Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union traveled to Citi Field to play NYCFC on Saturday night. Another listless offensive game punctuated by an error by 19-year old goalkeeper Andrew Rick led to a 1-0 NYCFC victory.
Here are the ratings.
Player Ratings
GK Andrew Rick – 4
An otherwise acceptable showing in his second start of the year, Rick blundered by coming out of his box to challenge Alonso Martínez, who easily avoided him and shot into the empty net. Ultimately, it cost the Union a point.
LB Kai Wagner – 7
Returning after missing the last two matches, the German left back tried to add some spark to a rather lethargic Union offense. Wagner was strong on defense, and created some nice chances but could not add to his assist tally.
CB Olwethu Makhanya – 5
Makhanya was strong at times, making nine clearances on the ground and heading clear seven times. But he was repeatedly pulled out of position, including when Mitja Ilenic found Martinez on a well-timed run behind the center back, leading to NYCFC’s goal. An early yellow card in the 33rd minute may have led to some hesitance later in the game.
CB Jakob Glesnes – 5
Not a poor night for Glesnes, but he was lucky not to have been beaten more than once. While not as strong statistically as Makhanya, he did have his share of clearances on the night. It was offensively, however, where he failed to shine, connecting just 36% of the time on his long passes.
RB Nate Harriel – 7
Harriel tried to cover for Makhanya on Martinez’s goal, but was unable to make up the ground. He was successful on all of his tackles, made clearances on the ground and in the air, and recovered well when called upon. He had two nice crosses into the NYCFC box, creating chances, and was a threat with his long throw-ins. A decent enough game from Harriel that may have won back his starting role.
DM Danley Jean-Jacques – 5
While Danley was solid, his play lacked a spark we’ve seen in previous games. He was clearly frustrated at either his play or being subbed off in the 66th minute (or both). Replaced by Uhre in a formation change that hoped to spark the offense.
DM Jovan Lukić – 6
Lukić had a better game than his pivot partner and went the full ninety. He was incredibly accurate passing on the night (92%) and had eleven passes into the final third. Also took three long rage shots, but never seriously threatened scoring.
AM Quinn Sullivan – 6
A decent night from Sullivan who created five chances in the match, including a fine pass to Baribo that was probably the Union’s best chance on the night. Took four shots on the night, though only one was on the frame, and he never seriously challenged Matt Freese. His scoring mojo continued to elude him as Sullivan still seeks his first goal on the season.
AM Indiana Vassilev – 5
Vassilev did create two chances on the night, but ultimately did not shine. Granted, the boots he was stepping into were large and tough to fill, but the Union need more from half of the double-10s. He only had one touch inside the NYCFC box and had one long-range shot blocked before it even got into the box.
FWD Bruno Damiani – 6
Damiani started again, but with the same end result. He hustled and did pass accurately, but he lacked a finishing touch as all four of his shots failed two even challenge Freese – two were blocked and the other two off target. His rating is bumped up to a six from five because he won seven duels in his 75 minutes on the field, more than any other player on the night. Subbed off for Donovan.
FWD Tai Baribo – 6
Baribo lasted fifteen minutes longer than Damiani, going the full ninety, but to no difference. He did have a shot on target and forced a save from Freese, and probably had one of the best chances on the night when he took a pass from Sullivan at the endline, but was swarmed by NYCFC defenders before he could get a shot off. He was the most accurate passer on the night from either team to have played at least a half.
Substitutes:
(66’) Mikael Uhre – 5
Brought on in a formation change to replace Danley, the Dane had a relatively quiet showing, failing to take a shot though he was perfect in his passing, connecting on all seven.
(75’) Alejandro Bedoya – 5
Bedoya replaced Sullivan on the right side, but did not create any chances in his time on the field.
(75′) Chris Donovan – 5
Donovan did get his head to a cross into the box, forcing Freese into one of his three saves on the night.
(86’) Frankie Westfield – n/a
Received a yellow card in the third minute of injury time. Other than that did not add much statistically to the match.
Geiger Counter
Guido Gonzales Jr. – 7
Gonzales kept a lid on the match, not allowing either team’s persistent fouling to get out of control. Called an even match.
Player of the Match – Matt Freese
The former Union back-up keeper had three saves on the night, keeping a clean sheet and helping NYCFC earn all three points.
What’s Next…
The Union return to Subaru park to face Atlanta FC on Saturday, April 19. 7:30 pm on Apple TV.
That was not a fun game to watch. Observations:
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Glesnes was apparently fighting through a stomach bug in that match. So the real blame for our defensive woes right now belongs with… Ernst Tanner, for not getting us sufficient depth at CB.
