Philadelphia Union
‘Next Men Up’ rise to the occasion in Union win over Orlando
The Philadelphia Union was missing five regular starters Saturday night. For a team that had the club record for an unbeaten streak in hand and the playoffs to contend for, that could’ve been a problem.
Instead, it was an opportunity.
With five players away on international duty, head coach Ryan Richter started players who didn’t get many minutes on the field, expecting them to keep the standards he had set when he took the position in July.
The players he started who were not regular starters were Andrew Rick, Japhet Sery Larsen, Ben Bender, Jesus Bueno, and Quinn Sullivan. These five players did more than replace the starters.
Indy Vassilev said the players outside the regular starting lineup train with the expectation that they will eventually get their opportunity, and this wasn’t a surprise to anyone in the locker room.
“I don’t think we even took a couple steps down to be honest with you,” left midfielder Indy Vassilev said. “Don’t get me wrong, Cavan, Frankie, and Neil have been absolutely fantastic, and they are massive pieces for us right now, and they will be for the future. But today, the boys were honestly absolutely fantastic. It was genuinely so fun to play out there.”
The Union didn’t look like a team that was forced to deal with missing half their team. Putting up a four-goal performance follows recent trends as they’ve scored 18 goals in their last four matches.
In his post-game press conference, Richter praised the players who haven’t been regular starters, acknowledging the fact that it can be hard to step up without having a consistent pattern of play.
“It’s hard when you aren’t in a rhythm of playing each week to go out and start a game being brave, being aggressive in the way that we did,” he said. “The guys, from the way we started the first half, the way we started the second half, and the way we played the entire game, we did a really good job in this.”
Bender, who is listed as a midfielder for the Union, recorded nine defensive interventions and won one duel. He took Frankie Westfield’s place at right-back. Richter believes he has never played in that position. Sery Larsen, who has seen his playing time fade, recorded 17 defensive interventions and won four duels. He made a crucial tackle to avoid an easy third goal for Orlando.
“When [the team is] performing like that, then I’ve got to be happy for sure, even though I’m not playing,” Sery Larsen said. “I try to stay as sharp as possible every day and help the boys who are playing with what I see. But obviously, I want to play, so it’s nice that it happened today.”
Iloski, who has three goals on the night, said that many players wait for that opportunity. Against Orlando, they finally got the opportunity to show what they can do.
“It was a big night tonight for them to prove something, I think, and they all did and they all stepped up for us really big,” he said. “So we’re really happy and proud of all those guys and, you know, it shows our depth and shows that we have, you know, really good options as a whole squad.”
Cavan Sullivan, Neil Pierre, Danley Jean-Jacques, Andre Blake, and Frankie Westfield will return from the international break for the Union’s October 10 match against Real Salt Lake. While they will likely return to the starting 11 for the rest of the season, Philadelphia learned something: they have the depth capable of winning games with different players.
For the players who don’t play every week, Saturday was their chance to show why they should be trusted with a starting spot when that moment should arise.
“When guys aren’t playing, they’re going to be disappointed,” Richter said. “But what you have to do is when you get your opportunity, step in and show why you’re disappointed, because you’re capable of being successful at this level. That’s what all of them did. So I hope, individually, those guys take confidence in that.”
