UNION (4-2-3-1)
McCarthy

Gaddis-Edu-Vitoria-Williams

Lahoud-Pfeffer

Sapong-Maidana-Le Toux

Aristeguieta

Bench: Blake, White, Fabinho, Carroll, Ayuk, Casey, Wenger

New England Revolution (3-5-2)

Shuttleworth

Farrell-Woodbury-Alston

Dorman-Jones

Rowe-Nguyen-Caldwell

Agudelo-Davies

Bench: Knighton, Tierney, Fagundez, Bunbury, Okoli, Hall, Neumann

Preview

- The Union make three changes from Thursday against New York City FC. Eric Ayuk and Andrew Wenger get breaks, while Vincent Nogueira’s right ankle apparently fails its fitness test. In steps CJ Sapong as essentially a wing forward, while Zach Pfeffer slots into central midfield in Nogueira’s stead. Also returning is Cristian Maidana, who’ll operate as the central prong of the midfield triumvirate.

- Fascinating XI from the Revs, who’ll go with a 3-5-2 (on the sheet at least) without Jose Goncalves and with three defensive-minded midfielders. It’s a very attack-minded squad overall, with Charlie Davies and Juan Agudelo pairing up top.

- The Union are going to face a battle trying to get through the Revs, who haven’t conceded a goal in 208 MLS minutes. That starts with making life uncomfortable for Jermaine Jones, who played 45 minutes last week in his return from offseason hernia surgery. The Maidana nod has to be due, in part at least, to Jim Curtin wanting to fill the space behind the forward line and occupy Jones, not letting him freelance and pick off long passes.

- The same duty is incumbent on the Union’s central midfield paring of Michael Lahoud and Pfeffer. Though Lahoud and Nogueira have played well of late, they’ve done so against a fairly flat midfield of NYCFC that is still trying to figure itself out. The Revs, with the interchanging of Kelyn Rowe and Lee Nguyen, are much more dynamic and can hit you from a much wider range of positions and angles.

- This is a big chance for Pfeffer. The debate still rages, even among those that have seen him play since he was a youngster, as to what his best position in the pro ranks is. He seems to bring more steel (and perhaps not enough creativity) to be an elite No. 10, but a deeper lying role that showcases his box-to-box ability may be for him, and this is a chance to show that.

It’s becoming apparent that the problems of the Philadelphia Union are myriad. It’s been 220 minutes since they last scored a goal. They have just three wins in their last 12, two coming against conference bottom dwellers Chivas and D.C. United. Since Aug. 1, their total of five points is second-lowest in MLS. For the first time since late May, they are saddled with a negative goal-differential.

Through it all, though, one area of the Union’s recent futility has stood apart: The midfield. And the possible solution, one that is looking manager John Hackworth squarely in the face, is one that will likely go unexplored.

Is Amobi Okugo the answer
to the Union's midfield struggles? (Times Files)

The problem
Just how difficult has it been for the Union midfield? Well, it depends on perception. Defensively, the Union have managed to recover from a rough start to the season to present pretty stout resistance to opponents. But the realization is setting in that such defensive solidity comes at a steep offensive price, and the Union have been woeful in that regard this season.

It’s easy to see tactically. The Union’s deficiency of midfield depth has caused them to play Sebastien Le Toux out of position all season. Danny Cruz’s performances have been inconsistent. Keon Daniel has struggled to grasp the notion of an “attacking midfielder.” Michael Farfan has constantly underwhelmed. And creative players like Kleberson and Roger Torres haven’t been able to get on the field for whatever reason.
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Union manager John Hackworth
On having two goals called back:"It’s hard. I think there’s some plays that are made early in that second half, and we felt like we did all the right things coming out of the locker room at halftime and had the momentum and we get the equalizer and we feel like we got the go-ahead goal … twice. For whatever reason, the officials felt otherwise. It’s incredibly hard to take that part of it, because it changes so much. And then you’ve got to give New England credit because they were really good. Kelyn (Rowe) has two fantastic goals, and they kept going after it and obviously the momentum dramatically shifted after that. Strange, strange night. We’re just left wondering how at his level, some of that can happen."

On the pace of the game early:
The first half was strange for us too because Keon Daniel rolls his ankle, he can’t play, and that effectively it exactly where Kelyn gets his first goal from. We get in good positions, and we just didn’t execute. We had six corner kicks in the first half and several crosses and entries into the box and the quality was missing. We talked about what we’re good at and what we needed to do in the second half, and I think we came out and did those things. It’s hard to swallow.

On coming back from the loss:
A loss is a loss. At the end of the day, that’s not what we came up here to do. So we have to keep it in perspective. We’ll do what we do after every game, win, lose or draw, we’ll look at the video and try to make a lot of corrections and try to make a game plan for next week.
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With eight games left in the MLS season, it might be a bit premature to say that the Philadelphia Union’s playoff chances withered and died in New England during a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of the Revolution Sunday night. But then again, it might not. And with the myriad problems exposed by the Revs in running absolutely rampant on the Union, there’s reason to think that this has the makings of a turning point for the worse in the Union’s season. A few reasons why:

- Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way: Yes, the Union should’ve been up 2-1 when Conor Casey had the ball in the back of the net only to be wrongly called for a foul on goalkeeper Matt Reis. But the fact that they rolled up and died in the face of that adversity and capitulated four more times in quick succession after that is a major problem that goes beyond officiating. And let’s be clear: The Revs scored five times only with so-so finished. They had another five or so golden chances where the proper final pass wasn’t picked out.

- In a match like this, the best the Union can do is quarantine the problem. They didn’t. Amobi Okugo’s pair of late yellow cards means he’s suspended for next week’s visit by Montreal (and maybe the week after for accumulation; I'd have to check on that). That’s Eastern Conference-leading MLS, fresh off a 5-0 shellacking of Houston, with MLS leading scorer Marco Di Vaio in form. The options to replace him include Sheanon Williams, who was absolutely terrible Sunday, both with turnovers and this recurring delusion with charging into the box like he’s a forward that leaves the defense exposed and outnumbered. And if Ray Gaddis isn’t healthy, then Matt Kassel plays defense? Or Aaron Wheeler? For a team challenging for a playoff spot, that’s sad. Read more »