Philadelphia Union vs Nashville SC: Bradley Carnell Addresses the Press

Philadelphia Union coach Bradley Carnell, for the fourth time this season, held a pre-match press conference for the Union’s home game against Nashville. As in his other press conferences this season, the Union head coach is coming off another statement victory and has quickly moved on from that, as the team looks to extend its winning streak to four games on Sunday afternoon.

While Subaru Park is gradually becoming a fortress that sends waves of anxiety down the spines of opponents, the Union team is largely beginning to look like the latest bullies in the MLS this season, whether home or away.

Union, MLS — Image Credit: Philadelphia Union

Carnell reflects on Union’s last W and prepares for clash with Nashville

A week ago, at Gillette Stadium, the Union bullied the New England Revolution to a 2-0 away win, with goals from Tai Baribo and Jovan Lukic. Despite this, Carnell has come off that victory with mainly lessons for the coming games.

“… just keep on doing the good things and we’ll take the learnings and findings that we did in video and apply them, because some of the issues or some of the pictures we saw with their strike force: Campana, Carles Gil in transitions. They can be really dangerous.’

There is no doubt that Carnell is obsessed with his video analyses. They have become an important tool in assessing their team’s performance and peeping into the opposition’s style. This time, his analysis has brought deep insights into Nashville’s style of play.

“That’s one of the things which moves ahead to Nashville with Mukhtar, Surridge, really dangerous players in and around there, on the transitions. So, really good breakaway players and they’ve been getting better with every game. I’ve been following their team for a while now and their new acquisitions have hit the ground running and they’re a real threat to be reckoned with.”

Again, he highlighted Nashville’s transitional threat as his biggest challenge and singled out Mukhtar as the centerpiece of their system, possessing a unique ability to dribble, shoot and make the final pass. He also acknowledged their lethality in set pieces.

“There’s a growing hunger, growing hunger, growing ambition. This group’s got a level head about them, very business-minded attitude. It’s very positive around the camp and the boys are full of energy and full of fun right now. Now, the challenge for us is to keep on challenging each other every single day, to clean the slate every Monday and rinse and repeat.”

Organization and implementation have this Union side flying high

Management is also involved in the team’s success. To Canrell and the rest of the team, they’ve provided a solid foundation for the team’s successful transformation this season.

“Regardless of the three points, I think that there’s a general consensus around the camp, around the organisation, that we’re moving in the right direction and three games is a small snapshot of what we can do.”

The Philadelphia Union team is currently free of new injuries. Markus Anderson and Ian Glavinovich, who have had spells on the sidelines this season, are well on their way back to recovery, as Bradley plans to manage their workload properly.

Carnell admitted the challenges posed by Nashville SC and called the game a “chess match,” having noticed similar principles and setups between his team and the opposition. Regardless of how tough, the Union showed in their last game that they can always find the back of the net, even on not-so-good days.

Well, it’s only their second home game, and if history is to repeat itself, like the first home game against Cincinnati, we expect nothing less than a three-goal lead on Sunday, seeing that the team has also won both away games by the same margin.