union were 4 wins away from reaching a.500 all time record for the first time since game 2 of their existence. Winless in 6 since. Coincidence? To be safe, I would like to publicly apologize for offending the soccer gods with my haughty bravado…please let us win again.
I hope this apology will be enough but will understand if it’s determined I should be thrown off the Cliff of Union Despair as a more meaningful gesture.
you’re good. careful though. 🙂
I would’ve given Pax a 6 or a 7. Drew numerous fouls on the ball and was involved in a couple of the best chances on the night. The run into the box being his best play (danny H thought he shouldv’e gone down for the pk). Off-topic, but I’d like to see him go find the ball a bit more, and be more assertive in that sense when he’s playing in the attack. He definitely has the ability to do that, just needs to build the confidence. He is playing with and against grown men after all, so that will come in time haha.
How did Mbaizo not get a 1 or 2? Every touch was a debacle and unlike his past performance he didn’t even deliver crosses going forward. He needs a new home to give him a chance to reboot his career. He clearly isn’t over his late ‘21 debacles.