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Philadelphia Union vs. Sporting KC: Four Takeaways from MLS is Back Quarterfinal | Charles Boehm

 


The Philadelphia Union will advance to the MLS is Back Tournament semifinal and Sporting KC will take home.

The DOOP team was a good value for them 3-1 victory, although it depended on their 15-minute total dominance in the middle of the first half, in which all three scored their goals and Kansas City fluttered with a bang.

Here are a few observations from the first of three MLS’s Back Quarterfinal matchnights.

A game of moments

Soccers a funny game in the sense that good teams don’t necessarily have to win a whole game to eventually win. Especially in a knockout match between two quality sides like Thursday night, both sides will have their periods of superiority as the game ebbs and flows. What’s often decisive is how killer teams are, how efficient they maximize the time they are emerging and manage the rest of the 90 minutes.

Philly has become extremely effective in this regard. As a starting point, they are reliable in order to physically impose themselves and keep things defensively organized, but what takes them to the next level is their ability to smell and take full advantage of blood.

As SKC manager Peter Vermes admitted amid great frustration in his comments about the post game, the Union was more committed out of the gates, took the lead through a nice team goal finished by Jamiro Monteiro and then went for the neck. They relentlessly made the transition and turned an offensive game by Sporting into a leading group to double their lead and tripled it by fleeing after a corner from Sporting. KC rallied, reached the second half and made it almost interesting along the stretch, but the damage was long overdue.

Our commitment to running into the break and running is there, said coach Jim Curtin. It would be great to see from that nice blimp vision that ESPN has, just to see the dedication of guys from two of their corners that were some of our most dangerous attacks, going from 120 meters from their corner to our goal that is ingrained in the players.

Please coach:

Sporty cannot afford to be non-sporty

Using an old analogy, the Phillys floor is high now that they are consistent and able to win on days off (still found out how high their ceiling could be). Meanwhile, the Kansas Citys floor looks lower than in the best past years of the Vermes era. When they struggle, they struggle greatly and can lose to many of their MLS peers.

Intensity, hunger, physicality, working speed are the basic elements for SKC and if they go missing, a disaster is never far away. We saw this last season, when they looked Barcelona-esque at their best moments, but were very slow and error prone at worst. They did not tick those boxes against the Union in the first half and were brutally punished, much to the dismay of their coach.

I can’t sit for 90 minutes of the kind of game we had today even though I thought we were trying to get back in the second half, Vermes said. But it is easy if you lose 2-0, 3-0, it is easy to fight now suddenly [when] the other team takes the foot off the accelerator. The psychological change in your mind is easy. What do you do if it is 0-0 and how do you play? And when it was 0-0, we were very much below our quality.

Sports just have to be difficult to compete in order to be a contender. They weren’t there for the first 40 minutes on Thursday.

What it means when you play with your kids

Play your kids has been part of the broader MLS conversation for several years. Spotting, grooming, using and ultimately selling talent has now become a legitimate competition priority. But the process is both art and science, and there are twists and bumps along the way.

Thursdays, fighters are two of the leaders of the leagues in this sector, with strong scouting networks and ambitious academies. You’ve probably noticed that Homegrowns Brenden Aaronson, Mark McKenzie and Gianluca Busio were important topics of conversation leading up to this one, with multiple reports from major European clubs closely watching them.

Phillys younguns shone, while Busio was not having his best night, especially on the second goal from the unions, where he drifted towards the ball from the last man’s position and the jailbreak counter-attack unfolded in the space he left behind:

It was a costly mistake. Busios’ teammates also made a lot and hell learns from it. Young players need to experience the highs and lows in match play to grow, even though there are inherent risks in giving them those opportunities. The next big task for coaches and clubs is to maximize the value of top prospects by presenting them in the best possible ways and then selling them at the right time.

Frankly, this last part has been a real challenge so far. In particular, Sporting had the frustrating case of Erik Palmer-Brown, a real talent who eventually moved to Europe for free to Manchester City, and now Vermes & Co. find the right balance with Busio. Does he need more herbs in MLS action, or is he plating and moving? The next year of his career will be very interesting to watch.

Brenden Aaronsons MLS days are numbered

Most of what I have just written about Busio also applies to Aaronson, although the 22 unions seem to have gone through a steeper upward trajectory. He is more than just a reliable starter to his team. He is not only an attacker. He is able to turn games on a dime both on and off the ball, doing the dirty work, and eager to help push his team to the MLS elite.

He seems ready for Europe, and Philly sports director Ernst Tanner will receive a lot of calls from counterparts across the pond.

I thought he was dominant, he was active. His move off the ball to find space was really good, “said Curtin of Aaronson.” The ball he plays on the third goal is a top ball in every league in the leagues in Europe, a pass that not many people see. His confidence is currently very high.

There were many eyes for tonight’s game, while all other competitions were now as good as finished, and a good showcase for our young players. Brenden, when some players tend to shrink on big occasions, he tends to increase his level and then increase his game. So I don’t know how long I can coach him, how much longer, but I’m going to enjoy every day. He will keep pushing and trying to get better.

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