Photo: Ron Soliman
The Philadelphia Union suffered their fifth straight loss in horrific fashion on Wednesday evening at the hands of the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field. The Union conceded three late second half goals to fumble a match they were in full control of until late.
This is the first time in franchise history the team have lost 5 straight games.
Daniel Gazdag returned to the starting XI for the Union from his stint with the Hungarian National team in the European Championship. Markus Anderson also returned to the mix, but spent the entire contest on the bench.
The Union were without Jose Martinez to International Duty and a whole host of players to injury.
Tai Baribo picked up back spasms in the last match, and he failed to dress after practicing in a limited fashion this week. Mikael Uhre missed his second straight match with an abductor strain. And both Alejandro Bedoya (hamstring) and Andre Blake (knee) have returned to practice, but are not ready for game minutes.
The Union dominated possession early in the match but struggled to find a way through Chicago’s defense. Philly remained patient, however, and for the most part, were responsible in possession. Their press were active – harassing Chicago further up the pitch than in most recent matches
It took a half hour for first blood to be drawn – Chicago struck first in the 30th minute. A Leon Flach turnover led to Fabian Herbers leading the break the other way. The former Union draft pick, Herbers chipped a pass out wide that was sent in and eventually turned home by Haile-Selasse.
Seconds later, Haile-Selassie was close to finding his second when he was played in behind, but Semmle remained strong and stood his ground – getting his body in front of a the shot.
Philly were able to gather up a response 7 minutes later, with Leon Flach finding space, taking a low shot that was redirected home by Chris Donovan. Philly were level.
In first half stoppage time Chicago keeper Chris Brady left his line to claim a ball near the edge of his eighteen yard box. Brady bobbled it, and Harriel threw his body between the keeper and the ball, and Harriel was pulled down inside the box.
Play resumed before a VAR check ensued, and the referee awarded a penalty kick to the Union after an extended look at the monitor. Daniel Gazdag stepped up and knocked home the penalty, making him the Union’s all-time leading scorer with 51 goals, eclipsing Sebastien Le Toux.
The Union extended their lead early in the second half in fabulous fashion. Jack McGlynn picked up the ball driving into heart of Chicago defense, when he opened up his hips and curled it around the Chicago keeper – ringing both posts and scoring his 3rd goal of the season.
Chicago were close to clawing one back not long later. Chris Mueller, who was subbed on at half time for Jonathan Dean, struck a curler of his own – just around the outstretched finger tips of Oliver Semmle. VAR came to the Union’s rescue yet again, when Maren Haile-Selassie was deemed to be in an offside position in the build up, and the goal was taken off the board.
Philly clenched tight as their press began to sit further and further back as each of their attacks fizzled out.
Chicago successfully broke through with 10 minutes left in regulation. Hugo Cuypers took advantage of lax defending from Jack Elliott, and headed home a set piece chance to inject a life-line into his team.
In the 89th minute, Chicago tied the match off of another set piece. Oliver Semmle’s poor punched clearance forced his team into defending a corner that was fired home by Gaston Gimenez.
And shortly later, Chicago pulled ahead, as Hugo Cuypers scored his second of the match on a clear miscommunication between the central defenders and the goal-keeper.
A truly tough way to end what seemed to be a promising opportunity for the Union to find the win column, but this is now becoming a trend. The Union can lick their wounds on the plane back to Philly, as they return home to face New York Red Bulls this Saturday.
Three Points
- The bleeding just won’t stop – The team continue to show signs of positivity, followed by horrific errors that come back to bite them. More late goals conceded and another head-scratching performance from the center-backs and goal-keeper.
- Gazdag’s return – Danny’s return was one positive for the side. He added the quality that has been lacking in the final third for the team and his presence seemed to open up space for the other members of the front three. Oh yeah, and he notched another tally from the penalty spot, potting his 51st career Union goal – eclipsing Sebastien Le Toux.
