Analysis

With more games ahead, the Union’s 2023 schedule will be packed

Photo: Marjorie Elzey

Philadelphia Union are back in training ahead of the 2023 campaign, a season that will be unlike any that has come before.

Playing games on “short rest,” i.e. the sequence of a midweek game bracketed by games on the preceding and following weekends, describes the pace at which a majority of the Union’s 2023 schedule will be played.

The 2023 Union will play not only their MLS schedule. They also will play three “in-season” tournaments:

  • the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (SCCL)
  • the Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup (OC)
  • the newly expanded Leagues Cup (LC) involving Major League Soccer and Liga MX

The first two have official schedules with announced match windows. The Leagues Cup has announced only the start, the finish, fifteen three-team groups, and a five-stage knockout round.  World Cups are cited as informative examples for what is not yet officially known.

The tournaments could add as many as 20 games to MLS’s regular season of 34. The additions themselves will create many midweek games. And the thirty days cleared of MLS matches from July 21 to August 19 to allow the Leagues Cup’s expansion will create more.

A maximized “all competitions” first-team regular season schedule for 2023

The “worst” case, the one creating the most short rest games, would occur if the Union made all three tournament finals. We illustrate that “quadruple” in the schedule estimate charted below.

1st

MLS – 1

8th day

Saturday

25-Feb

HOME

Columbus

7:30 PM

2nd

MLS – 2

7th day

Saturday

4-Mar

away

Miami

7:30 PM

3rd

SCCL16 – 1

3rd day

Tuesday

7-Mar

away

Allianza

8:00 PM

4th

MLS – 3

4th day

Saturday

11-Mar

HOME

Chicago

7:30 PM

5th

SCCL16 – 2

3rd day

Tuesday

14-Mar

HOME

Allianza

8:00 PM

6th

MLS – 4

4th day

Saturday

18-Mar

away

Montreal

7:30 PM

7th

MLS – 5

7th day

Saturday

25-Mar

HOME

Orlando

7:30 PM

8th

MLS – 6

7th day

Saturday

1-Apr

HOME

Kansas City

7:30 PM

9th

SCCLQ? – 3

3rd day?

Tue-Wed?

4/5-Apr

H/a?

???

???

10th

MLS – 7

4th day

Saturday

8-Apr

away

Cincinnati

7:30 PM

11th

SCCLQ? – 4

3rd day?

Tue-Wed?

11/12-Apr

H/a?

???

???

12th

MLS – 8

4th day

Saturday

15-Apr

away

Chicago

8:30 PM

13th

MLS – 9

7th day

Saturday

22-Apr

HOME

Toronto

7:30 PM

14th

SCCLS? – 5

3rd day?

Tue-Wed?

25-Apr

H/a?

???

???

15th

SCCLS? – 6

7th day?

Tue-Wed?

2-May

H/a?

???

???

16th

MLS – 10

4th day

Saturday

6-May

away

NY Rd Bull

7:30 PM

17th

OC32 – 1

3rd day?

Tue-Thu?

9-May?

???

???

???

18th

MLS – 11

4th day

Saturday

13-May

away

Colorado

9:30 PM

19th

MLS – 12

4th day

Wednesday

17-May

HOME

D. C.

7:30 PM

20th

MLS – 13

3rd day

Saturday

20-May

HOME

N. England

7:30 PM

21st

OC16? – 2

3rd day

Tuesday

23-May

H/a?

???

???

22nd

MLS – 14

4th day

Saturday

27-May

away

NYC FC

7:30 PM

23rd

MLS – 15

4th day

Wednesday

31-May

HOME

Charlotte

7:30 PM

24th

MLS – 16

3rd day

Saturday

3-Jun

HOME

Montreal

7:30 PM

25th

SCCLF? – 8

1st Day

Sunday

4-Jun

???

???

???

26th

OCQ – -3

2nd day

Tuesday

6-Jun

???

???

???

