2020 marked the Philadelphia Union’s best ever season, as the club brought home its first silverware in the form of the Supporters’ Shield, which is given to the points leader of the regular season.
The success of the regular season was short lived, as the Union dropped its first playoff game to the New England Revolution, an opponent that Philadelphia beat four times during the regular season.
At the end of the season, two of the Union’s best performers and academy graduates, assist-leader Brenden Aaaronson and MLS Best-XI defender Mark McKenzie, departed for a combined $12 million plus bonuses. Meanwhile, Union all-time leader in minutes, Ray Gaddis announced his retirement, surprisingly at just 31 years old.
The Union then replaced two of its best performers in 2020 with Kilmarnock FC defender Stuart Findlay and St. Pauli midfielder and U.S Youth international Leon Flach.
The road to another Supporters’ Shield should prove challenging for Philadelphia. Most teams in the Eastern Conference have improved considerably. Success could come down to how the new acquisitions fit in, and if the youth academy can push out more diamonds like Aaronson and McKenzie.
Despite losing two starters, and the rest of the conference looking to unseat the Supporters’ Shield holders, the Union are one of the top five title contenders heading into the 2021 season, with odds to win the MLS Cup at +800.
The MLS season kicks off on April 18, with Philadelphia traveling to Columbus to take on the reigning MLS Cup champions Crew. It should prove a challenging start to the season for the Union.
Now lets take a look what how the Union could line up in 2021:
Goalkeeper:
Reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Andre Blake is back barring any surprises, should be the favorite to repeat his personal accolade. Blake finished 2nd in clean sheets with 8, 2nd in goals against per 90 minutes with 0.86, 3rd in save percentage with 79.3 percent, 7th in saves with 63, and 1st in wins.
Expect Blake to make highlight reels with jaw-dropping saves at the most clutch moments.
Behind Blake is MLS veteran Joe Bendik and U.S. youth international Matt Freese.
Bendik stepped in for Blake when the Jamaican international suffered a hand injury at the end of the season, and while Bendik has nine years of experience, he did not acquit himself well amongst Union fans, who would prefer to see more academy products such as Matt Freese get a chance to show their worth.
The Union wouldn’t have re-signed Bendik again for 2021 if Head Coach Jim Curtin and Sporting Director Ernst Tanner didn’t trust the goalkeeper to back up Blake.
Right Back:
With Mr. Reliable, Ray Gaddis, retired, the right back position is open. The expected successor is Cameroon International, Olivier Mbaizo. The 23 year old stepped in for Gaddis when needed, and while his attacking contribution were of note, Mbaizo was lacking in some defensive departments.
This preseason has shown a challenger for the right back position, in academy product, Nathan Harriel.
Harriel started in the Union’s preseason match on March 31 against D.C. United, while Mbaizo started against Chicago on March 20.
It’s likely that head coach Jim Curtin will opt with the hot hand to start matches, likely starting the season with Mbaizo as he has the most MLS experience. Harriel will definitely get his chances, and if he makes the most of it, that could lead to a starting spot.
As it stands, this is the weakest part of the squad. Unless one of these two step up and settle in, right back could be a big headache for Curtin and Union fans.
Center Back:
According to Jim Curtin in his last press conference, Jakob Glesnes has been the stand out performer in preseason. Glesnes adapted quickly to MLS and by the end of the season, displaced Jack Elliot as a sure starter next to Mark McKenzie.
Glesnes was overshadowed by McKenzie, who earned an MLS Best XI spot and a move to Belgium. This is Glesnes’s time to be a leader on the back line and turn heads in MLS, and even moreso than than when he scored this banger against LAFC before the lock down.
One of the two off-season acquisitions, Stuart Findlay, is primed to replace Mark McKenzie at left-center back. The Scottish defender arrived for an estimated $300 thousand, and was also courted by Scottish giants Glasgow Celtic.
Expectations will be high for Findlay, but the Union have a capable back up in Jack Elliott. Elliott is 12th all time in minutes played for Philadelphia, entering his fifth season with the Union.
