Philadelphia Union head coach Bradley Carnell is trying to focus on the positives after a disastrous start to the Major League Soccer (MLS) season continued with a loss to Chicago Fire.
The 2-1 home defeat made it five defeats from the opening five games for the Supporters Shield winners, in which Carnell was awarded the MLS Coach of the Season award for in his debut Union campaign.
This including the Concacaf Champions Cup exit last week to Club America – has made it a difficult few weeks for the South African and his troops, who now will go into the break with some major self-introspection.
“Falling short again is very bitter, we showed a positive trend and signal in the second half like the Club America game, had high hopes and high expectations – thought we had a really positive start, one or two moments we gave away and suddenly, as you’d understand with a group that’s a little fragile, which is unfortunate to then concede,” he said in the post-match press conference.
“We fought back, with a burst of energy from the crowd, which was the signal to galvanise the group, but we couldn’t piece it together in the second half, I’m gutted for the guys, we track things in five-game blocks, that’s probably the worst one I’ve ever been part of.
“So, we will use this [international] window to set the tone, set the rights from the wrongs and make sure we do our due diligence at getting to the bottom of it.”
South African duo Olwethu Makhanya and Mbekezeli Mbokazi both featured 90 minutes for their respective sides while Puso Dithejane was an un-used substitute for Fire.
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