The Columbus Crew squeaked into the Leagues Cup Semifinal thanks to a penalty shootout win over NYCFC on Saturday. NYCFC took the lead 12 seconds, yes you read that right, 12 seconds into the match. Cucho pulled the Crew level just before halftime before the Black & Gold eventually prevailed in penalty kicks.

Columbus now find themselves in a semifinal against a Philadelphia Union side who they have not faced yet this year. Philly is on a bit of a Cinderella run thanks to an upset over the Crew’s Hell is Real rivals in the Round of 16 before beating fellow upstarts Mazatlan from Liga MX. Both the Crew and Philly will have realistic hopes of eventually winning the final if they prevail in this match. Despite having home field advantage, the Union will be a tough out for the Black & Gold. Historically, the Union are always a difficult side to beat for Columbus. In fact, the Union have never been beaten in Lower.Com Stadium and the Crew haven’t beaten Philly home or away since late 2020. Despite all this, the Crew will enter Wednesday’s semifinal as favorites to advance to their second final of 2024. 

Philadelphia Union at a Glance:

Record: 6-9-10, 27 points

Form: D,W,W,D,W

Leading Scorer: Daniel Gazdag (14)

Assist Leader: Kai Wagner (7)

Player to Watch: Daniel Gazdag

Gazdag is one of the most underrated players in MLS. The 28  year old Hungarian has contributed 66 goals and 22 assists in all competitions since joining the Union from Hungarian side Budapest Honved in 2021. That sort of form has seen him regularly feature for Hungary’s national team and be the subject of interest from teams abroad for a few years now. Gazdag excels as an attacking central midfielder at the top of Philly’s diamond shaped midfield. Gazdag is able to arrive late in the box and finish crosses or loose balls, as well as play balls behind the opponents backline in possession. Gazdag excels in attacking transition as well, which is of particular concern for Columbus as they are susceptible to transition moments. The Crew will need to keep Gazdag quiet in order to advance on Wednesday night.

How Philadelphia Union play: 

It’s year ten in Philadelphia for Union boss Jim Curtain. For my money, Curtain is one of the best coaches in MLS. Curtain has led the Union to becoming one of the most consistent performers in the league during his tenure. He’s also led them to the 2020 Supporters Shield and within seconds of winning MLS Cup in 2022. Curtain has done all of this with a relatively low budget and spend in the transfer market, while also producing and playing high caliber young players such as Brendan and Paxton Aaronsen, Jack McGlynn and Quinn Sullivan. Curtain has been able to implement his style of play year over year, while also making necessary changes to suit his squad. Curtain’s Union side has used a direct style of smash mouth soccer for years now out of a 4-4-2 diamond formation. This formation creates a ton of overloads in the central part of the field and makes the Union tough to play against. 

When the Union have the ball, they don’t hesitate to play direct balls when possible. As the Mazatlan Head Coach put it before their quarterfinal match against Philly “They (Philadelphia) don’t fall in love with the ball.” When the Union have possession, their diamond shape in central midfield shifts to a box shape, similar to Columbus. The Union back four and the bottom two midfielders will circulate the ball side to side in an effort to draw their opponents towards the ball. As soon as the opportunity presents itself, or the player on the ball finds themselves under pressure, the Union will look to play direct passes either into a forward’s feet, or in the wide channels to jumpstart their attack. The Union do a particularly good job of having their central midfielders run in behind in dangerous areas. As these direct passes are being played, the Union will always have one or two players coming towards the ball and one or two players running in behind their opponents. This constant movement makes it really hard for opposing backlines to make the correct decision every time, thus leading to goal scoring opportunities. 

When defending, the Union shift back to their usual 4-4-2 diamond. This shape constantly clogs the central midfield and makes it difficult to progress play in central areas. In the past, the Union would apply pressure high up the field as much as possible to try and create turnovers and make their opponents uncomfortable. This year however, Philly has had a slight drop off in this phase of the game and are a bit happier to allow their opponents to have possession. However, against a team like Columbus who are possession dominant, the Union will likely try to apply high pressure more often in order to try and get possession back and keep Columbus from getting too comfortable. 

How the Crew can win:

1. Stop Digging: The Crew were 2-0 down against Inter Miami and 1-0 down after 14 seconds last match against NYCFC. While it speaks loudly about the quality of this side to come back from those deficits, the Crew need to stop digging themselves early holes to climb out of. Eventually, they won’t be able to continue to climb back into matches. Look for the Crew to have a big emphasis on starting games better and scoring the first goal. 
2. Defend Set Pieces: Philadelphia are second in the league in set piece expected goals. The Crew have been a much improved team defending set pieces this year, but there are still cracks in the armor. Crew fans will remember the last MLS match the team played where they were undone by two set piece goals. Philadelphia will know that a set piece goal or two on Wednesday will put them in a really good spot. 
3. Exploit Wide Areas: Philadelphia’s formation focuses on creating overloads in central areas when they have the ball, and clogging up central areas when they don’t. The Crew will need to look to exploit the wide areas as much as possible on Wednesday, especially in possession. If the Crew can do this, the will either force Philadelphia to come out wide to defend them, opening up space in the middle, or they’ll have 2v1 situations all day out wide. Both are good for Columbus but there needs to be an emphasis on creating these situations out wide.