Photo by Kyle Grantham
Following their 2024 Leagues Cup run, the Philadelphia Union met the 2023 MLS Cup and recent Leagues Cup champions at home on Wednesday night. The match was rescheduled from the Saturday before so that both teams could compete in that Sunday’s Leagues Cup final and third-place match. Importantly, the two teams clashed at Lower.com field in Columbus a week prior in the Leagues Cup semifinal, where Columbus won 3-1. The boys in blue looked to seek revenge at home and continue their two-game regular season winning streak.
Columbus started the match with their front three, Cucho Hernandez, Christian Ramirez, and Diego Rossi, on the bench. Philadelphia changed its formation from the usual 4-4-2 diamond to a flat version of the same formation, with Danley Jean Jacques and Alejandro Bedoya in the center, and Quinn Sullivan and Leon Flach on the right and left. This was Danley’s first start for the boys in blue. After rotating in their usual attackers, Columbus went ahead 1-0 to pick up three points at Subaru Park.
First Half
The Union held attacking pressure immediately, earning five corners in the first four minutes of the match, but did not have any decent chances on goal. Between the onslaught of corners, Union homegrown Derrick Jones, now a Columbus midfielder, earned a yellow card for a challenge from behind on Alejandro Bedoya. Jones and Danley Jean Jacques asserted their physicality in the midfield, drawing a few fouls each.
Nate Harriel went down in the 17th minute after an awkward landing and was taken off for Olivier Mbaizo. Harriel was holding his lower back on the way to the locker room.
Following the first-half hydration break, a right-footed shot from Quinn Sullivan rattled the crossbar, breathing some hope into the Union. Had the shot been slightly lower, it would have beat Patrick Schulte at his near post. The only other promising opportunity was a free kick from Kai Wagner that found Tai Baribo inside the six-yard box. Baribo could not get the shot on frame.
Wagner got a yellow for a late slide tackle on Sean Zawadzki deep in Columbus’ defensive third late in stoppage time. Philadelphia went to the locker room lucky to have avoided conceding.
Second Half
Quinn Sullivan drew a foul in the right corner after dribbling through two defenders. The second ball in from the free kick resulted in another shot from Baribo, this time parried out by Patrick Schulte for a corner. Some questionable linesman work ensued and gave Columbus a goal-kick once the ball was seemingly deflected after a shot from Bedoya on the far post. Again, the Union came out of the locker room in search of the opening goal.
Columbus’ response was a weak shot from Jacen Russell-Lowe, which was easily collected by Andre Blake. None of their replacement front three made a large impact and Russell-Lowe was promptly replaced by Diego Rossi.
Quinn Sullivan had another long-range chance after a string of Union possession, but his shot was again above the frame of the net. On the following run of play, Columbus substitute Yaw Yeboah broke the defensive line, but his shot was tapped away for a corner by Blake.
Following the second-half cooling break, Jean Jacques made his way to the bench and Curtin reverted to the diamond, bringing on Uhre and McGlynn as Columbus brought on Cucho Hernandez.
Not long after the substitutions, another Yaw Yeboah shot beat Mbaizo, Elliott, and Blake to make it 1-0. Yeboah was left wide open at the far post by Mbaizo, who opted to go to the goal line and did not stop the shot. Columbus parked the bus from that point on to secure their second win over the Union in seven days.
Columbus Crew midfielder Yaw Yeboah (No. 14) puts a shot past Union defenders Olivier Mbazio and Jack Elliott (No. 3) in the second half of Union’s 1-0 loss to the Columbus Crew at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa. on Wednesday night, August 28, 2024. (Kyle Grantham/Philly Soccer Page)
Three Points:
- Defensive Depth: In the season’s final stretch, the Union is down to only Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes as their go-to center-back options. Nate Harriel’s potential injury complicates the situation further, considering he was Curtin’s third choice for the CB role, and the backup left back. Will the remaining defenders be able to stay healthy through the last eight matches of the regular season?
