5 things to know heading into the home opener

The Philadelphia Union take on FC Cincinnati Saturday in the team’s regular season home opener after a 4-2 victory over Orlando City last week.

Plenty of changes happened during the offseason, after Philly’s Major League Soccer  team limped into a 12th place finish in the 15-team Eastern Conference last season and missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

So here’s a quick recap on what’s changed this year with the team and what to look out for at Subaru Park tomorrow.

Carnell in charge

The biggest overhaul in the winter was the team parting ways with head coach Jim Curtin in November. Two months later, former St. Louis coach Bradley Carnell was appointed as the fourth head coach in the team’s history. Carnell said he was looking to return the team to something “edgy and difficult to play against.”

Carnell coached St. Louis City SC for 62 regular season games, with a 22-15-25 record. In the side’s inaugural season in 2022, he led the team to the top of the Eastern Conference at the end of the regular season, becoming the first expansion franchise in league history to do that in its debut season. St. Louis suffered a sophomore slump, and Carnell was fired in the middle of his second season.

New signings

After a brief, surprising transfer ban, the Union broke its transfer record acquiring Uruguayan forward Bruno Damiani from Nacional. Comparing the transfer fee of $3.4 million for the 22-year-old next to the reported MLS-record $22 million plus add-ons amount Atlanta United paid for Emmanuel Latte Lath puts some perspective on it, but the Union’s track record of shrewd acquisitions should have fans optimistic that Damiani could fill the void left behind by Julián Carranza’s departure to Dutch side Feyenoord last summer.

Along with Damiani, the Union have added veteran MLS winger Indiana Vassilev, Serbian midfielder Jovan Lukić and Argentinian central back Ian Glavinovich. Teenagers Eddy Davis, Sal Olivas, Neil Pierre and Frankie Westfield have been brought up from the academy and youth ranks. Westfield has already provided an assist in a standout performance on his senior team debut.

Who left?

The biggest departure is academy product Jack McGlynn to the Houston Dynamo, a move that surprised even McGlynn.

Veteran defender Jack Elliott left for the Chicago Fire as a free agent, after an impasse on a new deal with the Union. Leon Flach, Matt Real, Samuel Adeniran and Brandan Craig all left as free agents as well.

The Cavan era 

The media circus surrounding the team’s 15-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan is only going to keep growing as he’ll be featured in league broadcaster Apple TV+’s  docuseries “Onside: Major League Soccer” during the year. 

Until he leaves for English super club Manchester City, Sullivan will continue to be a prominent part of the coverage of the team, the league and its sponsors. Whether or not that translates to minutes on the field with senior teams is for Carnell and Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner to decide.

“We have players on the roster all eligible for minutes, and he falls into that category,” Carnell said in a press conference Thursday. “And minutes need to be earned. I’m not just dishing out minutes here, just because of whatever name’s on the back of a shirt.” 

FILE – Philadelphia Union’s Cavan Sullivan warms up before a Leagues Cup soccer game against Mazatlan FC, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Chester, Pa. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, File)

Off to a winning start

Orlando finished fourth in the Easter Conference and made it as far as the conference final last season, so the Union’s win in the season opener was unexpected. Carnell captured the excitement of the result in the dressing room afterwards.

Cincinnati finished third, and though they fell short in the postseason and will be the visiting team, DraftKings had them as having the fourth best odds to lift the MLS Cup at the end of the season — Philly was 10th.

Both Damiani and Vassilev are fit to play their first minutes for the club, while academy product Nate Harriel is available for a return to the side.

“As an opponent, coming here many, many years, I always hated the ‘DOOP’ song. Now I can’t wait for the ‘DOOP,’” Carnell said on Thursday. “I’m hoping we can reward the fans that come out, and hopefully we show them a bit of our signature and the way we want to play and entertain.”
The game against Cincinnati starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are still available, and it can be watched on Apple TV with the additional MLS Season Pass subscription.



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2025-02-28 15:05:08

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