Philadelphia Union Rediscovered Identity During Leagues Cup Run

The Union have looked like themselves again during the run to the Leagues Cup quarterfinals.

The Philadelphia Union rediscovered the identity that they lost during their struggles earlier in 2024.

It’s no surprise that the uptick in form, which has led to a second straight spot in the Leagues Cup quarterfinal, coincided with Andre Blake’s return.

The Union have not lost with the three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year back on the field.

The Union built some momentum going into Leagues Cup with a 5-1 win over the New England Revolution and a 3-0 triumph over Nashville SC.

A 1-0 win over Charlotte FC and a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Cruz Azul followed in Leagues Cup group-stage play.

Friday’s 2-0 win over CF Montreal to kick off the Leagues Cup knockout round was the quintessential Union win inside Subaru Park.

Most of those results were not taken as seriously as Tuesday’s 4-2 win over FC Cincinnati, and for good reason, the Union were expected to beat the Revs, Nashville, Charlotte and Montreal.

Now, look, clearing the bare minimum expectation was tough for the Union to accomplish for most of the MLS regular season without Blake, but they completed the job at home, banked some much-needed confidence and threw all sorts of punches at FC Cincinnati on Tuesday.

I’d argue the win over Cincinnati doesn’t happen without the confidence builders at home.

The Union regained their defensive integrity thanks to Blake’s return. Union head coach Jim Curtin typically points out the one or two saves each game that Blake makes that become after thoughts because of what the final score line is.

Blake produced a handful of those saves, including a ridiculous denial on the line in the second half of Wednesday’s win.

It also helps that Blake’s return has coincided with the red-hot form of Tai Baribo.

At least for now, the Union don’t have to worry about replacing Julian Carranza.

Baribo was initially supposed to be Carranza’s replacement in case the Argentinian left last season.

The Union had to wait until Carranza actually left for Baribo to prove what he can do on the field.

It still goes down as one of Curtin’s all-time roster fumbles by not playing the Israeli forward consistently until he absolutely had to, but that’s now in the past and Baribo has more than exceeded any expectations set for him.

Baribo turned in consecutive two-goal performances and leads the Leagues Cup Golden Boot race with five goals.

Mikael Uhre scoring against Cincinnati was vital for his confidence, and with the way Sam Adeniran is working during his minutes, a good is bound to come soon for the summer arrival.

The Union are playing well, but they’ve also gotten lucky in the Leagues Cup.

Saturday’s quarterfinal is against Mazatlan, who surprisingly beat Cruz Azul in penalties on Tuesday night. That’s a far more preferrable matchup than a rematch with Cruz Azul.

The Union will root for New York City FC to beat the Columbus Crew so that the semifinal is at Subaru Park as well.

Even if the Union have to visit Columbus, Tuesday’s win proved the Union are able to compete with the best on the continent again.

The opinion on the Leagues Cup run may change in a week, because, well, winning the actual trophy has been the organization’s problem, not getting to the games close to trophy time.

If anything, the Leagues Cup run has taught us the Union still have it in them at full strength and that a push above the playoff line is mandatory when regular-season play resumes.

Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union.