In just six days, the Philadelphia Union will play in their first competitive match of 2026! How will the team look on the pitch? We already know that there will be at least three new starters on the field, but how will the team play? We saw some of that in the recent preseason matches.
Philly beat Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-0, and lost to CF Montreal 4-2 over the last week as the team trains for the start of the season in Clearwater, Florida. In both of those matches, when the players who will likely be the starters when the season begins were on the pitch, the Union scored four and conceded just one. They played at their usual breakneck pace. Pressing their opposition into making mistakes and then scoring off of transition moments.
Now that we have previewed and set expectations for the MLS season, Cup competitions, and the roster build/player development, it’s time to lean heavily into the team’s tactics.
Can Bradley Carnell’s side play their high-pressing style for another whole season and in two tournaments as well? We have seen them try this, but it hasn’t always panned out in Philly’s favor.
The Union has been a pressing and counterattacking team since 2019. They love to play with a back four, two defensive mids, two attacking mids, and two strikers. The team is very narrow, with width provided by their fullbacks getting high up the pitch. This system means the team does not need the ball in order to be dangerous.
Philadelphia will almost always lose the possession battle. They look for opportunities to force their opponent into mistakes that lead to a lethal counterattack. This has worked so well in the past few years that Philly has used it to win two Supporters’ Shields (2020 and 2025) and reach an MLS Cup final (2022). Can it work the same way yet again in 2026, or will the team look to play any differently?
The answer to that question, from the limited preseason action that has been played, is that Philly wants to be that pain-in-the-ass type of team that is tenaciously pressing you until you cough up the ball. Players will fly all around the pitch, going out of normal position to win a ball and spring a counter. This creates both positives and negatives, and its success will depend on those moments.
We know Philly’s default setting and formation will be a press-and-counter team in a 4-2-2-2. The majority of the players on the roster know their spots well, and newcomers like Ezekiel Alladoh and Japhet Sery Larsen have shown well so far in preseason. The challenge will be whether they can win the pressing and transition moments in a congested schedule.
The union will have played 11 league matches from February 21st to May 2nd and could play up to eight games in the Concacaf Champions Cup (CCC) if they make an improbable run to the final. That would be 19 games in just under three months. Can the press and transition moments hit in that many games in that amount of time?
For Philly, they will hope it does, as that is their baseline style of play, and it sets the baseline for success in games. We will see over the next few months whether they are on track to meet the baseline success.
Let’s say the Union go on a decent run in the CCC but fall in the quarterfinals against Messi and Inter Miami. That’s a very good run, but it could also make things become rigid. Philly would then play only in MLS over the next three months, and maybe the press coverage would help put them in a good position on the Eastern Conference Table. Then comethe s Leagues Cup in the dead of summer. If Philly under Carnell falters at all in this timeframe, they could be on the verge of failing in their tactics.
Doing okay in Cup competitions, the club wasn’t in last year, and keeping pace near the top of the East could lead the team to fall into the mindset of “this is working like it did last year.” Philly’s style worked last year because they didn’t have to play almost 50 games. They were able to use their style of play against lesser teams and pick up points against the “better” teams that played in the CCC or the Leagues Cup en route to the Shield.
This year, that likely won’t cut it given the schedule. The Union will need to play their press and counter style well, while also not being afraid to switch things up when a gamestate calls for it. Those types of changes from Carnell could be the difference between points dropped or points picked up.
We have seen a Union team in the past that played in a narrow formation, loved to press and counter, and was tactically capable of changing the game in the middle of matches. The 2019 Union did this by bringing on super-sub Ilsinho. They would move from a 4-4-2 diamond to a 4-2-3-1 playing Brenden Aaronson and Ilsinho on the wings. The 2026 Union could do something very similar this season.
Philly’s newest signing, Agustin Anello, is a forward, but has mainly played winger in his career. He has been touted as the replacement for Mikael Uhre, who was the first striker off the bench for Philly last year. If he comes on this year and the likes of Milan Iloski, Indiana Vassilev, or Quinn Sullivan are on the pitch, the union could easily shift to a system with wingers that looks to possess the ball, flip games on their head, and confuse opponents.
In my opinion, that’s the key for this Union team to compete in all their competitions, even amid fixture congestion. Use the bench and change the formation when the game calls for it. If they can do that, we may just see the Union be a top team in the region, not just in MLS.
