Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Union

On first viewing, Philadelphia Union’s opening match of 2016 was an unmitigated disaster.

Watch a second time, though, and it’s clear that there were small positives within an otherwise tragicomic performance. Individual errors and a few tactical missteps meant the Union could not overcome a FC Dallas team that attacks with as much speed and creativity as any in MLS.

In other words, the rest of the season won’t be this bad. But without some quickfire adjustments, next week could be.

Individual errors

Let’s get this out of the way: Fabinho had an awful match. From the opening whistle, he was overrun, slow to react, moved off the ball with ease, and unable to contribute to the attack. It was a throwback Fabinho performance, and not in a good way. If not for a fortuitous handball on Mauro Diaz, Fabinho would have been directly responsible for a goal in each half and responsible for the turnover that led to another goal. Yeesh.

But, again, it would be almost impossible for the Union left back to be that bad in back to back weeks. Lost in the shuffle of a difficult 2015 was the fact that Fabinho truly did prove himself to be a serviceable, if maddeningly mercurial defender. He plays passing lanes aggressively and he can be dangerous going forward. There is simply no way to argue that Fabinho was the weakest link of a very weak defense last year.

But Sunday, as the only defender who played as part of that 2015 back four, he embodied everything the Union had hoped to leave behind. There was timidity in his tackling, indecisions that left him stranded, and, of course, dawdling on the ball in the box that led to a goal.

Without much depth at left back, the Union need Fabinho to rebound in a big way next week against a team that torched him a year ago.

Tactical issues

Fabinho aside, the bigger issue for the Union was that they seemed wholly unprepared for Dallas’ attack. And not just Mauro Diaz, but the entire structure of the Dallas offense.

Both teams trotted out similar 4-2-1-2-1 lineups, with two holding midfield players behind a drifting creator.

The home side thrived when it could find Diaz in the center with time to look over the top for a winger. Often, Max Urruti would drop from his striker role into midfield to provide a decoy and open space for Diaz. In order to get the ball to Diaz, Dallas overloaded the wide areas. It was an interesting solution to a problem Columbus faces with Federico Higuain. If a creative player has to drop extremely deep to pick up the ball, does it cost a team its cutting edge?

By overloading the wings, Dallas looked to find Diaz indirectly instead of by shooting balls up the center. Left back Maynor Figueroa would carry the ball wide and play triangles with a holding midfielder looking for gaps. If none were found, Dallas quickly recycled the ball to the right side. Right back Atiba Harris pushed up the line, and with Chris Pontius following him, Matt Hedges could carry the ball deep into the Union half and force a central midfielder to commit before playing a short ball centrally that opened up the field for Diaz. Alternatively, Diaz himself would drift to the right and pick up the ball from Hedges. With Brian Carroll cautious about getting too close to the playmaker, it was all too easy to either switch fields to an isolated Fabian Castillo or pop a ball into the corner for Michael Barrios.

As the Union adjusted to this mode of entry, Dallas started to use Figueroa’s powerful left foot as an access point, letting the veteran defender spray balls across for Barrios to challenge against Fabinho. Harris would sprint upfield to collect anything loose, creating instant overloads with Anderson unable to shift across field and provide timely cover.

Dallas’ strategy was so effective both because it fit their squad’s strengths and because the Union were so easily pulled apart in the middle of the park once the first line of defense was penetrated.

That first line of defense

With Cristian Maidana in midfield, and again on Sunday with Ilsinho, the Union have a tendency to look more like a 4-4-2 defensively than a 4-5-1 or even a 4-3-3. The attacking midfielder plays on an even line with CJ Sapong, looking to force the opposition to the flank where the wide midfielder can converge and trap. This system may work when the opponent’s central defenders are forced to play deep, meaning bypassing the holding midfielders with a long pass requires exquisite skill. But Dallas kept the holding midfield close to defense, allowing Mauro Diaz to open himself for passes directly from the back line, which forced a Union midfielder to stick with Diaz and give an easy outlet from the back through either Acosta or Gruezo.

