LOS ANGELES – Life wasn’t always like this for the Philadelphia Union.
Following their 2010 expansion season, the Union spent their initial MLS years on the fringes of relevance, mustering just one Audi MLS Cup Playoffs appearance (2011) over the next half-decade. There was little national buzz to speak of – at least for the right reasons – and a trophy case that remained empty.
Now, preparing for their first-ever MLS Cup appearance against LAFC on Saturday afternoon (4 pm ET | FOX, Univision in US; TSN, TVA Sports in Canada), the Union couldn’t be further from those middling early times.
“We've come a long way as a club,” head coach Jim Curtin said at Extratime’s live show. “We've really grown and taken steps forward each and every year. The achievement of getting to your first MLS Cup, from this group, has been something that I'm incredibly proud of.
“Great team, really fun team to watch. And obviously it sets up for an amazing final [between] what I think are the two best teams in the league, which doesn't happen often.”
"We’re still not where we want to be"
Philadelphia’s first major trophy arrived via the 2020 Supporters’ Shield, and a victory at Banc of California Stadium could cement their place among arguably the best teams in league history. They dominated the Eastern Conference in 2022 with an eye-popping +46 goal differential, the second-best defense in league history (26 goals against) and placed four players on the MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire. They finished with 67 regular-season points, too, only missing out on the Shield to LAFC via the most-wins tiebreaker (21 vs. 19).
Three-time Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Andre Blake, one of the key figures in the club’s renaissance after joining as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, credits an organization-wide culture shift with Philadelphia’s emergence as an MLS powerhouse.
“Growing with the club since I’ve been here in 2014, the club has really come a long way,” Blake said at Thursday's pre-match press conference at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown hotel. “I think the biggest thing is that the culture has changed and we are really more of a club that’s never satisfied. We always want to win, we are not just okay with being in the league. We want to be one of those clubs where every time you talk about MLS, our name pops up.
“I think the owners, technical directors, sporting directors have done a really good job bringing in players who want to win. We’re competitors that are going to fight every week and try to get better every year. So I’m just happy to be a part of this club and watch it grow from 2014 to where we are right now. I’m really proud of this group and we’re still going to try to get even better. We’re still not where we want to be yet.”
Transformations like the one Philadelphia have experienced don’t just happen overnight.
Union captain Alejandro Bedoya still remembers what it was like upon his 2016 arrival from Ligue 1’s Nantes, before Curtin and sporting director Ernst Tanner’s vision had a chance to truly take effect. The subsequent shift took years, but eventually permeated all levels of the organization, from the first team down to the youth academy, which has established itself as one of the best in North America over the past several years.
“When I came here they hadn’t even won a playoff game and had only made the playoffs once, I think, so the respect wasn’t there yet for a club like Philadelphia Union,” said the former US international midfielder. “But the work was being put in place. And we’ve just come a long way in terms of the type of players we’re able to bring here and the academy development of the young players.
“ … I think now, since 2018, everybody has bought into what we’re all about and the way we want to pride ourselves on representing the club and the Union and Philly. So, over the course of the last 4-5 years, we’ve shown a level of consistency that perhaps Philly doesn’t really get that recognition, so to speak. A lot of folks maybe don’t think that way. When you look at total points per match over those years, we’re at the top. So that’s a credit to the whole club, the training staff, the players buying in.”
"A model in our league"
That level of consistency has been achieved despite Philadelphia never being ranked among the league’s highest-spending clubs, relying instead on one of the league’s savviest front-office executives in Tanner, and most well-regarded coaches in Curtin to instill an ethos that resembles the City of Brotherly Love.
The Union’s approach even drew admiration from MLS Commissioner Don Garber at his State of the League address Thursday – highlighting those (US internationals Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie) who have moved to Europe after homegrown beginnings.
“Philadelphia is really a model about how you can bring in the people that understand our system, have a strategy, stick with that strategy and use all of the tools that are available to you that are not just about spending money on Designated Players and drive success,” Garber said.
“What they've been able to do with their academy system, I think is a model in our league. Frankly, I think it's a model in professional sports. European teams are scouting the Union Academy and have for many years, and just look at the players that have come on through.”
Now, it all comes to a head Saturday as LAFC fight for their own place in history. It’s a moment years in the making and one they’re intent on not letting slip through their grasp – especially after 2021’s run didn’t go how those in and around Subaru Park hoped, falling (while severely shorthanded) in the Eastern Conference Final to eventual champions New York City FC.
“We’ve got a bitter taste in our mouths from last year, the way it ended,” Bedoya said. “We felt that we were just so close to accomplishing our goals and we came back this season with a vengeance, I would say.
“So now we finally got over that hump of the Eastern Conference Final. And I think it’s two teams that deserve to be here, the best two teams in the regular season this season. We’re all looking forward to the matchup.”
