Photo: Ron Soliman
It is the end of July, so for the second year in a row, MLS takes a month-long pause in the regular season to challenge Liga MX in a midseason tournament. Because…well, because it’s MLS and wants to do soccer differently than the rest of the world does fútbol.
Today, the Philadelphia Union opened its journey in the 2024 edition of the Leagues Cup at Subaru Park in Chester, PA against fellow MLS-side Charlotte FC. Just over a month ago, Charlotte FC came into the Soob and put a 2-0 shellacking on the Union.
The Boys in Blue scored the game’s only goal as the Union won their third straight at home in all competitions. A stout defense kept a clean sheet and the Union began the tournament with three points to lead Group O.
The Leagues Cup was seen by some as an opportunity to play Union youngsters, though Coach Jim Curtin recently made clear that the Union were going to field an experienced team in an attempt to win a trophy. The line-up certainly reflected Curtin’s point of view over that of the fanbase, as Cavan Sullivan did not make the game-day squad, though Francis Westfield and C.J. Olney both did. An injured Leon Flach was also absent from the squad.
Andre Blake started in goal, while the defense was anchored by Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes. They were flanked by stalwart Kai Wagner on the left and Oliver Mbaizo on the right. José Martínez started in his usual defensive midfield role, while Alejandro Bedoya and Quinn Sullivan played on the left and right of the diamond respectively. Daniel Gazdag played in his usual attacking midfield role, right behind strikers Tai Baribo and new signing Samuel Adeniran.
The game started inauspiciously, as Martínez was shown a yellow card before kick-off for wearing a ring. The first twenty minutes were fairly evenly matched — the stats favoring the Union slightly — and neither goalkeeper was tested. Martínez took a knock in the 25th minute and required attention from the trainers. Jesús Bueno warmed up, but Martínez soldiered on.
The Union broke through in the 33rd minute as Mbaizo started an attack down the right with a pass to Adeniran, who fed the ball to Gazdag at the goal line. Gazdag calmly crossed it back to Baribo in front of the penalty spot, and the striker made no mistake, coolly slotting it under a stretching Kristijan Kahlina into the net. The first half ended with the Union leading in most statistical categories (including offsides) but most importantly, with a goal advantage.
The second half kicked off with the same 11 for both teams. Charlotte had the first good chance of half, as Patrick Agyemang got in on goal but his shot from the left was deflected wide by Elliott into the side netting. The Union cleared the resulting corner. A Gazdag shot in the 50th minute was deflected to Adeniran’s feet, but his shot was straight at Kahlina.
A Tyger Smalls foul in the 60th minute took Martínez off his feet and earned Smalls a yellow card. Martínez returned to his feet limping but continued onward. Shortly thereafter, Curtin went to his bench but it was to bring Mikael Uhre on for Adeniran. Charlotte Coach Dean Smith was chasing a goal and made a triple switch in the 80th minute, which Curtin countered by bringing Bueno on for Bedoya.
The 84th minute saw Kahlina make a great save on a Baribo shot that was set up by some nice footwork by Sullivan. The resulting corner saw Glesnes flick a header to the far post where Gazdag put a toe on the ball before it went into the net, but the Hungarian was in an offside position. Charlotte kept pushing for a goal, but a new-look Union held firm and did not concede a late goal this time.
Three points
To win it all or not? Curtin’s line-up showed the team’s desire to pursue hardware, rather than resting more senior players and giving some playing time to youngsters.
Center backs are back? Elliott and Glesnes played perhaps their best game of the season together, allowing Blake a relatively easy night.
Martínez dominates – A card before kickoff did nothing to slow down Martínez, nor did challenges that saw him require attention twice. He went the full ninety, plus injury time, and imposed his will on the game.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union (4-4-2)
Andre Blake, Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner, Olivier Mbaizo, Jose Martínez, Alejandro Bedoya (Jesus Bueno 80′), Quinn Sullivan, Daniel Gazdag, Tai Baribo, Samuel Adeniran (Mikael Uhre 67′)
Unused Subs: Andrew Rick, Oliver Semmle, Damion Lowe, Francis Westfield, Jeremy Rafanello, C.J. Olney, Jr., Chris Donovan
Charlotte FC (4-2-3-1) Kristijan Kahlina, Joao Pedro (Jere Uronen 80′), Andrew Privett, Adilson Malanda, Nathan Byrne, Ashley Westwood, Brandt Bronico, Iuri Tavares (Tyger Smalls ’56), Ben Bender (Karol Swiderski 56′), Kerwin Vargas (Brandon Cambridge 81′), Patrick Agyemang (Nikola Petkovic 81′)
Unused Subs: David Bingham, George Marks, Bill Poni Tuiloma, Jahlane Forbes, Jaylin Lindsey, Brecht Dejaeghere
Referee – Marco Antonio Ortiz Nava
Scoring summary
PHI – Tai Baribo – 33′
Discipline summary
PHI – Jose Martínez – yellow card (time-wasting) – 1′
CLT – Tyger Smalls – yellow card (foul) – 60′
PHI – Daniel Gazdag – yellow card (foul) – 68′
PHI – Alejandro Bedoya – yellow card (foul) – 75′
Good start to Leagues Cup as Baribo stays hot with a no doubt about finish in front of goal. Adeniran with the start looked a little lost up top but this is the perfect opportunity to get him some meaningful minutes.
