The Union can't catch a break as Mikael Uhre is out multiple weeks with adductor strain
Mikael Uhre is set to be out for 2-3 weeks with an adductor strain and Jim Curtin won't comment on who his starting goalkeeper will be against Montréal.
Chester, PA— The Union look to end their six game winless run with a win against CF Montréal, something they haven’t done in Canada since 2022 at Stade Olympique. This is a team who has been good on the road this year, with a record of 3-1-5, and they’ve found the equalizing goal eight times this season, which is the most in MLS. But, if the Union are to get a win against Montréal, they’ll have to do it without multiple key players due to Copa América and injuries.
Mikael Uhre out 2-3 weeks with an Adductor strain
Joe Tansey of Union Soccer Blog mentioned on Friday that Mikael Uhre is set to be out for 2-3 weeks with an adductor strain, which makes a thin strikers group even more thinner now.
With Julián Carranza no longer at the club (still waiting on both Philadelphia Union and Feyenoord to announce the deal), and now Mikael Uhre out, that leaves the Union with only three natural strikers for the next couple weeks.
Tai Baribo has started back-back games for the first time in his Union career since being bought by the club last August from Austrian side Wolfsberger AC. Tai has appeared 12 times for the Union, scoring two goals, and playing 355 minutes. Once looked at the fourth guy on the depth chart, he’ll now be looked at to be that main guy with the departure of Carranza and now the injury to Uhre.
Chris Donovan has appeared for the Union 52 times, scoring four goals, assisting one, and playing 1118 minutes since 2022. Donovan has appeared in 16 games already this season for the Union, but only totaling 211, which comes out to be the equivalent of two and a half starts. Donovan has one start to his name this season, which was against Sporting KC all the way back on March 2nd in the Union’s 1-1 draw. Donovan played 57 minutes, registering one shot, creating two chances, winning one tackle and winning two out of his three ground duals.
Markus Anderson is the last natural striker on the roster, but he won’t feature against CF Montréal as he’s out with a hip injury. Anderson has appeared in eight games for the Union this season since getting brought in from Spanish Third Division side CF Rayo Majadahonda this past January. In those eight games, Anderson has played a total of 180 minutes, with his last appearance coming off the bench against FC Cincinnati on June 19th.
There was already questions of this strikers group once Carranza departed, but now you’ll be missing Uhre for the next couple weeks, who has seven goals and two assists in 1466 minutes this season, and now the question becomes do you switch formations from your typical 442 diamond, to a single striker formation?
Dániel Gazdag’s role
Dániel Gazdag is back from Euros 2024 after Hungary didn’t progress out of Group A. Hungary finished third in the Group that included Germany finishing first with seven points, Switzerland finishing second with five points, Hungary finishing third with three points, followed by Scotland in fourth with one point. Gazdag appeared in one match for Hungary during the competition, where he played three minutes against Germany in Hungary’s 2-0 loss. Jim Curtin during his midweek press conference on Thursday mentioned that Gazdag was due back at 6:45 on Thursday, but Joe Tansey of also mentioned on Friday that Gazdag had some flight delays and didn’t arrive until 11 pm on Thursday night.
With jet lag, all the travel, the emotions of almost advancing to the Round of 16 in the Euros, to not playing a ton of minutes, all of those factors would play a decision of Dániel Gazdag’s role against Montréal.
“I'm not going to have Dani Gazdag fly back to then have him watch a soccer game in Montréal, that's for sure,” said Jim Curtin on Thursday. So starter, reserve, we’ll still determine that.”
But, with Gazdag flying in late from Germany, Joe Tansey mentioned on Friday that Gazdag would start on the bench against CF Montréal.
One thing I found interesting from Jim Curtin’s press conference on Thursday when talking about Gazdag, Jim mentioned that he got the sense that Gazdag didn’t want to leave the Union for the Euros because of the form the Union have been in.
“He shook my hand when he left for the Euros and I wished him luck and you could feel he was upset to leave us in the moment that we were in because he didn't want to,” Curtin said.
There’s no denying that the Union were, and still are in a horrible spot since Gazdag left after the Inter Miami game on June 15th. The Union are still on 20 points after that 2-1 loss to Inter Miami in the 94th minute. But mentioning Gazdag “didn’t want to” leave the Union for the Euros isn’t going to go over well for the Hungarian Federation or their fans. Maybe Gazdag had a feeling that he wasn’t going to play much at the Euros? But even still, to be selected as one of the 23 players to represent your country at the Euros is a huge honor, especially when you consider that Gazdag had to withdraw from the squad in 2021 due to a knee injury.
