MARIETTA, Ga. — The Philadelphia Union are enjoying their best-ever season. Philly amassed a franchise-record 55 points over 34 Major League Soccer games in 2019. The Union scrapped to their first playoff victory Sunday, fighting back against the New York Red Bulls to take a 4-3 extra-time thriller.
Ahead of its Eastern Conference semifinal against Philadelphia Thursday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta United is wary of the grit and versatility that have brought the Union unprecedented success.
“I think one thing that hasn’t changed with Philadelphia is the attitude that they bring,” Jeff Larentowicz said after training Tuesday. “You saw it the other night in their game, down twice by two goals, to come back and win. So something we can expect from them, no matter who’s on the field, is the amount of effort the amount of intensity that they bring.
“They have this kind of changeability in their team, whether it be personnel that kind of changes their positioning or it’s just a straight up formation. Against us they played in kind of a diamond at home and the other day they played kind of a 4-2-3-1, sometimes it looks like a diamond. So that changeability, that movement on the field makes it difficult for really all the players.”
A key cog in the Union’s “changeability” that Larentowicz described is Ilsinho. The 34-year-old Brazilian rarely starts, instead coming off the bench to change the game in midfield. Ilsinho is a known MLS name for his super-sub role at this point, and his introduction never takes opponents by surprise. Still, he is difficult to defend with his dazzling tricks on the ball. Ilsinho scored five goals and provided eight assists during the regular season. Ten of those 13 contributions came in substitute appearances.
“You don’t want to be caught in a one-v-one,” Larentowicz said. “So chances are you’re going to bring more than one guy over. When you bring more than one guy over, he has the ability to find the guy that you’ve left. You saw it late in the game against Red Bulls. They sent two or three guys over. The [winning] goal starts on his side and ends up on the other side.
“His ability on the ball I’d say is unmatched in the league. One-v-one, as far as dribbling technique, he’s not overly fast, he’s not overly quick, but his footwork is as good as it gets. He forces you to defend a certain way and he has the ability to play out of it, whether it’s on the dribble or with a pass.”
Atlanta suffered a home draw and a road loss in its two games versus Philadelphia this season. Both results came amid difficult circumstances for Frank de Boer’s team. The teams finished 1-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium March 17, at a time when de Boer was still working to get on the same page with his players tactically. Philadelphia defeated Atlanta 3-1 Aug. 31 in what was the Five Stripes’ eighth game during the month of August.
“I think you’re making excuses for us. You’ve got to win the game. That’s it,” Larentowicz said. “You’ve got to expect Philly to give you everything, no matter when you’re playing them. … Whether you’ve played eight games in a month or whether you’re playing in the playoffs or whether it’s the third game of the year, you’ve got to be mentally and physically sharp to play them without excuses. And there’s no excuses on that.”
Philadelphia likes to play with the ball and averaged 53 percent possession in MLS games this season. But, manager Jim Curtain and his players are happy to bunker, as Atlanta knows. During the March draw, the Five Stripes bossed 72 percent of the possession, but converted that to just two shots on target. In August, Atlanta controlled 56 percent of the possession — the gap was greater during the first half, but Philadelphia controlled the game after halftime as Atlanta tired — and put only four shots on target.
The Five Stripes obviously struggled to break Philadelphia’s bunker during the regular season. If Curtin again elects to deploy a sit-and-counter strategy, de Boer may be forced to deviate from the tactics used against the New England Revolution in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs. Atlanta opened in a 5-3-2 and was cautious going forward, hoping to avoid dangerous transition moments in a knockout game. Creating good chances Thursday night might require more risk.
“If teams sit off, you’ve got to be patient, be willing to pass the ball around here and there just to try to get them moving, get them running,” Emerson Hyndman said after Monday’s training session. “If that’s the case, then we’ll be prepared for it. You see it very quickly in a game if they’re going to do that or if they’re opening up, going to try to counter, whatever it is. It’s something we’ll look at, and if that’s something they bring, we’ll be prepared for it.”
Of course, the “counter” portion of the sit-and-counter is where Atlanta could get into trouble. De Boer played a more pragmatic game against New England because he was missing star center back Miles Robinson, who picked up a hamstring injury while on U.S. men’s national team duty. Robinson’s ability to snuff out counterattacks by himself allowed Atlanta to press high and push bodies forward in the attack during the regular season. Without the 22-year-old, De Beor did not want to put his team at risk of conceding a goal against the run of play.
The Five Stripes will have to deal with everything Philadelphia brings with a depleted back line. Robinson is out. So is captain Michael Parkhurst. Leandro González-Pírez, Franco Escobar and Florentin Pogba, who subbed on as a left fullback against New England, are likely to make up Atlanta’s back three. Each player wants to get forward, so it will take discipline and communication to avoid leaving the Five Stripes exposed defensively. The trio’s quality as a unit and as individuals may determine Thursday’s outcome.
“Especially in a cup competition, the small details are really important because that’s what can decide games,” Pogba told reporters Monday. “When I went in [against New England] we were able to score a goal and play well. Now, we just have to defend like crazy in these games. We can’t make mistakes.”