- On the ropes – With the heat of summer around the corner, the Union are in dire need of their starters to return from injury and international duty. The team are legitimately on the ropes fighting to stay afloat, and there aren’t any signs of anything changing that.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union
Oliver Semmle, Kai Wagner, Jakob Glesnes, Jack Elliott, Nathan Harriel, Jack McGlynn, Leon Flach, Daniel Gazdag, Chris Donovan (Jeremy Rafanello — 75′), Quinn Sullivan
Unused subs: Andrew Rick, Olivier Mbaizo, Olwethu Makhanya, Markus Anderson, David Vazquez, CJ Olney
Chicago Fire
Chris Brady, Rafael Czichos, Wyatt Omsberg, Arnaud Souquet, Allan Arigoni (Gaston Gimenez — 65′), Brian Gutierrez (Mauricio Pineda — 90′), Kellyn Acosta (Tom Barlow — 77′), Fabian Herbers, Jonathan Dean (Christopher Mueller — 45′), Hugo Cuypers (Georgios Koutsias — 90′), Maren Haile-Selassie
Unused subs: Spencer Richey, Javier Casas, Diego Juan Konincks, Dawid Poreba,
Scoring Summary
CHI: Maren Haile-Selassie — 30′
PHI: Chris Donovan — 38′
PHI: Daniel Gazdag — 45’+7
PHI: Jack McGlynn — 50′
CHI: Hugo Cuypers — 82′
CHI: Gaston Gimenez — 89′
CHI: Hugo Cuypers — 90’+1
Discipline Summary
CHI: Omsberg — Yellow card (foul) 4′
PHI: Jakob Glesnes — Yellow card (foul) 32′
CHI: Chris Brady — Yellow card (foul) 45’+7
PHI: Daniel Gazdag — Yellow card (tactical foul) 53′
CHI: Frank Klopas (CHI Coach) — Red Card (dissent) 90′
There absolutely must be additions (and subtractions) made in the transfer window. Nothing should be off the table.
Any moves they make in the upcoming window will be for next season. It’s not realistic to believe that anyone they bring in with about 7-8 games to go is going to make a difference this year. Especially if the player(s) are from overseas and coming in at a time that would be their pre-season.
And players brought in after the season still take a while to acclimate. So start making changes now.
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This season is over.
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Make changes now to prepare for next season.
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Additions need to be made now to placate the fans. STH renewals are coming up….
How many times can you have a lead and just try to sit on it? They’ve learned nothing and sorry to say it, but it’s the coach for me. You can’t just kick the ball up the field and keep resetting. Next thing you know a goalie will try and punch a ball when he could of just caught it and the miss punch turns into a corner. Last place in the East and they’re done.
This was a bad team before the international break. They will continue to be bad with the internationals. I could not watch but followed the score. At 1-3 I remarked “they are more than capable of losing this”. What do you know, they did lose. GARBAGE. On goal 3 they all just FUCKING WATCHED him tee up the shot. They just fucking watched.
Dark Days.
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It’s unthinkable at this stage to blow a 3-1 lead in the face of all the adversity this past month and all season in truth— but you did — and you did— because you no longer believe.
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This is the sign of a losing mentality. A lack of belief. It is insidious and a virus that spreads.
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Tough to watch -> tougher to accept. Kick and chase a lack of poise a lack of concentration a lack of swagger —I swear I hear an old coach from my son’s past screaming forward !!! FORWARD! like a freak jumping up and down on the sideline… .little boys playing against men… and the men aren’t even good.
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Just
Play
Well.
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Pachy — I think a big part of what’s going on is the total collapse of the Union’s defensive structure. The core of the 20-23 teams was exceptional defense. (Goals allowed per game: 20 1.04, 21 1.03, 22 0.76, 23 1.21.) With Blake out, Glesnes, Elliott, Martinez, and Flach all hurting for form, and the rest of the midfield not equipped to play defense, that stability is not there. (2024: 1.95 goals per game!) That’s contributed to a breakdown in confidence across the entire team.
100% agreement.
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So, does anyone regret resigning Bedoya? On a team with limited funds, an aging veteran makes little sense. They should think of moving some players in this up coming window. They’ve steadily gone down since the Cup and it’s picking up steam.
I would take offers on
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Wagner
Glesnes
Elliott
Blake
Uhre
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It’s time to get homegrown players on the field and rebuild this team.
Bedoya is injured.
He took a large payout for one more year.
One of the problems with the Union is a lack of leadership.
Other than Bedoya and Blake who is there?