- 4-4-2 Flat: Jim Curtin does not stray from his beloved diamond formation very often, excluding his five-at-the-back rotation from when the Union had an extra center back on hand. This flat variation seemed to suit the introduction of Danley Jean Jacques but did not produce anything spectacular.
- Columbus’ Success: With two trophies in the last year, one would think Columbus adopted the LAFC roster-building technique. In reality, they’ve got a couple of strong attackers, leadership in Darlington Nagbe, and a slew of younger, eager players. The build is entirely within the realm of possibility for the Union if Ernst Tanner wanted to recreate it.
Lineups
Philadelphia
Starters: Andre Blake, Kai Wagner, Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, Nate Harriel (Olivier Mbaizo– 22’), Danley Jean Jacques (Jack McGlynn– 72’), Alejandro Bedoya (Mikael Uhre–72’), Leon Flach, Quinn Sullivan, Tai Baribo, Daniel Gazdag
Unused subs: Oliver Semmle, Olwelthu Makhanya, Jesus Bueno, Jack McGlynn, Jeremy Rafanello, Sam Adeniran, Chris Donovan, Mikeal Uhre
Columbus
Starters: Patrick Schulte, Andres Herrea (Yaw Yeboah– 62’), DeJuan Jones (Max Arfsten–62’) , Malte Amundsen, Yevhen Cheberko, Derrick Jones, Dylan Chambost, Aziel Jackson (Cucho Hernandez– 72’), Alexandru Matan (Nagbe– 72’), Sean Zawadzki, Jacen Russell-Rowe (Diego Rossi– 62’)
Unused Subs: Nicholas Hagen, Darlington Nagbe, Diego Hernandez, Christian Ramirez, Mohamed Farsi, Steven Moreira
Scoring Summary:
CLB: Yaw Yeboah– 75’
Discipline Summary:
CLB: Derrick Jones– 3”
PHI: Kai Wagner– 45+4”
CLB: Malte Amundsen– 89’
CLB: Patrick Schulte– 90+6’
Referee: Ismir Pekmic
My last colonoscopy was more entertaining than watching this team tonight. Completely disjointed, nothing but long balls in the air mostly to the other team. A couple shots that rang off the post and that was the whole show. For the first time I think they won’t make the playoffs. All self inflicted.
At least beat the Pink Cows !
Was down there last night and have been a STH since Day 1. It was pretty rough to watch a very tired and lifeless Union side try to break down Columbus’s lineup of mostly backups before predictably, Nancy brought out his big guns to win the match.
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Curtin waited too long to bring on his second half subs which was rather puzzling (even for him) on such a hot night. It’s really awful how this team is run. If you can’t fill out an 18 with enough players that the manager is willing to play, you can’t expect to even achieve moderate success given the crowded schedule that the Union have been and continue to play right now.
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I’ve opted out for next year. Continuing to support my local club is only enabling this current regime to continue to operate the Union so poorly. Unfortunately, I can’t make them change, but I will not give them my hard earned dollars any longer.
+1
I was disappointed but not surprised with Curtin’s game management. Why is it that he is reluctant to go to the bench? It is ownership not spending to get the right players or is it Curtin’s cautious nature? Baribo is a perfect example of the latter.
I know there are a lot of Jim Curtin defenders here, but this happens all too frequently. He only used 2 subs (3 including the injury sub) in a game where his players were all tired. Nancy used 5 and brought them on earlier. Curtin had more options on the bench with first team minutes – Bueno, Adeniran, Rafanello.
Curtin’s lineup was totally wrong and so were his substitutions as usual
4 hours I’ll never get back.
6 counting travel. I find myself asking: WHY?
I live closer to the stadium, so 4 hours for me includes the drive and sitting in line at the Burger King drive thru so my wife could grab a late dinner.
Little abilty to pass to space. Too many times they were trying to advance the ball on the ground only for the attacking player to have to stop for a ball that was passed to the spot where they were and not where they were going to be.