Who starts in goal, Andrew Rick or Oliver Semmle
The Union had always envisioned that Oliver Semmle would start once Andre Blake was away with Jamaica, whether that would be for World Cup qualifies, Copa América, or Concacaf Nations League, the Union knew that Blake would be missing multiple games this season. The plan for the Union this season was always to get Semmle 12 games max this season, but plans quickly changed once Blake started dealing with multiple injuries. Semmle has played 17 games this season for the Union, conceding 28 goals, and only keeping four clean sheets.
“Oliver again is still a very strong, young goalkeeper who's just gone a level up,” said Curtin. “So he was a winner in college, he stepped up to USL, became one of the best players there. We had hoped to get him 10 to 12 games maximum here at the first team level and have that growth and process be one that is step-by-step. Instead, unfairly to Oliver, we threw him into the deep end in a group, again, that isn't at its strongest and isn't at the most stable.”
And with a team that isn’t the most stable right now, conceding 10 goals in their last four games, including four against FC Cincinnati, where Semmle was indecisive on the first goal, not knowing should he come for the ball or not on the Luciano Acosta cross into Kelsey, and getting chipped by Luca Orellano, who was more than 50-yards away from goal, the Union decided to start 18-yard-old Andrew Rick against Charlotte FC.
Andrew Rick made five saves on his debut in the 2-0 loss, and played well enough to keep the Union in that match, but unfortunately the Union weren’t able to generate any real chances against a tough Charlotte team. Regardless, it’s not as clear cut as it was a few weeks ago where you came to expect Semmle to be the starting goalkeeper, and with the team in desperate need of three points, they’ll go with the goalkeeper that they believe gives them the best chance at that.
“It'll be one where one guy's gonna be happy, one guy's gonna be upset, but they both need to be ready for whatever they're called upon to do,” said Curtin. “And, you know, that's kind of where we're at on that. It won't be a game day decision, we certainly wanna have them, the back line really train with the starter. So we have some ideas, again two good young goalkeepers, but we have a decision to make.”
Series History (MLS Play ONLY)
CF Montréal currently lead the series 10-9-10, with a 8-3-2 record in Montréal. The last time that the Union got a win at Stade Saputo specifically was on May 12, 2018, in a game that saw the Union win 2-0 thanks to goals from Cory Burke, and Haris Medunjanin. The Union and Montréal last played 28 days ago, where they tied 2-2. Montréal scored within 50 seconds in that game thanks to a goal by Sunusi Ibrahim, after poor defending by José Mártinez, but the Union were given a lifeline in the 45th minute after Ariel Lassiter received a red card for elbowing Mártinez in the face. The second half would see the Union score two goals within two minutes with a Dániel Gazdag penalty and a Mikael Uhre goal, followed by a Jack Elliott red card after a tackle on Raheem Edwards. Montréal captain Samuel Piette would then score right after the red card to tie the game at two.
There are five current Union players with goals against Montréal: Mikeal Uhre (4), Alejandro Bedoya (3), Dániel Gazdag (2), Quinn Sullivan and Kai Wagner (1). For Montréal, they have six current players with goals against the Union: Josef Martínez (6), Lassi Lappalainen (3), Sunusi Ibrahim (2), Ruan, Mahala Opoku, and Samuel Piette (1).
Player availability Report:
Philadelphia Union
Markus Anderson - Hip (Out)
Alejandro Bedoya - Quad (Out)
Andre Blake - Knee (Out)
Damion Lowe - International Duty (Out)
Jóse Mártinez- International Duty (Out)
Isaiah LeFlore - Knee (Out)
Mikael Uhre - Adductor (Out)
CF Montréal
Mathieu Choinière - International Duty (Out)
Ariel Lassiter - International Duty (Out)
Samuel Piette - International Duty (Out)
Joel Waterman - International Duty (Out)
Fernando Alvarez - Illness (Questionable)
Mason Toye - Lower Body (Questionable)
Where to watch
MLS Season Pass on Apple TV with kickoff set for 7:30 pm, June 29th
Video credit: Philadelphia Union