Big win on the road
You know, I thought that the group showed a lot of character again
Four out of six on the road in some pretty tough places to play, and we've set ourselves up in a good spot in the table
You know, obviously started the game in a back three, just trying to neutralize a team in Nashville that, you know
was maybe struggling to create chances this season. Overall, didn't give up a lot
The two things that we talked about were Schaffelberg on the dribble and his crosses and cutting them out
and taking the last step. And then Serge's movement in the box. And we let ourselves down on that play
But I thought overall, second half came out with a little more life
Made an adjustment or two. And the guys deserve all the credit for pushing and getting the two goals
and winning a big game against a strong Nashville team on the road. Thanks, Jim
Matt DeGeorge? Hey, Jim. Obviously, the goal aside, how well do you think that formation did that you started
with in terms of accomplishing your goals for today? And how important do you think it
was getting that extra body into midfield when you put Alejandro on Yeah look I think when you look at the first half it was kind of a nothing half right Matt You know there wasn a ton for us We certainly
didn't create a lot. And if you get in at halftime with a zero, you say, you know, I think the
formation and the plan worked well. When you make a mistake and you concede the way we did
then you start to have a little bit of doubt. So not a ton of creation in that formation in the first half
but at the same time, didn't give up a lot. So I think there were some positives and some negatives
It's still something I think we can go to against a certain opponent. The thinking was, you know, they played the same formation as us
and we wanted to mirror them, make it hard against a team that is at home
and needs to push the game. hope was they would leave a little more space in behind
They played with three really solid defensive-minded midfielders as well and clogged the middle, so it was difficult for us to break them down
So you got kind of a stalemate in the first half there
And I thought second half, you know, we went back to the diamond
Guys, look, you guys know, in that formation, we're certainly – the roles are clear for our guys because we been really good at it for the last you know six years We know the spacing a little bit better So I would say you know both formations showed some good things
Certainly the diamond is still our number one, and it proved well tonight
And the guys really stuck with things, and I thought deserved the win. You know, it's not easy to go on the road and create as many chances as we did
in the second half there and come away with a big three points
and I know Jose doesn't do it alone but the job that he does on Hany to kind of keep him fairly
quiet how well do you think you guys neutralize that threat today yeah Mukhtar is an MVP type
player and again part of the reasons we played with three center backs is he doesn't play as a
true striker you know Serge would be up there and Mukhtar comes off the back line and our message was
one of the three center backs go with him all the time he's the best player on the field you know
he's the guy who can win the game by himself so that was the thinking of playing with our three
three great center backs that we have. Always be releasing to him, so we're always two
still two center backs back there against their attacker. We did a good job shielding him too
Like you said, Jose won a lot of duels with Mukhtar and always knew where he was, cut out passing lanes
Damian had some good one individual battles Glessis had a good game as well and Jack in the first half made some plays So team effort to get around a guy that an MVP player You never stop him completely for 90 minutes but I thought we did a good job limiting where he touched the ball on the field
Joe Tansy? Hey, Jim, how are you? Hi. A lot of professional teams like to use the word culture
and sometimes it means nothing unless something gets shown on the field
These results now coming from behind multiple times to start a season
a lot of long road trips. How much does it speak to your particular culture within the club
that it seems like none of these guys are giving up and you're finding ways to not just draw but win some of these games as well
Yeah, I give the players all the credit there. They have a ton of heart
They're never out of a game. They'll play to the final whistle. And again, you know, it's been instilled in them, you know, from minute one to minute
90, anything can happen. And we stick with things. Do we play perfect, beautiful soccer all the time
No, but at the same time, I think we, you know, we do everything for the badge, for
our fans, for the Philadelphia Union badge, for the city