Union winning despite goal-scoring shortage

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Thursday, April 14, 2011
Posted: 12:24 p.m.

By Dave Zeitlin
CSNPhilly.com Contributor

Last years top two leading scorers have yet to put the ball in the net. The team as a whole has netted just three goals.

So far, theyve collected more cards (11) than shots on goal (10).

One game, they failed to score despite playing up a man throughout the second half. Another game, the opposing coach said that his own team dominated the game so thoroughly there was one-way traffic, one team on the pitch.

And yet, here the Philadelphia Union are four games into the 2011 Major League Soccer season, all alone in first place and three points clear of their next closest competitor in the Eastern Conference.

How can this be explained?

Last year we built up so much bad karma, Union defender Danny Califf was saying, that it feels nice that were finally getting paid back a little this year. Ill take it.

Is it karma? Are the soccer gods smiling down on Chester?

Perhaps.

Between balls bouncing off divots and into the net, soft goals, untimely red cards and other gaffes, the Union were doomed by weird occurrences throughout their inaugural 2010 campaignall of which mostly overshadowed good performances from the expansion side. And even when the Union werent shooting themselves in the foot, they were just plain unlucky, failing to get results in plenty of games they played crisp soccer.

This year, its almost the opposite. So far at least, the Union just seem to know how to win ugly, as theyve charged out to a 3-1 record on the strength of three 1-0 wins.

Whats the difference between winning 5-0 and 1-0? Union manager Peter Nowak asked to a room full of reporters following Phillysyou guessed it1-0 victory over the Red Bulls last Saturday, a result that prompted New York manager Hans Backe to bitterly utter the above one-way traffic quote.

It is about the balance of things that you want to achieve and the balance of how you want to play, Nowak continued. You can string 1,500 passes, but if they go nowhere, basically it is unproductive.

The good thing is that the Union players and coaches will be the first to admit they are not yet playing nearly as well as they can. They know the offense needs to get into gear and that last years dynamic duo of Sebastien Le Toux and Danny Mwanga need to get on the board.

Sure, the defense has been organized, compact and infinitely better overall than it was last season when it finished with just two shutouts, one less than this seasons total through four games. But the members of the backline will also tell you theyve been somewhat fortunate. Against the Red Bulls last weekend, for example, New York striker Juan Agudelo hit both the post and the crossbar.

Knock on wood, we are getting some breaks this year, Union fullback Jordan Harvey admitted. I dont want to jinx anything. We need to stay focused. We know we are going to give up some goals during the season. Were going to have some bad games, too. We just have to try to stay consistentthats the main thing in this league. We still have a lot of room for improvement, offensively and defensively, and hopefully well hit our stride.

Because they know they still have a long way to go to get into form, Califf dismissed the notion that the club has any more pressure on it now that it sits atop the Eastern Conference table. The standings may show that they are one of the best teams in the league right now but they dont feel like one of the best teams. And until they do, their only goal will be to get better. Their place in the standings, at least this early in the season, is not a concern.

If there is, I havent felt it personally, Califf said of the pressure that comes with being in first. There might be if we were blowing teams out of the water and playing spectacularly. Then the pressure would be to keep it up and not let our guard down. But I think weve gotten the results that havent been the prettiest and we havent played our best soccer. For us, were still trying to find our feet and find a way to play a better game.

We have enough experience in the locker room that everyone feels like we havent won anything yet and we havent proven anything yet.

And thats the scary part. Right now, the Union are in first place with their only loss coming against a Los Angeles Galaxy team that many think are favored to win the MLS Cup.

Where will the Union be once they start playing really good soccer?

Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com and writes a weekly Union column for CSNPhilly.com. You can e-mail him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.

Related: Union ScheduleMLS Standings

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