The last time I was able to write about the Union was after the Charlotte game at home on June 22 after which I asked, “Is this rock bottom?” Let’s quickly review what’s happened since so we can answer that question.
- June 29, Union at CF Montreal: Oliver Semmle returns to goal after sitting out the Charlotte match for Andrew Rick. A 2-1 lead becomes a probable 2-2 draw and then a 4-2 loss when Two goals are conceded in four minutes at 89’ and 90+2”.
- July 3, Union at Chicago Fire: A 3-1 lead becomes a 4-1 loss after three goals are conceded in the last ten minutes of the match. This looked like rock bottom until…
- July 6, Union vs RB (New Jersey) New York: Semmle is benched for realsies this time and Rick comes back and is the man of the match in a 0-0 draw (A dead cat bounce of false hope) overshadowed by a few piles of Chester waterfront compost off the field. A milquetoast politico speak “protest” statement sent by the Sons of Ben on a weird color background nobody could read which resulted in five minutes of silent “protest” before a “Sell the Team” chant broke out elsewhere in the stadium in the 5th minute while stadium security confiscated signs that dared to call out a cheapskate ownership group that sometimes searches for players in much the same thrifty ways my friends and I used to search for a DVD in the $5 bin at Walmart for a cheap night with friends when none of us had money to go to the movies or the bar. All of this managed to satisfy nobody and further enrage already frustrated fans who are now openly and loudly boasting to anybody who will listen that they’ve had enough and will cancel their season tickets. Maybe another road trip will help…
- July 13, Union at Toronto FC: A 1-0 lead becomes a 2-1 loss after five minutes of complete team failure resulting in an own goal from Jack Elliott, a yellow card on Quinn Sullivan, and a defensive turnover leading to a goal from DeAndre Kerr, cementing a 2-1 loss. I would call this one rock bottom for now.
- Totals: 4 games, 1 point, 0 wins, 15th (Last) Place. Also we had 2 goalies, several other players go in and out of the revolving door from international duties, and 1 wonder kid who was supposed to travel with the team to Toronto but the overwhelming paperwork required for bringing a child into another country for work resulted in him getting left home.
Now that we’re caught up to this week, that brings us to Tuesday’s pre-game press conference where Jim Curtin was asked about Cavan Sullivan who confirmed that yes, Cavan will be in the gameday 20 available for selection. “Tomorrow (against New England) he will be in the 20 because he’s earned that. If you look at his performances in the Union II games, the goals that he has scored, Cavan has earned the right…The next step is working to get your first minutes and that might be one minute, might be 15 minutes, or that night 90 minutes but you have to earn it.” Some reporters immediately reported this as if the 14 year old wonder kid was signed to the richest homegrown deal in MLS history in May and already signed to play for Manchester City when he turns 18 was starting the match, which Curtin explicitly did NOT say, as he said Cavan would be in the 20, not the 11. Misinterpretation for the sake of headlines? Perhaps, but the video speaks for itself. Here is the whole presser, including my question about a separate topic on the logjam in the midfield at 18:00, along with a quick bio on the prodigy:
Nate Harriel and Jack McGlynn have stepped away from the team to represent the USA Olympic team in Paris, the first players to represent their country while actively playing for the Philadelphia Union, a massive honor. Jose Martinez is also back after playing with Venezuela and reaching the Quarterfinals of Copa America before losing on PKs to Canada. The most important news of all was that starting goalie and team co-captain Andre Blake has fully recovered from several injuries and subsequent knee surgery which limited him to 8 appearances this season (5 MLS, 3 CCC) and started Wednesday evening. Jim also said this game would be “back to basics” and he wasn’t kidding. The Starting XI was revealed an hour before the game, and the 4-4-2 diamond returned in its purest form. Nearly the entire 2022 Eastern Conference Champion “Subaru Park Beast Mode” Union Starting XI was finally back and healthy for the first time since…maybe early 2023?
Blake
Wagner/Elliott/Glesnes/Mbaizo
Martinez/Flach/Bedoya/Gazdag
Uhre/Baribo
The only changes from the XI that started the 2022 MLS Cup to Wednesday night against New England are Tai Baribo replacing the recently departed Julian Carranza, and Bedoya returning to his 2022 semi-regular starting spot. McGlynn started for the injured Alejandro Bedoya against LAFC. No disrespect to Team USA’s new Olympic hero, but I am convinced if Ale played that day, there is a star above the Union crest today, full stop. “Turn back the clock night” also meant that both Sullivan brothers would start on the bench. Aww, are we setting up for the brothers to check into the match together arm in arm while all the cameras and phones flash away? How cute! Whatever it takes to forget about the past three months of complete garbage soccer, we’re here for it.
