The Union likely won’t be good this year, but they might still be interesting

For the last seven years, the Union were one of the most compelling stories in MLS.

Despite perennially having one of the league’s lowest budgets, they topped the Eastern Conference twice in the regular season and made the playoffs six times. They reached two conference finals, two Concacaf Champions League semifinals, two Leagues Cup semifinals, and a U.S. Open Cup final.

Little of this made the Union compelling in their own backyard, even though for the last three seasons their average attendance was bigger than the Flyers’.

Not even being 90 seconds from the biggest upset in MLS title game history could make them mainstream, even though that specific moment got quite a bit of attention. (Partly because it delayed the start of a Phillies World Series game broadcast on the same TV channel.)

That said — and said a bit snarkily, we’ll concede — there are times when people beyond the Union’s core fan base want to know how the team is. The start of a new season is usually one of them, and the team’s 16th campaign starts Saturday with a visit to Orlando City (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

So in the vain hope that you’ll stick around past the next sentence, here goes.

» READ MORE: An analysis of the Union’s roster at the start of the 2025 season

The Union probably aren’t going to be very good this year.

If you’re still here, that’s kind. Your reward is reading that the Union might be worth watching anyway. Here’s why.

Though soccer is still a foreign concept in much of the Philadelphia region, the idea that a bad team could still be interesting shouldn’t be. That’s happened plenty often here over the years.

This time, it’s because of someone you might have heard of even if you don’t watch the Union much. Cavan Sullivan has rocketed to stardom at age 15, because his talents are so precocious that the Union already have a deal for him to join English giant Manchester City at 18.

Combine a teenage phenom, a Premier League superpower’s scouting, and a big Adidas sponsorship deal, and you get a recipe that jolts people well beyond Chester.

They’re paying attention at MLS headquarters, where Sullivan is a centerpiece of the preseason marketing. (The prop newspaper in a recent Instagram video was a nice touch.) They’re paying attention in Silicon Valley, where Apple put him front and center in a behind-the-scenes docuseries on last season.

» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan is the Union’s biggest story this year, whether that’s fair or not

That in turn means they’re paying attention at stadium box offices. A recent survey of sales data by reseller StubHub ranked the Union No. 9 leaguewide for the most ticket demand on the 30-team circuit.

How will this translate to Subaru Park’s stands? We’ll start to find out at next weekend’s home opener against FC Cincinnati. It’s the Union’s spiciest rivalry right now, but that doesn’t sell alone around here.

Fans who show up will see three new luxury seating areas, including one on each of the end lines. The rows in front of the River End might block the colorful banners that the Sons of Ben and Keystone Ultras supporters clubs hang over the railings. The winter after a nine-win season — with some “Sell the team!” chants rising from those sections — is a prickly time to make such a move.

But if Sullivan blows up this year, those seats will sell in a hurry. Just as AAU basketball prospects draw crowds in the know, so do young American soccer prospects these days. Plenty of people will want to say they saw his first full season as a pro, and all the better if they can get a selfie while doing it.

Even more of the influencer crowd will come to town this summer for the Club World Cup at Lincoln Financial Field. The Union have just one home game in June, but it’s worth circling: the 14th against Charlotte, four days before Manchester City’s opener at the Linc.

Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid, and Flamengo are also among the big clubs coming to town. Their scouts and media have heard of Sullivan and might stop by Union practices to see him. (All the better if the team’s training complex is a tournament practice venue, which it could easily be.)

» READ MORE: The Union wanted Bruno Damiani for more than a year. Now he's the team's new record signing.

Some of them might even want to know who else is on the team. I’ve gladly fielded that question from friends abroad for many years, thanks to all the Union alumni who have succeeded in Europe.

Let’s start with the bad news for the Union. Centerback is the team’s main weak spot, and that’s a big weak spot to have. Jakob Glesnes is the only returning incumbent, and his struggles since sports hernia surgery in late 2023 have been a constant source of frustration.