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Resigning Bedoya wasn’t the problem. The savings we got with resigning him should have contributed to getting other players.
Agreed, there are no leaders in this squad.
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Glesnes appears to be in 3rd position for the armband after Bedoya and Blake. He’s been captain nine times in MLS play so far. The Union’s record for these matches are one win, five losses and 3 draws with 20 goals conceded. Granted these matches are without Blake so there’s a variety of factors that affected these results.
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However, there never seems to be an outward signs of communicating with his teammates of encouraging, challenging or firing them up. He seems to be a quiet guy which is fine, but that’s too similar to his manager who rarely shows outward emotions while on the pitch. Bedoya and Blake are both comfortable calling their teammates out for lackluster play while challenging them to do better.
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On the goalkeeper front, there is a noticeable difference between Semmle and Rick in how they communicate with their defense. Semmle seems to say very little while Rick (despite his age) speaks to his defense a lot. For that reason alone, I would opt for Rick as my starter as Semmle seems to be in a daze considering how poorly his season has gone so far.
oops, I meant pay cut not payout.
Agree completely Sieve!, resigning Bedoya is not an issue. How the Union are spending the $14M they have allocated to player salaries is a big issue though. The lack of leadership is very concerning, especially from the highest paid players currently available.
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Spending $1M on a leftback is an issue. That money would be better spent on a young box to box midfielder in the mold of Bedoya.
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Semmle needs to be loaned back to a USL team, or to their Danish team for seasoning. He’s not ready for MLS play, his confidence killed, and the defense has ZERO confidence in him at this point.
At the risk of insensibility I am truly crestfallen, nonplussed, and emotionally spent. Lately the Union have felt like a two-year trauma since the Bale goal from two years ago. I was there at Subaru Park watching pitchside on the big screen as the championship was squandered in a matter of minutes in LA. I spent 20 minutes trying to process what I had just witnessed, another ten minutes trying to forget about the penalty shootouts and another hour trying to exit the parking lot at Subaru Park so as to watch the Phillies lose the series in six. What a bad day.
These losses are horrific and feel somehow masochistic. Even when the young talents (McGlynn, Donovan, Sullivan) show flashes of competency they are erased by egregious failures on defense by the stalwarts of yesteryear on the backline. What has happened? As a casual fan, it is inexplicable to me. And again and again and again this happens, as if these kids aren’t being coached to correct their errors (I am a fan of Curtin, but c’mon).
I am a bit of an idiot whose life sorts itself in lyrical metaphor so if you will forgive me, when I think of the ’24 Union, all that comes to mind is that magnificent opening track to that equally fantastic 2001 Wilco album, “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”: I am trying to break your heart. The Union have succeeded superbly in this endeavor, at least for me , over the last two years, by consistently ruining the fan experience, expecting a lack of investment to somehow run it back in an evolving MLS, and lastly reaching a plateau and selling us a summit. I guess they’d be lying if they said it wasn’t easy.
Another bad… team… loss.
When the Union were good, they played majority error-free performances.
Now there are just a comedy of errors and too many players committing these.
Yes: the bench is lacking.
But once our side was up two goals in the second half, I screamed for Curtin to sub.
Both to provide fresh legs, but also to remove players who are defensive liabilities.
At this point, it feels like even the manager seems to have checked out.
Back to the bad old days, I guess… 🙁
80th minute. I thought, “this is the test, they need to see this out and hold it together”. Defense seemed to gain some confidence in the later stages of the second half and then lost it again on the goal called back for offsides and then everything went predictably off the rails again. Welcome to the cellar.
Misspoke. Defense gained some traction after the disallowed goal but then absolutely folded after the actual second goal.
The Money Grabbers Master Plan takes full effect. Will it work ?
Not the fans of Philadphia Soccer. Recruit and develop young players in hopes of finding a few gems that can be sold to Europe for a major profit. Reinvest most of that profit in developing accademy players. Sell off any acquisition from the first team like Caranza for more money. Eventually starve the first team of any replacement players so that the reactionary fans can blame the coach for the teams failure. Make the franchise an attractive buy for another city by keeping the payroll fairly lean. Sugarman is a money graabing owner who does not care if the first team ever wins a championship.
