The Philadelphia Union, fresh off their worst week of the 2025 season, turned in one of their best weeks of the campaign. They first went to the District and thumped DC United 6-0 and, following some fortuitous results elsewhere, took down New York City FC at home to win the Supporter’s Shield.
Chris and Jeremy brought former Philly Soccer Page Managing Editor Peter Andrews on to discuss the momentous occasion.
Great perspective at the end, Chris. You’re right: this is the ‘Golden Age’.
Kai is probably top Left Back in MLS, maybe for years running? Glesnes possibly? But I agree with the point that maybe it’s the team.
I feel bad for Jim Curtin, he never wanted to be an energy drink coach. What makes it even more sad is that in ’19 he really had turned a corner and had the team clicking, playing a beautiful possession based build up style. He was on a trajectory to take the Union to success with his vision.
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To his credit he did very well buying into Tanner’s system and doing more than most coaches could have done over the next 4 years. But this was not the Tao of Curtin.
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And I think part of last year’s problems stemmed from him wanting to explore styles with a team that was not built for it, to Tanner’s chagrin obv.
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We were lucky to have had him as a coach for as many years as we did. 10+ years is unheard of for a coach at this level. It was an amazing run that allowed us to watch him grow in real time. I can’t wait until Jim takes the Portland job from Neville next year (maybe? perhaps? it’s better than the Revs lol) and is allowed to explore his path again.
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On to Tanner.
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What we are seeing this year is Tanner’s vision. It is his coach, who is an avid student of his style. It is all his players save for Ale (who managed to convince Ernst of his worth) and Blake (who is undroppable when fit). It is Tanner’s year, and we are reaping the benefits of a unified movement.
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The locker room is more bonded than it’s been since ’22 (and according to Kai, maybe better?). Everyone is bought into their roles on and off the field. And Bradley Carnell deserves all the plaudits because this is his job and he is doing it amazingly well.
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He did a great job of swapping parts fairly seamlessly early on. I had my worries that he would still be bringing on Donovan to ‘rest’ Damiani or Uhre in September. Instead he has distilled this team to it’s essence, and with the help of Iloski (another Tanner masterclass), Bradley has this team gritting out wins they would have lost otherwise. #ILoveILoski
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And Sugarman/Leibovitch have opened up the purse strings more than they ever have in the past. I believe it when Jay and Richard said in the Town Hall last summer that they would pay for any player Ernst asks for. But Tanner is on a mission to prove he doesn’t have to. Do we all want to see Ernst Tanner’s $10M diamond-in-the-rough? Yes, but that is not the Tao of Tanner.
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Things are good, and the job is not done yet this year, but I am already looking forward to what we do in CCC next year…
One more irony about Tanner
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For seemingly being one of the least charismatic characters
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he has a knack for finding the most charismatic players for the Union