The Philadelphia Union hosted LAFC at Subaru Park on Saturday on a cold rainy night. Coming from a tie in our last two games, The Union looked forward to getting 3 points at home against the rival that beat us in the MLS finals last season.
We saw our starting even a little bit differently with the absence of Bruno Martinez. But it gave a chance for young Jack Mcglynn to make a case to be part of the starting 11. The Union kept LAFC on their heels but failed to score numerous times.
Creating Opportunites
Once again the Union was not able to create opportunities. From forced passing to playing with their back to the goal, it seems more difficult every game to try and score. It is no lie that we must be better, and I mean EVERYONE. The back line must tighten up, play calmly, and return to form. The middle needs to stop forcing the ball so much and try and advance as much as possible before making that extra pass.
Jim needs to re-evaluate his starting 11 days in and day out. And finally, the strikers, Carranza, played a bit more cautious today which is why we saw him on the other side of the field more times than we are used to seeing him. And Uhre was a non-factor today. Some bright sides of the match came from Daniel Gazdag who had some very good passes toward goal that we couldn’t capitalize.
In the second half, we came out a bit more organized but with one sub that was a bit worrisome, Philadelphia came out in the second half without our #9 Julian Carranza who took a big hit to the head earlier in the match and was replaced by Tai Baribo. Baribo did seem to try and get something going with a beautiful strike that hit the post and led to a goal that VAR called back because of an offsides call against Uhre. That was about all the excitement we would see regarding scoring. The game was dull, and it seemed both teams did not want to play in the rain and were just there because they had to. One thing to point out is that as uneventful as this game was it does mean yet another clean sheet for Andre Blake.
Not Acceptable
Three points in the last three matches is better than 0, but not what we expected from our boys in blue. You can blame the weather, the short turnaround, or the number of games played this year. One thing is certain: we need to be better and get back to aiming for 3 points per game not just one.
5 for 5 Philadelphia sports fan. Originally from Peru been watching soccer since I was five years old, first sport I fell in love with.
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