The Philadelphia Union’s horrid start to the season continued with a sixth loss in a row, this time on the road at Charlotte FC. Playing through some dreadful weather in a back-and-forth game, the Union were unable to summon the quality necessary to secure their first points of the 2026 season.
First Half
The match started at a high pace. Charlotte saw a pair of chances from Pep Biel and Djibril Diani in the 4th and 6th minutes, but both missed narrowly wide. On the other end, Milan Iloski slotted the ball home after a through ball from Indiana Vassilev, but his goal was called back for offside.
As the rain turned torrential, Charlotte took control of the game and found it much too easy to pass through the Union’s defensive lines. It paid off in the 30th minute as Tim Ream and Charlotte effortlessly played into Philadelphia’s box, and after a brief scramble, the ball was slotted home by Charlotte captain Ashley Westwood.
Charlotte almost added another in the 44th minute on a breakaway after a Union corner left Zaha alone in the box, but Blake made a terrific save down to his left to keep the game in reach.
Second Half
The Union came out much stronger in the second half with a flurry of chances, including an acrobatic effort from Damiani in the 50th that went just wide, and a free kick from Iloski in the 62nd that narrowly missed the top corner.
The Union finally found their breakthrough in the 78th minute. A cross from Nathan Harriel on the right was flicked on by Cavan Sullivan, springing Danley Jean Jacques in the box, where he smashed the equalizer past Kristijan Kahlina.
But it was not to last, as Charlotte almost immediately went back in front. Pep Biel collected the ball alone on the right, cut inside, and picked out a wide-open Wilfried Zaha at the back post, who one-touched his finish past Blake.
Both sides pushed hard over the final ten minutes, and Charlotte had another goal called back for offsides, but ultimately the Union were unable to find an equalizer and fell to their sixth defeat of the season.
PSP’s Three Points
Defensive Positioning: The Union’s defensive positioning was a mess all night, with huge gaps at the back that made it far too easy for Charlotte to play through the midfield and the center of the defense. The backline clearly misses Glesnes’ leadership and organizational skills.
Play the Kids: Three of Bradley Carnell’s four substitutes were promising young homegrown attackers Cavan Sullivan, Malik Jakupovic, and Stas Korzeniowski. With the veterans playing so poorly, and the team severely lacking in creativity, it is time for them to get more involved.
Alladoh’s Struggles Continue: Ezekiel Alladoh has struggled so far in his time on the field, and has already been suspended by the league for a red card and by the team for missing a training session. The Union need more from this offseason’s club record signing.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union (4-2-2-2):
Andre Blake, Nathan Harriel, Japhet Sery Larsen (Philippe Ndinga 84’), Olwethu Makhanya, Frankie Westfield, Danley Jean Jacques, Jovan Lukic, Milan Iloski (Stas Korzeniowski 84’), Indiana Vassilev (Cavan Sullivan 77’), Bruno Damiani (Malik Jakupovic 84’), Ezekiel Alladoh (Jesus Bueno 64’)
Unused Substitutes: Andrew Rick, Ben Bender, Geiner Martinez, Alejandro Bedoya
Charlotte FC (4-2-3-1)
Kristijan Kahlina, Tim Ream, Morrison Agyemang, Harry Toffolo, Nathan Byrne, Pep Biel (Brandt Bronico 90’), Djibril Diani (Luca de la Torre 65’), Ashley Westwood, Idan Toklomati (Archie Goodwin 90’), Wilfried Zaha, Kerwin Vargas (Liel Abada 65’)
Unused Substitutes: Tyler Miller, Andrew Privett, David Schnegg, Tyger Smalls, Aron John
Scoring Summary:
CLT: Ashey Westwood – 30’
PHI: Danley Jean Jacques (Cavan Sullivan, Nathan Harriel) – 78’
CLT: Wilfried Zaha (Pep Biel, Luca de la Torre) – 80’
Disciplinary Summary:
PHI: Frankie Westfield (Yellow) – 12’
CLT: Djibril Diani (Yellow) – 19’
CLT: Wilfried Zaha (Yellow) – 42’
PHI: Bruno Damiani (Yellow) – 45’ + 2’
PHI: Nathan Harriel (Yellow) 76’
CLT: Morrison (Yellow) – 83’
CLT: Kristijan Kahlina (Yellow) – 87’
PHI: Cavan Sullivan (Yellow) – 90’ + 1’
Just awful. 6 games in, play the kids is where we are.
Enjoy your Sunday.
The two weeks to reset changed nothing. The back line is a mess, the strikers are non-existent. The first half was awful, so many passes to nowhere.
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9 of the 11 starters tonight were starters last year. Sery was playing Europa League soccer. Depth isn’t there but no excuse to give up the first goal in all six matches. Why do Vassilev, Iloski and Damiani look like they have never played together when they did the second half of last season?
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This team needs Julian Carrranza. Not the goal scorer, but the forward who at the top of the press would get stuck in and pick up yellow cards because he was aggressive. Way too easy for teams to get past these strikers, and from there Union are just defending in their own half for most of the match.