Elliott really shined in 2019, when he started all 34 games, with 6 clean sheets.
Fourth in the depth chart is Aurelien Colin. The 35 year-old French defender is mostly on the roster to add leadership, and didn’t play a single minute in 2020.
Left Back:
Kai Wagner is an easy pick for starter at this position, and is even a candidate for best left back in the league. Wagner was the target of several European clubs this off season, including West Ham United in the English Premier League. The Union’s attacking and defending down the left wing improve drastically when Wagner is on the pitch.
Behind Wagner is Matt Real. The 21-year-old homegrown player has filled in admirably at left back when Wagner was injured in 2020. Since his debut in 2018, Real has improved considerably. His 6 combined appearances in 2018 and 2019 was nothing to his 15 in 2020.
Real is still a downgrade to Wagner. But he has proven last season to be a player whose defending is improving, and can contribute to the attack (1 goal and 1 assist).
Defensive midfield:
This is Jose Martinez’ season. After adjusting to the system and proving himself a consistent starter in 2020, Martinez could be set for a season that pushes him into the upper echelon on defensive midfielders in MLS, especially with the focus being on him at the base of the diamond midfield.
I expect Martinez to be a top three performer for the Union in 2021.
Martinez is just recovering from an injury, played against D.C. United, and is expected to be ready for the Union’s first ever CONCACAF Champions League match against Saprissa.
Behind Martinez, surprisingly isn’t Croatian youth international Matej Oravec, but Jack Elliot.
Elliot stepped in for Martinez at the end of last year, and his long legs and eye for a pass made him a great piece to slot in. When the midfield breaks down, Elliot is the kind of play to stop up and play stopper, but also drop between the other two center backs and play as the sweeper.
According to Jim Curtin, Matej Oravec is improving, ““He’s done good with the minutes that he’s played at center back he’s done good in midfield, and he continues to try to work to get into the starting lineup.”
This is praise from Curtin, but since Oravec didn’t play a single minute in 2020, he might not be someone to displace Martinez at defensive midfield. Maybe center back is a spot for Oravec to get acclimated to MLS.
Right center midfield:
Alejandro Bedoya is the captain and engine of the Philadelphia Union. He fits so well into the right side of the diamond – as he drops back to fill in the half space, helping his right back and center back – but also pushes up to become a right midfielder when in possession. This gives his right back the option to overlap, or tuck into the midfield and play like a defensive midfielder as we saw with Ray Gaddis over the past few years.
Bedoya rarely subs off, and when he does, there is just seconds left in the game and the replacement doesn’t get much of a chance to do much. Some expected Anthony Fontana to be molded into Bedoya’s replacement, but as things stand, he doesn’t need a replacement.
Left center midfield:
To start the season, there is no doubt Jamiro Monteiro is the main man in the position. This isn’t to say Monteiro will be benched, but I’ll get to a potential position change for him later.
Monteiro is the perfect player for the Union. He is the teams best player on the ball, as well as probably the best play maker. On top of that, he has a ferocity to his defensive play that doesn’t match his stature (he’s listed as 5’1″ on the MLS website). Monteiro finished 12th in all MLS with 56 tackles made, 8th with 40 tackles won, and was 2nd in MLS, tied with teammate Brenden Aaronson with 12 tackles made in the attacking third, showing his value in this high-octane system in winning the ball in advanced positions.
Monteiro’s defensive stats compare more with top defensive midfielders in the league such as Judson, Alexander Ring, Thiago Santos and Diego Chara.
The one place that Monteiro could have improved in 2020, was his play making. Monteiro finished the season with just three goals and three assists. While playing a more attacking role in 2019, Monteiro tallied four goals and seven assists. Monteiro only played 100 more minutes in 2019 than 2020, so game time wasn’t the cause of the drop in production.
With this said, I expect Monteiro to start at least a handful of games at attacking midfield for the Union, and for Leon Flach to get some time at left center midfield.
