The Philadelphia Union welcomed the end of winter break with news of a new head coach and an afternoon press conference on Thursday. As expected Bradley Carnell is the new gaffer in town and in his introduction made it very clear why his hiring was all too inevitable.

In the email today:

1. 🇿🇦 Carnell a ‘perfect fit’ for TannerBall

If Jim Curtin’s biggest downfall was that he didn’t lean enough into the style of play Sporting Director Ernst Tanner wanted to play, his successor shouldn’t have that problem.

Bradley Carnell made that crystal clear in his introduction at a press conference at Subaru Park on Thursday, hours after being announced as Philadelphia Union’s fourth head coach. While Curtin was at times hesitant to fully adopt the Red Bull philosophy and less confident in its efficacy in the team’s dismal 2024 season, the 47-year-old South African comes in as someone who has quite literally ridden the highs and lows of it before arriving to the shores of the Delaware River fresh from Jesse Marsch’s staff with the Canadian National Team.

The former New York Red Bulls assistant and interim head coach in New Jersey shocked the league leading St. Louis City SC to a regular season Western Conference title out of the gate but that gained him very little goodwill in a season eerily similar to the Union with his exit coming in early July. The turn was ever so sharp for a team and a manager that seemed to do everything right in the inaugural season but it didn’t deter Tanner, who has known Carnell since his days playing in Germany.

“I liked his attributes as a player and I hope I can even like his attributes as a coach more,” Tanner said. “We share the same conviction about the game.”

Carnell, who like Curtin is known as a strong and forthright communicator, summarized the philosophy ever so succinctly when he referenced the 60-30-10 approach: 60 percent of goals from transition moments, 30 percent from set pieces and 10 percent from possession.

“I’m not a 75 percent possession guy,” Carnell said. “I believe in being front foot, proactive, in your face, aggressive and very counter attacking.”

2. 🎙️ Reaction from a St. Louis City SC Podcaster

Bradley Carnell’s meteoric rise and rapid fall was one of the storylines of last season in MLS. The South African went from pulling off the improbable and winning the regular season Western Conference title to not even making it past Fourth of July as the team’s manager in season two.

I caught up with Phill Grooms at the wonderful Flyover Footy Podcast yesterday to get his reaction on the Carnell hire in Philadelphia.

As Grooms put it, the cracks in St. Louis’ very impressive rookie season started to show in the early playoff exit in 2023.

"I think right at the end (of 2023) that we saw SKC, especially in the playoffs, just bunker in and say, I dare you to try to score; you can press all you want we're just going to lump it and just wait for you to try to score on us,” Grooms said. "There was no plan B, and that was what we figured out after season one. Going into season two, there was supposed to be this developmental evolution of a plan B. Injuries made it worse but our team, just on top of that, got exposed for the quality of the roster."

Grooms noted among a mostly positive assessment that Carnell has his own history of Andres Perea-ing players.

“He has really high expectations, and then if you don't match those expectations, then it seems like maybe you're not going to play, and you're not going to be part of that team going forward,” Grooms said. “So that's something to watch.”

You can listen to my conversation with Phill on YouTube.

3. 🐍 Tweet of the Day: Philadelphia Red Bulls

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Favorite Storyline

Send us your thoughts on the Bradley Carnell hire via email at [email protected].

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Union II captain Frankie Westfield’s contract has reportedly transitioned to a first team homegrown deal as of January 1.

• Former Philadelphia Union II teammates Stefan Stojanovic and Boubacar Diallo are both returning to FC Tulsa in 2025. Marple Newtown HS alum and varsity assistant Dan Quimby is heading to FC Tulsa as a performance coach.

• Soccer Parenting is looking for parents to complete their annual survey.

• Long-time MLS referee Ted Unkel is hanging up the whistle.

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