Nancy outclassed Curtin before kickoff. Started backups and Curtin started a defense focused lineup. Columbus had no problem isolating the front three and sitting on the game until they brought their starters and smoked a tired and hot home side. Curtin coaching scared like the Inter Miami Leagues Cup game last year.
Gonna be a while before we get some wins against good teams. Felt like 2015 again last night.
What was worse is that those attacking players would frequently just stand still waiting for the pass to come to them only to get it picked off by a defender who was actually running for the ball.
Was at the game and frankly, was confused. We KNEW we were playing against the second team and yet, we put out a completely defensive unit out there! I can’t count how many times I saw Quinn or Danny look around for a midfielder to pass to and everyone was way behind. Ale tried but he is too slow and old at this point. Bad plan!!! It’s time to introduce some creativity into the midfield. I was fine with benching Jack M. for a game. He has looked slow and lackluster. (Too many games, too much pressure?)
I am also tired of watching Jack Elliott get beat by faster guys. Russel-Rowe almost scored twice on plays that a faster defender shuts down easily without a shot on goal. We are kidding ourselves expecting Blake to clean up every mess. The only speed we had back there was Damion and we got rid of him. I just don’t get it. Yes, Damion is a wildcard at times, but how many times did we see him shut something down and steal the ball? This reliance on year 2000 defenders is ridiculous! We need speed and strength in the back. Our blind spot for Jacob and Jack is crazy! They are both much older and slower.
The lack of ownership acknowledgement to buy select expensive players is ridiculous. We need a grade A defender and midfielder. I am not renewing my season tickets this time. Time to take a step back and review the approach. If the focus is really on player development, then let them play. We can’t say that’s our focus and have a bottleneck of players who have to wait for 30 somethings to get grey before playing. If we want to win, then let’s invest in players that are not 3rd tier in Europe and are more of a wing and a prayer than a proven commodity.
Even if Damion was still here, he would have been out last night due to yellow card accumulation.
+1 said almost the same thing still waiting to see it.
Dazed and Confused
Have these guys ever played together? Uninspired Play. This team and the flat 4-4-2 set up was disaster. Zero effectiveness moving the ball and zero plan of attack once they were lucky enough to cross midfield. This is the kind of game that should get a manager fired. Flach was useless. Bedoya looked spent. Jean Jacques was totally lost, Gazdag looked totally frustrated with the role he was asked to play until they brought on Uhre and Mc Glynn on. Columbus gave Philly the old rope a dope with the starters then knocked them out when they brought on Rossi, Chucho and Nagbe . This was one of the worst games this team has ever played. The season is over for this current team. The late season transfer of Martinez sealed our fate. Jean Jaques may find his way and understand his role next year but he is totally lost now. They must obtain a complete attcking midfield to compliment Gazdag and get the ball to Baribo or they will finish worse next year Tanner has got to sign this future player by December or next years season is lost also. A journeymen center back should be an easy aquistion in the offseason.
The blessing at this point is recapitulation. A return to the state they have lived in all year. Not good enough. Came back engaged. Jose leaves and their goes the team’s soul. A bunch if zapped saps out there. I can’t even argue for it anymore. The philosophical differences were a tough swallow even when the philosophy worked beautifully but when it’s dreadful YOU are dreadful. DREADFUL.
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Do us all a favor. Leave it be. You’re so far off the mark. So far. Roll over. Play dead. Opossum. Whatever it takes to get to the end of September and just leave us be free of your stench.
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Disappointing. What remains to be seen is … does this second 5 year plan by Ernst Tanner have any real chance. And if the business plan is mediocrity without Playing Well.
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What’s the point?
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Just Play Well… and I’d defend you forever.
I get that Jim played a flat 4-4-2 so that nobody had to try to do El Brujo’s job of holding down the back of midfield alone. But one problem with that is that it leaves Gazdag without a position. The man is not a striker and never will be. Playing him up top has never worked. He comes back to get the ball, then is not in the box when we need somebody, and predictably, the offense was utterly lackluster.
