With less than a month to go until the start of the 2020 MLS campaign, we are taking a look at how each team has evolved since last year and their chances this term. This time, we look at the Philadelphia Union.
The 2019 campaign saw the Philadelphia Union finish with their highest-ever points tally at the end of the regular season. They amassed 55 points from their 34 games, coming home in third place in the Eastern Conference.
The Union qualified for the postseason for the fourth time in their history but went into their clash with the New York Red Bulls still awaiting their first-ever playoff win in their decade-long history. In 2019, they finally broke the duck, fighting back from two goals down to win against the Red Bulls in extra time. The Union then fell to Atlanta United in the Conference Semi-Finals.
They had their best-ever run in the league, but that was balanced out by a poor run in the U.S. Open Cup as they lost out to D.C. United in the fourth round, which is the first stage that MLS teams entered play.
Here is where the Philadelphia Union stand ahead of the 2020 season.
Best Performers
Despite making the postseason, just two players in the Philadelphia Union squad averaged a WhoScored rating of over 7/10 across the regular season. Unsurprisingly, top scorer Kacper Przybylko, who bagged 15 times over the course of the campaign, as well as assisting four others, was one of the pair. The Polish centre-forward certainly laid down his claim to be the top dog in Philadelphia.
The other member of the squad to rank higher than a 7/10 was Dutch midfielder Jamiro Monteiro. He came in on loan from FC Metz for the 2019 campaign and scored four times in 26 games, as well as coming up with nine assists, bringing his rating to a solid 7.29.
Haris Medunjanin and Ilsinho both averaged higher than 6.9 in the Union midfield, despite the latter only starting seven games during the regular season. His substitute appearances, however, were something of MLS lore.