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Bradley Carnell Wins MLS Manager of the Year, Half of the Union Backline Named to Best XI
Published:
MLS is announcing year-end awards and the Union are well-represented:
Bradley Carnell wins Manager of the Year and 50% of the Union backline is named to the Best XI.
Hard to argue with any of it.
Carnell took a team that finished with 37 points and missed the playoffs and got them to 66 points and the Supporters’ Shield. He did so with a full embrace of German Red Bull principles and the flipping of several key players from the excellent Jim Curtin teams of years past. The Union shifted into a flat 4-4-2 with a double pivot in the defensive midfield and terrorized opponents all year by throwing wave after wave of pressure at them, then converting in transition and on dead balls. Carnell heavily rotated his team and went deep into the depth chart, which kept the squad relatively injury-free and fresh over the course of many long months. He pulled all of the right strings and got the players to really buy in, which was the most impressive part. There was only one game the entire year in which they weren’t competitive, and oftentimes they simply outworked other teams while showing a ton of grit and determination.
Wagner, meantime, is the best left back in Major League Soccer and has been for some time. He finished with 11 assists, most among fullbacks, and started 30 games while playing more minutes than anybody else on the team.
Glesnes looked like the Defender of the Year version of himself from a couple of years ago, showing that 2024 was an aberration. He anchored a central defense that conceded a league-low 35 goals while logging 2,626 minutes at age 31.
As a whole, the Union only allowed 10 errors on the year, which is defined as a mistake leading to an opponent shot. They were tied with LAFC for the lowest number in the league. They put together 976 combined tackles and interceptions, which was first, and they blocked 423 balls (passes, crosses, etc), which was…. also first. They played a suffocating, team-defense style from back-to-front, but Glesnes and Wagner were especially exceptional.
The Union resume postseason play in two more weeks, after the lengthy and ridiculous international break. They get the winner of Friday night’s Charlotte/New York game at Subaru Park.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com