(Photo courtesy of @PhilaUnion on X)
Bradley Carnell opened his post-game presser with a nod to the figurative momentum.
“We lose momentum at certain moments of the game, and to concede right before halftime was probably one of the killers,” the Union bench-boss said candidly.
On a day where all it took was Nashville playing a dump and chase brand of soccer to bypass the Union’s backline for a full 90 minutes – it is tough to look at the match and point to momentum swings being the key takeaway.
Per fbref.com, the Union generated 2.4 expected goals in total. Take away Quinn Sullivan’s PK and Bruno Damiani’s point blank chance off the saved rebound – the Union generated 0.9 expected goals from the run of play.
This is the Union’s lowest single game non-penalty expected goal output through four games.
That is to say the Union generated under 1 goal expected on four shots on target with 61% of the possession. While the possession edge doesn’t necessarily suit the Union’s style of play, the team have had the lion’s share of possession in two of the three wins to start the year.
The first forty-five
Surely, Nashville deserve credit for halting the Union’s red-hot attack. Nashville came out in the same exact same shape as the Union (4-2-2-2).
BJ Callaghan, especially, deserves a shout for the plan devised to attack the Union’s high-line. Nashville did really well playing forward quickly, breaking lines and forcing the Union backward before the team could press off of lost possession.
Each of Nashville’s first two goals came from simple quick balls over the top with Nashville flooding the Union backline with numbers – something that the Union have not been tested with this season.
The momentum swung, first, in favor of Nashville.
Taking nothing away from Surridge’s tremendous effort on this goal – this was awful defending from front to back for Philly.
Uhre half-heartedly pressed the Nashville center back in possession, giving him time to play forward. With five Nashville players beyond Lukic and Danley, Nashville had the easy numbers advantage in attack.
The lack of recognition from either Danley or Lukic to drop in support forced Glesnes to step onto the back of Mukhtar (exactly what he should be doing). But then, Glesnes failed to get anything on the ball.
Westfield and Glesnes both had an opportunity to recover, but each went to ground in the box, rather than contain the attack, and Surridge did well to just step around both of them and finish.
Shortly after, came one of the more disappointing, yet revealing, sequences in the match. In the 24th minute, Surridge nearly doubled his tally.
The momentum, still, in Nashville’s favor. Luckily for Philly on this occasion, the woodwork was kind.
The Union committed numbers into the Nashville box for what could have been a decent scoring opportunity. Instead, an unchallenged Walker Zimmerman, won a header, and Nashville were first to the second ball.
A simple one-touch clearance over the heads of Makhanya and Glesnes fed Surridge in again.
The strength displayed by the Englishman here was impressive, but the way in which he beat Makhanya in a foot-race is something else entirely. Surridge simply wanted it more – a microcosm of the entire afternoon at Subaru Park.
To the delight of the Boys in Blue, Lukic had another laser in his bag to even the scoring.
Maybe this was the momentum that Carnell felt the Union created? Albeit, it was off a corner and lasted a mere eleven minutes.
As the clock inched toward half-time, the Union conceded in similar fashion to their first goal.
This time, Ahmed Qasem was on the receiving end of a quick one-touch chip in behind Glesnes. The Dane truly needed to be more aware of his surroundings here, as Qasem’s run really should have had Glesnes’s full attention.
Outmatched
As the match progressed, the Union were visibly the less prepared side.
A lack of true adjustments, beyond a few substitutes, from Carnell allowed Nashville’s attack to remain a threat to the Union’s back-line.
To make matters worse, players like Tai Baribo and Mikael Uhre, amidst strong form, just simply could not find the game. Their movement, or lack thereof, wasn’t enough to poke and prod at Nashville’s block. The striking duo failed consistently to provide outlets for Glesnes and Makhanya to play direct football.
Multiple junctures in this match saw Makhanya or Glesnes in possession, with both Uhre’s and Baribo’s backs to the play. The communication between the two seemed off on the day.
