Philadelphia Union enter dangerous territory in need of a win in Minnesota

The Philadelphia Union are in dangerous territory.

After tying the Seattle Sounders, fans were still positive, as Seattle was sitting at No. 2 in the Western Conference and No. 2 in the Power Rankings.

When the Union fell 3-1 to the Portland Timbers, fans got stressed. The Union hadn’t lost like this outside of their opener against Toronto FC in March.

With a Union tie against a 12th ranked Colorado team, fans should be very worried.

The rest of Major League Soccer seems to have figured out how to stop the “Beasts of the East.” With teams putting five, even six players on their back line, the Union have found it difficult to break through and play at the high level Philadelphia had been accustomed to for much of the season.

The big question right now is simple, but important; where does the Union go from here?

One obvious answer is that the Union could be looking at a very rough road ahead of them, and they just won’t be able to step up to the challenge. When push comes to shove, this has generally not been the franchise to survive either.

They could also turn around and get back on track.

After playing their fourth straight Western Conference foe in St. Paul tomorrow, the Union have their next game at home against the New York Red Bulls, which is as good a time as any else to hit reset on the season and start winning again.

The players are obviously frustrated right now with themselves — captain Alejandro Bedoya wasn’t mincing words and Kacper Przybylko was noticeably disgusted with Wednesday’s draw — but it’s up to them to work as a team to pick themselves up and re-ascend to their previous level.

With many of the previous Union teams, there would be plenty of doubt that they could turn things around — 2016 is a great example of a team that topped the conference standings from May 23-June 27 and ended up finishing in sixth.

This season has felt different since the 0-2 start, and I have faith in Jim Curtin and Bedoya to lead the team to a home playoff game.