Good morning, it’s Game Day Eve and with the way the Philadelphia Union have been playing the sooner they get this home losing streak over with the better. The 2024 campaign has pretty much had it all so far and Saturday’s loss against throwback-jersey wearing Orlando City was bonkers. But now the focus shifts to NYCFC and the return of Matt Freese and Andres Perea for some midweek soccer in Chester.

In the email today:

1. 🩼 Are the Union Broken?

In a league where the only constant is that Toronto will probably underperform their massive payroll, the Philadelphia Union have been amazingly consistent, running out a team that can score goals and before this season was tough to score against.

The tough to score against part has changed dramatically this year and that’s the big reason why you have to scan clear down to the bottom of the playoff line to find the Union in the standings 11 games into the season.

Though it’s not fair to compare any team to the 2022 Union and their unbelievably stingy D the 2024 Union are only 7 goals away from equaling the same number of goals conceded in 34 games that year.

The flip side to that is that only three teams have more goals than the 21 the Union attack has scored.

So the problem is pretty clear. The xG aside, the path back up the easily passable mountain that is the Eastern Conference standings is by getting back to the defensive form they are designed for - the Jim Curtin 1-0 win formula.

With still 23 games to play there’s a ton of season left but snapping the home losing streak and locking down the defensive side of the ball will be the focus moving into a summer with plenty of question marks of its own.

No, the Union aren’t broken but it doesn’t mean they don’t have some real fixes to make.

2. 🐍 Union U-16 Team Qualifies for MLS Next Playoffs

The Philadelphia Union U-16 team needed a strong performance in Maryland to qualify for the MLS Next Cup Playoffs and they got just that. Returning from a month-long European adventure, the team beat Tampa Bay United 4-0 on Friday, topped FC Bay Area Surf 2-0 on Saturday and beat FC Westchester 2-0 on Monday afternoon to book their passage to the culminating MLS Next event in Tennessee this summer.

Congratulations to head coach Guillermo Hamdan Zaragoza and his boys.

3. 💭 Tweet of the Day: Imagine

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Mood Check

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Todd Lewis of The Free Kick breaks down the goals in Saturday’s game.

• Joe Lister spoke with our friends at Hudson River Blue ahead of Wednesday’s match.

• West Chester United opened their USL League Two campaign with a big 5-0 win over Philadelphia Lone Star.

• Sporting Athletic Club hosted a Girls Academy Mid-Atlantic Talent ID on Friday featuring a number of local players and others from the region.

• Free pickups are happening on weeknights at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex by Subaru Park in Chester. Join the Meetup group for updates.

• If you are interested in local lower level soccer and fan culture there’s a newsletter launching soon called For the Love. Subscribe at forthelove.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

Celebrate Philadelphia Soccer heritage with shirts available at OldSchoolShirts.com.

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