After building the Union into a title contender, Ernst Tanner takes in his team’s success

LOS ANGELES — This is the moment for which the Union hired sporting director Ernst Tanner four years ago.

Playing in Major League Soccer’s championship game against star-studded Los Angeles FC on Saturday (4 p.m., Fox29, Univision 65, and TUDN) won’t just be a showcase for the team’s great young academy products. It won’t just be proof that Tanner’s under-the-radar foreign signings are among the best in MLS. And it won’t just be a moment for an often-overlooked team in one of America’s biggest cities to show itself off on a big stage.

It will be all of those things at once and more. And what it really will show is that if the league had a front-office executive of the year award, Tanner would be on a multiyear winning streak.

“In particular with what happened last year, it’s even more satisfying,” Tanner told The Inquirer as he watched Friday’s practice at Banc of California Stadium. “It’s not normal for Philadelphia, and that’s how we should consider it. And to measure with these gigantic clubs like LAFC — we’re so happy to be here, but at the same time, don’t just want to be here. We want to win as well.”

While the Union aren’t the favorite on L.A.’s home turf, they’re no ordinary underdog, either. They matched LAFC’s Supporters’ Shield-winning points total (67), scored the most goals in the league this year (72), and conceded so few that it set a record (26).

» READ MORE: The Union and LAFC bring out the best in each other. Now they’re playing for a championship.

The players play the games, of course, and manager Jim Curtin coaches them from the sidelines. But the team as a whole is Tanner’s creation.

“There is a reason why we have four [players in] MLS’s Best XI,” Tanner said. “We have been playing an outstanding season. … The season is not going to be decided either in the middle of the summer or the beginning of the season. The season is decided at the end, and we are there, definitely.”

Tanner couldn’t help musing about LAFC’s big spending, and their four big signings this summer: Gareth Bale, Giorgio Chiellini, Cristian Tello, and Denis Bouanga.

That prompted a reminder that MLS fined Tanner in July for publicly questioning how LAFC was able to fit them all under the salary cap.

“I know,” he said with a smile. But his unprompted remarks were amply polite.

“If you look at the financials, if you look at the fact that they brought in a couple of DPs and the real famous Europeans,” Tanner said, “it’s two TAM players, it’s two DPs they brought in, so that’s very meaningful — and it’s a significant change in the middle of the season. And that’s a reason why they are clear favorites.”

» READ MORE: Union original Jordan Harvey is excited for two of his former teams to meet in MLS Cup

While the TV networks dream of Bale or Carlos Vela scoring the title-winning goal, the Union don’t lack for firepower.

Start with striker Mikael Uhre, who has justified being the most expensive player in Union history. The big Dane has 13 goals and seven assists this year after missing the preseason because of visa issues and some early-season games because of injury.

“Otherwise he could have probably scored more than 20 goals,” Tanner said. “And that there is some space for improvement even with him. And he knows that, and we are going to look forward that he can do that as well.”

Then there’s midfield playmaker Dániel Gazdag, who has exceeded even the team’s high expectations for their starter at soccer’s most famous position. He has 23 goals and six assists this year, and has played so well that he’s kept rising star Paxten Aaronson off the field.

“He was not at full strength last season, and, even so, he scored a couple of goals and he made some assists,” Tanner said of Gazdag. “But what is more important, even for our system, is that he’s a real workhorse, and he is working his [rear] off on defense as well. He might not be the most flashy player, but, for our system, for our team, he is so important, you cannot imagine.”

» READ MORE: Four Union players make Major League Soccer’s team of the season

There also will be a big spotlight on academy-bred midfielder Jack McGlynn. The 19-year-old from New York City has been this year’s big revelation and has had to step up even more with Alejandro Bedoya injured. He’s likely to start Saturday, and fans who follow American prospects will be watching him closely.

“He is still a young player who has to work a lot and improve in certain areas, but the abilities — in particular what he can do with the ball — it’s special. It’s extraordinary,” Tanner said.

The same can be said of McGlynn’s soccer IQ and his coolness under pressure. He showed it last year with a penalty kick in the conference semifinal win over Nashville, and he showed it this year coming off the bench for Bedoya in the conference final win over New York City FC.

“You have written about the ice in the veins on the penalty,” Tanner said. “He’s a pretty cool guy for his age.”

» READ MORE: Union manager Jim Curtin played in the last MLS Cup final between No. 1 seeds, 19 years ago

McGlynn will be one of many Union players watched closely by European teams set to open their checkbooks this winter. It will almost surely be Kai Wagner’s last game, with Leeds United and other suitors waiting. Olivier Mbaizo is a strong candidate to be sold too, as he waits to become the first active Union player to go to a World Cup.

And news broke Friday that another player is leaving, one who wasn’t as expected. No one on the Union wanted to talk about it Friday, but multiple sources across the soccer world confirmed reports that Aaronson is off to join his brother, Brenden, in Europe.

A deal is in the works for the younger Aaronson brother to join Eintracht Frankfurt, one of Germany’s biggest teams, in January. MLS’ website reported that the initial transfer fee will be $4 million, plus incentives and a sell-on fee for the Union to profit from a future deal.

Frankfurt currently is fifth in the Bundesliga and heading to the round of 16 of the Champions League, two big stages for Aaronson to take in as he adjusts to life abroad.

But before then, there’s one more game to play for his hometown team — and one last shot to match Brenden’s feat of bringing a trophy to Subaru Park.

» READ MORE: Union sporting director Ernst Tanner talks about his life beyond the pitch