After a slow start, Borek Dockal came alive at the end of July, collecting three assists in his final two matches. The Czech playmaker added four key passes against Atlanta to open the month and another four against Los Angeles Galaxy in a losing effort. Only against Chicago’s brutally annoying man-marking scheme did the creator struggle, but the Union still found a way to win.
Dockal has been revelatory this season, turning a position of weakness into one of strength. His consistency and the mutual understanding he has developed with Ale Bedoya and Haris Medunjanin have helped steer the Philly toward the possession-based system they want to use to dominate opponents.
Few games sum up the importance of Dockal to the Union better than the away win at Houston to round out July. The Dynamo used an impressive pressing scheme to prevent Philly from finding Dockal behind the home side’s midfield, so there were long stretches in which the player who so enjoys being on the ball saw none of it. But on both sides of halftime, Haris Medunjanin squeezed accurate passes into the playmaker’s feet, and Dockal was always ready to make the most of those moments. First he poked the ball into the box for Ale Bedoya’s opener. Then, in the second half, dockal fooled the Dynamo defense with a cutback throughball for Cory Burke, who netted the winning goal.
Often, Dockal is lauded as a volume player. He will keep trying audacious passes to break lines even when they don’t connect. But against Houston, the Czech man only had two moments, and he made the most of them, showing off his ability to impact a tight match even when he doesn’t dominate the ball. And that is why fans voted Borek Dockal the Philadelphia Union Player of the Month in July.
