Philadelphia Union
Richter’s support of Damiani critical to Philadelphia Union’s run
Truth has a funny way of revealing itself. We live in moments of truth and yet the bigger truths, maybe the ultimate ones, reveal themselves over longer time frames. Seeing the bigger truth, while wading through the smaller ones, is a critical skill in life.
When it comes to sport, fans pay money to watch the moments of truth reveal themselves. Coaches are paid to see the bigger truths before they reveal themselves.
The day was July 22nd. Ryan Richter had been Bruno Damiani’s coach for 57 days. Bruno was going through a brutal stretch as the Philadelphia Union’s lead forward. He’d scored just one goal on forty shots through sixteen league games. The fans had all but disowned Bruno. He was a check mark on the negative side of Ernst Tanner’s report card. He was a bust who couldn’t figure out MLS. Alternative options were needed.
The Union had just moments ago won their second game of the season. A nice small truth, but the larger truth was that they were last place in the league, and were struggling to score, and Damiani was a glaring part of the problem.
The Union had won, but Damiani was scoreless again. He’d played 90 minutes. That was enough for the media to press the new head coach in the post game interview.
Richter came on strong:
If you look at (Bruno’s) overall performance, and what he gives to the team with his work rate against the ball and his hold up play, tonight was outstanding. It’s such a positive. He needs to get in the goals and he will. He keeps working like this, he will get in the goals. He keeps getting in those areas and we keep getting this kind of service, I believe strongly that he will get going on the goals. What he brings to the team overall, is such a positive for the group that he makes the team better.
These words seem prophetic at this point. There’s conviction in the coach’s rhapsody. The player’s stock could not be any lower. Richter could have rattled off some standard coach speak. A non-answer. Yet Richter supported Damiani and doubled down because he saw the work. He saw the bigger truth that the fans could not see.
The turnaround was not immediate. Damiani went scoreless twice more before a critical brace led to a 3-2 comeback win at NYCFC. He scored both the tying and winning goals. And the floodgates were close to opening. Bruno has scored 11 times since Richters comments, in just 14 league games and 34 shots taken.
Bruno is one of the many reasons the Union have completely reinvented their season. The rise of Cavan Sullivan has grabbed the national headlines, certainly. But the return of Kai Wagner, Quinn Sullivan, defensive discipline and the emergence of dual-threat Neil Pierre and to some extent Milan Iloski round out a handful of other reasons.
And now we have a new truth. A bigger truth. Damiani is a critical part of this team, and this run. We have a coach that believed that truth and backed it up with words, when words, and the truth, were all he had.
