Major League Soccer, particularly the Eastern Conference, has garnered considerable media attention over the past couple of years.
That has had a bit more to do with superstars like David Beckham and Lionel Messi working and playing in the league than with the actual quality of football.
Nevertheless, it has been getting more attention than ever.
But 17 games into the 2025 season, star-studded Inter Miami isn’t leading the MLS Eastern Conference.
Instead, Philadelphia Union is currently at the top of the table there.
While this success may look short-term, Philadelphia Union is actually a long-term project and has been in the top five of their Conference for a long time.
Last year, after a disappointing season, the club released long-time manager Jim Curtin after nine years.
Sporting director Ernst Tanner, who has been at the club since 2018, then searched for a successor.
The 58-year-old German is a seasoned professional with previous experience at clubs such as 1899 Hoffenheim and Red Bull Salzburg, where he headed the renowned academy in Liefering.
Another key person at the club is assistant coach Frank Leicht, who previously worked for Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig.
With both key figures having a Red Bull-infused past, it was no surprise that they sought precisely this type of DNA in a new manager.
Ultimately, Bradley Carnell was named the new head coach.
Carnell previously managed St Louis City SC in the MLS and had served as an assistant manager for the New York Red Bulls under Jesse Marsch and Gerhard Struber.
With their new coach and long-running Red Bull DNA, the club is now setting the league on fire.
In this tactical analysis, we will examine Bradley Carnell tactics that he has brought to Philadelphia and how they are dominating the MLS Eastern Conference with their Red Bull playstyle.
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Not Afraid Of The Long Ball
Philadelphia Union is not usually playing like you would expect a top team to play.
Most good teams dominate their games with possession, precision passing, and good positional play, but Bradley Carnell’s team has absolutely none of that.
On average, the Philadelphia Union has less possession compared to its opponents and does not play a high number of short passes compared to the rest of the MLS.
Just like the Red Bull teams around the globe, Carnell’s identity as a coach consists of fast-paced attacks, a high tempo in their games and a very aggressive counter-pressing approach.
The South African values direct play.
His team tries to be as vertical as possible and covers distance with as few passes as possible.
Here, we can see a situation in their build-up phase: Philadelphia Union tried to play through their full-backs but was pressed very well by LAFC.
The team struggles significantly under pressure, and the situation near the sideline is not very good for them at all.
With the numbers disadvantage and the sideline limiting their options, their full-back plays a rather bad backwards pass towards the open centre-back.
With the pass being an open invitation for a further pressing attempt and no real option to receive a short pass being available, he punts the ball down the field.
The long ball is not a last resort, however, instead the team is always prepared for them.
As the picture above shows, Carnell has already pushed three players forward, overloading the near side.
This gives his team the numerical advantage in the area where the ball will come down, and it provides multiple benefits, especially when playing second balls with their counter-press.
The ball is also not played but is chipped onto the final line.
Philadelphia Union hits it over the backline and into the path of the attackers.
This forces the defenders to defend with their faces towards their own goal, which makes it really hard to get to the ball in a controlled way.
This sets up a situation on the wing for Philadelphia Union after the long ball can’t be defended.
They win the attacking duel to get back into possession.
After that, Philadelphia Union does another thing well: how decisively they play out their attacks.
They win the ball right at the sideline, but the entire team was already prepared for that.
The two players on the left side now play out the 2v1 situation, using their pace to break through against the right-back of LAFC.
In these areas, Carnell’s men are swift, play out their attacks with a lot of intensity, and take every chance to get the ball into the box.
The Philadelphia Union leads the MLS in crosses, and it’s no coincidence that situations like the one in the picture above occur multiple times per game.
But crosses alone don’t create chances; players need to receive the ball in the box for it to be an effective tactical measure.
Carnell has a clear plan for his players when moving into the box.
Two players go right at the two centre-backs and make runs towards the near and far sides of the posts.
While one player stays at the edge of the box, the other players get ready to win second balls.
The Philadelphia Union is one of the teams with the most box touches so far in the MLS this season, and that is no coincidence.
The situation here concludes with a cross to league top-scorer Tai Baribo, who heads it in at the near post, showcasing how quick and dangerous this team truly is.
Counterattacking Class
When it comes to the attacking phase, Carnell also draws heavily on the Red Bull philosophy that Ralf Rangnick invented in Salzburg.
As previously stated, possession is not valued that highly in Philadelphia Union this season so far.
There are coaches like Pep Guardiola who would bet their lives on possession being the most important aspect of the game, but Carnell is among those who view possession as a tool, not an ideology.
Coaches like Jürgen Klopp or Rangnick believe that the best moment to score a goal is immediately after winning the ball; therefore, these coaches strive to create as many such moments as possible and then attack with intensity.
Carnell is one of these coaches.
Here, we can see a situation late in the game against Inter Miami when Philadelphia Union held a one-goal lead over the Florida team.
Philadelphia Union is forcing Miami towards the wing and is still ready to defend forward from there on.
The moment the ball is played into their formation, Carnell has all his men recognise this as a pressing trigger, and the near-sided defenders all move forward.
