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Happy Friday! It’s playoff weekend in Chester with the first team battling for the playoff lives in a must-win against FC Cincinnati on Saturday and a first round MLS Next Pro playoff game on Sunday for the second team. Let’s goooooooo!

In the email today:

1. 🚧 Help Needed

For the first time in quite some time, the Philadelphia Union enter Decision Day with their playoff hopes on the line.

Anything but a win over FC Cincinnati will spell the end of the 2024 campaign but even a win might not be enough for the boys and blue to clinch a seventh straight postseason appearance.

The last time the Union had anything real riding on Decision Day was in 2020 when they won the Supporters’ Shield but even that decision was made before the full-time whistle. Once Toronto’s game went full-time the Union won the shield regardless of the outcome.

The Union were eliminated with a loss to Sporting Kansas City on Decision Day in 2013 and qualified for playoffs despite a loss to the Red Bulls on Decision Day in 2016.

This Saturday, the Union will need both Montreal and DC United to lose in addition to them beating FC Cincinnati. There are some additional scenarios too, of course, because what would MLS be if it wasn’t a league with complexity?

In almost any other league where goal differential is first tiebreaker the Union would have at least one more trophy (2022 Supporters’ Shield), would’ve hosted MLS Cup in 2022 and would be facing a win and in scenario. But MLS isn’t the rest of the world and this is what the road map to playoffs looks like:

Philadelphia will clinch a berth in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs if:

1. Philadelphia win vs. Cincinnati AND Montréal lose vs. New York City AND D.C. lose vs. Charlotte or…

2. Philadelphia win vs. Cincinnati AND Montréal lose vs. New York City AND Atlanta lose/draw at Orlando or…

3. Philadelphia win vs. Cincinnati AND Montréal lose vs. New York City AND Philadelphia own tiebreaker advantage over Atlanta or…

4. Philadelphia win vs. Cincinnati AND D.C. lose vs. Charlotte AND Atlanta lose/draw at Orlando or…

5. Philadelphia win vs. Cincinnati AND D.C. lose vs. Charlotte AND Philadelphia own tiebreaker advantage over Atlanta

If the Union find a way to pull it off, they would get a single-elimination play-in game. Why MLS needs to allow 9 teams in each conference a chance at postseason is a topic for another time, but the reality here is that even a 9th place finish could see the Union make a run. It wouldn’t be the first time the Union wore the underdog tag well.

Like Jim Curtin has been saying all season long, it’s not about how you start, but how you finish.

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2. 🐍 CJ Olney and Frankie Westfield Named to Next Pro Best XI

Frankie Westfield was supposed to be starting college this fall at Penn State but instead he put together the kind of season worthy of a Best XI nod from MLS Next Pro. The Philadelphia Union II defender from Philadelphia was joined on the Best XI by CJ Olney.

Westfield was still away with the United States U20s when the news was shared at training on Wednesday so he had to wait a day to get his customized Best XI jersey. The vice captain’s rise through the academy is one of the unlikely stories of the years. While his talent was not a surprise, his development trajectory has exceeded expectations, particularly in a season where he has played mostly as a left back instead of his usual right back spot.

“Frankie's progression over the last two and a half, three years has been astonishing, really,” Union II head coach Marlon LeBlanc said in a press conference last month. “We took a young man and moved him out of his natural position in order to develop a first team player, to learn a new position. All he's done is taken that on head first and become a really viable left back option as well.”

Olney took a big step forward in his development leading the attack with 8 goals and 6 assists across 1,867 minutes.

3. 📰 Tweet of the Day: A Strange Year

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Do They Deserve It?

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Todd Lewis of The Free Kick breaks down the goals in the Columbus Crew game.

• Jose Nunez reviews the international break for the Union’s national team players. The good news: no one got hurt this time.

• Tai Baribo is one goal away from giving the Union three players in double digit goals for a season for the second time in team history.

• Delran, N.J. native Jeremy Rafanello has signed a new contract with the Union.

• Frankie and CJ weren’t the only Next Pro award winners with local ties. Glenolden native Joshua Encarnacion was named Next Pro Referee of the Year.

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