Mirroring the poor movement in front of them, Danley and Gazdag both struggled to find space through a clogged middle of the park.
(Graphic from WhoScored.com)
Lukic, however, was able to to provide good outlets on multiple occasions for his frustrated center backs, who were working with limited options all afternoon. The Serbian was on the ball often, logging 6 progressive passes, and 4 passes into the final third.
Quinn Sullivan and Kai Wagner were the other consistently lively spots, springing Union attacks that ultimately fizzled out again and again.
Sullivan recorded 3 key passes and 10 progressive receptions, tallying more in both statistics than Baribo, Uhre and Gazdag combined, *ooof*. Wagner led the team with 10 progressive passes and 9 passes into the final third.
The most impressive of which came on the, now infamous, questionable non-PK call. Quinn Sullivan controlled and cut back a fairway drive of a ball from Kai Wagner, before being dumped in the box by Nashville’s Daniel Lovitz.
Should it have been a PK? Yes. Why wasn’t it called? Because referees, even with the assistance of VAR, are not exempt from human error.
But did it really matter anyway?
Ball don’t lie.
The thing about momentum
The Union simply didn’t do enough to create momentum in this one. When teams ride the swings of momentum in matches, control of the match is relinquished. The ability to decide the outcome of the game rests in the balance of everything else that occurs throughout the ninety minutes of play.
Things like questionable refereeing, bad bounces, and mistakes become the difference in the outcome.
But truly, the thing about momentum is…
“Momentum is the fakest thing out there because it can end and begin at any moment.”
– Jalen Hurts pic.twitter.com/UBPsBguF8R
— Coach Dan Casey (@CoachDanCasey) November 25, 2024
(@CoachDanCasey on X)
This QB1 guy sure has some quotes.
Although, nine points of twelve, second in the Eastern Conference, and the most goals scored across MLS are feats that no one would have predicted for this squad a month ago. These are all things the Union can fall back on after a performance such as this.
Later in Carnell’s post-game presser, the manager earnestly exclaimed, “We all go down together.”
Now heading into a week where the team’s resolve will be tested, maybe the Jalen Hurts quote the Union will want to internalize is…
Steve Spagnolo, defensive coordinator for the Chiefs, said that in the Super Bowl his goal was to make the Eagles one-dimensional by taking away the run. He did that and Hurts beat him anyway. So it goes.
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Against the Union, Nashville did the same thing – but took away the Union’s Plan B first by mucking up the passing lanes for anything short and simple (and the Union had been decent in this kind of passing buildup for three weeks, so it wasn’t a shot in the dark to suggest they’d be good at again for a fourth time). As a result, the Union had the ball AND were forced to pass it backward or long with nothing to show for any other kind of progressive movement.
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The strategy worked.
First of all, Blake, can I just say… I love all the clips in this! Nice job. As far as the game, this sentence: ”A lack of true adjustments, beyond a few substitutes” a) was written a million times about Curtin and b) sums up the whole second half perfectly.
Too many Chickens running around witout a head……Agree with your premise. The Union were outplayed and otcoached. The nature of the Red Bulls style attack is high risk and high reward. The Union could go on and win a lot of 4 to 2 games against weaker defenses. They could also lose a lot games against better defensive teams and smarter coaches. For this system to work you still have to have better decision making in the back with your first touch and make purposeful passes You also can’t leave Glesenes all alone and send Danley and Mchanya forward as often or you are . When they do that the Union expose themselves to longer passover over the top of our mids who are often too forward up the field. Our passes from the defensive end must have purpose and a target. If they dont they are going to be intercepted turned over and now we are over runned with numbers coming the other way. Glesnes has no recovery speed and does not have a great first touch. He often goes onto panic mode or turns the ball over when he is pressed. . He is a better defender in the box when he has support. They defense needs more structure and discipline and the coach needs to pull the pressing attack back a little.