Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union’s first win of the season came under the most unique of circumstances, with international call-ups, visa issues, and a last-minute suspension leaving the Union to battle for three points with only 16 players. Impressive individual performances, as well as a dynamic team effort, was ultimately the deciding factor in Philadelphia’s victory against a lethargic Columbus Crew side.

No strategy, no problem

The Union’s starting line-up did a great job of winning their individual match-ups against the Crew, both defensively and offensively. As a team however, it was clear that the last minute squad limitations prevented the Union from executing a cohesive strategy consistently throughout the 90 minutes. Head coach Jim Curtin stated as much in his post-match brief, sharing that the team had to drill four to five potential lineups throughout the week and ultimately had to play for the three points with raw effort more than with strategy. With Columbus approaching the match in a similar mindset, the Union was able to win the game going punch for punch.

From a tactical standpoint, the Union has discernibly traded the passing domination of last season in favor of long-balls and counter-attacking breaks. While it leads to scrappy and occasionally unattractive football, it’s hard to argue against it when it produces a result. Despite Columbus having 55% of the possession and better passing play, the Union was able to outshoot them on the goal by a factor of 5 to 1. The deciding piece for Philadelphia’s season will be whether or not they can find the same success against more organized and aggressive teams.

When the MVP list becomes a roll-call

The same mix of events that prevented the Union from drilling in a set and clear gameplan and line-up before the match against Columbus was also responsible for shining a bright spotlight on the individual players in the starting 11. At the end of the 90 minute match, nearly all of them had put in their best performance of the season so far.

First, the two wingers-temporarily-turned-strikers had the resounding performance of the night. Fafa Picault slid into the role typically filled by striker Corey Burke while David Accam was a winger in all but name. Picault was able to distribute the ball and put pressure on Crew defenders, while Accam single-handedly doubled the Union’s goal count for the season. The most impressive aspect of Accam’s play was that he perfectly filled the role that the Union’s new strategy has been needing. With all the talk of box-to-box midfielders, Accam was able to make the difference as a box-to-box winger; he had the most shots on the team, but even more impressively, he had the most tackles and clearances out of any non-defender. Going forward, Curtin should be looking for ways to incorporate Accam’s pace and work rate into the squad.

The Union midfield also exhibited impressive individual performances, not least of all from Haris Medunjanin. Under fire for several crucial defensive lapses at the onset of the season, Medunjanin put in a knock-out showing. Nearly half of the Union’s 11 interceptions were from Medunjanin, and his 74 passes outnumbered everybody else. He was dangerous offensively without leaving the team exposed on the backend. While Columbus did very little to truly test the waters, the ripples they were able to make were consistently quenched by Medunjanin, as well as by captain Alejandro Bedoya.

Finally, while the entire defense had a substantial performance, it was Kai Wagner that continued to stand out as a key piece of the Union’s transition to more dynamic football. He was responsible for 5 of the 6 crosses that the Union sent forward, while still winning the most tackles on the team. While Accam’s defensive work was certainly a major contributor to the flexibility that Wagner was able to exhibit, a lot of credit goes to Wagner for embodying the dynamism that the new Union philosophy is asking for.

The Union 2.0 to Union 2.1

When the Union started their season against Toronto FC, most fans knew to expect a rough start while the coaching staff and players adjusted to a completely new approach and philosophy, particularly as they played consecutive games against the top teams of the MLS. However, now that the seas have settled and the team has been able to get a feel for the new approach, a lot will be expected of them going forward. The Union should be expected to win most of their next 7 matches against middle-table teams. The difficulty of their season is front and back-loaded, so those points will be crucial for making playoffs. The Union’s victory against Columbus clearly showed that they have the players needed to make their approach work; whether or not they are able to consistently translate that into points on the table is the big question going forward.