27th

MLS – 17

4th day

Saturday

10-Jun

away

San Jose

10:30 PM

28th

MLS – 18

11th day

Wednesday

21-Jun

away

Orlando

7:30 PM

29th

MLS – 19

3rd day

Saturday

24-Jun

HOME

Miami

7:30 PM

30th

MLS – 20

8th day

Sunday

2-Jul

away

Atlanta

4:00 PM

31st

MLS – 21

6th day

Saturday

8-Jul

away

LA Galaxy

10:30 PM

32nd

MLS – 22

4th day

Wednesday

12-Jul

away

Nashville

8:30 PM

33rd

MLS – 23

3rd day

Saturday

15-Jul

HOME

NYC FC

7:30 PM

34th

LC RR – 1

6th day

Friday

21-Jul

H/a?

Unseeded Draw?

???

35th

LC RR – 2

6th day?

Thursday?

27-Jul?

H/a?

Tijuana

???

36th

LC Rd of 32

4th day?

Monday?

31-Jul?

H/a?

???

???

37th

LC Rd of 16

6th day?

Sunday?

6-Aug?

H/a?

???

???

38th

LC Quarter

4th day?

Thursday?

10-Aug?

H/a?

???

???

39th

LC Semi

3rd day?

Sunday?

14-Aug?

H/a?

???

???

40th

LC Final

6th day?

Saturday

19-Aug

away

???

???

41st

MLS – 24

1st day

Sunday

20-Aug

HOME

Dallas

7:30 PM

42nd

OCS? – 4

3rd day

Wednesday

23-Aug

???

???

???

43rd

MLS – 25

3rd day

Saturday

26-Aug

away

D. C.

7:30 PM

44th

MLS – 26

4th day

Wednesday

30-Aug

away

Toronto

7:30 PM

45th

MLS – 27

4th day

Sunday

3-Sep

HOME

NY Rd Bull

7:30 PM

46th

MLS – 28

13th day

Saturday

16-Sep

HOME

Cincinnati

7:30 PM

47th

MLS – 29

4th day

Wednesday

20-Sep

away

Charlotte

7:30 PM

48th

MLS – 30

3rd day

Saturday

23-Sep

HOME

LA FC

7:30 PM

49th

OCF? – 5

4th day

Wednesday

27-Sep

???

???

???

50th

MLS – 31

3rd day

Saturday

30-Sep

away

Columbus

7:30 PM

51st

MLS – 32

4th day

Wednesday

4-Oct

HOME

Atlanta

7:30 PM

52nd

MLS – 33

3rd day

Saturday7-Oct

HOME

Nashville

7:30 PM

53rd

MLS – 34

14th day

Saturday

21-Oct

away

N. England

TBD

54th

Possible

re-schedule

from 31-May

that we have

no way at all of guessing.

In each match’s vertical column the third item from the top indicates on what day after the preceding game a specific match would be played. All times are eastern.

  • Where a detail has a question mark, it is estimated not official.
  • Exponents indicate the round of the tournament.
  • We have guessed Leagues Cup’s schedule using its announced parameters and officially cited examples. The Union are the top MLS seed in the group stage.
  • All officially announced schedule information is subject to further adjustment as need arises.
Schedule adjustments will be needed

In the schedule above, the 23rd match — the bold-faced, italicized, underlined one — is scheduled for the exact same day as the first leg of the SCCL final. We do not guess how the conflict might be resolved because there are too many variables and no way to reduce them. (Hence, we detail only 53 matches, not 54.)

Two times above in the chart, games fall on back-to-back days (June 3-4 & August 19-20). The juxtapositions involve MLS’s regular season and the second leg of the SCCL final and the Leagues Cup final respectively. Should they occur those sequences would probably be changed.

One time above, a match is scheduled on the second day (June 6). It involves SCCL’s final and the Open Cup quarterfinal.

Fully combined as currently announced and estimated from May 31st to June 6,  the Union could have five games in seven days.  TV would probably govern any adjustments. Concacaf and USSF would be involved in addition to MLS, other leagues, and the individual clubs.

Midweek-style “short rest” will be a year-long challenge

In 2023 playing on midweek rest will not be exceptional. It will be normal. Depending on how far the Union advance in their three tournaments, as many as two-thirds or perhaps only five-ninths of all matches will occur on the third or fourth day after their predecessors.

