Quotes from the Locker Room after Union’s first loss of Bradley Carnell era: “Once you start doing something really well, there’s other teams that are going to watch and try to stop you”

Union’s 3-1 loss to Nashville SC on Sunday afternoon was the first for this group under Bradley Carnell. Though a few controversial calls impacted how the game played out, the team is focusing on what they need to do better if they want to send the Subaru Park crowd home smiling next weekend against St Louis, Bradley Carnell’s former club.

Union quotes after their 1st loss of the season

“It’s our responsibility, our blame, we didn’t play like we should play and we want to just keep growing. The next game, we want to play better like we played before, this is not the way we want to play and I think we have to fix some things, but it’s football, you can’t play at the same level every game and I hope next game that we will get back to how we played before.” – Jovan Lukić

For the first time this season, even though they’ve been very transparent in their approach and style of play, Philly was outmatched by an opponent who was willing to do what the Union wanted to do but better, and that was different from Andre Blake’s perspective.

“They played the same way we did, I think they scouted us really well, they knew what we were gonna do, they were also very physical. The referee didn’t help, I don’t want to talk too much about the referee because then I’ll get in trouble, but they had a game plan, they were very physical, and tonight we just weren’t able to match their physicality and they got the better of us.” – Andre Blake on the matchup with Nashville SC

All in all, even with Sunday’s loss, I think most fans would be ecstatic if you told them in January that the team would start 3-0-1 and with 9 points in the opening four games of the Bradley Carnell era. But as the new manager has said, starting the season so well sets the standard, and Philadelphia now has to figure out how to meet those standards moving forward with a target on their back, even when some games don’t go to plan.

“Our boys have invested so much over the last couple of weeks, its just unfortunate that we lose at home and disappoint the crowd and disappoint the fans, you can hear a pin drop in the locker room, the players are really upset about the proceedings today and rightly so. We’ve created a high bar, we’ve set a high standard, and not everyday is going to go our way and today was one of those days”. – Bradley Carnell

One of the biggest questions for the Union moving forward is how they find ways to win against teams that don’t allow them to play the way they want to play, just like Nashville did on Sunday. That will be put to the test next weekend against a stingy St. Louis team, which has yet to concede a goal this season, with Union missing a number of important players.

“Once you start doing something really well, there’s other teams that are going to watch and try to stop you, so now we’re going to have to figure out different ways to win games and if teams want to come and try to be physical, we have to be more physical.” – Andre Blake

Going into the next game set to miss 6 first-team players due to international duty, Union will need to carry a “Next Man Up” mentality similar to the one exuded with the kickoff of the 2025 season and need to start Makhanya and Westfield in the backline. To Jakob Glesnes, the opportunity to start and show why you should play every game is the type of competition Union needs within their squad to keep everyone sharp across a long season.

“It’s not just Tai that will be out, or Olwethu that will be out; we will miss a lot of guys for the International team, but it’s then another player getting a chance to show that they should start, and that’s what we’re fighting for every day, everyone wants to play. So now a couple of guys will get the chance to show they should be starters”. – Jakob Glesnes on Union being shorthanded against St Louis next weekend

Union can’t sulk on this loss, but from Jakob Glesnes’s perspective, Philly should feel their anger for a few hours, learn from their first loss, and get ready to go next weekend in a big test against Carnell’s former team, with a short-handed squad.

“Everybody should be angry, nobody should like to lose, so now we’re allowed to be angry today, and then we start with a new day tomorrow and we’ll be ready for the weekend” – Jakob Glesnes on Union’s 3-1 loss to Nashville SC