With an 11-match unbeaten streak, the Philadelphia Union is at the top of the East and in the front of the Supporters' Shield race with 34 total points through Matchday 17.
Nine of those 11 matches took place in May, and this week Head Coach Bradley Carnell sat down with Digital Club Reporter Sage Hurley to recap the historic month.
Have you had a chance to sit down and reflect on the month you just experienced?
No, and I'm not sure we're ever going to! After each match is before the next match, you know. We've always been resetting, refocusing on the very next match at hand.
Ater the last trip in Dallas, everyone went their different ways and on different journeys. With Nate [Harriel] getting his late call up for the US, which is fantastic for the whole group, we had a big celebration after in the locker room because we got the email just then and there. That was pretty fun to to be part of and distribute that information.
Now, there are so many guys gone, so it's just a bit of maintenance. We're kind of doing an emotional and physical reset, but we've got a friendly game now on the weekend against Atlas, so we can't just ease around too much.We still have to have some focus and some dedication to what we're doing, but we're just trying to let the guys just enjoy the moment.
The guys have been incredible that last month. We've been challenged, we've been up, we've been down, and we found a way to manage all these things and and bounce back every two, three days. So, I'm very proud of them.
Now, after this streak, the Philadelphia Union is at the top of the East and you're in the front of the Supporters shield race. How satisfying is it to enter the international break this way.
You can look with two different eyes. With one, you could be really happy, but it's only Match Day 17. It's not 34, right? When there's a break, you lose momentum, and I think we were on a really good run of momentum.
It's unfortunate at the end of the Dallas game that we picked up injuries to Mikael Uhre and Tai Baribo, so we're going to have to monitor and assess those guys. I thought for the large part of the month we came out unscathed, and we're just happy to have this reset now.
I pulled some numbers from the month of May for you -- 0 losses over nine matches, nine unique Starting XIs, 22 different starters, 18 goals scored, 11 unique goal scorers. Do any of those stats stand out to you the most?
Sounds like a proactive soccer team who presses, runs a lot, and invests a lot of energy -- I think it's a signature of mine.
Every club I coach, we've always tried to say the next man's up. Everyone's got a shot. Everyone's got a chance. We train the way we like to play games and everyone's ready. To be ready, you have to be called upon. When you're called upon, you have to do the job. I think everyone's done that.
I think this might be new here, but I've experienced this before in the teams I've been part of and it's pretty cool just to see the development and the process...the trust and the belief that I'm going to get my minutes, I'm going to get my game time.
That's the most rewarding, because it's tough for guys to sit on the bench all day long or all month long and not get a sniff when the team's doing well, and then they feel disjointed from the rest of the group.
Our staff's been amazing. We've got everybody on board. Everyone's been collective, investing in the guys who even played the least minutes. So, I'm proud of the staff and the way we've managed this and just kept the belief and the hunger, because that's the only way to achieve success and greatness -- it's when you stick together.
It took the entire team to get to this level of success and consistency over the month. Can you take behind the scenes regarding how you rotated your squad, the decisions made throughout the month, and what it took to find the best combination in each match?
Some of it is opposition related. Some of it is physical load and output. Some of that's Ryan Cotter and myself. We catch up every day after training, and then we discuss with the technical team about who's better filled in those positions and for how long we think they should go for.
We also have a collective on the outside with the team, but there's also a team within the team on the same page and synchronized and very aligned with what we're trying to do. So, the load management is a big piece of it. Then, we just try and put relationships together and see how that goes.
Getting Ben Bender minutes as well in the last couple of games was great to see, because we knew we're missing a few guys, so to get him a few minutes and going on...thought he did really well in Dallas.
It's not a fantasy. This is real. This is happening. It's not a fairy tale, right? It takes a lot to get there. But again, it's Match Day 17. It's not 34 and I won't rest until it's 34.
When the team starts to come back together and people start trickling back in from international duty, wat can you do as a staff to help keep that momentum going within the group?
I think it's two part -- I think about the guys here who are not part of a national team set up...how do you get them energized?
I think going to represent your country, it's a pretty cool thing. You don't need to motivate for that. I think they come back with all new experiences. As a player, I love traveling, even as a coach now, I love going to different place, seeing different cultures, tasting different coffee. Imagine, the guys who aren't here, they see the same building, the same staff, everything's always the same monotony. So I'll just to try and mix up the routine -- this week, I'm not even talking about our philosophy, not even talking about Atlas, not even talking about identity. Right now, we're just trying to maintain the week and have a lot of fun together as a group. We will come up with nice ways, and I've got something up my sleeve!
17 down 17 regular season MLS games to go. What are your hopes for the second half of the season?
Your hopes are always that you can replicate what you did in the first 17. We knew the schedule is a little off balance. The first 17 were home favored, the next 17 or more favoring the away sort of travel segments. So, we've got a few more trips to go to, but the way we've traveled the last couple of weeks and with five road wins, we can be very comfortable of going on our travels.
Trying to just set new targets, keep the guys inspired, get them motivated, and looking forward to something. I'd love to reset the league table and start everybody at zero again.
