Philadelphia weren't perfect, but they ground out enough wins to claim the Shield – and are set up well for playoff success

The confetti has been swept off the field. The grass has been cut. The lines have been redrawn. The beer bottles have been cleaned out of the locker room. It has been almost a week since the Philadelphia Union won the Supporters' Shield. Midfielder Jovan Lukic still claims it was the best day of his life. 

"I wasn't drunk in the moment or something. So I can say that for sure," Lukic told GOAL. This is my first professional career trophy. So for me, you work since the age of six and through the things in all your life for these moments."

That night, last Saturday, after Philadelphia beat NYCFC, 1-0, Lukic stayed out on the pitch long after everyone else had left. The 22-year-old helped the groundskeepers sweep up confetti. He sat there on the Subaru Park turf, taking in the moment. And why shouldn’t he? The Union had clinched the Supporters' Shield. They had collected the most points over the course of a long, grueling season. In most of Europe's top competitions, this would be winning the league. 

For Lukic, that was the pinnacle of soccer. A Serbian-born midfielder, who joined Philadelphia this year, this was the peak of the sport. 

MLS, of course, makes this thing a bit difficult to celebrate. The Supporters’ Shield is a strange concept – a trophy awarded to the team that gets the most points in a league, of which the real “winner” is decided by the unpredictability of knockout soccer in the playoffs. Lukic doesn’t care. Neither do the Union. This has been a deserved thing, a vindication of sorts for a team that didn’t spend in the offseason, pushed towards the top of the Eastern Conference, hung in there, and never let go. 

"It was a celebration, and we're obviously very excited, and we're very happy," midfielder Indy Vassilev said to GOAL. "You know, we did it for ourselves, for our family, for the fans, for the city, and it feels really good." 

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This felt all like quite a Philadelphia win, when you think about it. This is, after all, a blue-collar place, one traditionally of grit, hard work. Think Rocky and the Art Museum steps, its history as a manufacturing hub, and cheesesteaks. Somewhere in that, there's room for a soccer team that doesn't really take any stick either. 

"I don't mind saying we've had a lot of blue-collar wins, just like, f*cking put your feet in the ground and just grind it out," Vassilev said.

There is a concept in soccer of being "good title winners." You hear it a lot in the European game. Elite seasons are built on comfortable scorelines and topped off by dramatic victories to take a side over the line. And the Union were the very definition of that. They only won five games by more than two goals (two of those came against D.C. United). Their longest winning streak was just four games. They mixed in seven draws. Only three Eastern Conference playoff teams tallied more. 

Perhaps it's not the most glamorous sentiment in a game that is more finesse-based than ever. But that's kind of the point. They were reliable in a league that is inherently frantic.

"We kind of go by five or six game blocks," Vassilev explained. "But even within those five or six game blocks, the mentality is the next game. And once you win the next game, you do a review on the next game." 

AdvertisementGetty Images SportThe big results

But of course, there were some signature moments here. Every league-winning season needs them. Vassilev and Lukic can refer to any number of performances. Late wins stand out. On May 14, they were down 2-0 to LA Galaxy at home – and not playing particularly well. Yet three second half goals, including a 96th-minute winner from striker Tai Baribo, sealed a season-defining victory. A similar result against Toronto comes to mind.

"There were many games where we won late. Obviously, there was the LA game where we're down to zero, we ended up winning it late at home. There was a Toronto game where we scored two late goals and we win 2-1 away from home," Vassilev said. 

Ultimately, that might just come down to certain collegiality.

"Even if it's not the best in that moment, we fight for each other, then the quality comes again. I think that's the key at the end of the day," Lukic said.

It helps, also, that the Union have quality all over the pitch. Baribo has bagged 16 goals in the league this year. Kai Wagner might be the best left back in MLS. Olwethu Makhanya, 21, is an elite central defender.

ImagnA bit unsteady at times

There were moments of adversity, too. 

"There are others where we're up 2-1 against Columbus, and we lose on a corner kick in the last minute of the game. So we dropped two points there," Vassilev said. 

Still, the point is that the Union were able to rebound.

"You can nitpick the whole season, where all we could have won points here, or, you know, we shouldn't have dropped points there. But I think credit to the group, because we genuinely did take it as the next game is the most important," he said. 

If anything, it might just have made them battle-hardened for the tougher moments that followed.

"You win like four or five games in a row, then you lose like two games in a row. That happened like three times. And I think that helps us, because we reset in our head," Lukic said. "It's the key at the end of the day. I think that bad moments, like the losses and that things, we change in a good way. That's the reason we are on top of the table right now." 

That makes the difference in this league. There is quality everywhere, especially in a loaded Eastern Conference. Miami have the best player to ever lace up his football boots, and were outside of a spot for home field advantage for long stretches. Even the worst teams have good players they can turn to at any minute. The difference, then, is mentality. And the Union had it. 

GettyWhat does this thing mean?

But there are some questions worth asking here. Lukic sees the Supporters' Shield as the pinnacle. It was the type of soccer he was raised on. They won the league, and there is no higher honor than that. But MLS, historically, doesn't tend to value this kind of thing. Supporters' Shield winners are largely forgotten. In the scope of things, it's MLS Cups that stand out. 

This is an American sports thing in general. Few remember which teams had the best regular season record in Major League Baseball in 2021. They could tell you, though, that the Atlanta Braves won the World Series. 

Whether or not that's fair is up for debate. 

"To be like first of 30, not even like in our conference, it's first of 30 teams. For me, that's the biggest success," Lukic said. 

Yet at the same time, he and the Union understand the importance of playoffs. It's part of the American psyche, and what makes MLS unique in the global sphere.

"I respect that way of thinking in America. It is like that. Even in the NBA, playoffs are like more fun and everything," Lukic said.