“I’m kind of getting tired of the ties like everyone is.” -Jim Curtin
Stop if you’ve heard this one before. The Philadelphia Union dropped points at home over the weekend.
Many fans hoped that the international break would set the stage for a return to their earlier season form for the Union, but Saturday night’s matchup looked like even more of the same, the Union drawing 1-1 at home against FC Cincinnati after blowing yet another lead.
“It’s a point; I’m kind of getting tired of the ties like everyone is,” head coach Jim Curtin said after the match.
There is no better way to describe the Union currently than that feeling. Yes they are still gaining points and keeping themselves in the Eastern Conference race, but they aren’t doing enough to prove themselves to be real viable contenders at the moment.
Currently the Union are in one of the biggest ruts seen in MLS history. They’ve tied in seven of their past eight games, the fourth team to do so.
7 – @PhilaUnion are the fourth team in @MLS history to draw seven times in an eight-match span, joining the Dynamo (2021), Fire (2011) and Galaxy (2009). Rut. pic.twitter.com/ON9JBkF170
— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) June 19, 2022
“it’s not a lack of effort. We’re missing that one player, one piece to break down an opponent.”
Curtin further commented on the squad’s struggles to generate offense. Captain Alejandro Bedoya backed the statement as well, but stated that they need to be better.
“No excuses,” He said. “We need to be better at home.”
Despite a league-leading eight draws, the Union still just have one loss (the team with the next fewest losses has three) and have only conceded 11 times. They also still have a ways to go to match the 15 draws the 2011 team did en route to the club’s first postseason berth.
The Union will host first-place New York City FC on Sunday, June 26 with a chance to take back the top spot in the Eastern Conference.