New Union manager Bradley Carnell believes the 30-year-old is back to the level that made him the league’s defender of the year in 2022 and an All-Star in ‘22 and ‘23. But that can’t be proven until the games count.

Nor can it be proven yet that newcomer Ian Glavinovich is ready to be an MLS player, even though the 23-year-old Argentine checks many boxes. The third player meant to be starting-caliber, 20-year-old Olwethu Makhanya, has played zero first-team minutes since signing in July 2023. Neil Pierre is an elite prospect but isn’t ready yet.

Now for the good news for the Union, starting with the item that usually draws the most complaints. There is real depth at striker with Mikael Uhre, Tai Baribo, and new team-record signing Bruno Damiani. Now to see whether Carnell is willing to use them all regularly — unlike Jim Curtin, who left Baribo on the bench behind Uhre and Julián Carranza.

(We’ll pause here to again remind Uhre’s critics that he has hit double-digits in scoring every year here, and you don’t turn that down.)

» READ MORE: After three consecutive double-digit scoring seasons, Mikael Uhre faces a contract year and his critics

Attacking midfield is set well enough, too. Dániel Gazdag leads the way with his goals and pressing, and Sullivan is cleared for takeoff. Indiana Vassilev is a useful veteran addition. Hopefully David Vazquez will bulk up enough to withstand MLS’s physicality, because he has a lot of raw talent in his 18-year-old feet.

In the central midfield spots, two players are also on the runway. One is Quinn Sullivan, who finally earned a regular role last year. Though he’s only 20 — he turns 21 on March 27 — this will be his fifth season with the first team. The other is CJ Olney, whom scouts have raved about for years. He moved up to the first team last summer and could be a super-sub this year.

While we wait to see what midfield formation Carnell will play — or formations, perhaps — we also wait to see how he’ll deploy his two main defensive-oriented midfielders.

Danley Jean Jacques showed last year that he has the pieces to be José Andrés Martínez’s successor. Jovan Lukić is reputed as a ball-winner even though he has just 141 pounds in his 5-foot-11 frame. It won’t be surprising to see them start together, along with Gazdag and Quinn Sullivan.

The remaining positions are held by incumbents: Kai Wagner at left back, Nathan Harriel at right back, and, of course, Andre Blake at goalkeeper.

» READ MORE: After a breakout season last year, Tai Baribo hopes to deliver an encore for the Union

Is all that enough to win a championship this year? No. A team built on defense can’t have as big a defensive question as this one has.

Is there enough to make the playoffs? Anyone can when nine of 15 teams in each conference do. So that’s a fair bar to set.

Along with their regular-season games, the Union will return to the U.S. Open Cup after not playing in it last year. It’s the team’s best shot at a trophy, and that’s one of many reasons to care.

The Union will enter America’s oldest soccer tournament in the round of 32, facing an opponent from a lower-division league. Thanks to the Open Cup’s seeding rules, we already know it will be the first home game in the tournament since 2018, and it will take place on May 6 or 7. Win it, and just four rounds will remain.

You’ve read here often that Philadelphia has a rich history with the Open Cup. That’s one of many reasons Cavan Sullivan doesn’t need to look far to find it.

» READ MORE: MLS knows its Apple package needs to reach more people, even if it isn’t putting more games on TV yet

The Bridesburg native’s grandfather, Larry, played at Temple for Walter Bahr, the city’s all-time soccer legend. Bahr played in the 1949 and ‘52 Open Cup finals and in between led the U.S. national team’s famed 1950 World Cup upset of England.

Larry Sullivan later played professionally for the Philadelphia Spartans, whose coach Alex Ely had played for the 1966 Ukrainian Nationals — the last local club to win the Open Cup.

And the Sullivans surely know the Chyzowych clan, with its own Northeast Philly roots. The patriarch, Walt, led the Uke Nats to the 1960, ‘61, and ‘63 titles.

The Union have made three Open Cup finals in their history, but never won one. In all three tournament appearances since their last final, they have gone out at the first hurdle. Now is an ideal time for a deep run, and it would be fitting if a new city native leads the way.