The Philadelphia Union’s season came to an end this Saturday after suffering a 2-1, defeat to Sporting Kansas City. The Union have had a seasons of ups and downs that ended with the Union finishing 2 spots and 3 points out of playoff position. The ultimate goal is to make the Playoffs and although many think the Union are a playoff caliber team they are on the outside looking in. The Union have a lot to be proud of and a lot to improve on.
The Union went into the final three games in control of their own destiny. During the last three games the Union walked away with a total of 1 point out of a potential 9. It was a vital stretch for the Union going against tough teams in the division. One big part f the Union coming up short this season was the inability to field a consistent starting 11 in the final games. injuries and suspensions hurt the team in the final stretch. Shaneon Williams, Fabinho, Brian Carrol all missed time with suspensions while Le Toux, Keon Daniel, and Michael Farfan were out with injuries. The Le Toux injury hurt the team, he went down earl in the DC United game. With out Le Toux the Union lacked his solid service in the attacking third. LE Toux has been a game changer all season and with him out of the DC United, Montreal and KC games truly effected the Union’s playoff hopes.
Realistically the Union should have wrapped up a playoff spot before the final month of play. The Union wasted several chances through out the season. Several games the Union were playing with a man up and unable to walk away with three points. That shows an inability to close out games and adjust to the ebb and flow of a game. That is on the managers for not preparing the team correctly. Hackworth did not change his tactics which ultimately hurt the team. Very rarely did the Union switch formations and positions and the substations were scheduled. In a soccer game a manager cant plan out substitution, he must read the game and make the correct changes. The perfect example of this is the game against Chicago Fire in early August. The Union tied with Chicago in a close game. Hackworth put in an inexperienced Leo Fernandes over Kleberson, or Lahoud. Leo came into the game and did a costly turnover that gave Chicago an easy goal.
Although goalie Zac MacMath had a very strong season, he started out slow and gave up many crucial goals. He had an inability to make some easy saves early on and that cost the Union crucial points. He had a rough start and it took a few months for him to get going. He did turn the season around and started to mature towards the end of the season. Most of MacMaths mistakes were on him. If he made the easy saves against FC Dallas, Columbus and Toronto then the Union will be in the playoffs.
What hurt the Union more than anything else this season was the goal drought of Jack McInerney. Jack Mac started off the season hot, and was scoring left and right which opened the doors for Conor Casey to start scoring.Once Jack got called up to the US National Team he virtually fell off the face of the Earth. In mid July Jack had 10 goals and he ended the season with 12. Conor Casey went through his goal struggles netting 11 goals and having long spells without scoring. The forwards not scoring is what ultimately killed the Union’s season. The midfield did not contribute enough to the goal tallies.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