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Everyone talking about how much we’ll miss Gazdag, but keep in mind that the offense has looked horribly stale for the last 4 matches now. So last night, at least, was not about missing Gazdag.
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Having said that, Vassilev will not work well as his replacement. He’s much more a box-to-box guy than an attacking mid. We better see more of Cavan, or else Ernst better go shopping sooner than he has planned.
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It’s great to finally have a coach who believes in using his bench… but some of Carnell’s substitutions are really hard to figure. When we need a goal, Cavan should be given a chance to use his passing vision. I don’t know if he’s fully ready, but we don’t have a better option at this point. Also, removing either of our starting forwards for Chris Donovan is just physically painful.
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Regarding the ratings: I thought it was Harriel who got beat on the NYCFC goal. It wasn’t all his fault by any means — the CBs were not positioned well, and Rick obviously came out without getting the ball — but he doesn’t deserve a 7.
No, it was Makhanya who got beat on the goal. It *looked* like Harriel was beaten inside the six, but Harriel was crossing the entire field to get there. It wasn’t his man.
MONEY GRABBBERS ….As someone else said in addition to his goal scoring ability, Gazdag created space for others with runs and movement off the ball .Vassilev is not th we guy to do that. He looks mediocre and has no creativity. PUT Cavan in now or go get a legitimate attacking mid …. Sugarman, Fans could give 2 shites that you made money to be used for the accademy or to build a new luxury box for the 1% ers. You obviously have no commitment to ever win an MLS cup. Damiani is a bust so far. WTF Tanner . That’s on you. We had Baribo Uhre and Gazdag and they had chemistry.Either start Cavan next game or pony up and acquire a legitimate proven attacking midfielder Carnell will run the team into the ground with his chaotic press. He lasted less than 2 seasons at St Louis. COACH Gets A Zero for this game and his plan .
Scores are way to high. The team LOST. Rick’s is the only one with an accurate score. If anything his was too low given that he bailed them out a few times. He should never have been in that position where the defenders weren’t playing in a line which allowed the breakaway. Yes, he made a poor decision, but whatever he did, 9 out of 10 times that play is a goal and he is going to get blamed regardless.
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The offense was atrocious. The closest thing to a scoring chance was Donovan’s header. Those of you calling for him never to see the field again, remember that everyone else had even less offense on the night.
Playing at the bronx makes the game pretty ugly to begin with, Union said hold my beer. Narrow field plus dump and chase style, plus lots of missed passes… barf.
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Agree with comments above. If you want to get to the future… just rip the band aid off and play the kids and go through growing pains.
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PLAY: Cavan, Rafanello, Olney, Pierre, Westfield
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EARN YOUR MINUTES: Vassilev, Makhanya, Bueno
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DEPTH ONLY: Bedoya, Mbaizo, Donovan
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Status quo everywhere else.
Now THIS is the Philadelphia Union we all expected this season (especially after selling Gazdag). I think you are giving Makhanya way too much credit with those ‘clearances’ – many of them were supposed to be passes but he couldn’t pass gas, never mind a ball to a teammate. He is truly shocking and so clearly not up to MLS standard.
Speaking of sub-standard…Danley is challenging Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield for the most turnovers. Perhaps Danley will be next on the Bezos phallus rocket becasue he is clearly a HUGE fan of space. TIme and again he just stands there in space, marking nobody, tracking nobody, just watching the ball and being reactive. Not what you need from a player in his position. He is so off the pace / unable to read a game that poor old Nate Harriel was playing his and Danley’s position all night – the fact that he had to rush over and cover Danley’s ass is the reason he played their lad onside for the goal.
Oh, and Damiani is shit, isn’t he?
ST LOUIS PODCAST ….Just listened to a podcast from the St Louis supporters club about the demise 9f Carnell that gave some some insight to his training style. In addition to the fact that in his last 9 games at ST Louis hthe team only eared 3 points. the narrators pointed out in his final season they lost several starting players dUrring practices. The narrators implied that he may have overttained his players which led to the team being burnt out by mid season as their goal production continued to drop durring the summer.Although it was not sa8d directly by players on the team, reporter got a sense that many players were unhappy with the style of Carnells frantic offense and were happy to see him go. This kind of reminds me of the same scenario that developed with Chip Kelly era of the Eagles. Early success followed by yeam burn out and locker room dissent because his fronetic style. The full court press does not work for the entire game. It should be used for situational circumstances. Glesnes is too slow and Mchanya is too green. The team quickly becomes expose 9nce the realize that when the Union come to far forward neither centerback can recover or because the way out of position. They counter attack and the Union can’t do anything about with thereer 2 current centerbacks.