Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union

The Philadelphia Union have officially advanced to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals after their three nil victory Saturday evening over the Chicago Fire in Game 2 of the Round One Best of three series.

Bradley Carnell’s men were surgical in their performance, accomplishing exactly what they set out to do in the windy city on an unpredictable playing surface and in the face of some embarrassing jeers from the Fire faithful. “We knew the slippery surface and saw how teams had struggled here throughout the season,” Carnell stated in his post-game press conference. “We used that to our advantage, we tilted the field a little bit played in their end a little bit more, and then the dominoes started to fall our way.”

And fall they did. The Union pressed the Fire into errors for a good portion of the evening – sending Chicago packing and the Union moving on to face the winner of Charlotte FC and NYCFC in three weeks’ time.

“I’m Old Gregg, pleased to meet ya”

Gregg Berhalter went back to the 4-3-3 that he has often used throughout his several managerial stops. Shining a light the tactical rigidity that Berhalter has been criticized for, the manager apparently told Kaylin Kyle before game one of this series that utilizing the 3-4-3 as he did in game one of this series did not allow for a role for stellar young attacking talent Brian Gutierrez in the starting eleven in game one.

For those who followed Berhalter’s USMNT closely at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, this has shades of the Gio Reyna debacle. Although very different circumstances, Gregg exuded a similar rationale for not finding a place for the budding attacking talent in the starting eleven in his rigid high press 4-3-3. This ultimately led to a highly publicized rift in the team boiling over into the Berhalter and Reyna families.

Back to Saturday, with the Fire looking to grasp a foothold down 1-0 in the series, attackers Brian Gutierrez and Phillip Zinckernagel entered the starting eleven. Zinckernagel was unavailable in the first match due to an injury he picked up in warm ups, yet the attacking intent in Berhalter’s hand was clearly shown by the team selection.

Berhalter’s idea to jump on the front foot just didn’t come to fruition. Far from it, in fact.

“You don’t know me, you don’t know what I got”

On the other side, Carnell made one change to his lineup the week prior. The gaffer interestingly deployed right back Frankie Westfield as a ten in place of Indiana Vassilev, who apparently picked up a knock and couldn’t go a full ninety minutes.

Earlier this season in the Union’s 1-0 victory over St. Louis, when the team were missing several players to international duty, Carnell opted to roll out Nathan Harriel as a ten. At the very least, this usage of Harriel and Westfield in these roles exhibits just how willing Bradley Carnell is to push the envelope, even if it means not altering the Union’s shape much.

“He rolled up as a ten, sometimes even as far forward as a second striker,” said Carnell. “It wasn’t really with the ball, it was more against the ball – how Bamba floats in between the lines and causes problems for Danley and Lukic so there was like a third six rolling in a little bit deeper at times – it clogged the middle of the field and the guys executed it really well.”

“How does it work, tell me how it works?”

After how well the Fire managed the Union’s high press in game one of this series, a switch to four-at-the-back was an over-commitment by the Fire which was happily welcomed by the Union.

The Union blasted the opening tap high and to the Chicago defense to jump-start their press. In the previous match, the team utilized the kicking the ball out of play in the opponent’s defensive third as made famous by Paris Saint-Germain this past calendar year.

From this point forward, the Union controlled the first forty-five minute period. Differently from the first match, Chicago’s width that was afforded to them by the five at the back defensive structure was non-existent in this one. This allowed the Union to have time and space to whip in the accurate crosses that has been a big factor of their success throughout the season.

Even though the Union ceded possession to Chicago 29%/71% and only completed 112 total passes to Chicago’s 434, the Union never lost control of this match. This was the type of car crash soccer match that the Union wanted to play. The polarity between the gamestate in this match vs. the opening game of the series was apparent, and it begs questions about what Gregg Berhalter was actually thinking as far as tactical setup in this match.

It was only seven minutes into the match that the Union’s press were able to capitalize. Tai Baribo crashed on a pass played back to Chicago’s keeper, and came out on the other end with a 1-0 scoreline.

Danny Higginbotham said it best on the broadcast. The way Gal received this pass with the outside of his right foot, rather than letting it run across his body is indicative of a player unsure what to do in possession. Especially in a system that relies on a ball-playing goal keeper in the way the Berhalter needed out of his four-at-the-back setup on the night.