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Danley J-J might turn out to be an excellent replacement for Martinez, but clearly it will take him some time to adjust to the new team and teammates — not to mention the new language. And BTW, people who were complaining about having Ale start: part of the reason is that he speaks French, so he can communicate with Danley.
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Jim should leave the team in the diamond, since that’s how they’re built. We are unlikely to make the playoffs this year, but we sure aren’t doing it in a new formation that hamstrings the offense.
I feel like everyone watched a different match than I did.
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First no surprise CLB won. They started their reserves and the Union mostly had the better of them. Could have been up 3-0 at the half had we put the chances away. Hit the woodwork twice. Credit to Shulte for a couple tight saves. Nothing dangerous for Blake the whole first half. OF COURSE Nancy would bring in his top guns and they would produce. Jim subbed and mostly made things worse. (Uhre was fine.)
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I thought Danley had a decent match. Nervy at first but was growing into it. And some nice attacking moments too. How you bring in McGlynn against a team like COLUMBUS…? I don’t understand. Naturally he was overrun and exposed the back line.
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And I for one expected a defense first match. Like the games of old against Columbus. Low scoring.
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For me. An expected loss against a top team. Kept it close and had our chances. That’s all.
Not to discredit Shulte, but the Union only had 2 shots on goal all night. Not going to win too many when that’s all you get against the other team’s reserves.
Absolutely agree. Missed chances. Hitting the post. Point was, the chances were there to be had.
A week ago JC said it would be suicide to play the diamond against Columbus…… So what does JC do once Nancy brought in 5 starters for the last 30 odd minutes??? Brings on McGlynn and switches to the narrow diamond?!?!?!?!?! Hindsight is 20/20, I get it. That said, Bueno should have been out there in place of McGlynn. The kid doesn’t have the wheels to keep pace with Cucho, Rossi, and Nagbe.
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Not to mention there were no ball winners for the Union after the subs. I’m genuinely shocked that the crew didn’t put 2 or 3 more goals in net to close it out.
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Jim should have STARTED the game in the Diamond with Uhre up top next to Tai. Sulli to the reserves, keep the rest out there for Defensive purposes, Then switch to the flat 4-4-2 for the second half after getting a lead (hopefully).
As a day one STH, this coming season will be my last (yes, I re-upped for one more), unless real actual investment is made. I don’t want Messi, I want at least two competent, proven players who can be difference makers and I want some actual money spent on transfer fees. I realize they might now care about me as a day one guy, but I feel like they owe me. I know only one team can win each year, but the care and effort to actually try is what I demand. I also realize I probably sounds like a “Karen” or whatever – but I’m so damn frustrated – I don’t care what I sound like.
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Specifically, last night… If they are up 2-0 at half, and they arguably should have been (given the two posts hit), they probably draw at worst, once Columbus brought on their better players. The weren’t good in the second half, but I think anyone who watches this team knew when they were 0-0 at half, they were in trouble. If there are 6 games left – I think there are – they need minimum 4 wins (I think) to have a shot at the playoffs. I genuinely don’t think they do it.
Pretty much agree with you. Only reason I re-upped was because there was no price increase.
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Really thought they needed to be up 3-0 by the 60th minute to have a shot once Charlie Brown brought in their starters and would likely have gotten one or two more if it was necessary. Hard to score 3 goals with 2 SOG all game.
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I think there are 8 games left, but they include in New Jersey Saturday with no chance for the Union to rest. Then, after the international break, at Messi, on a baseball field, and home against DC in just over a week…with DC not playing midweek. They host Atlanta (likely their only win since I’ll be out of town for that game) followed by trips to Orlando and Columbus for another 3 in a week. They end the regular season home against Noonan/Albright. I’ll probably watch the two games I attend and not bother with the others.
IF the U were up 2-0 in the second half, it’s debatable on whether Nancy brings on his starters. Last night was a game the Crew didn’t have to win. As it played out, the Union gave the Crew a reason to go for the win.
Well written synopsis of the game. Wish it was a better outcome for the score.