One of the marks of a strong team is the ability to make changes and get results, for the 2019 Philadelphia Union the club's depth has been on display quite often. Coming off a 2-0 defeat on the road to Chicago Fire, head coach Jim Curtin made a trio of changes by inserting Brenden Aaronson, Ilsinho and Mark McKenzie into the match. The result was once again a return to victory over D.C United. The change was noted this week in Philadelphia Inquirer's weekly Union observations.
"It was refreshing to see Curtin make three big changes to the starting lineup for Saturday's game against D.C. United, and it was refreshing to hear him say after the 3-1 win that his team "needed an injection of life. We have a deep roster, and we used it."
The article which you can read here also touched on the Union's loss of captain Alejandro Bedoya for Saturday's matchup against Atlanta. The midfielder picked up his fifth yellow card of the season which comes with an automatic one-game suspension meaning the Union will take to the pitch for the first time in 2019 without Bedoya in the middle of the pitch.
"Bedoya let everyone in the locker room after the game know he felt the call was soft," writer Jonathan Tannenwald wrote. "The assumption here is that Warren Creavalle will replace Bedoya against a stacked Atlanta midfielder that including Gonzalo Martinez, Julian Gressel, Ezequiel Barco and Darlington Nagbe."
The Union could call upon Creavalle but also could insert Marco Fabián at his natural No. 10 role and drop workhorse Jamiro Monteiro alongside Haris Medunjanin.
