There were no champagne cart and no cases of beer waiting on ice in Charlotte Wednesday night.
Qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs is no longer cause for celebration for the Philadelphia Union. Instead, it has become among the basest of expectations.
So there was Jim Curtin, hopping onto a post-match video conference at Bank of America Stadium, unsure even if his team had officially made the playoffs much less sweating the answer to that when-not-if question.
“In some ways, making the playoffs used to be a big celebration from the group,” Curtin said after a 2-2 draw with Charlotte FC. “It’s not anymore, which I think is a good thing. With six games left, to be already in the playoffs now is a good thing. But this group obviously wants more.”
It was just about as obvious from the first kick of 2023 that the Union (14-8-6, 48 points) are a playoff team. The draw in Charlotte, coupled with Chicago’s loss and a D.C. United draw, made it official for the sixth straight season.
That achievement is merely an imperative to go forward in the postseason, but its newfound normality means something historically. The Union made the playoffs in just one of their first six seasons. Curtin made the tournament in one of his first four seasons in charge.
Yet here the Union are, with a month to spare, clear of the non-playoff chasers.
“I think it’s a good shift in mentality with the club,” Curtin said. “There’s a bunch of guys in there quietly looking at their phones. When I say there’s nothing, there’s crickets in there and they’re mad that they couldn’t get a win. That’s a good change in mentality.”
A game after going up 2-0 on FC Cincinnati and seeing the lead evaporate into a draw, the Union pulled the opposite in Charlotte. Goals by Quinn Sullivan in the 70th and Daniel Gazdag from the penalty spot in the seventh minute of stoppage time denied the 13th place team in the East a three-point night.
The Union’s goal remains a top-four finish. They sit fourth (third on points per game), though teams two through six are separated by four points. The ideal place is second, which guarantees two rounds of home games. With Lionel Messi and Inter Miami unlikely to rise past eighth, second or third would mean avoiding them until at least the East final, with three teams getting a crack first.
The Union have four home games and two away left to build. LAFC, fresh off a scoreless draw with St. Louis that severely dents their hopes of passing the expansion side for first in the West, arrives Saturday. FC Dallas, hovering around the playoff line in the West, visits next Wednesday.
“Still six games left to play and we’re going to push,” Curtin said. “You see how tight it is in the East. It’s going to be a fight, and this point matters in a big way.”
Source: Berkshire mont