Few teams dare to be tactically adventurous. It’s much easier for a manager to use a basic system, or even a slight variant of a commonly used system, than it is to be innovative and try new things. If the adventurous tactics fail, the coach looks out of his depth and is left with a lot of explaining to do. It’s easy to play it safe.



The Philadelphia Union are not playing it safe.



Last season, Philadelphia played a possession-based style predicated on rotating the ball from side-to-side and using deep-lying midfielder Haris Medunjanin’s passing ability to advance the ball forward. With the arrival of new sporting director Ernst Tanner, the Union have a new-to-Philadelphia style that has transformed how Jim Curtin’s team approaches the game.



Defensively, the Union have abandoned their 4-2-3-1 shape from last year in favor of a more vertical—and less common—4-4-2 diamond. They use the diamond to extend pressure high up the...