Philadelphia Union Square off Against Familiar Foes
By Chuck Booth
If you were told that there was a top of the table clash coming tomorrow between the top teams in the Eastern and Western conference would you have thought that those teams were the Philadelphia Union and the Colorado Rapids? The answer is no.
Yet here we are a third of the way through the season and the Philadelphia Union are leading the Eastern Conference with19 points and a 5-3-4 record. Even more surprising is the fact that the revamped Colorado rapids are leading the Western Conference with 27 points and an 8-2-3 record. These teams were two of the worst in MLS last season and now they’ve become the class of their leagues.
They may have both underwent the worst to first transitions but they’ve done it in different ways. The Philadelphia Union have built a balanced team from the back that is comfortable controlling games or playing on the counter to break down teams. The Rapids have added star power in the form of Jermaine Jones and Tim Howard (on the way) but they also have a pretty basic game plan.
The Rapids are also built from the back and have given up nine goals to field the best defense in MLS. They are the only team who has given up fewer goals than the Philadelphia Union who have conceded 13 so far this season. The Rapids pick their chances to go forward and finish clinically because they usually hold less possession than their opponents.
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In their last game against the Seattle Sounders, Colorado held the ball for 36 percent of the game but came out on top of the scoreline winning 1-0. These results are standard for the Rapids who win games on defensive fortitude.
The Rapids will forever be intertwined with the Philadelphia Union because of how they have ascended the table against the odds but that’s not the only thing that these teams have in common. They crossed paths first last season when Zac MacMath was loaned to the Rapids to get alleviate the Philadelphia Union’s glut of keepers and give him a change of scenery. MacMath ended up starting the final five games of the seasons for Colorado while Clint Irwin was out with a concussion and gave management enough confidence that they traded Irwin to Toronto FC.
Check out a match preview courtesy of the Philadelphia Union:
MacMath’s transfer was made permanent in the offseason when the Rapids traded a second-round pick to the Philadelphia Union for him. MacMath is the Union’s all-time leader in every crucial statistic for goalkeepers, quite the feat for a 24-year-old. Some of the key statistics that MacMath compiled during his four years with the Philadelphia Union are:
- All time leader in games played with 111
- All time leader in wins with 33
- All time leader in saves with 283
- All time leader in clean sheets with 28
MacMath leads the league in both clean sheets and save percentage for the Rapids and tomorrow his goal will be to shut out his former team. This will be the first time that the Philadelphia Union have faced their former number one keeper so it will be an emotional matchup. When asked about facing his former team MacMath said, “It will be weird leading up to it, Once the whistle blows, it’s just a normal game and I’ll be trying to keep a shutout at home.”
MacMath isn’t the only former Philadelphia Union player on Colorado as the Philadelphia Union also traded Home Grown player Zach Pfeffer to the Rapids along with the top international slot and Targeted Allocation Money for the second overall pick in the SuperDraft which was used to select Joshua Yaro.
Pfeffer joined the Philadelphia Union as a Homegrown Player at age 15. During his time with the club, he played in 30 games (14 starts). He scored three goals, including two in 2015 but never reached his true potential. He needed the change of scenery that the move to Colorado gave him.
When the trade was made Earnie Stewart issued the statement below:
"“Zach has grown from a 15-year-old teenager to a 21-year-old man during his time with the Union, his development as a player and teammate both on and off the pitch has been a credit to our organization and we thank him for his devotion and efforts during the past five years.”"
Being only 21 Pfeffer has room to grow but it won’t be happening at his boyhood club. It’s a blow for the Philadelphia Union because Pfeffer was the last Homegrown Player on the roster but ultimately it was a necessary move to make.
This trade allowed Colorado to sign Tim Howard and gave the Union salary cap space as well as Yaro who is currently injured. It’s safe to say that the trades worked for both teams especially since they are atop their respective conferences.
Next: Philadelphia Union are Winning Without a Superstar
Emotions will be high in this game but both teams will be focused on grabbing all three points. This is an important game for the Philadelphia Union because it is their final game in hand on most of the teams in the Eastern Conference. Can the Union break Colorado’s unbeaten streak at home? Tune in tomorrow to find out.