November 21, 2025
Simon Fearn/Imagn Images
Bradley Carnell's Union club will now have to proceed through the MLS Cup Playoffs in the midst of recent controversy.
After 22 long and uneventful days – uneventful for some, but packed with drama and looming questions for the club – the Philadelphia Union will finally resume their magical season as they host NYCFC at Subaru Park on Sunday night in the conference semifinal of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The Union look to build on a historic campaign in which they secured the Supporters’ Shield, awarded to the team with the league’s best regular season record, while adding another chapter to this rivalry between the I-95 foes.
December 5, 2021 remains a date that Union fans shudder to recall, NYCFC supporters relish, and MLS fans remember well. A COVID-ridden Philadelphia side was forced to face New York without 11 players, including numerous first-team starters, and NYCFC not only won at Subaru Park but went on to lift the MLS Cup. The Union earned their revenge in 2022, but some parallels, although not nearly as dramatic as 2021, linger now.
This season the situation is reversed. NYCFC enters the Eastern Conference semifinal at Subaru Park dealing with significant injuries in Pascal Jansen’s first year as manager. Former Union player Andres Perea suffered a horrific leg fracture in the final match of the best-of-three series against Charlotte. Aiden O'Neill is sidelined due to yellow card accumulation. Alonso Martínez, New York’s attacking focal point, tore his ACL during Costa Rica’s World Cup qualifying window, adding insult to injury for a national team that failed to reach the World Cup for the first time since 2014.
The fortune has shifted this time and, for once, it may be benefiting the Philadelphia Union.
Bradley Carnell, Philadelphia’s manager, is not even thinking about this, focusing on the “unit” over individuals at this stage of the season:
“It is a good unit, it is a good team. They have a lot of quality, defensively, through the midfield. They have to package it, maybe, in a different way, I don't know, that is for their coach to decide,” said Carnell ahead of the match. “We respect them and these are good games, tight games. You want to match yourself against really quality teams, and that is what they are.”
The Union enter the matchup with more rest than they probably wanted, the result of what is, in my honest opinion, a terrible playoff layoff after the tight best-of-three series against Chicago. They also return several players who were on international duty but saw very limited minutes, did not play at all, or were not used outright.
Jesús Bueno joined Venezuela for two friendlies in the United States, although he did not feature.
Danley Jean-Jacques took part in Haiti's qualification campaign, but he only appeared in the first match of the international window despite usually being a 90-minute performer for the Grenadiers. For the second match, he had to sit out due to yellow card accumulation for their World Cup berth clinching match. Regardless, he still celebrated the heck out of it, as he should.
Andre Blake is back with the boys in blue after Jamaica fell short of automatic qualification, which now sends the Reggae Boyz to the intercontinental playoffs in March. Finally, Tai Baribo remained in Philadelphia to welcome the birth of his daughter.
The rest of the squad has been practicing as normal, trying to simulate a typical international break, something they are used to doing. However, 22 days of waiting between competitive matches is a tougher hill to climb. It will be interesting to see whether the players who remained in Philadelphia come out firing or if there is some rust to shake off.
It would be disingenuous for me to ignore the fact that the architect behind the current makeup of the Philadelphia Union, Sporting Director Ernst Tanner, has been placed on administrative leave following a scathing report by Pablo Maurer of The Guardian. The report detailed allegations of racism, homophobia, and sexism, which prompted MLS to reopen its investigation into the German executive. The timing is far from ideal for Philadelphia as the club looks to capitalize on what is arguably the best roster in its 16-year history, as well as pursue its second piece of silverware.
There is currently no timeline for Tanner’s return. The Union released the following statement:
“The Philadelphia Union takes all allegations of misconduct extremely seriously and is committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for everyone associated with our club. Discrimination, harassment, or abusive conduct of any kind has no place here, and all staff are required to complete annual sensitivity training.
While a recent MLS investigation was unable to corroborate allegations involving Sporting Director Ernst Tanner, MLS has advised the Union that it will be reopening the investigation and the Union continues to cooperate fully. The Union has placed Mr. Tanner on administrative leave during the investigation. Throughout this process, our top priority remains the well-being of our players, fans, staff, and community.”
Ahead of the pre-match press conference, Carnell addressed the report head-on:
Bradley Carnell opens up the press conference ahead of the NYCFC match by addressing the report by The Guardian on Ernst Tanner:
— José Roberto Nuñez (@JoserNunez91) November 21, 2025
"I would be remiss not to briefly address the reports that surfaced earlier this week and the subsequent denouncements from the club. First of all, on… pic.twitter.com/DMIMRfeMfe
"I would be remiss not to briefly address the reports that surfaced earlier this week and the subsequent denouncements from the club," Carnell said. "First of all, on a professional level, I want to say that I have never personally experienced anything like what is being reported in my time with Ernst. As an organization, we fully recognize the seriousness of the situation. That is as far as I will go to discuss the topic that is ongoing during this investigation."
The match is slated for a 7:55 kick-off from Subaru Park and is one of the increasingly rare matches that will air on linear television. The broadcast begins at 7:30 on FS1, FOX, Deportes, TSN, and RDS, just in time for folks to flip over after the Cowboys game against the Eagles.
May as well make it a Philadelphia double on the day, no?
