Union

It’s Always Soccer in Philadelphia: “We All Hate Red Bull”

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Nov 12th, 2021 · 11:00 AM EST

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The Sons of Bens would say that “we all hate Red Bull,” and that’s mostly true. It’s a New York team, so they are intrinsically disliked.

That’s who comes to town next Saturday for the opening round of the MLS Cup playoffs. It’s the #2 seed, your Philadelphia Union, against the #7 Red Bulls, and this season the Union played New York three times, ripping off a home win and two road draws.

The games were pretty damn ugly, if we’re being honest. You’ve got a high-pressing New York team that likes to junk up the game. And a defensively-sound Union team that doesn’t carve out a lot of meaningful attacking chances. It’s no surprise that we only got five goals in three games, and I reviewed them in this Twitter thread, to jog your memory:

Philadelphia Union pre-playoffs breakdown:

Three goals scored against Red Bull this year. First was from playing direct, two aerial duels won, and Cory Burke showing why you always continue a run after winning a 50/50 ball – pic.twitter.com/NQ2osUvmaz

— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) November 10, 2021

We also broke it down in an audio format, on the latest IASIP, with Mark Fishkin of the Seeing Red podcast.

It’s Episode #138 – “A Grudging Respect?”