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On another note, watched Tanner on a podcast state that there is one more player coming in this transfer window as they are just waiting for the new rules to be implemented. Sounds like a U22 signing since you will no longer need a young DP and Carranza took that spot on the roster.
I thought Adeniran looked good. He brings some strength to the middle. Well, I hope he does. Uhre is fast(er) on the wing.
The new rules went into effect when the transfer window opened. And if it is a U-22 signing, hopefully he plays more than the one currently on the roster
For those wondering about the Martinez yellow card before the game started it looked like it was an issue with tape over his wedding ring. Not sure if something was said but the ref also made Kai remove his ring (covered by tape) before the game began and after carding Martinez. After many of us yelled at the AR and Curtin walked over and said something to him, the ref also made a Charlotte player remove a ring covered by tape. I guess Leagues Cup has thing about rings not in the rules in MLS or not enforced in MLS?
It looks like the Union finally have a little more variety of skill and depth at forward. Just stay healthy.
Good thing we won the match. Cruz Azul is a top notch team. If CZ beats Charlotte then we are through to the playoffs regardless of our match against CZ. The third win in a row is also good for morale amd feels like the past few years again.
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Bad thing is that an improved Union performance does not conceal the lack of what we need to win trophies, especially MLS Cup. I don’t want Sugarman to start using improved performances as an argument to not spend money on key players.
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While well attended for a first round MLS teams faceoff, there were some absentees in protest in the Supporters Section over the USOC issue. That’s a topic that deserves its own discussion here. I’ll offer some initial POVs on the dispute.
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The new Leagues Cup is a superb idea. It brings in revenue, good Mexican teams to play for experience and entertainment, three CCC slots, and a meaningful trophy. Critics call it a cash grab, but so what? Pro sports aren’t soup kitchens, and revenue is required for improved professional products.
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The USOC is a great tradition, our version of the FA Cup. MLS should participate because it’s good for the larger growth and experience of soccer. Minor and amateur teams get giantkiller chances and revenue.
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MLS gripes about season congestion are partially BS. There’s no MLS regular season matches during Leagues Cup. Eliminated teams get time off to practice, rests, heal,vacation, etc. English teams play the FA, Carabao, and UEFA tournaments.
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MLS has valid points regarding poor attendance and too many matches for no return. Only the winner gets a CCC spot and most of the prize money. Second gets a small sum, and the rest is wasted due to no television revenue and poor attendance. Only when teams reach the semifinals to fans really start showing up. Giant killer rounds have sparse crowds. Risking player injury and tiring midweek matches for up to seven matches without enough to show for it except a stadium operations bill makes teams play their scrubs and drain money.
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US Soccer and MLS should work on the format, e.g., a giant killer and MLS track system that allows twofers where matches count not only for qualifications and early advancememt for USOC but also regular season purposes that finish strong with quarterfinals forward USOC-only knockoff matches. The one-off MLS is Back tournament did something similar.
Good points, but I think there are a couple problems with Leagues Cup that this round will help clarify.
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First, I think a big part of its success last year was the novelty of Messi joining the league. With that novelty gone and Messi not even able to participate because of injury, what distinguishes Leagues Cup from the Concacaf CL (or whatever it’s called now)?
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Second, is that because MLS plays a pretty large scale knockout tournament to end its season, there’s a lot of knock out competitions – Concacaf, Leagues Cup, MLS Cup, and Open Cup. That’s arguably too much. MLS probably figures it was easy enough to just disengage from the Open Cup, but I think underestimated how much of a mistake it would be to withdraw from the only soccer competitions in the country with an actual storied history.
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I suspect this run of League’s Cup is not going to net the viewership last year’s edition did. I may be wrong.
Indeed, the MLS playoff format has a tournament feel to it. It doesn’t cause season congestion though at regular season expense. It merely extends it for qualifying teams until elimination or victory.
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The Supporters Shield nods the head regarding how other nations determine the season winner (best season record).
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Given the size of the US and Canada though, we play an East/West division format. Eastern and Western teams don’t play each other twice in a home and away. They don’t play most of the other, and when they do, it’s usually a one match event and the teams vary per season.
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I’d revise the playoffs to be an East and West play-in for teams finishing 5 through 8 followed by a home and away East/West format to best determine the winner.
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Messi draws for anything. It will affect attendance for Miami games this tournament, but it also increases chances for other teams that he’s not playing. My concern with Miami being allowed to stockpile aging superstars is the ‘NY Cosmos effect’ that pushed the demise of the NASL decades ago. People wanted to see Pele, Beckenbauer, and Carlos Alberto and nobody else. When everyone else feels the season is likely over before it starts, that hurts overall attendance.
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Crapple also doesn’t have a monopoly on the TV rights.
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Indeed, we will see how this year’s version turns out in ratings and attendance.
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I’m looking forward to playing Cruz Azul on Sunday. It’s a big challenge, and their regional fans will attend.
The Leagues Cup DOES cause schedule convention. You’re basically shortening the season by the month you are carving out for it but still squeezing in the same number of regular season games. Add in the complexities of an odd number of teams causing bye weeks at various times and you end up with the situation where you are playing during international breaks and during tournaments where top players aren’t available.