In the unlikely event that the Union reach all three tournament finals (the schedule charted above), we estimate that 35 times out of the 54 games, a match would be scheduled on the 3rd or 4th day. At 64.8%, that would mean slightly less than two out of every three matches of the entire regular season would be played on a midweek game’s short rest.

In the equally unlikely event that the Union were immediately eliminated from its three tournaments, 24 out of 39 matches would occur on the third or fourth day. At 61.5% that would be slightly less than five out of every eight on short rest.

To illustrate only one of the myriad “middle” scenarios, if the Union were to make all three quarterfinal rounds but fail to reach any semifinals, 25 of 44 matches would occur on the third or fourth day. At 56.8% that would be slightly more than five out of every nine on short rest.

Conclusion

Every player on the Union’s 27 or 28 man roster, Ernst Tanner’s stated size expectation, will have to pull every bit of his own weight in 2023. Long-term competitive survival will depend on squad rotation, especially if the team strives for success in all four competitions, a strategy Tanner and Jim Curtin  have advocated in the past. Injuries could trigger short-term extreme hardship emergency promotions of professionals from Union II, but only of professionals.

The technical staff must rotate the squad. The reserves, particularly the deep-lying developmental ones, must meet the challenge. The sports science staff must continue to minimize injuries.

After everything described above occurs, the Union will  face the MLS Cup playoffs. Whether the playoffs will follow last year’s model or undergo significant revision as leaked in late October, the public does not yet know.

9 Comments

  1. After that heartbreaking loss last year, the MLS Cup should be the priority!

  2. Tim, I’m curious where you saw the specific dates for the Leagues Cup group stage (or are those just guesses)? I’m just wondering if the top seed in the group would likely play 1st and 3rd or 2nd and 3rd?

  3. HI Andy, Deez Nuggs is correct. I am guessing that detail.
    .
    I am taking literally the assertion that the tournament starts on July 21st and that everyone will play on that date, an assumption that will be borne out only when the actual schedule is released, I suspect.
    .
    I am then assuming that “survive and advance” to the next immediate round will be best facilitated by the most rest possible, so the top seed plays 1st and third in each group.
    .
    I am further assuming that the top seed opens against the non-seeded team and finishes against the other seeded team, on that sixth day of rest when the other seeded team will be playing on three days of rest.
    .
    Those three guesses follow the principle that the higher seeded team gets every possible advantage, which may well be incorrect, since it favors MLS universally at the expense of Liga MX. But I just thought of that problem, and I don’t think of an alternative way to do it.
    .
    Since my basic point was to discover the Uniion’s game frequency, how many times they have to play on short rest, and since the article is already published, I’m not going to go back and try to think up an alternative scheme to create balance between the two leagues on that point.
    .
    Last comment: There is an article on Wikipedia titled “2023 Leagues Cup” that seems both up-to-date now and likely to be updated as further information is announced. It’s charts are MOST helpful. Hopefully its author(s) will keep it current as new information becomes known.
    .

    • Thanks, Tim. I had seen the Wikipedia article. Although MLS will have home field advantage, I don’t think they are considered the higher seed in 7 or 8 of the groups (one group has the 8th seed from each league).

  4. I think we are going to see a lot more mid-field rotation. If Kai is transferred (without replacement) it will move one of the potential swing midfielders to full back. (and even if he is replaced Real will become much more valuable as a player who can reliably play multiple positions.)

    After seeing this, the fact that MLS is even talking about a best of 3 first round of MLS cup shows how little they care about either the health of the players or the quality of the product on the field.

  5. As always, I appreciate Tim Jones’ amazingly thorough research into this topic. I’d opine that the Union seek the MLS Cup, and Concacaf success. Despite the lip service they sandbag the Open Cup and the new whatever Leagues Cup. They’ll compete for sure, but it’ll be the B team for those two competitions. It’s too many games, you have to choose your goals.

    • Naw, Jim will play the starters every game and everyone will be injured or dead-legged by the MLS playoffs. Just you wait. Love the players but the organization and coach are bush-league.

      • Last year Curtin played pretty much all backups in the Open Cup. Not sure why you expect anything different this year.
        .
        I’m guessing how the handle the Leagues Cup will depend on how the season is going.

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