EDITORIAL – Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtain said Tuesday night’s victory over the New York Red Bulls was “the Union’s biggest win in their history.”

That may be true.

On the other side of the equation, New York have enjoyed a few highs and several lows in their 20 year existence, but Tuesday’s result won’t rank in the top five of either category.

However, the divisive reaction from the result certainly deserves a category of recognition. Perhaps the “glass half full/glass half empty” award?

Whatever the case may be, Tuesday’s Open Cup ouster served to demonstrate everything that is right and everything that is painful about the team’s new direction and approach.

First, give credit where it is due. No one can say the Red Bulls didn’t go out to try and win this match. The stats tell the story:

Shots? 34 to 8. Advantage, Red Bulls.

Shots on goal? 10 to 4. Advantage, Red Bulls.

Possession? 67.7 to 32.3. Advantage, Red Bulls.

In fact, the closest the Union got to winning the stat sheet battle is in clearances (40 to 31) and saves (9 to 3).

Oh ya … and the final scoreline of course.

Away from slipping banana peels under the feet of John McCarthy and his backline mates, New York did just about everything they could to take last night’s game. They trotted out starters. They laid in a barrage of shots on net. They held possession for the majority of the match.

They did everything.

Everything but score, of course. And that is why soccer is, as Dax McCarty put it, a “cruel” game.

One has to credit both Jesse Marsch and Ali Curtis for the team’s effort and performance this year. The Red Bulls have looked intelligent in possession, focused and determined on attack and overwhelming in nearly every aspect of the game.

On the other hand, their approach has also proven costly in a different way. With an eye on the team of tomorrow, the contenders of today are forced to live with what Marsch calls the “maturation process” of the club, meaning veteran players are saddled with young, inexperienced performers or journeymen whom, for better or worse, are learning on the job or earning minutes where they previously couldn’t.

Case in point: Anatole Abang. The 18-year-old Cameroonian striker earned the nod up top against Philadelphia, pushing Wright-Phillips to the left; a formula which has worked in the past. However, with youth comes growing pains, and that was evident Tuesday night. Whether it was a heavy first touch destroying a multitude of multi-pass buildups or whether it was a series of ill-advised shots on net, plays simply died at the feet of the dynamic, young striker.

Looking for a late game spark, Marsch turned to Manolo Sanchez to make an impact. However, it was clear that the young midfielder was not ready for competition and pressure at this level. In his short time on the field, the lanky Sanchez laid ruin to not one, but two golden opportunities on net that could have ended the match well before overtime. His meek header into the arms of McCarthy put an ugly end to a beautiful Lloyd Sam feed late in the match. A ricochet pinball shortly there after caught the youngster by surprise, landing right at his feet. Sanchez’s response was to simply see the chance clang off his shins and out of danger.

But why should Sanchez carry the burden of being the late game spark anyway? Well, because New York had no choice. They already played their best options in journeymen Sal Zizzo and Mike Grella. As surprising as it may be, this year’s 17th pick of the fourth round of the MLS SuperDraft was the nearest thing New York had to a game breaker.

The Red Bulls have chosen to go the youth route. They have chosen to go budget on journeyman players. They have also decided to trim their cap to a league low $3.9 million.

With those decisions come difficult consequences. Abang and Sanchez are wonderful players with great skills. However, what they bring in promise, the Red Bulls lose in experience, costing them results for today with the promise of tomorrow in hand. Likewise, Grella and Zizzo bring a blue-collar workrate to the midfield and have quickly earned beloved status with the fans. But are they game changers? Not likely.

Austria has decided to allow the Red Bull organization to sink or swim on their own merit. With that comes a budget consciousness never before seen in the Red Bull New York era.

Oddly enough, Marsch’s club is playing with the kind of dominance and sophistication that the franchise has hoped to see since Austria took over operations from the Metrostars.

And that is the juxtaposition tearing apart the Red Bull fans in the wake of the U.S. Open Cup. With a bit of investment, this club can compete and contend for an MLS Cup — but that investment may never come. Instead, youth will be served, and youth will be asked to move mountains on their way to a trophy this season.

Building for tomorrow is costing a talented New York team opportunities for today. That approach came back to bite them in the Open Cup — and it won’t get any easier come the postseason.