The Money Grabbers Final Solution takes full effect. Will it work ?
Not the fans of Philadphia Soccer. Recruit and develop young players in hopes of finding a few gems that can be sold to Europe for a major profit. Reinvest most of that profit in developing accademy players. Sell off any acquisition from the first team like Caranza for more money. Eventually starve the first team of any replacement players so that the reactionary fans can blame the coach for the teams failure. Make the franchise an attractive buy for another city by keeping the payroll fairly lean. Sugarman is a money graabing owner who does not care if the first team ever wins a championship.
Ok there are a few typos. Sorry. Not sorry !
You really are clueless and oversimplify everything. We get that you hate Sugarman.
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You do realize that Carranza was basically given away. The Union got next to nothing for him. He wouldn’t sign a new deal and wanted to go to Europe for a delusional idea that he can play in the World Cup if he could only play in Europe.
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If Sugarman is truly the money-grabbing owner you think he is, he would sell. The fact that he doesn’t shows his commitment to the team. He just doesn’t have the resources of a Tepper, Kraft, Blank, etc.
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Am I happy? No. Would I like to see more investment? Yes. Do either one of us know how much $ Sugarman puts into the team each year? No. But simply putting $ in doesn’t equate with winning. Just ask Chicago. (Last night excepted).
Well Jim, you’ve gone and done it again – run yet another team into the ground because you don’t trust anybody but your known quantities. But at this point your known quantities are known to wither in the late minutes because… you’ve run them into the ground. You wore out Captain America when he never, NEVER should have been used as anything other than a 30 minute difference maker. Now your stalwarts won’t even do the most fundamental thing a defender has to do when they are close to their own goal: GO TO THE F’N BALL!!! Frank Klopas makes 5 subs – FIVE! You make one because… YOU DON”T TRUST YOUR PLAYERS!!! Well, how’s that workin out for ya? NOW THEY DON’T TRUST THEMSELVES AND THEY DON’T TRUST YOU. Expect greatness from your players, instill confidence through trust. Have you forgotten how to do that, or did you ever really know how?
Jim has been dealt a bad hand by a money grabbing owner who could care less if the team ever wins a championship. He is a decent conservative American coach. He is conservative and an ultra loyal employee.
You really have no clue. He is a loyal employee. Agreed. But he is a coach who can’t figure out how to make subs. Not that they had any last night.
Hey Joe, have you ever met Sugarman? Talked to the front office? Watched press conferences? Attended town halls? Didn’t think so. You just rant about a money-grabbing owner without really thinking….
Thanks Matt for the usual spot on comment. Curtin may have lost the locker room at this point! His tenure has been marked by a compete lack of trust in his bench players and its not due to the players lack of talent solely. They should not be on the bench if you think they aren’t up to the task. Skillsinho was the only option I think he ever trusted. And why not just fresh legg??? Come on. Theres plenty of blame to go around but this loss is on Curtin.
Ok, you and your family have a great 4th of July. Glad we still have freedom of speech in the USA.
I will.
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But learn how to make cogent arguments, rather than simply ranting about a money-grabbing owner. Without really knowing any facts. Like how much $ he puts into to the team each year.
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FYI, not a Sugarman apologist either. But able to discern fact from fiction.
Ok I will work on that, have a great day
Thanks Matt for the usual spot on comment. Curtin may have lost the locker room at this point! His tenure has been marked by a compete lack of trust in his bench players and its not due to the players lack of talent solely. They should not be on the bench if you think they aren’t up to the task. Skillsinho was the only option I think he ever trusted. And why not just fresh legg??? Come on. Theres plenty of blame to go around but this loss is on Curtin.
Following up on Matt Custer’s comment above, a narrative I don’t subscribe to is that Jim has been dealt a poor hand and is unable to do anything to influence a game from the bench. We were playing the Chicago Fire last night, not Juventus. Jim’s pattern since taking over as head coach is to lean heavily on favorite players and grounding them into powder. Glesnes has played 10 million minutes of football since joining this team. It’s not sustainable.
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The players in reserve are not that bad. We’ve seen many times players who can’t get a sniff of first team football suddenly come on and show they have something. Recently, Sullivan and Baribo come to mind. It doesn’t have to be this way.
