Soccer <\/p>\n
When the Philadelphia Union<\/a>, like the rest of the league, took a mandatory five-day break from training activities earlier this month in accordance with the MLS collective bargaining agreement, many players and staff took brief vacations or otherwise unplugged after a hectic early-summer schedule.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Bradley Carnell went back to St. Louis.<\/p>\n It might seem strange to visit the city where he was dismissed by his previous employers, St. Louis CITY SC<\/a>, almost exactly one year ago. But it\u2019s still home for him, his wife Claudia and their two children in fundamental ways, despite his current gig being located some 900 miles east.<\/p>\n Carnell\u2019s younger daughter Kiera is a high-school senior; her older sister Caitlyn goes to college one state over at the University of Kansas. When Bradley\u2019s career path took a couple of unexpected turns last year, the family decided that their stability would be prioritized above all.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve managed to drag my kids around three different continents, three different countries, three different cultures, languages,\u201d Philly\u2019s head coach explained to MLSsoccer.com in a one-on-one conversation ahead of their Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire trip to the Columbus Crew<\/a> (6 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cThey were born in Germany, grew up in South Africa, then moved here when they were 8 and 12, respectively. So I’ve treated my wife terribly over the last how many years of our togetherness \u2013 of 22, 23 years, because it’s all about me and my career.<\/p>\n \u201cSo at this point, I was like, it’s enough. We need a home. We need a base.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Carnells’ decision reflects both the intensity of the expansion launch experience with STL, where they dived headlong into the work of building a new organization that reflected its region\u2019s culture and spirit, and the enthusiasm with which he\u2019s attacked his new project.<\/p>\n \u201cI connected with the city, I connected with the people. And from day one, it just felt right in St. Louis,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I go home, hold up my head, people say hi. It’s great, going back and yeah, just being part of the community. I do understand it’s a profession, and I do understand it’s a professional environment, and I do understand that I too will find comfort and a home here in Philadelphia one day.<\/p>\n \u201cBut right now, just based on my kids, we chose for the short-term future to go this route.\u201d<\/p>\n While long-distance relationships are never simple, it\u2019s at least somewhat easier to endure with Bradley\u2019s current side sitting four points clear atop the MLS Supporters\u2019 Shield standings. Philly are the only team in the league averaging more than two points per game \u2013 despite the third-lowest total salary spend, per documents released this week by the MLS Players Association.<\/p>\n \u201cI was really excited about this job. I mean, there’s many scenarios where I could have enjoyed the next year of my life being around family, in the comfort of my home and everything like this,\u201d said the South African. \u201cBut when something comes along and just feels right, you get excited about it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think everyone has seen the version of what can be if there’s a full alignment with what we’re doing. There’s something tangible,\u201d he added, referring to the extensive conversations with sporting director Ernst Tanner and Union ownership which drew him to the west bank of the Delaware River. \u201cWe’ve created something, and hopefully we can keep that momentum going.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A game of many firsts and a 300th! #DOOP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/t3b9YcQHZA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) February 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Few expected this from a Union side widely prognosticated for a rebuilding year after the Jim Curtin era sputtered to a close with failure to qualify for the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in seven years. And it\u2019s been engineered in a collective manner befitting Philly\u2019s blue-collar, academy-driven ethos.<\/p>\n Israeli striker Tai Baribo<\/a>\u2019s 13 goals have kept him at or near the top of the Golden Boot presented by Audi race despite missing time due to injury and international duty. Kai Wagner<\/a> and Quinn Sullivan<\/a> rank among the league\u2019s elite in both assists and key passes, the latter earning a US men\u2019s national team<\/a> call for the Concacaf Gold Cup<\/a>, one of Philly\u2019s whopping nine international call-ups<\/a> this month, tied for second-most in MLS. Newer faces like Danley Jean Jacques<\/a> and rising homegrown Frankie Westfield<\/a> have been massive contributors.<\/p>\n Like Tanner, Carnell is an alumnus of the Red Bull global network, a disciple of the high-pressing, high-intensity principles it brought to such prominence. Recalling Jurgen Klopp\u2019s famous adage that \u201cno playmaker in the world can be as good as a good gegenpressing situation,\u201d Carnell points to the broad distribution of productivity that was the norm for his CITY SC teams, as well as the New York Red Bulls<\/a> sides where he worked as an assistant under Jesse Marsch and Chris Armas.<\/p>\n Notably, Philly have ridden timely goals from the likes of Wagner, Nathan Harriel<\/a> and Markus Anderson<\/a> in recent shorthanded wins. The great Real Salt Lake<\/a> teams of old made \u2018the team is the star\u2019 their catchphrase; the Union\u2019s equivalent might be \u2018the system is the star.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s not by strength of 11 players. It’s by strength in depth,\u201d said Carnell. \u201cPeople coming in in January were questioning our depth, and now people are saying, \u2018you guys have a real deep roster.\u2019 It’s like, how does that happen? Do the elves just come overnight and just sprinkle some dust and all of a sudden players are now deep? And that’s great \u2013 we can use everybody. The players have been willing and committed to everything that we’ve thrown at them.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way we work and the style we play it, I think if everyone buys into those principles, everyone gets rewarded down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n Carnell points to Anderson, an under-the-radar American attacker Philly brought home from the Spanish lower divisions before last season, as an example of the mindset he\u2019s cultivating.