Tactical Analysis: Union's 3-0 USOC win vs. Chicago Fire

The thread connecting the Union’s recent successes is not difficult to identify. Alejandro Bedoya scored the only goal in a US Open Cup quarterfinal against Orlando City. He notched the opener in a road win against Houston Dynamo, and then he set up two Cory Burke goals Wednesday night to send the Union to the club’s third US Open Cup final in five years. With Haris Medunjanin providing guidance to a young back line and distribution from deep and Borek Dockal excavating for space behind the opposition midfield, Bedoya’s role in the Philly midfield is to read the flow of the game and figure out how to both get on the ball in good spots and facilitate the overloads Philly likes to create in wide areas. Unlike Bastian Schweinsteiger, around whom the entire Chicago attack orbits and who has total freedom to wander in search of space, Bedoya must continually provide balance to a midfield that cannot afford to be out of shape when the team loses possession. Lacking a true destroyer in the middle, Philly relies instead of the intelligence of their central trio and the athleticism of their defense to force the ball out of central areas in defensive transitions. If Bedoya is caught high or on the far side, then, the Union become more vulnerable to counterattacks.

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