CHESTER, Pa. — In their last two games, the Philadelphia Union have put 11 of their 38 shots on target.
Saturday’s loss to the Portland Timbers followed the same pattern as Week 12’s scoreless draw with the Seattle Sounders.
The Union pounded the attacking half, controlled the possession battle and failed to break down one of the better defenses in Major League Soccer.
“It’s simply not good enough,” Union captain Alejandro Bedoya said. “Our finishing is off when we get to the final third. We have times where we’re just forcing through the middle and then when we get the ball out wide, our crossing isn’t good enough either. We need to work on that.”
Seattle and Portland are two of the more disciplined defenses the Union will face this season, but the tactics they employed will continue to be utilized against the Union until they find a way to break down a bunkered team.
Possession and linking together passes 25 yards from goal haven’t been issues for the Union. Breaking through into the penalty area to create significant chances has been the major problem.
Against Seattle, the Union completed 87 percent of their 639 passes and held 67.9 percent of the possession, but only one of their six shots on goal was from inside the box and there was little action in the box itself.
On Saturday, the Union completed 87 percent of their 636 passes, while they held 62.8 percent of the possession.
Just like the draw against Seattle, the volume of attacking actions inside the box was lacking.
The Union were able to find the back of the net once on a Kacper Przybylko 47th-minute goal. Przybylko also hit the post twice and Fafa Picault forced a point-blank save from Steve Clark.
But four significant chances in the penalty area from all of that pressure and possession simply isn’t good enough.
“I think (it’s about creating) better chances,” Bedoya said. “Even you saw when we got the ball out wide, the crosses either didn’t hit their mark, went wayward, or I remember one ball I clipped into the box and nobody is there at the second post. That’s a ball that somebody should be flying into the second post like we talked about.”
“It’s runs. It’s service,” Bedoya said. “We need to improve on everything. We need to work on that in training and we have. It’s just not good enough. One goal at home against two teams that have bunkered in, even though they are quality sides, it’s just not good enough for us.”
More teams will employ the bunkering strategy at Talen Energy Stadium as a sign of respect for the Union’s attacking buildup.
“(The Union) are a very good team,” Clark said. “They have a very, very good pattern of play, one of the best I’ve seen this year so they’re dangerous.”
Until the Union prove they are capable of beating a team defending with two banks of four players, opponents will continue to try and stop them in that manner.
When the Colorado Rapids come in on Wednesday night, they will likely employ a similar defensive mindset, but the execution could be lacking since they’ve given up 32 goals this season.
Beating the Rapids at home will be a perfect remedy for the Union to get out of their scoring slump, but that will only be a temporary fix since the club is expected to beat the worst team in MLS at home.
“We have a game on Wednesday, another one at home, to avenge this loss and try to turn it around,” Bedoya said. “We need to be a lot better in the final third.”
The greater goal for the Union is to use Wednesday’s game as a Petri dish for future home games. If the Union are more effective with their crossing, create significant chances in the box and limit the opponent’s opportunities on the counter, which they failed to do on Saturday, they will have some fixes for their struggles.
“We can’t just fly everybody forward with eight players and leave Jack (Elliott) and (Auston) Trusty alone,” Bedoya said. “We just have to be better in the final third and move the ball quicker from side to side and get to the end line or out wide. We need to be better with our runs in the box, our service into the box, everything.”
The good news is the Union are controlling games and they know exactly what to fix, which is different from previous ruts at home, but the fixes have to be apparent on Wednesday in order to get back on track at home.