Philadelphia Union Need to Play Their Style of Game in Coming Week

The statistics support that the Union struggle when they have more possession and time in the final third.

The Philadelphia Union rely a lot on crosses from left back Kai Wagner.

That’s the primary way the Union left back eclipsed Sebastien Le Toux for the most MLS regular-season assists in club history on Saturday night.

But too many crosses has not been a good thing for the Union.

The Union attempted 32 crosses on Saturday night, per FBRef. It was the sixth time in MLS play this season the Union eclipsed over 30 crosses in a game. The Union have one win from those contests.

Now, of course, you can point to any number of factors that make you go “No Shit the Union are Losing Games” because of the actions on the other end of the field.

A majority of the season-long data (at least in MLS regular-season games) suggests than less is more with the Union attack.

Eight of the Union’s nine MLS victories have come when they had 17 or fewer crosses in a single game. They’ve had 18+ on 14 occasions.

The Union also attempted 22 shots against Atlanta United. They have three losses and two draws in the games with their five highest shot totals in the MLS regular season.

Probably the most obvious stat, though, from Saturday was the expected goals total of 0.9.

It was only the sixth time this season the Union had a XG in league play under one.

You guessed it, the Union have not won any of those games.

We all know the Union do not like to have a ton of possession. They’re built to strike on transition and counter-attacks.

The Union had 51 percent possession on Saturday, which seems low given how much they were on the ball. They’ve only won one game in MLS play with more than 50 percent of possession (the May 18 win over New England).

I’m not stating anything new here.

In fact, this isn’t just a 2024 issue.

A year ago, the Union had two victories in 13 regular-season games last season in which it had 48 percent of the possession or more. They had five draws and six losses to go with the two wins.

Jim Curtin has said after many games that the Union don’t want to dominate the possession battle.

Saturday’s game was the perfect example of that.

A team can have possession, but if it doesn’t do anything significant with that possession, it is pointless.

The Union had some chances on the Atlanta net, including one in the last minute of stoppage time, but the attackers were also stuck in moments where they passed instead of shooting, or shot instead of passing.

The Union just played a style of game that doesn’t suit their strengths, and now they have to find ways to get points off Orlando City and Columbus on the road this week.

Here’s the good news:

Since July 13, the Union have not dropped points in consecutive games.

In fact, they’ve picked up 16 points in their last eight contests to put themselves in a position to still make the playoffs.

The 5-5-5 road record is the best among teams from fifth to 14th in the Eastern Conference, and if you want to draw more positives, the Union won on the road at the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC after defeats.

Orlando City is in incredible form and Columbus is one of the best teams in the league, so the challenges are different this week.

However, if the Union go back to playing their brand of soccer, which they typically do on the road, and rally together after a loss, they have a chance to pick up points over the next few days.

Photo Courtesy of Philadelphia Union.