After CCL defeat, it’s time for the Philadelphia Union to move on

MLS Cup 2022 was the greatest match ever played in MLS history. It is hard to say that about any individual game in any sport without other games being considered, but in MLS this is a universal opinion. That game had everything and the backdrop narrative of two teams reaching the heights of a league final put the matchup over the top. The glitz and glamor of Los Angeles FC, with their big budget and star quality versus the Philadelphia Union, with their grit, determination, and relentlessness.

The show these teams put on was a spectacle. Peak soccer. The Union had every moment to give up and pack it in, but they had worked too hard. They showed the resiliency that got them there time and time again throughout the match.

The Union were not defeated when Kellyn Acosta’s free kick deflected off of Jack McGlynn in the 28th minute. The Union were not defeated when Jesus Murillo headed in a goal in the 83rd minute. The Union were not even defeated when Gareth Bale headed in a 128th minute dagger to send the game to penalty kicks.

Much like the Union have been doing this season, the Union were defeated by an action of their own doing. Not by any fault, but the sequence crushed the Union in a way that seems like an afterthought.

Daniel Gazdag, the Union’s offensive juggernaut, perfect on penalties in 2022, slipped in the run up to his penalty. He sent the ball into the stands and the Union would fail to score a penalty after that. The Union lost because no matter how hard they fought, no matter how much they battled, they were undone by themselves.

It didn’t matter how well they played. They couldn’t beat themselves.

—

The Union’s 2023 season has been less than optimal. Some would call it embarrassing. Some are haunted by the doldrums of the pre-2018 Union, a dismal squad incapable of putting together a solid performance. Can we blame roster turnover? Nope, every starter returned. New coach and philosophy? Jim Curtin remains in charge. No discernible change in the Union’s makeup.

So, what is it?

It’s intangible. We don’t have to speculate very long though. This is a Union team looking like a disjointed shell of themselves all season. Uncharacteristic losses to Montreal and Orlando. A team looking like the version of the Union we’ve all seen before but not in a very long time. You can see it on Jim Curtin’s face on the sideline of BMO Stadium. You see it in the lashing out of players. The unnecessary fights with opposing players. The bad passes, the lapses of judgment, and the one-touch play that ends up turning the ball over. This team is stuck in the mud of their own making.

The Philadelphia Union are not over losing MLS Cup last season.

This isn’t going to be a critical assessment that these players don’t have the mental fortitude to be professional athletes. I’d like to think that is not true and that as a society we’re over that type of thinking. It’s reasonable. I’m not over losing MLS Cup last season. It was one of the most heartbreaking losses in a Union history filled with heartbreak. To have to fight that hard and for that long just to make it as far as they did, only to lose? Gut wrenching.

With the rematch in the Concacaf Champions League looming all season, it felt the Union were looking for their own redemption story over other matches. The Union did not take their chances, in a pair of matches riddled with the same type of self-inflicted wounds that led to a 4-1 aggregate loss to the same team that crushed their morale last November. Redemption was not earned and as the second leg continued, the Union slowly unraveled as the realization set in that they would be unable to finally vanquish their old demons.

For the Philadelphia Union, this could be the beginning of the end. A lost season of recovering from their devastating run of heartbreak. It would be tragic, but it’s happened before to the best teams in MLS.

I am not in the Union’s locker room. I don’t know what’s going on in the heads of the players who work so hard to punch above their weight. With that said, I am going to say something that I think everyone in Philadelphia needs to hear along with the players. It’s awful pretentious of me, but I hope it lands with sincerity.

Forgive yourselves for MLS Cup 

Like a storm passing, the anticipated rematch with LAFC is over. The ominous cloud of that haunting result is gone. We lost. Let it sink in. Accept it. It’s ok. We live to fight again.

This season isn’t over. This team isn’t done. We aren’t doomed. We’re the same damn team that finished with the most points in MLS last year. We’re the same team that scored a billion goals last year. We’re the same team that claws and fights until the last whistle and pisses everyone off that we play.

It’s time to dust ourselves off and get back up, because setbacks are just something that Philadelphia deals with. We’ve been here before. Believing in what we do and how we do it is what got us to the peak. Nothing’s changed. We’re the same team that got there. So let’s go. Time to go back to work and make sure that our legacy isn’t the MLS Cup that we lost. We’ve earned more than that.

Come on the U.