Midseason Report Card: Grading every Philadelphia Union player at the halfway point

With this rather long international break marking the mid-way point of the 2025 Major League Soccer campaign, it felt like a fitting time to assess the club’s performance thus far. Rather than briefly summarize the team’s successes of the spring, I am going to dive into each and every player who has appeared for the first team so far this season, because why not? I am going to limit this to players who have appeared in a competitive setting for the sake of my sanity, as many second-team players featured solely in the friendly with Atlas.

Bradley Carnell – A
It felt important to start with the man responsible for so many of the team’s successes so far. Carnell came in with a tall task, replacing the one and only manager this club had seen for a decade. Many saw the hire as nothing more than a “yes man” for Ernst Tanner’s objectives, and while I won’t entirely disagree, I viewed the move more so as a commitment to the style of play that this team could excel with. At the exact midway point of the regular season, Carnell has the Union sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference and second overall in MLS. En route to this incredible feat, Philadelphia has both scored more and conceded fewer goals than all but three teams in MLS, respectively.

Andre Blake – C+
The longest tenured player in the squad has had a fair share of injury struggles to begin the season, much like a year ago. Andre has played ten of the team’s 19 total matches thus far and has looked like himself. In his ten appearances, Blake has been solid, but not quite the three-time Goalkeeper of the Year we have come to know.

Andrew Rick – A-
Responsible for the other nine matches played between the sticks this year is 19-year-old Andrew Rick. His immense talent is no surprise, but his comfort and confidence have grown exponentially from his debut a year ago. Rick looks like the future of the goalkeeper position for this club, if he isn’t off to Europe before that.

Ian Glavinovich – B
Ian has featured just four times this season for a total of about 250 minutes. Missing out on almost the entire season so far with injuries is by no means his fault, but it makes the purchase option of his loan deal really interesting to follow as the season continues. Objectively, I think Ian was one of, if not the best, player on the field in two of his three starts. Glavinovich’s return to the team should be a massive storyline in the push to top the East.

Jakob Glesnes – A
Jakob has looked like his old self again this season, and the underlying stats have him almost equal to his Defender of the Year campaign in 2022. The fact that Jakob has been the one constant in a string of different defensive lineups makes this all the more impressive. With Alejandro Bedoya and Andre Blake’s limited minutes, Jakob has been the leader for this team on the field, and he has excelled.

Olivier Mbaizo – B
Not a ton to say about Olivier, who has featured just three times for the Union thus far. Two strong performances against lesser opposition in the Open Cup and one average performance in March don’t leave a ton to analyze.

Nathan Harriel – B+
Harriel has had a weird season, with the natural outside back playing many of his minutes at central defense. Nate has done really well in both positions and has helped cover for both the absence of Ian Glavinoich and the inexperience of his other defensive partners. A pair of crucial set-piece goals for the 24-year-old helps, too.

Kai Wagner – A
This one is simple: Kai has been absolutely outstanding this season. He looks a lot like his 2022 self, who was comfortably the best attacking defender in MLS that season. Add the fact that his defensive contributions have been excellent, and you’re looking at a likely All-Star and Best IX player.

Olwethu Makhanya – B
Olwethu has been excellent for the second team leading up to this season, but his jump to the first team to begin the season left many uneasy. What we’ve seen so far is similar to what we saw with Union II last season: a strong and effective center back with a rigid and mistake-prone play style. There have been moments where his inexperience shows, but overall, I am beyond impressed with the 21-year-old up to this point.

Frankie Westfield – B
At just 19, Frankie was thrown into the first team to help cover for the chaos that Ian Glavinoich’s injuries had caused. Frankie shined with the second team last season and earned a chance to play legitimate MLS minutes, and he has taken that chance well. Very similar to Makhanya, Frankie has impressed me and looked good, with some scattered moments where his youth and inexperience show.

Jovan Lukic – A
As we move into midfield, the 23-year-old winter signing takes center stage. Jovan Lukic has been far and away the best offseason acquisition for the Union, despite his price tag being the lowest. Lukic has become an integral part of what I will confidently argue has been the best double-pivot in the league alongside Danley Jean Jacques. Lukic has played just 18 total matches in Blue and Gold, and I’m already happy to call his $600k fee a bargain.

