Union players, from left, Tai Baribo, Frankie Westfield and Danley Jean-Jacques celebrate Baribo's goal in the first half against Chicago in Game 2 of their MLS Cup playoff series on Nov. 1. Courtesy Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union had to wait six days after clinching their first-round playoff series to figure out who they’d play in the next round, then another three days to finalize when.
When they kick off their Eastern Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 against New York City FC, it will be 22 days since their last day … and a lot of their own shins kicked in practices while waiting for that next game to come.
So what does a pro soccer team in Month 10 of the season do with three weeks off to prepare for the biggest game of their season? It’s both a mental and physical challenge.
“I see it in training that the guys are antsy,” coach Bradley Carnell said last week. “I see them competing, but what are we competing for? I do feel that, because you have something which is so far away, and there's so many things that we have to do now. So it's just unfortunate, and we have to respect that.”
The challenges for each of the three weeks leading up to Nov. 23 is distinct. Last week was a chance to train with everyone in camp, before departures for international duty. But Carnell approached the workload judiciously, emphasizing recovery late in the season. A few players have nagging injuries – Mikael Uhre failed a pre-game fitness test on a knee knock in the second leg against Chicago; Indiana Vassilev wasn’t 90 minutes fit and thus didn’t start. Almost everyone is carrying something.
So keeping the training at a constant, low simmer allows them to stay sharp while recovering.
“You can't wrap the guys in cotton wool and roll them out the night before,” Carnell said. “You're going to have to go through a couple of training sessions, and sometimes you're going to get stood on the foot or sometimes you're going to get kicked or sometimes it's going to be uncomfortable, or it might be raining or windy and cold. But this is how we've been doing it.”
Carnell’s challenge is as much emotional, keeping the minds fresh. Last week was shorter but intense. Practices have emphasized the Union’s usual principles via drills done thousands of times by now. But Carnell has tried to move the dial on competition in practice, whether in drills or breaking up for short-sided games. Shorter weeks allow the players weekends off to stay fresh mentally.
“It's tough,” left back Kai Wagner said. “I'm not a big fan of the scheduling, how everything turns out. Three weeks is a lot of time. … But for me personally, I try to stay healthy, gain fitness a little bit more during the week. You see a lot of younger guys are in training too, and it's a little bit of a different training session. Everybody just tries to be the best.”
This week’s challenge is in numbers depletion. Four Union players are off to play with their senior national teams, while four youth players are away at U.S. camps, plus Cavan Sullivan at the Under-17 World Cup.
The team had been trying to arrange a friendly against another team, but most options have packed up for the season. Even a formal intrasquad game with Union II players that includes full-field, long halves and suiting up in proper jerseys helps break the monotony.
“You have to put something more on the line,” defender Jakob Glesnes said. “We're doing it every day, going at each other. But it is a different feeling if you put on a jersey and playing like two times 40 or 35 minutes or whatever we're going to do.”
The Union have adapted to all manner of scheduling nonsense this season. They played nine games in all competitions in May without losing. They navigated stretches of four games in 14 days in August and September. They built momentum by winning the Supporters’ Shield on Oct. 4, then sat for two weeks, lost in Charlotte and still beat Chicago in two games despite one game in the previous three weeks.
“It’s hard, to be honest,” Glesnes said. “It is hard, and it has to be hard for the fans as well. You're in the momentum, you're hyped up for a game, we get into next round, and then you don't see anything before it's three weeks to the next one. So I don't like it, but again, we just have to do whatever we can now to get in healthy and be ready for the game that is coming up.”
The Union handled the congestion of nine games in May; the NYCFC playoff game will be their ninth since Sept. 1. It takes something special to succeed in a league where you can play nine games in one month or nine games in three months.
“That's what brought us success,” Carnell said. “So we don't want to take our foot off the gas and wait for activation day and get going three days before we play. We have to keep a good rhythm.”