Not long after, the Union were at it again. Off a poorly cleared Kai Wagner long throw-in to the Chicago box, the Union recycled to Wagner in space, who was able to whip in a patented cross straight onto the head of Baribo, who made no mistake – finishing deftly to the far post.

What a ball, what a finish.

The movement from Baribo, and all of the Union attackers here, to get back onside and to time their runs to perfection and attack the near, middle, and far areas of the six yard box should not go understated. Baribo’s run was the kill-shot, and he simply wanted it more than both Elliott and Waterman who were left ball-watching.

The only true chance that Chicago had in the first frame was gifted to them from the referee, and it was one that you could just feel coming. Chicago earned a corner kick in the 28th minute, and before Zinckernagel was able to take the corner, the referee, Jon Freemon, spoke with Baribo and Andrew Gutman who he thought were getting a bit to close for comfort prior to the penalty.

The speaking to both of them made sense. The ensuing whistle did not.

As the corner was eventually whipped in, Jack Elliott felt the arms of Jovan Lukic graze him, and went to ground like he’d been struck by an artillery round. Freemon reached for his whistle whistle and pointed to the spot – a soft call, and one that had the chance to reshape the match.

Perhaps, in the referee’s mind, this was a way for him to assert his authority on an ever-growing physical match without issuing cards. Yet, that is neither a valid reason to gift a 79% chance at a goal to a team looking to claw their way back, nor is it effective game management.

But, ball don’t lie.

Another note on the penalty, Baribo’s gamesmanship here is of the highest order. What isn’t shown in the highlight above is Baribo stamping on the penalty spot prior to Gutierrez placing the ball down, so much so that it caused the ball to move after Gutierrez placed it down, which the Chicago man decided to ignore to his detriment. This had an effect on the poor-taken penalty kick, which I am sure Andre Blake was thankful for.

The Union were able to issue a respoonse to the nonsense in a professional manner, hitting Chicago where it hurts, and potting a third goal just minutes later. Baribo was at the forefront again, pressing Gal relentlessly and blocking an attempted clearance into the path of Bruno Damiani.

Damiani’s clinical inside of the foot volley finish should not be overlooked. The composure here to hit a spinning ball calmly and coolly into the only unoccupied area of the net is impressive, and he deserves a ton of credit for capitalizing on this.

With the amount of action in the first frame, outside of one minor scare, the Union remained steadfast in their commitment to defending from front to back.

Chicago’s only real spark came when Brian Gutierrez pressed Andre Blake, who ricocheted a clearance off Gutierrez’s arm into the net. Yet the referee, and many watching eyes on the broadcast, could fairly easily see that it was a hand ball, and the goal was immediately disallowed.

“Make an assessment”

Even though there were two key moments in this game where the scoreline could have swung the momentum back in Chicago’s direction, the Union were clearly the more resolute team throughout in this one. Not just in this game, in fact, in this entire series, the Union were the team clearly more equipped to handle the trials and tribulations of the MLS playoffs.

That should be expected when the number one seed faces off against the team just scraping into the playoffs. However, it is never guaranteed.

“There’s momentum and swings and sways of a game that determine the outcome, and if we concede a goal there, then we are under pressure even at 2-1,” Carnell said when asked about the momentum swing between saving the penalty and Damiani’s goal. “In the last game we scored a goal – five minutes later we were 2-0 up. Five minutes after they scored their first goal it was 2-2,” Carnell continued.

“These little five minute increments of the momentum and sway of the game are vitally important.”

While the tactical identity the Union have exuded this season is clear, so too is the emotional identity that has been galvanized between February and November. The Union were so clearly the more emotionally mature team across 180 minutes and it ultimately was a major deciding factor in this series.

The team mitigated moments that could have been catastrophic. Moments such as  Kai Wagner baiting Sergio Oregel into a red card instead of earning one himself, giving up two goals and then just being ice cold from the penalty spot in a shootout, or even coming out in the front foot on Saturday and taking care of business for the entire ninety minutes.

In any match, there are the tiniest of moments in that dictate the victor. When a match rests on a razors’ edge, who is it that will take the bull by the horns? If you’re asking me, I am taking the team who can manage their emotions and dictate the terms of the match even when they don’t have the ball more times than not.