The Union’s Plan to End Defensive Woes
The past few weeks the Union have mightily struggled on the defensive side of the ball and the absence of defender Kai Wagner was a major factor that led to the defense’s collapses.
Kai Wagner was suspended due to yellow card accumulation as he has found himself in trouble with the MLS Disciplinary Committee all season long. In the four games that Wagner has not been in the starting lineup for Philadelphia, the Union are 1-2-1 and have allowed nine goals including the team’s last week’s 4-0 loss against Montreal on the road. The Union were one of the best defensive teams in the league prior to the Gold Cup break as they had only allowed 20 goals in 17 games. To put this into perspective, the Boys in Blue have already given up 16 goals in seven games following the break and have only one shutout in their last 11 games.
Philadelphia has been known for collapsing in the second half of the season and dropping in the Eastern Conference standings after posting tremendous starts in the beginning of the 35 game season. It will be crucial for the Union to clamp down defensively for the remainder of the regular season in order to stay at the top of the East. Philadelphia cannot afford to continuously allow lots of goals each game due to the fact that goal differential may play a factor when deciding playoff seeding and it will degrade the team’s defensive ranking which could be costly against top teams in the league. The Union will need to be on their A game this Sunday in order to give D.C. United their first home loss since April of 2019.
The Union received some great news today as midfielder Jamiro Monteiro returned to full training and should be ready to go for the team’s game this Sunday against third-place D.C. United at Audi Field. Monteiro will provide defensive help that the Union have desperately been missing the past few weeks and have led to two losses in the last three matches. The Union have been lining up more offensively in the past few weeks in hopes of scoring more goals than their opponent but it has certainly not worked in their favor as the defense and even Andre Blake have found themselves behind the eight balls. Heading into this weekend’s game, Jim Curtin and the coaching staff will be wishing that Wagner and Monteiro’s presence can lead this team to a victory and a strong defensive performance.
D.C. United are 1-2-2 in their past five games and will be hungry to earn a victory against Philadelphia in hopes of tying them in points on the season and taking their spot in first place in the East. Philly will need to have their best defensive outing of the season this Sunday as they will face one of the most dangerous attacks in MLS with world-class striker Wayne Rooney leading the charge and Luciano Acosta serving the supporting role.
Andre Blake will need to stand up to the test and have a solid performance after struggling in net the past few weeks for the Boys in Blue.
Here’s hoping that Philadelphia can step up in the face of adversity and prove that they are one of the top clubs in MLS for a reason.
Featured Image: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
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