In short, pressing with the attacking midfielder hands a man advantage in midfield to the opposition. This is odd because the 4-5-1 systems rose in popularity as teams realized that having an extra body in midfield dulled the effectiveness of traditional trequartistas. Skill players now tend to run in the channels or even wider because compact midfields make it difficult to run an offense through a central playmaker.

Yet Philly continues to allow its attacking midfielder to push high, even though they do not have the athleticism of a Gruezo-Acosta partnership to cover endless ground in midfield. It is a strange tactical decision that needs to be explained or addressed in the near future.

That second line of defense

Although Acosta had a rough first half on the ball, he and Gruezo showed why they were holding perennial starter Victor Ulloa out of the lineup. Each had three tackles in the first half and generally hassled Ilsinho and Nogueira while leaving Brian Carroll more time. It was a display of both athletic ability and smart tactical planning, and Nogueira’s first half passing chart shows that he simply never had time to pick up his head and find a good option.

Philly did not have the personnel to execute a similar style of suffocating defense. Without Ilsinho dropping to help, Dallas often had an extra man in midfield and found that they could look up and find runners with ease.

Notably, when Ilsinho did drop deeper — and when Roland Alberg replaced him — the Union often muted Dallas’ pressure quite easily. The home side was rarely effective from sustained umbrella-shaped offensive sets, but they did not need to be with two-pass counterattacks working so well.

A final tactical note

Look at where Dallas’ key passes came from, particularly in the first half. A team with such dynamic wingers will always dominate when it can easily get to the endline and cut the ball back. It turns the center backs around, it forces the midfielders to beat their man to the spot, and it leaves fullbacks stranded, making split second decisions to chase or book it to the six yard box as cover.

Columbus is less concerned with getting to the endline, though Ethan Finlay is more than capable of such runs. But the larger point is that Dallas did exactly what they wanted to do: They found Diaz in space and they got Barrios, Harris, and Castillo to the endline.

The Union may not have the same talent as these teams that made deep playoff runs last season, but at a minimum, they need to force them to use second or third options. One way the Union could have done this was by following Jim Curtin’s advice and committing more fouls in midfield. Dallas committed twice as many fouls as Philly, and almost all of them were far from goal. After turnovers in midfield, the Union need to foul if they are out of position. It’s not pretty, but it’s soccer.

Positives

When the Union were able to attack, they were surprisingly good at creating space for shots. Now, this comes with the caveat that they did not put those shots on goal, but the commitment to getting bodies in the box was there on the rare occasions that Ilsinho was able to stride forward with the ball.

Furthermore, when Nogueira was allowed even minimal time on the ball, he was able to find runners when he had them.

That is where the positives stop, because the runners just were not there. Passes were followed by standing. At one point, Philly had four players pushed against the Dallas back line with nobody checking back and everybody hopping on their toes as if the ground was made of lava. Coordinated movement in the offensive third is difficult to execute, but any movement trumps standing still because one player’s run opens space for a teammate. Basic things like faking a deep run before checking back were absent from the Union’s repertoire, and the offense was reduced to playing the ball into Sapong’s feet and hoping he could outwrestle Walker Zimmerman. Mark Geiger lets the rough stuff go, often too long, so this was hardly the best strategy on the day.

Conclusion

This was not a good day for the Union, but the talent at Dallas’ disposal should allow the club to chalk this one up to a good opponent and move on. A defense isn’t made in 90 minutes, and there is still reason to believe Anderson and Ken Tribbett saw the best MLS can offer and will adjust going forward.

Keep in mind, though: This was the first match in a long overhaul. Philly invested heavily in the defense and that defense will need time to figure out how to play against attackers like Fabian Castillo. A stronger midfield will also take pressure off the back four, meaning Mo Edu and Tranquillo Barnetta cannot return to fitness quickly enough.

