Photo: Marjorie Elzey
The Philadelphia Union continued their slide in playing form, this time on the west coast against LA Galaxy. Missing key pieces and a large volume of matches are starting to take a toll on a Union side who were on a long unbeaten streak just last month.
Player ratings
Joe Bendik — 3
It’s clear that Bendik is no Andre Blake. Even so, an MLS starting goalkeeper should do much better on the first and second goals of the night.
Olivier Mbazio — 5
Wasn’t involved much in the offense as he normally is, which is a bigger issue with Kai Wagner’s injury. Also recorded an own goal which adds insult to injury.
Jakob Glesnes — 5
A little at fault for the first goal, but not sure what he could have done on the second and third goals. Set up the goal with a bounce of luck.
Jack Elliott — 5
Similar to Glesnes, not much fault can go to Elliott on any goal. Still, it never looks good when the opponent puts three past you.
Matt Real – 4
Making a rare start for Wagner, Real was trying to get into advanced positions but lacked some chemistry. A little late on defensive recoveries.
Alejandro Bedoya — 4
Bedoya hasn’t been his usual self since returning from his calf injury earlier this year. Seems to be just a step late, especially when the midfield has a bad outing.
José Martinez — 5
The early yellow card really affected how Martinez was able to operate the midfield. Wasn’t able to set the tone with tackles and had trouble containing Puig.
Leon Flach — 4
Leon Flach has shown he has a great partnership with Martinez defensively. The problem is when the Union go down early, especially on the road, Flach struggles to be involved offensively.
Dániel Gazdag — 4
Hard to give Gazdag a high score when Philadelphia didn’t have much offensive threat. Gazdag excels in setting up chances for the strikers, which was notably absent Saturday night.
Mikael Uhre — 5
The goal breaks a cold streak for the team but was not involved much in the game at all besides the strike. A team-wide problem more than an individual one.
Julián Carranza — 4
Similar to Uhre, not much from Carranza on the night. A frustrating evening for the strikers.
Substitutes
Nathan Harriel — 5
A more offensive-minded sub who was unable to provide a spark. Not a bad showing though.
Jack McGlynn — 4
A frustrating 20 minutes for McGlynn, who was looking to get into the game but just wasn’t connecting with teammates.
Joaquin Torres – 4
More minutes may have helped Torres into the game but wasn’t very noticeable.
Jesus Bueno – 5
A brief 10-minute stint of action for the midfielder. Made some plays but overall nothing noticeable.
Geiger Counter
Fotis Bazakos- 5
A pretty good night for the man in yellow. Gave an early yellow which affected some play, but did not have much influence in the game.
Man of the Match — Riqui Puig
A beautiful goal from the Spanish midfielder and was a thorn in Philadelphia’s side all night.
I think PSP is showing a bit of favoritism with their scores here. It was a 3-1 loss and yet except for one 3 (which is extremely generous), all of the scores were 4’s and 5’s with more of the latter.
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I’ll also question the 5 for Bazakos. Given the early yellows to the Union, and lack of yellows to LA, I found it difficult to figure out what should be a yellow. This really came to the forefront in the second half when Carranza was fouled around midfield, the announcers mentioned that VAR was looking at the foul, and the players closest to seeing any sort of card were Glesnes and Martinez for asking where the card was.
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And worst of all was the Apple coverage of the game (as I also said in my comments on the game review). In addition to the obvious technical difficulties resulting in missing the third goal, time and again, they showed Puig jogging up the field or one of the LA players laying on the ground when play was clearly going on offscreen. To be honest, it’s somewhat surprising that they didn’t miss any of the other goals by focusing on the wrong thing.
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And relating to the lack of card when Carranza was fouled which I mentioned above, where was the replay on that so we could know why VAR was looking at it?
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In summary, Saturday night I think the Union sucked and the ref was mediocre at best, but since I didn’t fly out to LA to watch the game, it’s hard to know for sure since Apple barely showed any of the actual game.
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Over/Under on how much of the actual game will be seen on Apple for Miami’s first League’s Cup game: 10 minutes when Messi is in the same screen as the ball. The other 80 minutes will be taken up watching Messi scratch his balls or pick his nose while waiting for the ball to come to him.
Again: MLS is producing the games, NOT Apple. MLS is producing the content for MLS Season Pass, NOT Apple. I realize this ruffles a lot of feathers, but they are the facts. The production issues, replay timing, camera footage all fall on MLS’ shoulders.
Whoever it is, it was an unprofessional, crappy job. And given that it has been marketed that Apple is the face of MLS, they are the ones that get the blame. And given that it has been consistently worse than prior years, as far as I’m concerned, it is affecting my enjoyment of the game as much if not more than the poor play of the Union on the road.
Just wondering, how do you know this? Do you have any info on who manages/selects the announcing teams?
Clearly jaykoz3 has some sort of connection to apple. Either professionally or financially invested which is totally fine. He is an apple apologist and will defend the corporation no matter what the issue is. I’m a Mac book and iPhone guy and love their products but the apple leap into the mls has/will not be successful. Could you imagine paying an extra fee just to have the ability to dine at TGIF’s, red lobster or Applebees? I can watch NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB and premier league but I have to pay more for mls…? Bizarro world marketing….
All one has to do is actually READ the myriad of press coverage of the broadcast deal MLS made. It clearly states that MLS will be providing the production and broadcasts of all games and content. The league built a brand new studio in downtown NYC specifically to broadcast the games, MLS 360, and Extratime Radio.
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Just because someone has a differing viewpoint then your own, doesn’t make them a paid shill, employee, owner, etc.
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We already PAY to watch the NBA, NHL, NFL, etc. Some choose to pay Comcast upwards of $300/month to watch sports, and other content.
“Hard to give Gazdag a high score when Philadelphia didn’t have much offensive threat. Gazdag excels in setting up chances for the strikers, which was notably absent Saturday night.”
Gazdag is our 10, it’s HIS job to start the offensive threat…
Yes, however, when the rest of the midfield cannot get him the ball….. it makers it difficult for Gazdag to create offense
Can someone please explain this? Originally I read this was a loan for the rest of season…. but it doesn’t appear that way now.
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Why was he traded? I thought he was a ‘Union can’t miss prospect’?
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Brandan Craig, M
Traded to Austin FC (ATX) from Philadelphia (PHI) for 2024 3rd round pick and $125,000 2024 General Allocation Money
It is a loan for the rest of the season. The U get the 3rd round pick and GAM up to 125k based upon undisclosed requirements. This is good for BC because he’ll get MLS starts/minutes – Austin is really thin at CB.
Agreed…. wording said ‘traded’… to me that’s pretty final.
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He’s not traded, check the wording of the official announcement.
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On the Union’s own website he is still listed but labelled as “loaned out.”
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He will have to earn his minutes in Austin on his own. No guarantees. But Austin has paid an appropriate price, and he will get a chance.
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Probably a first-team writer may take a look at how he’s doing, after he’s had some time to get comfortable with how Josh Wolff wants things done. It would be a surprise if he gets minutes immediately.
Tim, never read the MLS web site/app. Besides not being up to date on Union stories until it seems a “dump” happens, that site is worse than apple’s announcers and like Tass was operated for the Soviets.
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The only thing I check that site for is attendance figures (seriously) to laugh at the lies MLS issues in the #s.
Or to find out which game Ted Unkle is reffing that night and bet other games!
Peace to all, except Nashville tonight.
Poop or Doop?