Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Even under new coach, Curtin familiar with the Red Bulls
For his many attributes in seven seasons at the helm of the Philadelphia Union, squad rotation hasn’t always been Jim Curtin’s forte. The reasons, often painted as coaching intransigence, are much more nuanced and not easily explained, especially by a coach reluctant to publicly criticize players.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Union boss has risen to the challenge of five games in 17 days, a stretch the culminates Sunday night at Red Bull Arena, with a proactive approach to resting players.
Some of it, Curtin explained Friday, is the unprecedented nature of 2020. Some of it is his growth as a coach, the third-longest tenured in MLS to boot (which elicited a chuckled at the reminder). And some of it is the depth he’s accrued via the proliferation of talent from the Academy on which the Union are built.
“I think I have more trust in more players,” Curtin said. “I think that’s the easiest way I can put it. It used to be a situation where the drop-off was pretty significant, and yes there’s still a drop-off — that’s why there’s starters and reserves — but I think it’s less. In some instances, especially in Orlando (for the MLS Is Back tournament) in the environment that we had, yeah we did throw some guys out there a little quicker than we normally would because it’s 100 degrees, and guess what, they stepped up and they rose to the occasion. I think that’s been part of the technical staff’s evolution, my evolution, to give more trust to guys. But certainly that trust is earned in training because they’re training very well, too.”
Curtin has shuffled the deck ably for the Union (42-3, 15 points). He’s committed to a three-man rotation at center back, not overtaxing Mark McKenzie and Jack Elliott even as they’ve been excellent, with Jakob Glesnes taking turns. McKenzie didn’t play in last Saturday’s 4-1 win over D.C. United, nor did Ray
Gaddis. Curtin has gone to Olivier Mbaizo and Matt Real at outside back, both to spell Gaddis and give Kai Wagner time to recuperate from the latest in a series of leg knocks.
Up top, Andrew Wooten has proven worthy of starts, even as Sergio Santos and Kacper Przybylko have accounted for nine of the team’s 17 goals.
The midfield remains the location of the least depth but the most irreplaceable players; even given alternatives, Brenden Aaronson, Alejandro Bedoya and Jamiro Monteiro would demand most of the minutes. In Wednesday’s 1-0 loss in Columbus, Bedoya and Aaronson were withdrawn after 60 minutes to look for an attacking spark, providing an unusual respite.
That’s 13 players for nine positions, plus the prosperous platoon of Warren Creavalle and Jose Martinez at holding mid and the wild card of Ilsinho.
Curtin has declared plenty of times the need for a full squad. But his current side has an unusually slight dropoff from starters to reserves. Even if the roster could use midfield reinforcement on the attacking end and/or the return of Cory Burke from visa issues, the notion that the Union aren’t just 11 players deep rings true.
The reasons are myriad. Players have earned Curtin’s trust, but he’s also more confident in what the club has assembled to give that trust.
“We pick things up, when to sub, when is the time to maybe hold a sub and let guys finish, when is a time to be more proactive and get fresh legs out there, when is it time to rotate — all these things are part of everyone’s evolution with the club and I think we’ve taken a big step forward with that and we’ll continue to try to get that right,” Curtin said. “It can still happen where you make a sub this weekend and it can cost us a goal and then it’s back to, I don’t know what I’m doing. So I get the fickleness and the fine line of things, so hopefully we can get more of those things right during the season.”
The depth will be tested by the Red Bulls (3-4-2, 11 points). It’s the last game in the gauntlet before a seminormal week for next Saturday’s visit from New England to wrap up Phase 1.
A weird week in Harrison saw a loss to D.C. United on a goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time, leading to the dismissal of head coach Chris Armas and lead assistant C.J. Brown. The Red Bulls are winless in their last three, sealing Armas’ fate after two years in the job.
Still, the Red Bulls are the Red Bulls, even with interim Bradley Carnell picking the lineup: They’ll press, forsake possession and try to force turnovers they can convert to offense. Curtin admits that the Red Bulls, who the Union beat 1-0 on Aug. 25 at Subaru Park, seem to bring out the best in his team. The challenge is always two-fold: Withstand high pressure and break the line, then devise a way through a structured team defending deep.
“A lot of the faces have changed quite a bit, but the way they play is quite similar,” Curtin said. “They still work and fight for everything, so we’ll need to be tuned in. In terms of familiarity, there’s no secrets. The scouting report from two weeks ago is pretty darn similar.”