Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
There’s plenty of time to ponder worst skid in club history
CHESTER >> The intermission between seasons, however brief, may dampen the impact of Saturday’s loss to Orlando City.
But as the Union succumbed, 2-1, in sunny Florida, the club struck a new low. The loss makes 10 games in MLS sans victory, 11 if you include the playoff cameo last October. Over those 10 regular-season games, dating to the last victory way back on Aug. 27, the Union are 0-6-4.
This stretch of futility surpasses a nine-game winless streak in 2014 as the franchise’s new lowwater mark.
Another team that finished last season on a seven-game losing streak, exited from the wild card round and totes a 10-game winless streak? That would be Real Salt Lake, which this week fired coach Jeff Cassar after an 0-2-1 start to the season.
Union manager Jim Curtin didn’t have much to say on Cassar’s firing beyond regretting the loss of a job for someone that he took coach’s licensing classes with. But with the early struggles and the Union’s difficult schedule, Curtin isn’t shying away from the growing pressure.
“The early schedule was a difficult one for us,” Curtin said Wednesday at his weekly press conference. “It’s one of those things where it’s three out of four on the road. We have to survive this. Would we like to have two more points than we do right now? I think we would. We’d feel a lot better about it.”
On the bright side, Curtin labeled the first half against Orlando City as the only one of the
six his team has played as disappointing in performance, through too many mistakes, sloppy passes and indecision. His team still rallied to even the game after the break before conceding a go-ahead goal to Cyle Larin. But even then, the Union had two bites at the cherry in stoppage time, Ilsinho denied by the post and Alejandro Bedoya by a leaping Joe Bendik.
The home draw with Toronto two weeks ago, even if Curtin is correct in asserting his team deserved a better fate, heaps on the pressure, as does the international bye week to stew on a loss.
It leaves the Union (0-12, 2 points) in a state of suspended animation, with an April 1 trip to D.C. United looming against a similarly struggling team that has yet to score this season. Should the struggles extend, with the Union arriving home for three straight, any slip up in the obvious need to maximize
points at home could kneecap the season before it’s had a chance to take off.
History says the early months are where the groundwork is laid for the Union’s alltoo-rare playoff pushes, with the club historically more apt to build a cushion of points early and withstand a late swoon. Their start seems to trend otherwise.
“It will be nice to have the three-game homestand, but you look at that and those are tough games as well,” Curtin said. “So there’s no easy games in this league at this stage. Taking points early is really valuable and important, so again, as good as it was feeling against Toronto and you get a draw, you kind of in the back of your head think, ‘man, we deserve three.’ And when you don’t take three, that starts to put a little pressure as you move forward because you’ve got to win your home games in this league.”
••• The last time Jay Simpson touched the pitch at Talen Energy Stadium, he was coughing up blood. His spirits were livelier at Union training there Wednesday,
where he went through a full workout with the group for the first time since the Toronto game and reported minimal pain.
Speaking for the first time since his goal and rib contusion/lung bruise against Toronto, Simpson said he’s feeling much better from the incident that sent him to the hospital 10 days ago.
“I didn’t realize until I watched it back, but I got a knock,” Simpson said. “I wasn’t sure if it was an elbow, foot or knee, but watching it back, I realized it was a knee to my ribs by the keeper. I didn’t feel the impact at the time, but it didn’t feel so serious. It was just like a normal knock. That was on that goal. After the restart, trying to sprint, I couldn’t catch my breath back, started a coughing fit and starting coughing up blood, so then I knew something was up.”
On his 11th-minute goal against Toronto, he caught goalkeeper Clint Irwin’s knee to his ribcage but shrugged it off as he celebrated his first MLS goal. Minutes later, as he struggled to breathe, he signaled to the bench to make a change.