CHESTER, Pa. – Around this time last year, the Philadelphia Union were excited to travel to the West Coast to test their mettle against the LA Galaxy, one of the league’s premier franchises.
But once the game started, the feeling of excitement quickly morphed into one of embarrassment. Less than a minute into the May 1 contest, Edson Buddle scored one of his three goals in what turned out to be a 3-1 rout for LA.
Now, as the Union brace for another trip to the Home Depot Center for Saturday’s game (10:30 pm ET, Direct Kick and Matchday Live), they’re prepared to show the titans of MLS how much can change in a year.
“They really taught us a lesson the last time we went there,” said defender Danny Califf, one of a handful of Southern California natives on the Union. “We’re looking to show we’re a better team. For us as a team, this is a real test. We’re going against one of the best teams in the league and we’re going to show where we’re at and how far we’ve come over the last year.”
Philly’s progression from Year One to Year Two has indeed been stark.
[inline_node:332484]After finishing in seventh place in the Eastern Conference in their inaugural 2010 season with a 8-15-7 overall record, the Union have won their first two games of the ’11 campaign – and they’ve done so with two shutouts, already equaling their total from last year.
It’s too soon to tell if the Union have completely made the leap from lower-tier squad to championship hopeful, but Saturday’s game against the Galaxy will go a long way in determining if Philly are contenders or pretenders.
“This is a very difficult game for us,” Union manager Peter Nowak said. “It’s good to see where we are at this point.”
While the Galaxy (1-1-1) are still among the top teams in the league, this is a different group than Philly saw last season. Buddle left for Germany and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts (hamstring) and defender Omar Gonzalez (shoulder) are currently sidelined with injuries. Landon Donovan also missed the Galaxy’s last game – a 4-1 shellacking by Real Salt Lake – because of international duty, but is expected back for Saturday’s contest.
Even so, the Union don’t expect to see a vulnerable side when they arrive in Carson, Calif., but rather a side hungry for redemption coming off such a lopsided loss.
“I expect a very tough game, especially the way the game unfolded vs. Salt Lake,” said Union central midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi, who played for the Galaxy in 2006 and '09. “They have been together for a long time. All the way from the last guy on the roster to the coaching staff, they’re very proud. I think they’re looking to make amends.”
The Union are also a proud club looking to make amends, mainly from a disappointing 2010 season filled with mistakes and missed opportunities. In last season’s game at LA, for instance, Miglioranzi was sent off after drawing only the second red card of his career, a play that doomed any chances of a Philly comeback. That, he said, won’t happen again, as this is is, after all, a new season and a new Union team anxious to see how it stacks up with squads like the Galaxy.
“Last year was tough,” Miglioranzi admitted. “So many away games took their toll on us, especially as the mistakes happened. This year is a different story and we’ve started the season very well, but we still have to do things correctly to get points.”
