Philadelphia Union
Richter, Union Will Always Go for the Win at Home
Interim Head Coach Ryan Richter and his staff hardly wavered Saturday night at halftime despite the lowly effort that was brewing on the pitch following a poor opening half that saw themselves up a man but down a goal. They knew they wanted the win, and they found a way to do so in spectacular fashion in the game’s dying moments.
“In these games, to me at least, home games in MLS you have to go for the win and it’s not satisfying to go for the tie,” said Richter post game. “One point at home is not enough to make the push you want throughout a season. Whenever we’re in these situations, it’s us trying to go for the win.”
That’s perhaps a refreshing change in mindset compared to the first half of the season. Reading between the lines of Richter’s postgame press conference, it seems fair to glean that the club was previously satisfied with home draws, or fighting in a contested battle to lose by just one goal.
That doesn’t seem to jibe well with Richter at the helm nowadays.
“If I were to be honest, this guy has some balls,” said Kai Wagner post-game about the team’s decision to push for the win despite being down two goals late in the match. “Everyone has belief, we showed really good character.”
A sense of ‘here we go again’ started to creep into Subaru Park as the first half came to a close with the Union facing a one goal deficit despite an early red card to Atlanta United FC defender Enea Mihaj in the 27th minute. The club has historically struggled when playing up a man and perhaps fans began to feel that struggle surfacing once again. The boobirds made an appearance as well after Atlanta scored the first goal of the match off a darting run from star forward Miguel Almiron just three minutes after the red card incident.
But the Union didn’t waver. They didn’t hang their heads for too long. Instead, they came out in the second half with a solid plan of attack, although they sputtered and dug a deeper hole in the 66th minute when Atlanta doubled their lead. And the boobirds were there once more.
“We fell asleep in two moments to give the goals,” said Richter. “That part isn’t good enough, I think that’s clear for everybody. And they were on each other about that too. The message was clear at halftime on how we have to break them down expecting them to sit deeper and we’re probably going to have to go around them and create a lot of crossing situations. But the message was clear that it wasn’t let’s go get a goal and tie this game. It’s let’s get one, let’s get the second goal and go and win the game. Now we made it harder on ourselves by conceding the second one, but that was the mentality. That was the clear target for the game, not comeback and tie, but get three points out of this.”
Perhaps the positive vibes that have been accumulating within the locker room and on the training pitch following the club’s mini-resurgence to jumpstart the second half of the year allowed the club to focus on the overall plan of attack instead of wallowing in the defensive lapses that allowed the two goals. Or perhaps there’s a new standard being implemented by Richter and his staff that puts extra wind in the team’s sails when they find themselves facing adversity. A tie is not good enough, especially at home.
“During the game, it’s wipe it, onto the next play,” said Neil Pierre postgame when asked about the defensive lapses. “You can’t do anything about it now, we’ll talk about it after the game.”
And they did just that. They took two punches on the chin, shrugged it off, and kept firing balls into the box to create chances knowing eventually they would break through.
“I want say thank you to the fans, thank you to the players for the energy, mentality and fighting spirit. And especially to the fans for pushing us through that last effort. It goes a long way for the energy in the building and the energy for the players,” said Richter. “From day one, the thing that we emphasized most was the mentality. And these one goal games, especially at home… it’s not a good thing to be in games and losing by one goal… that’s not a positive to me. It’s the energy, the mentality to fight and then you turn these games your way. So everyone in the building, thank you… It was a crazy night.”
Another positive on the night was the team’s ability to remain relatively calm when their attacking efforts were failing to convert into chances late in the match. They ended the match with 21 total crosses, 26 shots (seven of which were on target while six were blocked), and 12 total corner kick attempts. They were throwing the kitchen sink at Atlanta for sure, but when Atlanta was holding on for dear life, the Union remained determined to find a way to win.
“The way that we looked at it in halftime was that if we were going to break them down when they sat deep like this, it was going to have to be with a lot of crosses, creating overloads in wide areas, and then really attacking the box aggressively,” said Richter. “The guys didn’t get frustrated and rush these decisions. They found really good crossing situations… To get the push for the third goal and keep going, not being satisfied and happy that we came back and tied this game. That would have been a positive, but to continue to push and get the third goal, yeah it was awesome.”
“Ryan just told me to stay out there and put the ball into the box,” said Wagner. And that worked extremely well. Wagner recorded assists on the tying and game-winning goal, which puts his total up to three assists in his first three matches back.
When asked what impact a guy like Wagner has on the team’s ability to score and threaten, Richter highlighted the ability to basically create things out of thin air. And Pierre noted the basic instructions from Wagner on how to score off his crosses too.
“To be honest I think it’s pretty simple. He says he’s going to put it in a spot really hard, just be in the spot and you’ll probably score,” said Pierre. It of course helps to be 6’7” and still growing, as Pierre’s size and athleticism allowed him to score yet again, tallying his second goal in his first three appearances as an MLS rookie.
“There’s no chance to defend him. You have to be like 6’9” to defend him,” said Wagner of Pierre’s size and stature. “He’s a real threat on set pieces… really happy for him. He’s really important for us at the moment, he’s a big part of the team at the moment.”
And the cherry on top of what may be one of the most exciting comebacks in club history was Ezekiel Alladoh’s moment of individual brilliance in the eighth minute of second half stoppage time to snag the victory.
Wagner whipped a cross into the box directly at Alladoh who took a step toward the ball, leaned back, and hit it on the volley with his left foot. The ball flew by the keeper and into the net sending Subaru Park into a frenzied state.
“What a goal to score, what a moment to score it,” said Richter of Alladoh. “I think he can put himself in positions to probably get easier goals than that. But I’m happy for him, I’m proud of him. Hopefully he takes a lot of confidence from this going forward and shows the talent that he has and what he can do to contribute to this team.”
The goal was Alladoh’s first career MLS goal since joining Philadelphia. The club’s record signing has struggled to gain solid footing in the club, departed the team briefly earlier in the year for personal reasons, and now has contributed to the club’s growing list of memorable moments with a late game winning stunner of a goal.
“In the game, Kai told me to stay in the box and wait for the ball,” said Alladoh. “I don’t think about it being my first goal. I think about the team, I’m happy for the team.” He also joked saying “The King is back.”
And back he is.
If you’re looking ahead now, the Union have a very busy month of August with Leagues Cup fixtures up next on their docket. But it’s been all positive since the World Cup break has ended. And now with Alladoh finally opening his goal scoring account, Wagner pinging lasers into the box to create unlimited chances, Quinn Sullivan back to nearly full strength, and some much needed center back depth thanks to Pierre’s great start, it may be safe to say that optimism is finally back in the fold for the Union and their fanbase.
But of course, Richter and his staff will continue to harp on the next-game mentality. “The position that we’re in, we’re taking it one game at a time.”
