Is it win or bust for the Union? Not when a busting might be coming no matter what

It would be easy to say this year’s playoffs are win it all or bust for the Union, after the last two years of heartbreak.

It’s not wrong, because this group of players should have pressure on it to finally win the team’s second-ever trophy. But it also isn’t entirely right. As the playoffs arrive in Chester this weekend, it’s no secret within the Union that the squad will likely be busted up this winter no matter what.

“One way or the other, this isn’t going to be the exact same team as when the season starts next year,” Union manager Jim Curtin said in a news conference Friday at Subaru Park, ahead of Saturday’s series opener against New England (5 p.m., Apple TV, free). “That’s the reality of our sport. So yeah, if you want to call this one ‘The Last Dance,’ ‘The Last Waltz’ if you like music more …”

The expected departures are well-known by now: striker Julián Carranza in a big-money sale abroad, and left back Kai Wagner and midfielder Alejandro Bedoya via free agency.

While fans have accepted Carranza’s likely sale, there’s been an uproar about Wagner and Bedoya. Even Curtin has said repeatedly in public that he hopes there’s a way they can stay, and he said it again Friday.

“I’d love to keep the whole entire group together, because they still are all contributing in a big way, and they’re all winners,” he said.

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They are indeed, for the most part. But there’s a connection to another Philadelphia team here — and it’s not the one whose NLCS collapse makes the Union the next local title hope.

The connection is to the Eagles releasing Brian Dawkins 15 years ago, and the resulting uproar over casting out a hero for being too old.

“We live in a world where people crave transparency and authenticity and a peek behind the curtain — and that was what Dawkins gave the fans of Philadelphia, every damn day,” former Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann wrote in 2012 after Dawkins retired. (Rich was, as usual, correct.)

In 2023, you could sub in Alejandro Bedoya’s name for Dawkins’, and the sentence would be equally as fitting. Bedoya has been a consummate captain for the Union in his eight years here, doing more than anyone else on the field to transform the team’s culture into a serious winning one.

“We’ve had a core group of guys that have produced the most points in this league over the last six seasons,” Curtin said. “The consistency is something that the players deserve all the credit for. You guys know the guys that have logged the minutes and have won the games, and have made the Philadelphia Union become one of the most outstanding franchises in our league, and that’s something that we’re very proud of.”

When the time came for the Eagles’ front office to make an important decision about what was best for the team’s future overall, the brass had to be emotionless. So they were. And they were ultimately proven right.

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Union sporting director Ernst Tanner is undoubtedly an emotionless decision-maker. He’s arguably too emotionless at times, as a brusque conversation with Bedoya on the field after a recent practice showed.

Ideally, the Union shouldn’t cast Bedoya off yet. They should find a peace deal that lets him stay here next year with a reduced salary, and crucially, far less playing time. Quinn Sullivan and Jesús Bueno need to play much more next year, and in Sullivan’s case, this won’t be the first winter where that’s said.

Get Leon Flach’s groin issue fixed with offseason surgery, and he’ll keep improving. And while there will likely be offers for Jack McGlynn, the Union might be able to keep him here through what should be his big star turn at next year’s Olympics.

Wagner’s contract situation also needs some diplomacy. Wagner says he wants to stay but wants a big raise. Tanner is willing to pay the best left back in MLS more, but not as much as a player who has wanted to leave town for each of the last three winters. There’s a way to a solution here too, but the bridge might be too burned to get there. His Instagram post with “The last dance -> Playoffs” late Friday afternoon was a sign.

It may surprise Philadelphia sports fans who don’t follow the Union that Union fans aren’t all that different from anyone else. They fall in love with players, want them to stay forever, and get angry when those players get old and get pushed out. (They also spend plenty of time watching all the other teams in town.)

I sense, though, at least from social media, that a growing number of Union fans know a time for change is coming. Teams that stay stuck in place for too long get passed quickly, and one of these years the Eastern Conference’s biggest spenders — Toronto, Miami, and Atlanta — will stop tripping over themselves. The same goes for front-office flops in Chicago, D.C., and New York.

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It would be great if this current era ended with a trophy. It would be helpful if the owner’s suite helps with the diplomacy, and perhaps puts some more money in the pot to make everyone happy. But as famed Union fan Marc Zumoff might say, an era is coming in for a landing. Now it’s time to see if the Union can use that as motivation to finally win a championship.

“While we’ve flown a little more under the radar this year, and didn’t have the big numbers and the crazy results, and the record-breaking goal-scoring and goals-against-type stuff, I’ll just say this group tends to do well when they are a little bit forgotten,” Curtin said. “I still think we have a really strong team, and they’re motivated. I think they’re ready to go.”

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And there will be nothing wrong if Curtin plays the chip-on-the-shoulder card, as the Union and every other sports team in town loves to do. Even some of the teams that play against Philadelphia these days do it.

“Every team during a playoff run, any special run, tries to create some version of ‘It’s us against everybody,’ right? I’m not the first coach to do that,” Curtin said. “You always hear that when these teams all of a sudden arise from nowhere. The Diamondbacks [were the] most recent one, where they feel like they weren’t respected or whatever it might be.”

Whoops, sorry about that, Phillies fans. Maybe the Union can help after all.

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