Philadelphia Union
Philadelphia Union head into international break with work to do
The Philadelphia Union’s 2-1 loss to Chicago Fire FC on Saturday was a bitter ending to a positive beginning. After taking the first-half momentum with an equalizer deep in stoppage time, the Union were overpowered by the Fire in the second half.
This loss marks the Union’s fifth MLS loss in a row and keeps them at the bottom of the MLS. The Union is also the only MLS team with 0 points after the first five games.
Union head coach Bradley Carnell went with Alejandro Bedoya as the starting captain for this match, giving him and Cavan Sullivan their first MLS start of the 2026 season. Carnell also returned to the 4-4-2 formation with another defensive lineup: Frankie Westfield, Nathan Harriel, Olwethu Makhanya, and Philippe Ndinga.
The first half was a good showing for the Union. They showed high energy and high pressure as they did in past games this season. The game seemed to be played mainly on Chicago’s side of the field.
Looking at the first half from a tactical perspective, the fullbacks, Westfield and Ndinga, pushed really high, while Danley Jean Jacques covered the back when the Union had possession. This ultimately left a three-back defense to defend the Fire’s counterattacks.
Something that doesn’t go unnoticed with the Union’s defense is the marking on crosses and through balls. Multiple marking mistakes this season led to multiple goals. Chicago’s two goals were both a result of bad marking on crosses from the Union’s defensive line.
“You have to be the better defensively, but you have to be better on both ends of the ball,” Bedoya said. “It’s just simply not good enough from guys that we expect to do better. The quality has to be better.”
The Union’s goal came right before halftime. A long throw-in from Westfield and a pop-up header from Bedoya found Milan Iloski, who headed the ball over the Fire’s goalkeeper, Chris Brady, to tie the game.
The second half was where things started to fall apart for the Boys in Blue, particularly in the final third. The passes were moving upfield, but the passes into the box and into shooting range were not connecting.
“Unfortunately, we made too many mistakes with the reactions that got away from us. You know, the follow actions to the bad pass or the bad touch or whatever it was… We can’t get shots off. We can’t organize and arrange our feet and what have you,” Carnell said in his post-game conference.
In the post-game conference, Carnell said that the team is “a little fragile.” However, he notices the players are still putting in their 100% during this downward slope.
“I don’t see anyone shying away. I don’t see anyone not taking responsibility. I don’t see anyone not taking ownership or accountability,” Carnell said. “The guys are hurting, but it’s my job to help them with the basics and kind of go down two levels.”
This was the last game before the international break, which comes at a very important time for the Union.
“We need a mental and physical break, I think, from how we started, and just make sure that we can finally put in a proper week of full training,” Bedoya said. “We haven’t been able to properly work on things because of the Champions Cup… But now it’s time to turn the page, we’re out of that competition. The focus has to be on league play now and make sure we get proper training sessions in.”
This break is crucial for the Union. Carnell said this time needs to be “a calibration.” It needs to be an assessment of where the team stands and what needs to be done to reverse the downward slope.
For Bedoya, the message is simple.
“Like I said, from top down, man, the club, the team, everybody’s got to take a hard look in the mirror at how the season has started and where we are at this moment,” Bedoya said. “…the fans deserve a lot better than this. It’s simply not good enough. This is supposed to be our fortress at home, and we’re losing, cheaply. It’s ridiculous.”
