The Posidelphia Slant on the Philadelphia Union's Loss to Inter Miami

The Union played well enough in Saturday's loss to Inter Miami to carry over some momentum into a crucial three-game stretch.

It is hard for anyone to find positives about the Philadelphia Union right now.

However, the 3-1 loss to Inter Miami displayed the blueprint for how the Union can finish the final six games of the regular season and somehow qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs.

The simplest answer as to why the Union lost on Saturday was Inter Miami has Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and the Union do not have anything close to that.

Fair. And we’ve had the haves-versus-havenots discussion too many times in 2024, so no reason to rehash that right now.

The eye test over 90 minutes and defensive statistics show that the Union actually played okay on defense over the course of the game.

The Union held Inter Miami to a 1.1 expected goals total. That’s tied for the fourth-lowest xGA in Union road games in Major League Soccer play this season.

That was only the ninth time in the 2024 MLS regular season in which the Union held a team to 1.1 xGA or lower. Andre Blake was only in goal for three of those games.

The Union were active inside their own penalty area for 90 minutes with blocks, interceptions, etc. to ensure Andrew Rick was not put in bad positions on a constant basis.

Inter Miami only had nine shots and four of them made it on target. Now all that matters is that three of them beat Rick, but you can’t blame the Homegrown goalkeeper for any catastrophic mistakes that led to the goals.

Rick wasn’t overly impressive, but his organization of the back line and the effort of the defenders in front of him stood out.

There were no Oliver Semmle can’t deal with crosses moments and if you take that performance and apply to a game against D.C. United, Atlanta, or anyone in the mix for the No. 8 and 9 seeds in the Eastern Conference, the Union have a good chance of winning.

I’ve been told one of Jim Curtin’s hot-button issues with ownership this coming offseason will be to push for a strong backup goalkeeper. The results with Semmle and Rick in net as a whole this season has made that even more of a priority than it was this past offseason.

Offensively, the Union bagged their fourth-highest shot total in MLS play this season.

If you told anyone before the match that the Union would attempt 21 shots and put eight on target, you’d think they’d have a decent chance of contending with Miami.

And they did compete with the Herons for most of the contest, but again, they didn’t have a Messi or Suarez finish to end the job.

The Union should’ve been ahead 2-0 before Messi woke up. A chaotic sequence that was highlighted by a shot straight at Drake Callender’s chest from near the top of the box should’ve been placed anywhere but right at the Miami goalkeeper.

Creating chances hasn’t been the issue in 2024, though.

Tai Baribo picked up where Julian Carranza left off, and despite all the criticisms about Mikael Uhre, he confirmed his third straight eight-goal season in MLS play.

Uhre’s critics are warranted when they discuss the disappearances for long stretches throughout games. But he’s not shooting blanks in front of goal and another tally on Saturday is promising for what he and Baribo can do in the stretch run.

The Union still need more scoring production off the bench from Sam Adeniran, but if Baribo and Uhre can keep scoring, the playoffs are not out of reach.

Jim Curtin’s side wasted all of their margin for error a long time ago, and everyone inside the locker room is aware of that, but despite the 3-1 loss, they will harp on the positives ahead of Wednesday’s visit to New York City FC.

A result against the sixth-place team in the East is imperative to carry over the positive things from Saturday and bring them into the biggest stretch of the season against D.C. and Atlanta at Subaru Park to close September.

The Inter Miami game was never going to determine the Union’s playoff status, but the next three contests will.

Photo Courtesy of Philadelphia Union.