This puts immediate pressure on the Miami midfielder, who has his back turned towards the goal, allowing Philadelphia Union to control the situation far away from their own goal.
They manage to stay active at all times to create these little moments of chaos, where they can force their opponents into mistakes and then attack when they are still in their attacking shape.
Here, they force a bad pass and then get into a defensive duel that pokes the ball free, which Philadelphia Union’s midfield easily collects.
When other coaches now prefer possession to free up some time on the clock, Carnell wants his men to stay aggressive and attack with their first pass.
Instead of playing it square or backwards, Philadelphia Union plays a long ball down the line, releasing their winger in a running duel.
With their extremely pacey wingers, they often manage to get in behind the defensive line with this pattern of play.
The other players again make runs into the centre of the defence.
Baribo, especially, is using his pace in these situations to get open on the counterattacks.
As seen in the picture above, he has an excellent feel for these runs and managed to get open here once again.
Just like in the first situation, Philadelphia Union breaks through on the wing, and the moment they get in behind the defensive line, they cross the ball into the box.
Baribo gets to the cross here again at the near-sided position but misses the big chance.
Still, they managed to transition from winning the ball to a high-profile opportunity in just seconds, demonstrating the clear principles that Carnell has instilled in his men during the counterattacking phase.
Red Bull Style Of Defending
While their approach, which involves long balls and counterattacks, has proven to be very efficient for the team from the East Coast, the most important thing to get those tactical measures going is their work against the ball.
Carnell and his men are facing the second-lowest number of shots against them in the MLS this season and allowed the fourth-lowest amount of expected goals against.
You would only be half correct if you expect Philadelphia Union to be an uber-aggressive pressing team.
Examining their shape against the ball, it is a typical Red Bull move once again.
Carnell’s favourite formation, which he has used in all the games this season so far, is a 4-2-2-2 formation, a typical Red Bull football formation that has been in use for years now.
Looking at the picture, we can clearly see that shape.
Instead of playing an aggressive attacking press, Carnell has his men fall back into midfield most of the time, however.
The Philadelphia Union keeps its block very compact, with low distances, and utilises its two strikers to cut off the supply to its opponents’ midfielders.
They do not attack before the ball enters midfield.
In the picture above, the trigger was a carry into midfield by a centre-back.
Just after that, the two-man strike partnership decides to attack the ball.
They do that by guiding their opponent to one side, keeping the centre of the field closed and then triggering the midfield press.
The moment they get the ball out to the full-back, they trigger the press within fractions of a second.
All players still move in a block.
Bradley Carnell style of play really values compactness against the ball, but the players are more aggressive now.
The far-sided striker and central midfielder are now cutting off the options to switch play for the full-back, who instantly gets pressed by the Philadelphia Union full-back before he even receives the ball.
The near-sided central midfielder and winger are now crowding the area, creating a numerical advantage and forcing more pressure on the Dallas player, who has even turned his face towards his own goal.
This allows Philadelphia Union to exert a lot of pressure on the ball while still cutting off the centre of the field, which is very important to Carnell and often prevents opposing teams from building up their play in a controlled way.
However, this time, they failed to cover off the diagonal backwards passing option because the two strikers gambled on a straight backwards pass.
Still, the team adheres to the clear principles they were given.
Once again, they shift from side to side in their block, with the far-sided winger keeping the pressure high by pressing forward and the midfielders pendeling to the left side, cutting off the pass to the midfield while still securing the space behind the first line of press.
Philadelphia Union does not just have one plan and breaks down once that does not work out for them; they are always prepared in the phase against the ball.
FC Dallas is able to play around the press in this situation and manages to go down the wing.
The Philadelphia Union is still not phased by that.
Carnell has his men fall into a deep block now, with eight players behind the ball once it reaches the final third, once again employing their 4-2-2-2 formation, this time more in a 4-4-2 shape.
This allows them to keep the block compact again, with their small distances, they manage to shift to their left defensive side and defend a potential cross.
They still have the numbers advantage in and around the box, and in the end, they manage to defend the attack easily at the edge of their box.
With the fourth-highest challenge intensity and the third-highest passes per defensive action, Bradley Carnell coaching style has brought the intense Red Bull way of defending to the Philadelphia Union with him.
They have clear principles in the press, and their high work rate is a key factor in their defensive success so far this season.
Conclusion
I enjoy discussing the Red Bull approach to playing football and its impact on the footballing world.
Philadelphia Union are succeeding with a Red Bull philosophy because the club has a clear identity and works to maintain it, from its sporting director to its head coach to its assistant coach.
Everyone is aligned with their vision for the way the team should play the game.
This vision clearly encompasses many ideas that these three key figures derived from their past experiences at three different Red Bull clubs, and it’s evident.
With their good work, compactness against the ball, and a clear plan in the press, Bradley Carnell has set up his team for success.
Out of this strong defensive structure, they have built an attacking identity that revolves around pace, intensity, counter-pressing, counterattacks, and crosses, which has proven very efficient for them.
Another strong suit is their set pieces, although we didn’t examine them in this piece.
Given the current pace, it is impressive how quickly Carnell has achieved success in Philadelphia.
It will be interesting to see if they can keep up with Inter Miami for the entire season.