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In this league, where there is no threat of relegation and in which you can make a run for the title from 4th place or 5th place (or lower!), you can afford to work in your best youth players and build their first team playing time. You have young players playing a unified system from the academy on up. You should be able to call on those players to contribute in significant ways, to give your veterans a rest and manage the incredibly long and grinding campaign of an MLS season.
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I think Jim has been a great coach for the team over the years, and has accomplished a great deal, but I’m convinced it’s time to move on. Honestly, it would probably be better for Jim as well. He’ll have other opportunities and I suspect he would be more successful with a more talented team, where his man management skills would be useful. This team needs a resourceful, tactical manager who knows how to get something out of young players.
It’s an interesting point, Pete. The field players available to Curtin off the bench last night — with the exception of Mbaizo — have almost no MLS experience. Rafanello has 8 appearances, Anderson 3, Olney 1, Makhanya and Vazquez 0. Is that something he should have tried to change earlier this year by getting these players involved? Or is this just the natural consequence of a shorthanded side missing 5-6 starters (Martinez, Lowe, Uhre, Baribo, Bedoya, and Blake)?
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Either way, I think you could make a good argument at this point that there’s no harm giving Makhanya (at least) a game in defense. Glesnes and Elliott both look like they need a mental break.
Let’s take this a step further and ask what’s left in the tank for the Red Bull game now?
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Also why are we just sitting on leads and not trying to control the ball and score? Glesnes and Elliott both had chances to be calm on the ball last night but just kicked away and gave up possession. If you can’t trust Makhanya to do that and give them a rest what’s left? Watching Union 2 he seems to be able to make a pass but will never know if he can do it at the next level until he sees the field. Playing the last place team in the East seemed ideal for a debut.
If only there was a young CB on the first team roster who came up through the system and spent some time with US youth national teams. That type of player could have filled some of these gaps. If only…
As I said ,Jim is a decent American coach I have been critical of him in the past. He puts in subs way too late. He plays favorites, he put players in the doghouse for unknown reasons. The management must have kept him around for some reason though. Perhaps his overall record ? Perhaps his ability to work with management and players? He probably has lost the players ear at this point of this season. I truly belive that management did nothing to significantly improve the team this year. Combined with some bad luck with Blake getting injured. I personally don’t want to watch a bunch of 17 to 20 year Olds who may be MLS players be thrown out on the field. I realize they got beat by a depleted mediocre Chicago team. But what does that make us ? This team has reached a new low point. It is very easy to fire the coach because you can’t fire the owner. Even the most clever coach out there will not won consistently when you have men playing boys. If I want to watch youth soccer, I will go to the local high school and watch a game. It’s up to management to create a well balanced team of vets and youth . They have done that this year. You can completely disagree with me or tell me I am cluless or can’t spell but that’s OK. I think we can all agree the players we have will not be able to compete with 3.0 level ML S teams. I guess you are satisfied with 5 year cycle plan and are willing to put up with an owner who never does enough to bring this “1st team” toast level where they can dare I say dominate. It’s frustrating for most philly fans to see this ownership never make that extra move to achieve excellence. Have a great 4th and God Bless America.
Sorry for the typos , not enoughh time to fully edit on my phone.
Jay Sugarman is the Ed Wade of (fill in another cheap owner’s name here).
I couldn’t agree more. I’m not paying 50 dollars to watch a bunch of teenagers. Everyone talks about ownership and Curtin. I haven’t heard anything about Ernst. Carranza aside, every move this guy has made since Albright left has been a nightmare. He is the one who has to go
Both Aaronson’s were teenagers when they started, so was Sullivan and McGlynn.
Chicago used all 5 subs to rescue the game. Jim used one and he is still a teenager. He had 2 more defenders on the bench one of whom is often a starter but did not use them to bring on fresh legs and see out the game.
Sorry but imo that game was on the manager. If bringing in the teenagers helps win that’s what I would like to see.
The above comments suggest the intersection of two factors: (a) Curtin is not much of a coach and (b) Sugarman is cheap and in this mostly (entirely?) to make money from his investment. I think the thing that’s kept Curtin here despite his poor use of subs, inability to work with and trust many players, and inability to win championship games is that Sugarman doesn’t want to pay to hire an accomplished coach. Just a theory but I think it fits the available data.
