A brief interview with Kai Wagner, the Philadelphia Union’s left back, on the defense and goalkeeper situations, his accomplishments, and the outlook for the rest of the season, including the newly signed striker Sam Adeniran. Also, why Kai has been one of the best players not only this season for the Union, but in team history, and a constant in a tumultuous season.
Main article of Kai Wagner photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
After training today ahead of the home match tomorrow versus Nashville, I was able to sit down and chat with the Union’s stalwart defender who, despite all the commotion about certain other players on the team recently, deserves recognition for perhaps being the most consistently strong player in a season of inconsistencies. Indeed, when you look at the changes in the back line with various combinations of Jakob Glesnes, Jack Elliott, Damion Lowe, and even Nate Harriel filling in at center back, plus Olivier Mbaizo at times at right back, plus the absence of Andre Blake requiring Oliver Semmle and Andrew Rick to step in, the one constant has been Kai Wagner. It should come as no surprise that he also has the most minutes played on the team this season according to stats on the Union’s website.
Training on 7/19/24. Photos by Jillian Almoney
As much as I would’ve liked to have talked with Kai in his native German since I do understand and speak it decently after learning it many years in school, my skills are not to where I’d like them so I get it when players still use a translator to make sure the message gets across correctly. His English is impeccable, by the way. They do seem to teach language so much better in Europe than the United States, but that’s a topic for a another day, so I digress. I had a nice conversation with Kai on the defensive struggles, his notable stats, and the team moving forward in the season.
Full interview audio: Kai Wagner on 7/19/24
Transcript: (some parts edited for clarity)
So first off, congrats on the win. What was the mood with the team after a convincing win like that? And for you, is that a boost as well to contribute three assists to the victory plus a few heads up defensive plays?
Kai Wagner: Of course, a little bit of relief, but I said straight after the game, it’s one win now and if you don’t follow it up against Nashville, it doesn’t mean anything. So I said, we still, we have to stay humble. You should not be too high on that. We should just see that the rest of the season gets better than the last couple games, the last half of the season. So just have to keep going, get the wins, get some momentum going and get the win against Nashville and then be ready for Leagues Cup.
So 31 assists in three seasons in MLS play. So at this point, when you see a stat like that, what goes through your mind? And how do you stay grounded knowing there’s still work to be done this season?
KW: No just really, really proud of myself. And you see where I’m coming from from, third league in Germany to accomplish such a big accomplishment just means a lot to me, helps me a lot. I know I was just reading I need two more assists and I pass Sebastian Le Toux. So I mean, the season is like, a lot of games left for me. I want to accomplish that this season. That just makes me really proud.
Yeah, that’s incredible. Having Andre back in net on Wednesday, was there a boost of confidence that he brought to the back line being out there?
KW: Of course, I mean, Andre’s talking a lot, helps the back line to communicate more as well. I’ll say it was not easy for our other two goalkeepers, because there was a stretch where we didn’t play good. In the last couple seasons, when our other goalie would step in, it would be easier for them too. So it’s not just about Andre, but I think it was a big boost coming to the team.
And as a defender, having three keepers in net this season… is it more difficult for the defense to have that much switching of keepers?
KW: It’s always like, also, I don’t like it when we switch up the back line a lot because we can’t get used to the different players and stuff like this. But this happens with the amount of games, also with Andre’s absence now, but I think both goalies did often, also still a really good job. I mean, we also didn’t make it easy for them, the whole team. But I mean, they had to step in. It’s a little bit unfair for them sometimes, too, especially for, I would say for Oli [Semmle] coming down from a USL team, makes a couple great saves and a couple small mistakes, but that he is not used to, but just for overall I’m still proud of them and the jumps they’ve taken.
And with really 10 games left in the regular season, do you feel confident that this team can get into the playoffs, that it can surprise teams? And do you still feel that this team needs to add more during the current transfer window?
KW: Well I just said a couple of weeks ago that we need to add more. I’m happy that we added added a striker now and I think what Sam [Adeniran] can bring to the club is a lot of pace, especially a speed guy in front who can also help me a little bit more. Because, I’m really used to, like play a ball behind the back line or just have a guy in the rocks was present there. So I think to add him it was really good from the club but I think we just have to keep going, we have to push. It’s not in our own hands. But we have to win all the games we have to have a good chance to push into playoffs.
Looks like you had a good time with your “Train Like a Pro” camp? How did you like that?
KW: (Smiling) Yeah, that was really good. A lot of fun.
Yeah, look liked the kids enjoyed it. So yeah, I think that’s really great you’re doing that. Thank you so much for your time. Best of luck tomorrow.
Yes, for those not aware, Kai is running a soccer camp for kids this summer along with fellow German teammates Leon Flach and Oliver Semmle, so he is also in a coaching role in addition to playing. One thing I know about being a youth sports coach myself, it can make you introspective of your own performance in addition to being a rewarding venture.
The Union will look to keep the momentum rolling after their resounding 5-1 win over New England when they face Nashville tomorrow, and it will be worth keeping an eye on Kai’s assist numbers. Speaking of which…
Some stats on Kai
As the most frequent taker of corner kicks and free kicks in the attacking third, and the Union having so many goals from set pieces this season, it should come as no surprise that Kai leads the team in assists for the season (10). This includes secondary assists, of which there were 3. Either way, he has the most assists amongst defenders in MLS (via whoscored.com). He is also 2nd in the league in key passes (71), only behind Lucho Acosta according to FBref.com, and is 10th for most tackles won for defenders (40) according to whoscored.com. He has 12 big chances created, 4th most in MLS and is first amongst defenders. As Kai mentioned, he is close to breaking Le Toux’s record for assists (50) with the Union, and currently has 49 career assists. Having his third career hat trick of assists on Wednesday certainly helped propel him closer, and earned him a spot on the MLS “Team of the Matchweek.” With the number of games left, his chances look pretty good to hit at least 51.
The Kai to Tai connection
While Tai Baribo is on fire right now and has six goals in six games, coupled with that is Kai Wagner’s ball placement that is so often on point. In the game at Toronto, the Union’s lone goal, Kai sent in the ball on a free kick that was rocketed into the goal by Tai on a header. Against New England Revolution at home, Tai had a hat trick, and Kai had a hat trick of assists, capped off by a beautifully placed ball that Tai put in the net. With Kai and Tai clicking, as well as Mikael Uhre getting in sync with Tai and a new striker option that Kai is optimistic about, it will be interesting to see what kind of offensive output there is in the coming games.
The other half of our TOTWAO team, Kyle Almoney, asked Coach Jim Curtin in his postgame presser after the New England match about Kai’s accomplishment of 31 assists over the last 3 seasons. Jim responded:
“For a left back to contribute as much as he does on the offensive side is impressive. We all know about his service off of dead balls, but when he has a striker that moved like Tai did tonight, he can pick them out… also picked out Jakob [Glesnes] pretty good on one of the free kicks as well. Kai’s service is really dangerous, and it’s great for not only for me a top defensive left back also to contribute the amount of assists he does in getting forward. He’s one of our best chance creators, probably our best chance creator when Jack McGlynn’s not on the field.”
With Jack McGlynn away at the Olympics, Kai will definitely need to continue with the chance creation, and continue to provide a much needed spark.
The Union host Nashville on Saturday, 7/20 at Subaru Park at 7:30 PM. Follow Jillian Almoney on X at @silly__jilly and @totwag for updates and more!
Special thanks to Todd Lewis for contributing clips and stats.
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