Flach is a left footed player, and like Bedoya on the right, a left footed player can support in wide areas better than a right footed player who would rather cut inside. In 2020, the Union had four right footed players in the four midfield spots. Slotting one left footed player onto the left side of the diamond adds balance and should free up Monteiro to play more centrally, where he thrives.
Attacking midfield:
With Brenden Aaronson, who led the team in assists in 2020, now plying his trade in Salzburg, there is a big gap in creativity needed in the midfield.
Anthony Fontana was the first man off the bench in 2020 to replace Aaronson, but it didn’t seem like Jim Curtin favored the academy product to be that creative influence on a consistent basis.
In a preseason press conference Curtin said of Fontana. ““He’s working hard on that final pass and that through ball, but to become a really truly good number 10 you have to be on the ball a lot, you can’t just be touching it, three, four times a half.”
“You have to be on the ball more and we’re working with him to move in a smart way.”
Should Fontana add the final pass to his repertoire, then he could be a frightening opponent for many teams.
in 2020, Fontana finished with six goals, third most on the Union behind Kacper Przybylko and Sergio Santos (8).
Efficiently, it was done in just 509 minutes of play compared to Santos (1218) and Przybylko (1974). Fontana ended with a goal every 84.83 minutes, Santos with a goal every 152.25 minutes, and Pryzybylko every 246.75 minutes.
That proficiency extended to more than just time played, as Fontana finished second in the league in shots per goal, with an efficiency rate of .38 goals for every shot (6 goals on 16 shots.)
I’ve already stated my case for Monteiro eventually moving to this position, and with some injuries to the striker pool in preseason, perhaps Fontana’s prolific scoring record makes him a better candidate for a striker than a midfielder.
Fontana played striker in the friendly against D.C. United on March 31, and scored two goals to boot.
Striker:
Like center back, there are two starters in this position, but unlike center back, there isn’t exactly enough depth here for fans to feel positive about the team’s CCL and MLS run to start the season.
The first choice pairing at striker is Przybylko and Sergio Santos, who combined for 16 of the Union’s 44 goals in 2020.
Przybylko started 2020 on a hot streak bagging seven goals in the first 12 league matches, and going on to only score 1 in the next 11. He came down with COVID-19 during the summer, right around the time his drought started, and many believe the drop in production came down to his recovery. Przybylko didn’t seem to be any worse of a finisher at that time, but he did drop deeper into midfield, coming back to receive short passes as Sergio Santos stretched the field long.
Przybylko suffered from back spasms earlier in March. He has received a back injection recently, and is expected to train as early as the start of April.
Sergio Santos should start alongside Przybylko when healthy. The speedy Brazilian had a good conversion rate, scoring 8 of his 32 shots, many of which end up being 1-on-1 opportunities with the goalkeeper.
Santos took a season to get acclimated, then in 2020 began to show his value to the Union. Should 2021 be a more predictable season than 2020, Santos could continue to show what he can do to MLS defenses, especially ones with a high back line.
Currently, Santos is recovering from an injury, and isn’t expected back until, at best, the second leg of the Union’s CCL match against Saprissa.
Cory Burke is the third strike option, and he has had a rough couple of years. After a visa issue kept Burke in Jamaica in 2019, it wasn’t until late in 2020 that Burke finally had his visa sorted out, and he was able to return to play in the U.S.
Burke led the team with 10 goals in 2018, despite mostly coming off of the bench and playing almost 1000 minutes fewer than fellow striker C.J. Sapong, who ended with four that year.
Since that break out season, Burke amassed only 599 minutes in his next two seasons. and still was able to put up 4 goals in that time.
Burke is a goal scorer, there is no doubt. However, there should be doubts about if he is a starter on this squad, or if he is better suited, like Ilsinho, to enter the field an hour in to run an already defense ragged.
Unfortunately for him, Burke had sustained a groin injury and has yet to play a single minute in preseason.
With the big first leg against Saprissa looming on April 7, it seems unlikely that Burke, or even Santos and Przybylko will be ready for that match.
Hopefully by the time the MLS season kicks off on April 18, the Union strike force will be back, and maybe a consistent, reliable goal scorer will arise this season.