+ 1
Imagine if you will: you are a Union reserve player. You spend a majority of game time running to get your cardiovascular system charged up. You have run miles this season on the side of the field as play goes on. You are catching occasional glimpses of the game. You are fairly certain that, working under Jim Curtin, you have a miniscule chance of sniffing the field unless the score becomes irretrievably lopsided. How well do you know the situation that you might be called upon to remedy? How secure do you feel that you will actually be able to contribute? How do you feel about your chances of getting on the field for more than five minutes?
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Youngster or veteran, you are on the game day roster for a reason. If you are not mature enough or good enough to contribute, shame on Herr Tanner and shame on Jim Curtin as well for not lobbying for better players. But if you actually are good enough to make a positive contribution, how would we know? Jim Curtin manages the game day personnel. And he’s doing a helluva job.
This is literally of reserve players all over the planet. Reserve players are reserves for a reason….
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This is professional sports. It’s not a charity, playing time isn’t simply handed to players.
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Look at the subs bench the past few games and then compare it to the subs bench from a month or two ago….. They have players 25-30 on the bench right now.
Our ownership group is filled with Billionaires fronted by Jay Sugarman, just like all the other MLS teams – whiny NBA superstar notwithstanding. But our group seems more intent on running a business than a vanity project. We should not discount the investment made in the academy, the facilities, and the off field staff and ventures. By in large, I think the team and fans have all benefited from that investment.
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I can spend other people’s money just as well as the next person. My frustration, often reflected in other’s comments above, is that our group spends money differently than other groups of billionaires. I want our group to buy a Cup, just like the groups in NY, LA and Atlanta. And Columbus? Okay, I don’t get that last one either. But I expect, you don’t get to be a Billionaire by letting other people spend your money.
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I do see the argument that the GM and Coach have not done enough to get the bench players ready to contribute. MLS Next Pro is not the best preparation for the senior team. Do we need to loan out more players to USL like Brandan Craig? Get them more meaningful minutes elsewhere? Do we have the players we need on the bench (Tanner), do we not prepare them to contribute during games (Tanner and Curtin), do we not use them enough for them to earn trust (Curtin), do we play favorites (Curtin) and has that hurt the team?
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Let me also state that I am a HUGE fan of Tanner and Curtin. They built the team that has been competitive for trophies in the last few years. The professionalism of the entire organization has been elevated by these two men. My current disappointment is fueled by their past performance and the expectations I set based on that performance. Fans always set the most realistic expectations, don’t we?
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As a long suffering fan of Philly teams, I seem to have forgotten that my teams run in cycles of good and not good. We’ve reached a not good point. Jim, Ernst and Jay have not become idiots overnight. They have a plan and they stick to it. My hopes are not their plan. Next question: Do I think they can rebuild the senior team to be competitive again? I do. So I learn to suffer again for the short term.
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I truly enjoy PSP and the format for fans to comment. I appreciate all the views shared, even the ones I disagree with, as many will disagree with me. Let’s keep it civil and respectful as we moan and complain about how our irrational emotional investment in a soccer team is causing us all heartburn.
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C’mon the U!
Well stated. Thank you.
I believe it’s entirely possible the Union may not win another match the rest of this season.
The Union Cliff of Despair is Real.
For all the newbies around here – Welcome to 2013… this will last 2-3 seasons (hopefully not but probably), and then we’ll pull out of it. Difference then was Jim was up and coming as a manager, and Tanner wasn’t here yet. We now know how they operate, so they are going to have change the way they do things.
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Look… Sugarman isn’t selling. I do appreciate what’s been built here and what they’ve done so far. But things have changed. The league has changed. It requires more… and investment in the first team is at the top of that list – especially for a team like the Union.
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Personally, I am willing to give this mess one more season – meaning transfer windows of this summer and then in the winter – to see what they do to make this first team better. If it’s nothing, I will most likely be moving on as a full time season ticket holder (since day one). Teams have down years. They do. This is a down year. Fix it.
I moved away to CT but have been watching everything. It does me old shriveled heart good to see you old farts still here and complaining.
The ⭕️ is complete. #FireCurtin rises anew from the ashes.