Union defender Kai Wagner, left, and midfielder Milan Iloski stand over a free kick in Sunday's Eastern Conference semifinal against New York City FC. Courtesy Philadelphia Union
Mikael Uhre walked to the tunnel beneath the River End at Subaru Park Sunday night and waved to the fans who’d stayed in part to see him off.
It looked, for all the world, like a wave goodbye.
Nothing in soccer is as certain as change. Uhre was once brought in as a club record signing by the Philadelphia Union before the 2022 season. That record has been exceeded once, and reports from Europe indicate the Union are about to break it again for a player who plays the same position.
Uhre’s impending departure is not the biggest change looming in the aftermath of Sunday’s 1-0 loss to New York City FC in the Eastern Conference semifinals. But it was the most visible reminder that change will come to a club that for the 16th straight season finished without the ultimate prize of MLS Cup.
“Definitely emotional,” Uhre said. “How often do you get the chance to go through this on home field? Obviously, I don't know what's going to happen. I'm out of my contract, so we'll see what happens. But it was definitely emotional.”
In the end, Uhre’s departure may end up seeming quaint. The administrative leave of sporting director Ernst Tanner for complaints of racist and misogynist comments in the workplace casts a pall over everything the Union will do. The club must first decide how to decide who makes the decisions on the sporting side. If not Tanner, then a new person would be steering the ship for the first time since 2018, Tanner having this time last year ordained his supremacy by firing a longer-tenured (and homegrown) coach in Jim Curtin.
Questions around Uhre and others already pale in comparison to last year’s overhaul. In came a new coach, two contributors in Bruno Damiani and Jovan Lukic. Out went Jack Elliott and Curtin first, then eventually Jack McGlynn and Daniel Gazdag.
This year’s personnel shuffle will be more restrained. Reports place the Union in talks with Ghanian forward Ezekiel Alladoh, who plays in Sweden. By securing Milan Iloski midseason, they have depth at the No. 10 role to replace the extended ACL recovery of Quinn Sullivan. A center back will be added, though the club is high on Homegrown Neil Pierre. Dead weight from the fringes of the roster will be cut. They could be in the market for an undervalued asset within MLS a la Indiana Vassilev, and they may turn their attention to the succession plan around Kai Wagner, now 28.
In a way, the Union are in a similar place as a team for which they are karmically linked, having lost championships on the same day in 2022. The Phillies are committed to a veteran core that is under contract at high cost for many years, one that is difficult to get away from. Sacrificing the 95% proficiency that has led to four straight playoff appearances and two division titles in search of that final 5% for a World Series title would be a risk.
For the Union, the commitment is to counterattacking soccer. The game model exists because it’s within the Union’s price range. Playing against the ball evens the gap in individual skill – the Union like to talk about “the team being the playmaker,” turning teams over in dangerous places to lead to chances instead of creating them via possession. It’s a way to get results with less of a dependence on premium players. It’s also the ethos engrained in generations of the Union Academy, which will keep churning out first-teamers who fit the model (or for those that don’t, like McGlynn, can be sold at a profit.)
The conventional wisdom is that such teams fare poorly in knockout soccer, against other good teams where the individual talent gap is too big to bridge with scheme or team spirit. It can win trophies – the Union did this year with the Supporters’ Shield – but maybe not the Big One.
By any metric, the Union overachieved this year, increasing their point total from 37 last year to 66. They’re in CONCACAF Champions Cup next year. They could have four Academy products represent the United States at the World Cup next summer, plus one or two active players.
“It gives us something to be hungry for down the line here, starting in the new year,” coach Bradley Carnell said. “That gives me motivation to come back and think that we can do this thing one step further.”
But in one way, the Union were where they wanted to be Sunday night. In August, they went out and got Iloski, despite having two forwards they trusted, despite having two established starting No. 10s. If games required a player to pick the locks on a bunkered-in defense late, the Union could turn to Iloski, a supersub with 10 goals in 400 minutes with San Diego.
Westfield nearly sneaks it past Freese.
Time is running out for Philadelphia.#doop #NYCFC
📹: APPLE|MLS pic.twitter.com/Ju7pYlN304
But Quinn Sullivan’s knee injury moved Iloski into the starting role, hence Frankie Westfield as the late midfield change of pace. And if the chances that fell to converted right back Westfield Sunday – a ball in the 75th minutes that he got to at the back post only for Matt Freese to stone him; an 87th-minute ball from Wagner that Westfield sailed over the bar – had found a goal scorer like Iloski instead, the result may have been difference.
For a conservative ownership group, that kind of spin looks like validation. It looks like a baby they won’t want to throw out with the bathwater. And it brings the hope that, like the Phillies' messaging, if they keep getting into postseason situations year after year, maybe one will finally break their way.
