Real Salt Lake showed the Philadelphia Union a thing or two about how much work it takes to become MLS Cup champions, routing the young expansion team 3-0 on Saturday.
For the Union, they have no choice but to put the loss behind them and keep looking forward if they want their own results to come.
“There is really nothing that we can do,” rookie Jack McInerney said of the rough start the team has endured. “We are going through a tough stretch, but we just need to fix our mistakes. We really just keep screwing ourselves up every game.”
You could argue that starting out the season with five road games and only one at home would be rough for any team, let alone an expansion team that’s just coming together.
For starting goalkeeper Chris Seitz, picking up points on the road may not be the easiest thing for the team to do, but the 23-year-old deems it completely necessary if they are to have a chance this season.
“Anytime you play on the road for a long time, it will always be a tough environment,” said Seitz after the 3-0 loss to RSL. “We have had a tough stretch playing in Toronto, then Seattle, then here. Everyone is better at home in MLS, but for us, we need to start going into places and start earning some points. That’s our main goal.”
It won’t help their cause that the team has been chasing several of its games this season. Philly haven’t just been down goals in many matches, they’ve been down men as well. Falling behind in any way has hindered the team’s ability to build its play and create opportunities.
Seitz realizes this and hopes his team can play a more consistent game going forward.
“It’s huge, especially on the road, to try to get that goal,” said Seitz of the gaining the upper hand in matches. “And to ride off of that, it would be huge for us. I think that we have had chances in games, I just think we are not converting, whether it’s the other team scoring or just missed opportunities.”