Leon Flach got things started right away in the 2nd minute drawing a foul and an early set piece where Jack Elliott got off a shot in the box which was just off target to the crossbar. In the 14th, a rare Daniel Gazdag corner kick bounced out to Martinez about 25 yards who fired off a Brujo bomb that just missed to the left. The close chances early are promising, and actually gave the stadium a bit of a buzz which has been sorely missing lately. Approaching the 29th minute Baribo was fouled in the attacking third setting up a free kick for the Union to do what they do best: score off set pieces. Kai’s free kick from the left side about 30 yards out sailed over the pack and curled to the back post finding Elliott on the edge of the six yard box to kick a cross over to Baribo in front of the net to put in a header from close range and put the Union ahead 1-0. This team was just getting started. A corner kick from Wagner on the left side in the 39th minute found Jakob Glesnes just outside the six on the left side, beating his defender for a header into the right side of the net. In the 44th minute, Bedoya sent a long through ball from the defensive end up to Mikael Uhre shaking off defender Xavier Arreaga to turn on the jets and finish the run up to the right side of the box and a pass to Baribo on an inside run near the center of the box to send a shot that blew through goalie Aljaz Ivacic’s outstretched hand and hooked just inside the left post to give Baribo his second goal and the Boys in Blue a 3-0 halftime lead.
In the 50th minute Ian Harkes fired off a long range shot from right of center about 25 yards out to put the Revolution on the board 3-1. Uh oh, an early goal conceded in the second half? This is usually where things start to fall apart but this time the Union answered right back at the restart. Wagner was coming up the left side of the field and found an opening to send the ball up to a streaking Baribo to field a through ball running into the box with nothing but grass between him and the goalie. Baribo easily put the ball into the left side of the net in the 52nd minute to get a hat trick and put the Union back up by 3 goals. Things settled down for a bit as pouring rain rolled through Subaru Park. Quinn Sullivan checked into the game in the 71st minute along with Jesus Bueno. So much for the brothers coming in together, but what ended up shaking out was even more of a storybook moment. As Cavan was warming up on the sidelines in the 84th minute, Glesnes sent a through ball up from midfield to Quinn who after initially misplaying the ball quickly recovered about 25 yards out from the goal on the left side and fired a rocket into the top right corner of the net that nobody had a chance of stopping. Quinn then ran over to the corner and did a knee slide over to his brother and the other Union teammates to jump on him in celebration, putting the Union up 5-1 with only a few minutes left. Jim Curtin jumped on the moment and sent Cavan into the match for Baribo in the 85th minute, officially making Cavan Sullivan the youngest player to debut in the history of MLS (and nearly every other professional sports league) at 14 years and 293 days old, 13 days younger than Freddy Adu when he debuted with DC United in 2004. Cavan officially had 5 touches in 8 minutes played, was 3-3 on passes and had one shot on goal in the final minute of stoppage time that had the stadium ready to explode but it was right at Ivacic to close out a game that gave the fans that came out and braved the storms midweek both a blast from the past and maybe a glimmer of hope for the future.
News and notes:
- Tai Baribo’s hat trick was the 12th in Union history in all competitions. The Union are the only team since 2022 to have four different players score hat tricks in MLS play.
- Sullivan became the youngest player to make his debut among the top North American professional sports leagues (MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL, NWSL, WNBA) as well as the youngest player to make his debut among the top five European soccer leagues with his debut on Wednesday.
- With three assists, Kai Wagner became the only defender in MLS to produce at least 30 assists across the last three seasons. Wagner is just the seventh player in league history, regardless of position, to achieve this feat.
- Cavan and Quinn Sullivan become the second pair of brothers to play at the same time in Union history (2011, Farfan brothers).
- Freddy Adu, who held the record for over 20 years as the youngest player played with the Union in their early years, featuring in 35 matches from 2011-12 and scoring 7 goals. This was Adu’s last MLS stop in a nomadic career that never lived up to the enormous hype placed on him. MLS and soccer in the US has evolved immensely in the 20 years since then and a far better support system is in place for Cavan Sullivan from both his team and his family that Adu couldn’t have even dreamed of back then. Adu’s name still rings as a cautionary tale for any insanely overhyped young athlete.
- Thursday the Union announced they have acquired Sam Adeniran from St Louis City SC for $150,000 of General Allocation Money (GAM). St Louis can receive an additional $300k over the next two years if certain performance targets are met. Adeniran, 25, has scored 10 career goals in MLS (48 total career goals in all pro leagues) and will be a free agent at the end of this season. He is a US citizen and able to contribute immediately with no waiting for visa paperwork.
- The Union’s next match is Saturday July 20 at home against Nashville SC at 7:30pm in their final game before Leagues Cup. All MLS matches are streamed on Apple TV+.
JD Walker is one of the co-founders of Stream Punk Entertainment and has covered the Philadelphia Union, Big East Basketball, and New Jersey high school basketball since 2022. He has a wide-spanning career with experience in a variety of roles inside and outside the world of sports including basketball operations, gameday entertainment, promotions, broadcasting, and finance. He’s a Jersey Shore native sprung from a cage on Highway 9, and loves to geek out on the business and legal side of the games we all love.