Know Thy Enemy: Revolution vs Union Retreating Liberty Edition
The Revs and Union are both ice cold as far as form goes, could a Liberty Rivalry matchup rekindle someone's season?
Low how the mighty compatriots of the vaunted Liberty Rivalry have fallen. Not since the doldrums of the New York and Philadelphia campaigns of 1776 and 1777 respectfully has morale been so low in these camps.
The New England Revolution with just two league wins and seven points overall and the Philadelphia Union with one point in their last five might be two of the coldest teams in the East. Like Valley Forge levels of cold.
And these are two teams that have a lot of recent success in league play with the Revs winning the Shield in 2021 and the Union Shield winners in 2020 as well as the top seed in the East and MLS Cup runners up in 2022.
Obviously, we know the Revs struggle, pretty much everywhere… but the Union struggles especially defensively are very noticeable. This is a defensive unit that has given up 41, 26, and 35 goals the last three years respectfully and have already given up 21 goals through 14 games this year - a 1.5 GAA that we haven’t seen from Philly since before the pandemic.
On top of giving up goals in bunches, the Union are giving up a lot of goals early. While the Union were able to pull out comeback results earlier in the year, their more recent run of losses have shown the dangers of falling behind early. Their only point in the last five games was a two-goal comeback against DC United that ended in a 2-2 draw and the Union gave up first half goals in all five. That streak also includes their rain-abandoned match against Seattle that was completed after being stopped six minutes in.
So what happens when you put two teams in bad form and known for slow starts get put in front of each other? Pure chaos or scoreless nothingness?
To help break down the other half of this less-than-spectacular or brotherly matchup, our good friend Joe Lister of Philadelphia Soccer Now was kind enough to answer our questions - none of which involved how much better college sports would be if Penn State joined the Big East all those years ago. Though that would probably be a more interesting and/or better article…I think I’ve done this bit too…
As always you can check out their site for my answer’s to Joe’s questions.
TBM: Did anyone ask Andre Blake how he celebrated UConn's second straight MBB title? If no, what's wrong with you, and how is my favorite Husky doing, we've heard rumors he's not happy...
JL: In case this is a real question, I don't think anyone did [ask Blake about UConn basketball].
(JC - Of course it’s a real question, I need to hit my UConn quota references for the week. Now I just need to convince Sam or Seth to ask Andre about this tonight.)
JL: As for how UConn's greatest son is holding up, I think he's frustrated with his injuries/the scheduling. Andre Blake has been in and out of the lineup all year, which is the first time I remember it happening this much for Blake outside of international duties. MLS is playing a long schedule these days, and its clearly taking its toll on Blake and his aging body. He's still got some good years left in him, but the 33-year-old Blake is starting to feel age the same way the rest of us do (not me though, I'm 21 and never going to die).
TBM: Philly started the year with seven unbeaten (3W-0L-4D) and now have just one point in five games...when was the last time a five-game stretch like that happened and what stopped working?
JL: I honestly can't remember the last time the Union was so bad. I was thinking about this last night -- they probably haven't been so miserable to watch since around 2014-16. It's genuinely not fun to watch a team so uninspired.Â
At the beginning of the season, the Union would go down a few goals but always claw their way to a tie or a win. However, I think coming from behind just started becoming draining. Once one loss came, all the dominoes fell. Coming from behind is tough, as Jim Curtin will tell you every game. Coming from behind every single time is just draining. This team has given up on itself and it's only May.
TBM: Going down 0-2 right before the half wasn't ideal, but the Union I thought played much better in the second half. What adjustments did they make and how can that carry over to Saturday?
JL: I assume this is about the NYC game, but you could apply this to any Union game of the 2024 season.
The truth is just that the Union are a second-half team. They cannot find their footing for 35-40 minutes but turn out pretty good once they do. It's all a matter of waiting for them to figure out how to kick a ball again.
The difference between a win and a loss for Philadelphia is just how much better they get. Most recently, they've gotten better in the second half, just not enough to tie or win a game. When they were winning games, they were so good in the second half that it almost made you forget about the first.Â
TBM: What are the expectations for this team after one third of the season? Somehow I don't think clinging to the last play-in spot was what Union fans had in mind.
JL: I'm going to say what many fans haven't quite said yet, but are probably thinking: the Union might be the worst team in the league right now. Dropping four of their last five is bad enough, but those losses came to some really poor teams. I don't think this is a playoff-contending team. At best, this team wriggles its way into a playoff game before losing by multiple goals. At worst, they're contending for the spoon.
Sure, Peter Vermes and Sporting Kansas City gave us the script for how a struggling team can turn things around in the back half of the season and there are similarities between that SKC team and this Philly team. However, I'm a pessimist at heart. This Union team needs to hit the reset button, whether that's coaching, roster, or otherwise (I prefer roster).
Should be a thrilling night!