Did Alladoh start? You would be excused for thinking he was on the bench for all the impact he had on the game.
I’ll bite and check back in as my other myself.
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I figured it out. It is a talent issue. The Union lack it. Period. End.
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This is the worst Union team Ive ever seen Period. End….and they can’t Ezekiel Alladoh and his shit attitude out if here fast enough.
He’s EMBLEMATIC.
Pearl Harbor Award to the defense when caught sleeping on the second goal while still basking that the Union just tied it up from a rare goal on the run of play. Toast Award to the defense on the first half especially the eventual goal after getting burnt to a crisp.
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To early to tell given his new arrival and age, but Alladoh is feathering his nest as a bust. Younger than him are playing better. He’s added nothing but punitive benching.
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Since I have no expectations this year and so long as Sugarman owns this club, it doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s just Back to the Future, the Hackworth Award for the fans. I’m still considering a matchday paper bag hat for shits and giggles and a fan statement though.
Play the kids and watch them grow or fail. That’s what’s left of the season. We’ve seen enough to know this version of the Union will not compete for anything meaningful this season. This is a total mess. I only have interest in seeing the kids play and don’t care if they lose.
I feel the same regarding USMNT youth team prospects like 16 y/o Malik Jakupovic, provided he doesn’t switch to Bosnia & Herzegovina as a first choice like Esmir Bajraktarević did rather than it being a default option. The younger they are, the more senior MLS experience will benefit their development for the USMNT.
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Sugarman will sell any decent youth before fans fully benefit, so non-US youth won’t provide collateral USMNT benefits. They’ll just be better competitors against the US and the Union.
+1 totally agree. In fact, see if we can recoup some of the money wasted, prepare for the 14 game dash of the 2027… short season money grab?
But I guarantee 2027 will NOT see this 100% attendance, 17 season Tix INVESTOR back in Chester. Sugarman has wreaked this squad AGAIN with his Charlie Findley selling spree. F him.
The offseason can now officially be called a disaster, and they missed on almost all acquisitions. Alladoh is our new Mboli , and Sery is a hack. It seems clear that Tanner (with all his faults) was NOT involved in the sell and buy frenzy. The “team” that made these choices should be fired. This is also the point in the season where I no longer waste 2 hours watching this shit. Will check the scores and watch highlights if the Union show any. The only way for this to change is for the STH’s to stop feeding Sugarman’s insatiable greed.
#boycottthesoob so he has to #selltheteam
Yep. Alladoh certainly smells like an unloaded problem. He might be athletic but also has exhibuted a garden salad of character flaws on and off the pitch while being unproductive. Sery seems like another unloaded problem on us. Besides an injury history, he tracks players like Elmer Fudd.
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Tanner or not, the office wins the Jets Award because this squad sure as hell shits the bed like them.
RE: Sery. On the 2nd goal OM & Bueno tracked the central channel perfectly and Sery also then drifts central… do you think he did not realize who Wilfred Zaha is? Or that he scored plenty of goals in Premier League? Left him WIDE OPEN.
All he has to do is hold his line and he flick intercepts the cross.
Its freaking Wilfred Zaha. Hello?
Pach. It’s obviously worse. Sery knows who Zaha is. He was just Cricket Wireless…no coverage.
Boycott all we want. The team is worth a gzillions now, directly off our hard earned money. That b*stard got what he wanted…. we got this sh*t. POOP.
Was Tanner set up?
Are there investors from Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit interested in the team?
Worth finding out. This NY dude is driving the enterprise into the ground.
Glad I didn’t bother to watch but caught up on Thursday’s episodes of Matlock and Elsbeth instead.
Hate to tell you Tanner apologists, but these moves were all his. Transfers were in works for 3-6 months before trigger pulled in December. Same agents, same connections. Over past 3 windows, Union have spent $15-16M on acquisitions and brought in $14-15M in departures. This isn’t on ownership. Moving on from all of your veteran winners was in the works from before end of Curtin era. This batch happened over a 12-month period. Lose McGlynn, Gazdag, Baribo, Wagner, Glesnes, Uhre, Elliott. Replace them with Vassilev, Allodoh, Damiani, Larsen, Ndinga, Anello, Martinez. That’s a choice by soccer execs, not ownership.
Seriously? You really believe that?
Tanner was set up, investors from other cities interested. Believe what you want… the truth is somewhere in between. And this team is heading to another city.
Academy stays, how the owners always wanted to make money.
LOL no.
Philadelphia is the 6th largest market in the country the MLS will not move the team.
And yea these are Tanners picks.
Assuming Tanner was actually suspended, suspended and had no contact with the office. These players were identified and targeted long ago.
Ndinga is the only player on that list that was a rush job, as reports were Union were targeting a different LB who they missed out on. Turning the roster over was the plan, but the early returns are not very good.
Is it Carnell’s fault the team is shit?
I dunno. Probably. Not entirely.
But as they say you can’t fire the whole team but you can fire the coach.
Carnell’s problem is the hand he’s dealt. He’s trying lots of different things but nothing is producing points so far given how gutted the team is.
