The Philadelphia Union completed another comeback performance on Sunday night, coming from two goals and a man down to draw the New York Red Bulls at Talen Energy Stadium.
The impressiveness of the comeback is matched only by the intrigue and peculiarity of some of the tactical decisions and matchups, so let's take a look at some of them.
The high press: a double-edged sword
The Red Bulls managed to stifle much if any positive possession and offensive movement on the part of Philadelphia in the first half. They did so with a high press that saw their center backs sit just at the midfield line in a move that would be called extreme even by the biggest proponents of the high press but it worked, for a time. The press forced Philadelphia into the error in judgment that saw them concede the first goal as well as the numerous fouls that led to the second goal in their efforts to regain possession from the Red Bulls and counter press.
Furthermore, the positioning of the back line is the very reason Philadelphia were caught offside a whopping eight times on the night and with 58% of the possession nearly throughout the whole match, it's no wonder that Philadelphia struggled to generate any offense at times in the match. From a passing perspective, the press forced Philadelphia to play long, often inaccurate, balls to C.J. Sapong who, due to a lack of runs from midfield, was isolated and often battled with Aurelien Collin and Damian Perrinelle on his own, winning just two aerial duels compared to Collin's five and Perrinelle's three.
However, as mentioned above, the press is a double-edged sword and this was evidenced by both Philadelphia goals, particularly the second in which the fast break and the poor positioning from the New York defense saw Fabian Herbers slip in from the right side to deliver the cross as well as New York's failure to track the run of Chris Pontius who scored the game-tying goal.
Tactical astuteness from Coach Curtin
The introduction of Fabian Herbers by Union coach Jim Curtin was a stroke of brilliance in a number of areas. The much maligned Herbers has often been criticized this season for his performances despite his rookie status, with fans concerned that he was shooting when he ought to pass and passing when he ought to shoot. But the German performed his role to perfection on the night, providing the runs from midfield to drag New York's midfielders and create space, an action that Roland Alberg hadn't provided on the night and at times play closer to Sapong as nearly a second striker, helping occupy the New York center backs.
This allowed Tranquillo Barnetta more time and space on the ball in his hybrid number six/ number ten role. Barnetta created three key passes, the most of any Philadelphia play when pushed further up the pitch late on in the game. There were, however, some concerns over the introduction of Sebastian Le Toux late in the second half. Now a tidy super sub, Le Toux's introduction seems to have been due to a minor knock picked up by Chris Pontius. There will be questions as to the severity of the knock and whether or not Philadelphia were being overly cautious but in his time on the pitch, Le Toux led (and considerably slowed) a fast break and hit an effort at goal that many believe Pontius would have likely converted. Overall, however, the decision-making from Coach Curtin was solid on the night.
The player or the coach?
One particular area of concern on the night for Philadelphia was the play of Brazilian midfielder, Ilsinho. Many may point to the red card and argue it's unfairness but the fact of that matter was, Ilsinho barely had an effect on proceeding throughout the night and some might argue that Philadelphia were better off without him. The Brazilian's failure to push out wide more often was both a blessing and a curse for the men from Chester. Philadelphia often lacked an outlet to pass to throughout the game on that right-hand side due to the narrow play of the former Shakhtar Donetsk player, but it was his very narrowness that allowed Keegan Rosenberry to push up at times leading to the cross in the lead up to the penalty.
Intriguing decisions, an exciting game, and plenty of goals, in the end, what more can a fan ask for?