We are under a week until the Philadelphia Union season gets underway! Their busy 2026 sees them playing in their 34 MLS games, and up to almost 50 should they go the distance in Concacaf Champions Cup (CCC) and Leagues Cup. Will Philly be able to find success throughout the congestion?
Throughout this series, expectations have been set for the MLS season, the club’s Cup Competitions, how they’ve built their roster and will develop players, and their tactics and style of play. Now it’s time to set expectations for off-field activities that are still vital to a team’s ethos.
A team’s culture and vibes go a long way into how a club gels and their mental state coming into matches; where does the Union sit in that regard heading into 2026?
There are three clouds that hang over the heads of the Union and their fans. Each of these could rain down bad vibes if not handled properly, which could kill Philly’s gritty, competitive culture. They are: the roster overhaul not going well, the club acting like St. Louis City from 2024, and not addressing what is going on at the top of the front office.
The Union and their fans are fully Philadelphia, when things are viewed in a negative headspace, Negadelphia comes out. The vibe can get bad, and the culture within and around the team can become toxic. This is true for all Philly teams, and the Union wants to avoid it in 2026.
Each of these three clouds surrounding the club can and should be addressed, and how they are addressed will dictate the Union’s overall vibe for the year.
This has been spoken about a lot in our expectation previews, but it holds the key to the team’s success this season. So far, three of the four key departures have been addressed: Striker–Alladoh for Baribo, centerback–Larson for Glesnes, depth attacking piece–Anello for Uhre. It seems as if the fourth spot, left back, is going to be settled soon, too, as Philippe Ndinga is now reported to be the Kai Wagner replacement. If these four players come in and play at the level of their predecessors, then the Union will be just fine.
The problem lies in the time it takes to adapt to MLS. If these guys don’t hit the ground running in MLS and CCC, then Philly will be on pace for a further step backwards than they would like in 2026. This is the easiest of the three clouds to clear, given the club's track record of signing impactful players and integrating them quickly into MLS. Let’s see if they do just that!
The worst thing that could happen to the 2026 Philadelphia Union is to be like the 2024 St Louis City team. The parallel here lies in head coach Bradley Carnell. He had a great expansion year with St. Louis in 2023, winning the West but falling short in the first round of the playoffs as the one-seed. St. Louis then failed to retool effectively in 2024, leading to Carnell being sacked after a series of lackluster performances. If Philly does anything like this, the whole club should fold.
This is rather unlikely, but the parallels are there for this Philly team. Will they fall off a cliff in Carnell’s second season like St. Louis City did? The bones of this Union team are likely too strong to break like Carnell’s former team. So this cloud over the Union can be cleared by grit and determination on the pitch, and the backing of the club and fans behind the manager, which Carnell clearly has before the start of Philly’s 2026 season.
The main thing that could be the biggest vibe ruiner or culture killer is something that has been hanging over the club’s head since their playoff run last year: What is going on with the Sporting Director? For those who don’t remember, a scathing article about Ernst Tanner came out in the Guardian before Philly’s playoff match against NYCFC last year. There were allegations of serious misconduct that led the Union to place Tanner on Administrative Leave. This was back in November, and there hasn't been a peep about it since.
Many fans are still wondering what’s going on, and the longer nothing is said, the longer people will speculate. No matter the outcome of the re-investigation of these misconducts, fans deserve to have an answer about who’s leading their club. Will Tanner be back, or will the club need someone else to pull the strings? This is an extremely tricky situation, but it’s one Philly and MLS cannot sweep under the rug.
The League and the Club need to say either that Tanner is reinstated, or that he cannot be; that would be all that needs to be done here. It would be great for them to do it soon, so it doesn’t cast a shadow over the team as it did during last year’s playoff exit. Getting past this situation would be the way to keep this cloud from engulfing the Union, its players, and its fans. Let's see if they do it before a ball is kicked.
