⚽️ Take Two in Charlotte

Good morning. The Charlotte FC loss last year was bad at the time. But even worse when the Union missed on the Supporters’ Shield by tiebreaker. They missed out on hosting MLS Cup in part because of that loss. A year later the memory of that 4-0 defeat is motivation to not repeat such a ludicrous display. Charlotte isn’t as good as last year but they still play on an ugly turf field in an NFL venue and the Union will be on short rest. They really should be able to get three points anyway.

In the email today:

The Philadelphia Union had 4 NFL venues and 1 MLB venue on their regular season schedule this year. Three of the 4 NFL venues have artificial surfaces. After playing at Atlanta earlier this season they have Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough left still to play.

Tonight the Union will be at the home of the Carolina Panthers looking for their first points there after a disappointing loss last October.

• Jim Curtin: “Obviously, it's a difficult place to go play, we have to navigate things like travel, the turf, all those variables and a team that's going to be hungry for all three points. So we expect a difficult match and know that we'll have to be at our max to get a result.”

Our take: For all the growth in MLS over the last decade, the fact that there are still teams playing in baseball and football stadiums and on turf is among the more frustrating features. The optics of the undersized field at Yankee Stadium, empty seats at Gillette and gridiron lines at Bank of America isn’t good for a league with big ambitions. It certainly can’t be ideal for Apple either and the broadcasts from those venues.

2) 🪄 Jose Martinez ‘fully fit and ready to go’ 

There was a noticeable drop-off when Jose Martinez had to depart the FC Cincinnati game on Saturday and a reasonable concern for his status. Jim Curtin put those questions to rest on Tuesday.

• “He's fully fit and ready to go,” Curtin said. “He just took a hard knock to the back, you know, and wasn't able to continue in that game, which hurt us obviously. He's a great player and we missed him, but at the same time now, he'll be ready to go, he had 60 minutes or so on his legs.”

Our take: Martinez’s importance to this team - particuarly with Leon Flach out - can’t really be overstated. His early departure against FC Cincinnati was a big blow. If he can go 90 in Charlotte the Union have a good chance to swipe all three points. His newfound knack for finding the back of the goal could also be key to unlocking the Charlotte defense.

3) Tweet of the Day: If the Playoffs Started today

The Union still have a lot to play for this season even if it the Supporters’ Shield slipped out of reach with Saturday’s 2-2 draw.

4) 💧 Water Cooler: NFL Venues in MLS

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

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Results from our last poll What Formation Do You Prefer: 4-4-2 won with 61.54% of the vote.

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• 💪 The Union dropped one spot to No. 4 in this week’s MLS Power Rankings.

• 🐍 The Union have twice as many wins as Charlotte FC does this season. More of the pressure is on the hosts than on the Union.

• 🟥 Former Philadelphia Union defender Auston Trusty made his Premier League debut for Sheffield United over the weekend.

• 🇺🇸 Andre Blake was gifted a pair of red, white and blue boots signed by his Union teammates to celebrate him recently gaining U.S. citizenship.

• 🤔 Philadelphia’s fourth-place standing is slightly misleading, as a win in the rescheduled match against Dallas next week would propel the Union into second.

• 🧤⚽️ Goalkeeper Goal Alert! Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel became just the second goalkeeper in Champions League history to score a non-penalty kick goal when he headed home a stoppage time equalizer to tie Atletico Madrid yesterday.

The newsletter today was written by: Matt Ralph @MattRalph_

Thanks for reading!