Cavan Sullivan – C+
Manchester City, Adidas commercials, and bodyguards have all accompanied the teenager as he integrated into the first team this season. Am I going to say Cavan has been bad, absolutely not– but his 250 minutes this season have been relatively lackluster. Cavan has been really good for the second team, but this is purely based on his first team minutes, where I think he has looked a bit out of place. For what it’s worth, a child looking out of place in a first team
match is not a bad thing or a knock on Cavan, I just don’t think he’s quite at the level some would argue.

Jesus Bueno – C+
Bueno has appeared 11 times this season, starting four times in MLS and twice in the Open Cup. Jesus’ main contributions this year have come in the form of solid midweek starts and occasional appearances off the bench. Bueno has been fine in his minutes, but is a clear depth piece in Carnell’s plans and hasn’t done anywhere close to enough to change that.

Alejandro Bedoya – B-
Similarly to Jesus, Ale has been a pure depth piece in the defensive part of the midfield. In his ten appearances and three starts, Bedoya hasn’t seen much of the ball. However, the little bits of action Bedoya has taken part in have been really encouraging. I also think that Bedoya’s leadership and experience have shown, as he has come on in a couple of tough matches and helped the Union find a result.

Jeremy Rafanello – C+
Rafanello has racked up just 29 minutes of MLS action this season, so I have little to work with apart from his 120-minute showing against Indy Eleven in May. Jeremy was excellent in that one start and looked like the same quality attacking depth piece that he had been in the past couple of seasons. Carnell seems far more willing to use Rafanello than Jim Curtin was, and with a long summer underway, I expect more minutes to come his way.

Ben Bender – N/A
I wanted to include new acquisition Ben Bender after his first Union start in the most recent league match, but there isn’t much of a sample size. Bender looked solid against Dallas and should provide the creativity off the bench that has been lacking. I really like the terms of the acquisition, but that’s for another day.

Indiana Vassilev – B
Indy came in late in the preseason from St. Louis and has continued to be a strong MLS depth piece. Vassilev adds a level of flexibility to this squad that was lacking heavily. I really like what we’ve seen so far from him, but I struggle to say he has quite filled the shoes of Dániel Gazdag.

Danley Jean Jacques – A
Like I talked about with Jovan Lukic, this new partnership in midfield is fantastic. Danley came in August with a fairly hefty price tag (for Union standards), and has absolutely crushed it. Danley is an absolutely exceptional midfielder who has been at Best XI level so far. I’m willing to argue that he might be the best player on this team, at least in his respective position.

David Vazquez – N/A
Vazquez has just 57 minutes in a singular competitive match this season, so I feel like grading him on just that would be harsh. The 19-year-old has been exceptional for Union 2, though.

Quinn Sullivan – A-
Like many, I was massively underwhelmed with the decision to move on from Dániel Gazdag. The one thing that could cover for his absence was a huge step up from Sullivan. Quinn has absolutely stepped up and provided a strong level of creativity and attacking output. I will say that he isn’t quite as polished as Gazdag was, but I think he’ll be off to Europe long before that comparison is even.

Mikael Uhre – B-
Uhre seems to have added a new element to his game this year, providing multiple key assists in big moments. Additionally, Uhre’s movement and strength have helped set Tai Baribo up for success in the attacking third. However, just two goals through 19 games isn’t good enough from your highest-paid attacking player, plain and simple.

Tai Baribo – A+
Baribo is on pace to shatter every goalscoring record this club has in a single season. Can you really ask for anything else from a striker?

Bruno Damiani – B-
The club’s record transfer has started to settle in as the season progresses. Damiani clearly has no lack of goalscoring ability, and, much like Uhre, his underlying numbers are far better than the output. At the end of the day, I’m not sure three goals are enough so far from a player with this high of a price tag, although I expect him to add to that tally this summer.

Chris Donovan – C+
We round out the squad with Chris Donovan, who has once again found himself as a guy often brought on to help see a game out. He’s incredible in that specific role, but with his increased minutes lately, he needs to find a way to put a ball in the net. I can’t justify a high grade for an attacking player who isn’t scoring; a common theme for the non-Baribo strikers.