Next week may be another bad experience, but at least the club is finally staring its weaknesses in the face.

Player ratings

Andre Blake – 7

With so many saves, Blake should be higher. But his distribution, including an inability to adjust to the wind throughout the entire first half, was shocking.

Keegan Rosenberry – 3

It’s hard to figure out how much of Rosenberry’s performance was simply following instructions and how much of it was misreading the game. Regardless, this was definitely a learning experience for Rosenberry and Tribbett next to him. They never figured out how to position themselves to close down Dallas’ counterattacks and the result was a dominating performance from Fabian Castillo.

Ken Tribbett – 3

Dallas forced the ball onto Tribbett’s feet, and his distribution was uneven. Ninety minutes of playing defense while running backwards is not a great introduction to MLS, and Tribbett struggled to figure out his spacing and his angles. More than once he did not adjust as a runner hit the gap behind him and Andre Blake bailed him out.

Anderson – 3

Rarely on the ball, and rarely accurate when he was, Anderson looked slow and uncertain. The biggest gripe is that he never offered more support to Fabinho even as the left back was clearly struggling.

Fabinho – 1

I don’t like giving out a 1, and hopefully this performance was an aberration. But for now, this is the prototypical lowest-rating game. Mistakes in back, mistakes further upfield, and when he did get a chance to cross, he sent it straight to Gonzalez. Just not a good day for Fabi.

Brian Carroll – 2

I mean, what do you expect when you put a guy on his last legs out there against a great playmaker and two talented holding midfielders who can run for days? This is not Carroll’s fault. This is, if anything, a bat signal to the Union that should inspire a trade or a new signing if Maurice Edu is not going to be healthy, I don’t know, tomorrow. Even with an emphasis on possession, Philly cannot dominate the flow of games often enough to cover for the fact that Carroll needs to back off opponents in order to make sure they don’t run by him.

Vincent Nogueira – 4

Nogueira was hounded out of the game, but he made fewer mistakes than most. Asking him to chase sideline to sideline is never going to bring out his best, so Philly will need to make personnel changes or find new ways to get Nogueira the ball in space.

Ilsinho – 4

A real mixed bag from Ilsinho. On the one hand, he can escape tight areas and bring wingers into play. On the other hand, he dwells on the ball too long and doesn’t recover back to his defensive role very quickly. Similarly, his corner kicks were mostly good with a bit of bad, while his direct free kick sailed high over the net.

Chris Pontius – 4

Pontius running at a defense is a good thing. Early on, that’s what he did. But as the game became more one-sided, Pontius was less likely to drive into open space and pull in defenders, settling for short passes and standing. Additionally, Pontius is partially responsible for figuring out how to handle Atiba Harris when he came rolling down the wing. Anderson, Fabinho, and Pontius never sorted this out and it became a constant threat for Dallas.

Leo Fernandes – 3

Listless. Is there more to say? Fernandes’ off the ball movement was lackluster, his time on the ball was often short-lived, and he should have been carded early on for a late tackle that sent Acosta sprawling. Not the best return to the lineup, and he will be a candidate for the bench on Saturday.

CJ Sapong – 5

In the second half, Sapong was the lynchpin of the offense, holding off defenders as an outlet and letting his midfield clean up the scraps. Oddly, he never switched over to challenge Hedges, which would have made it more difficult for the center back to carry the ball out of his own half.

Substitutes

Roland Alberg – 5

Not enough time on the ball, but Alberg showed more bite than anybody that started ahead of him. He also unleashed a pair of hard shots, one blocked and one that missed. It will be interesting to see if he challenges Ilsinho or Fernandes for the start on Saturday.

Sebastien Le Toux – n/a

Didn’t do very much

Fabian Herbers – n/a

See above.

Geiger Counter – 5

Not much for Mark Geiger to do. He let the teams play, which was bad news for Philly since it meant Fabinho got zero calls and Zimmerman was allowed to tie up Sapong at will. Still, it was called evenly both ways.