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Union Push Unbeaten Run to 11 Games, but Tai Baribo is the Golden Boot Leader and Needs to be on the Field
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There are no highlights worth showing from the Philadelphia Union’s 0-0 draw in Dallas on Saturday evening. They were all over a mediocre FCD side early, forced a red card on the hosts, and then proceeded to fire a bazillion shots that couldn’t find the target. Some Union statistics from the game:
- 61.9% possession
- 23 shots
- one shot on goal
- five shots blocked
- 576 total passes
- 11 corners
- 28 crosses
- 30 open play cross percentage
- 2.00 expected goals
They were swarming these guys and just couldn’t score. Bruno Damiani, who came in for the injured Mikael Uhre, headed one off the post and had a couple of other efforts that just didn’t come off. If he was standing on a Margate jetty, I’m not sure he could have kicked the ball into the ocean during this game. That’s how much he struggled. There’s always an adjustment when new players come to MLS, but Damiani, the Union’s record signing, has 15 shots on target this year and only two goals. That’s over the course of 794 minutes. He has the worst xG to G ratio on the entire team, at 6.6 to 2.
What’s more is that the Union just didn’t look comfortable playing up a man. They didn’t look comfortable with all of the possession, because they’re a team that typically concedes the possession and likes to absorb, then press and go in transition. There’s no transition if the other team is just putting nine guys behind the ball. Early on, they were having some success going wide and just blasting balls into the box, which got them close on a couple of occasions. Then they slowed it down and tried to play a little more narrow, pick out a pass, and find a higher-percentage look on goal. They carved out a couple of looks that way, but it probably would have served them better to keep going to Kai Wagner and Quinn Sullivan to rip crosses into the box, make Dallas defend, earn some corners, and nick the goal that way. Plus, if those crosses are cleared, Dallas comes out of the shell and looks to work in transition, which then opens the game up a little bit more. Essentially you’re then countering a counter against an otherwise-bunkering team. Bradley Carnell said postgame that he was wary of Dallas’ skill and speed in open space, and they wanted to make sure they didn’t allow any of those dicey moments. Fair enough, but that’s a game you really should win.
The other thing that makes you scratch your head a bit is the personnel deployment. Carnell sat five starters for this game. They’ve been through a heavy fixture schedule in May, and played in Toronto last Wednesday. Lionel Messi FC came to town between the Canada and Atlanta road trips. You’ve no doubt got some heavy legs that need managing, but the Union have Major League Soccer’s Golden Boot leader on the roster, and Tai Baribo has only played 252 of the 360 available minutes over the last four games. Same Baribo who scored six times in the four games prior to TFC. Yeah, sure, he’s going off on international duty, but you’re telling me he can’t play more than 27 minutes against Dallas before leaving? Chris Donovan has started three matches this season, played 246 minutes, and has one shot on target. He did fine the other night, and works hard and seemingly practices well, but you’ve got a 13-goal scorer sitting on the bench while ST4 on the depth chart is starting. It’s not like Baribo is 39 years old. You look at New York and Eric Maxim Chuopo-Moting has played 299 more minutes than Baribo despite being nine years older. Sam Surridge? One year younger with 300 minutes more than Baribo.
It’s good to have depth, and to rotate the squad and keep everyone fresh. You can’t run these guys into the ground on June 2nd. But strikers don’t cover the same distance as midfielders and wingers and fullbacks. They don’t get into physical scraps at the same rate as center halves and shouldn’t need as much maintenance as other positions. Unless there’s something we’re missing, Tai Baribo needs to be on the field.
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