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He will be scapegoated by the brass. It shouldn’t work this time. It’s easy and convenient for Sugarman & Co to claim he’s not properly.developing their full potential. He won the SS last year doing precisely that, just like he won the West for a rookie St Louis. Maybe some players will develop but certainly others are just cases of trying to spray paint a turd gold.
1. This team sucks because, with their Moneyball philosophy, they have to hit on most of the new players to have a good squad. Improbably, that happened in 2025. This year they seem to have missed on all of them, or at least it seems that way so far. It’s too soon to give up on Alladoh but the Raïs M’Bolhi vibes seem pretty strong so far.
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2. I cannot believe some of the conspiracizing in this thread. Tanner was obviously a very shrewd judge of talent; he was also, quite obviously, a complete piece of s*** human. Making excuses for him should be beneath the dignity of anyone who comments here and needs to stop.
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3. It’s always easy to blame the coach, and often wrong. This is still the same guy who garnered the best record in the league last year. Having said that, I believe he is partially to blame for this, and I will cite 3 specific issues: a) his failure to put out consistent lineups, which is clearly preventing chemistry from developing; b) his substitutions, which are often head-scratching or too late; c) his commitment to Vassilev, who is the person where, consistently, the offense goes to die. If he doesn’t start Cavan now, I don’t know what to say.
Agree completely on all points. I think the loss of Baribo, Uhre and Q. Sullivan to effectively initiate the press up front, and loss of Glesnes and Wagner in the back are undermining their effectiveness on defense. The vast majority of their offense in the last several years has been counterattacking with runs behind and crosses to a poacher, which is all gone now too. It’s on the coach to find a system that works with what he has left.
Carnell may be under pressure not to play Cavan too much given his MC transfer deal. MC won’t want injured goods.
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Further, Carnell certainly has to factor that Cavan could go to an MC farm club in Europe at any point now. His primary focus should be on developing team chemistry with players who have a longer future with the Union.
The truth about Tanner lies somewhere in between. Don Grabmoremoney has had it in for Philadelphia and Sugarman from the start… we all saw that with COVID, BLM and the draft. Tanner was easy to charge because like Wagner he had another side to him we all never saw.
And as far as Tanner’s decision to hire…. I doubt ANY of the misfires so far would have been signed with Tanner present. He might have left draft data for the current management but his vetting in the past was far better than these guys. Sure he had ideas to hire these guys, but in the long list he left when he was suspended.
The “black and white” of what he did is disgusting. Indefensible…. but he was an easy target for Grabmoremoney to punish Philly for not signing BIG STARS… the MLS way… just like baseball did to Billy Bean.
The only way this city will see a top quality first team again is for Surgarman to sell the team to an investor group and keep the accademy team a separate entity. You cant with league with just promising youth. You need an owner group who will invest in proven veterans.
This squad is no more than a mid level USL Championship level squad… which is fine to watch… but way below MLS standards. And it’s not Carnell’s fault but he will pay for it eventually. He only signed a 2 year contract, silly boy.
Definitely above MLS Next level despite all the alumni from last year on the first team who competed favorably at that level in 2025.
But we paid for an MLS level squad in 2026, right?
So far the guys we paid for this season… NO MATTER WHO SIGNED THESE GUYS… haven’t shown up, devaluing my season tickets and the joy of attending games in Chester completely.
Hope Messi tickets will still be worth something above face by mid May.
POOP!
I’ve see some terrible Union teams and this one is up there. A calamity of poor defending, hapless midfield play and a collection of strikers that look more likely to win a FIFA peace prize than put a shot on frame.
Amazingly, the team hasn’t been blown away in MLS other than the Chicago match. Perhaps an illustration of how poor the league is in general. The margins are not that great.
What could fix this mess is anyone’s guess. Maybe it’s the coaching. More likely a poor backline. Even more likely, a striker core that can’t score. Amazing to have a system that relies on two strikers…
It’s going to be a long season of losing.
I’m going to repeat what I said after the loss to Chicago. The Union are an epically bad team. I’ve been to almost every home game since the beginning in 2010. The Union are now 0-0-6. The worst start by any team with no points in MLS history were the 1999 Kansas City Wizards at 0-0-7. Correct me if im wrong, but I don’t think any other team has ever gone 0-0-6.
I say we go for it!!!!!
We have enough kickball players that I think we can do it!!!
Philly has had some really terrible teams over the years. Let’s join that list!!!
Our next two games are against Montréal, on the road and then home against DC. We always lose to Montréal in Montréal. We could set the record at home against DC United with Baribo scoring a
the winning goal!
How cool would that be?
I would buy tickets for that game! And then that would be my last ticket purchase!
LET’S DO THIS!!!!
The worst part is… Alladoh looked really sharp in his first game (yes Defense Force) and I thought he looked good in the first MLS game. It’s almost like the red card broke him. He hasn’t been the same again. I wonder if coach ripped him too hard for that.
Maybe but I doubt it, and that would still indicate a headcase to be that broken up over that. He seemingly has attitude problems. At 20 y/o, that’s concerning given younger pros have grown out of them if ever having had them at all. Time to grow up as expected for a pro.