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sent him to [MLS NEXT Pro side] Union II for two, three months, because he just couldn’t go a game without getting an injury. And they weren’t bad injuries \u2013 it was a contusion or something, and then he would be out for a day or two, and then back in for a day or two, and then out,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe were like, \u2018man, you just need to go get some rhythm.\u2019 And he gets his rhythm, he commits to the process, and we start using him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n How’s your team looking after Matchday 20? ???? pic.twitter.com\/kvt6vvt8Qw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n That\u2019s just the kind of story Philly want to create, with their single-minded focus on player development and identification of undervalued assets both at home and abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cOur identity is pretty clear, and we are totally aligned,\u201d Tanner told MLSsoccer.com earlier this year. \u201cAnd that’s the reason why I brought in Bradley.\u201d<\/p>\n A charismatic local who led the Union to their first major hardware and coached more than 400 matches across an 11-year managerial run, Curtin left big shoes to fill. Yet in that sense, Carnell\u2019s task was simplified by the resolve in the squad he inherited, \u201cfocused and energized\u201d after last year\u2019s difficulties.<\/p>\n \u201cThe players are taking this personally, and almost, I wouldn’t say the chip on the shoulders \u2013 I think they’re a confident bunch, like, \u2018give me that information. I can see it works for me. I’m going to do it,\u2019\u201d he explained to MLSsoccer.com back in March. \u201cThey acknowledge that last year was a s—-y season, excuse my language.<\/p>\n \u201cThey definitely, one, want to correct that. And they feel at home with the new tactics, with the new messaging, with the way we present, the way we make the players feel valued, the way we speak to the players,\u201d he continued. \u201cNow it’s my job to keep maintaining that standard.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The guys thought it was just another day of training, but Coach Carnell had other plans ????\ufe0f????#DOOP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/5prBqpSMUJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) June 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Carnell goes to great pains to emphasize that collectivist mentality, and prefers not to center his own influence or experience. There\u2019s still no avoiding the shadow of the fallout from his St. Louis departure. Even with the Ravioli Boyz nine points out of the playoff places and riding a nine-game winless skid, the parting of ways<\/a> with CITY sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel felt abrupt to some observers, considering Carnell\u2019s role in STL topping the Western Conference table in their euphoric inaugural campaign in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a coach, I know I’m a young or, just a couple of years under the belt now, but I’m also ambitious. And I also have a little thing on my back saying, \u2018hey, you failed at St. Louis,\u2019\u201d said Carnell in March. \u201cI carry that always. Because we invested so much in St. Louis just to get it up and running, and it kind of just petered out. And I took that little bit personally. So I’m full of fire, full of ambition in this opportunity now as well.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of it is not proving people wrong. It’s proving me right \u2013 that I believe I’m on the right track as a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n The raw emotions of last year\u2019s difficulties bubbled into public view after Philly\u2019s 1-0 win<\/a> over CITY SC at Subaru Park in March, where Carnell and STL striker Jo\u00e3o Klauss<\/a> had to be separated as they exchanged angry words at full time.<\/p>\n Carnell says he looks back with neither anger nor regret, though he hints at some lessons learned when it comes to the intricacies of interpersonal and organizational communication.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel I have grown a lot, but I’ve also reassured my pathway, and I’ve also reassured that, myself as a coach, the alignment, my connection with players, my connection with people, my connection with staff, the approach that I try and go about my work, should not be changed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe I went down a road where I said too many things and the wrong ears heard it and misconstrued or mistook or misunderstood, then all of a sudden, things escalate,\u201d Carnell added. \u201cBut what I believe in and how I believe players should be treated, and how I believe to build culture and things like this? It was not a reflection time. It was a time of reassurance for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Keeping the Union at their current lofty standing may prove every bit as difficult as getting there. From Leo Messi<\/a>\u2019s Inter Miami CF<\/a> to Evander<\/a>\u2019s FC Cincinnati<\/a> to the slick-passing Columbus Crew and resurgent Nashville SC<\/a>, to name just a few, the East is packed with trophy contenders, most of whom spend far more freely on salaries and transfer fees than Philly. Then there\u2019s the perennial question of how pressing teams like them maintain their style and output when midsummer heat saps energy.<\/p>\n Carnell is quite aware of the challenges waiting in the season\u2019s back half, and he relishes them. His ability to evolve \u2018the Philly way\u2019 may yet steer a path to the promised land: the MLS Cup title that so cruelly eluded them at the final hurdle three years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve been a bit more strategic with our press. I think we’ve been a little bit more strategic with how we implement it, I think whether it’s, I don’t know, maturity of my coaching style, or me finding a way \u2013 not my way at all costs, me finding a way with the player personnel that I have at the disposal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it’s been an enjoyable process to still uphold the values of what we’re trying to do and not change the game model in any way, but just trying to manipulate the areas of the field. So I still think we haven’t changed, but we have, in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nFresh start in Philly<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
\n
Surpassing expectations<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
\n
Replacing a legend<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
\n
Redemption story<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
MLS Cup ambitions<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n