My Kingdom for a Finish- Union vs. Portland

• by Conor O'Grady
• September 13th, 2011
• News, Opinion
• 1 Comment

Photo:Philadelphiaunion.com

What can be said about Saturday’s result?  The Union was the better team on the whole, but the singular frustration of non-finishes continues to be a thorn the size of a small Buick in our collective side.  How can a team be capable of 4 goals with their backs against the wall, but incapable of even one against a team that isn’t that much more dangerous?

Psychology is how.  The Sebastien Le Toux we came to worship last year doesn’t chest down a fantastic ball from Torres only to push it wide, like he did in the first half.  However, this year’s snakebit, less-than-perfectly-confident, sometimes hesitant Sebastien Le Toux does.  Of course, Seba is just the most glaring example- the same monkey is on everyone’s back.

The missed opportunity of the night award clearly goes to Nakazawa, who bounced the game winner off the crossbar to the collective pants-shitting of the entire park.  Nak isn’t exactly known as a goal scorer, but in that situation he bore the same look that Le Toux, Mwanga, or Paunovic have displayed so frustratingly often: the look of someone who came this close.  In fact, if it wasn’t for the terminal case of SHOOTGODDAMMIT! that plagues this offense, Nakazawa would probably have about 1700 assists to his credit over the last two seasons on his set-piece work alone.

The challenge, then, is how to unleash the beast inside of each potential goal-scorer.  Danny Mwanga, having earned the dubious distinction of Most Inexplicably Benched player in Union History, needs minutes, as many as are necessary to restore his groove from last year.  Jack Mac?  He just needs experience.  Adu, though more of a chance-creator than a go-to trigger man, needs that other 20% of his fitness that he’s been assuring us is on the way.  And Seba, sweet Seba…he needs to be played as a forward.  All the time.  Put him in a position to fire away, again and again, until he rediscovers the form that made Seattle wish he still worked for Microsoft.

The problem that all of these solutions share, though, is one of time- something we don’t have too much of before the pre-playoff thinning of the MLS herd.  By the time the boys in blue hit their stride, it may already be too late.  2011 might turn out to be the accidental building year, half-wasted on an ill-advised Guatemalan experiment and salvaged just in time to miss the boat to the postseason.

If that is the case, and a cup run isn’t on the horizon, I say we take it easy come transfer window time- because we have the ingredients already.  They just need time to mix.

In Happier News…

The massive Miles for MJ tailgate was a sweeping success.  The Corner Creeps showed us all how to love, and how to BearFight.  A whole assload of people donated, via their ticket, straight cash, or raffle items, to the cause of neurofibromatosis research.  Kildare’s made one hell of a burger (no offense SoB’s), and although certain ginger DJ’s might hate it, that tent on the hill proved just as useful for live music as it is for water balloon snipers.  To top it all off, I touched Sheannon Williams, Peter Nowak, and two Farfans (though it might’ve been the same one twice).  Either way, it was one of those days where the scene off the pitch made it all worth it.