Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Sullivan’s start a launching pad for 2024
Tuesday’s performance against Saprissa is the latest step in midfielder’s maturation
In his usually colorful way, Alejandro Bedoya was ready to celebrate with Quinn Sullivan Tuesday night.
The day before the Union’s CONCACAF Champions Cup opener with Deportivo Saprissa, the veteran midfielder and his 19-year-old protégé had conferenced. Sullivan’s class in the box, particularly a rocket shot, can be a difference maker. But Bedoya wanted the Homegrown, especially in moments when the game was stretched, to take a beat before defaulting to the shot and see if he could get his teammates involved instead.
When Sullivan brilliantly did so in the 78th minute, passing up the chance to take a defender 1-v-1 to square to Daniel Gazdag, leading to Julian Carranza’s game-winner, Bedoya was there to mob him with praise.
“I went straight to him and said, Quinn, we talked about this yesterday,” Bedoya said Thursday. “Calm, cut it back, keep your head up, and he played it back to Daniel. I feel like in the past, he would’ve shot, because he’s got a great shot. Quinn can rip a ball. But he cut it back, and that goal was such a prototypical Union goal.”
Tuesday’s performance is the latest step in Sullivan’s maturation. He assembled a strong outing before two secondary assists in the second half to power a 3-2 win over the Costa Rican giants.
It underscores that Sullivan is a different type of midfielder than Bedoya, or than Jesus Bueno, or than fellow 19-year-old Homegrown Jack McGlynn. But he’s both adapting to a new role and using his personal style to impact a dynamic midfield.
“That’s where I feel most like myself,” Sullivan said. “I think my best position in this formation is in midfield. I think it was a really good preseason for me to be able to play that position fully.”
Getting a start so quickly is significant. Sullivan has had good preseasons before, but minutes haven’t followed. Last season, he started three games before leaving in May for the Under-20 World
Cup. He had one start in April of 2022 and one in the U.S. Open Cup before international duty that May. He’s played 1,443 MLS minutes the last three seasons, with five goals and two assists.
But the landscape has changed. The Union cleared the runway for players like Sullivan, which included initial whispers of not bringing back Bedoya, then an agreement to return the 36-year-old club captain in a limited role. They agreed that Sullivan, who has excelled with the U.S. as a wide forward in a 4-3-3, should focus on midfield, on the side of the diamond in the 4-4-2.
The early returns are promising.
“It was a really good preseason,” Sullivan said. “I thought I really performed at a really high level. I think heading into the game, I felt confident. But when I found out I was in the starting lineup, it was certainly a positive and an enjoyable experience, but I knew that starting the first game doesn’t mean that the job’s over. I still have to earn it week in and week out.”
Sullivan grew up most comfortable at the No. 8 spot in midfield, though usually paired, in a formation like a 4-2-3-1, with an out-andout holder. The No. 8 in the diamond imposes nuanced differences in positioning, ground to cover and in how to counterpress.
Last year, because of depth and the fact that Sullivan’s difference-making skill is a clinical touch in the box, he wasn’t considered for midfield until late in the season. Instead, he vied for minutes at forward. He’s not a pure striker, nor is he an outright No. 10. To get minutes, either the formation would have to change (unlikely), or Sullivan would have to adapt.
He’s been willing to modify his game. Desire and fitness were never question. He’s still improving on the rudiments of positioning and defensive posture that are so important to coach Jim Curtin, which is to be expected even for players his age used to midfield.
“The coaches never really were in question of whether I would work hard enough,” Sullivan said. “But I really focused this preseason on my defensive positioning and where to be and the pressing cues, which I think I had down pretty well, but just locking it in was important.”
Sullivan was involved in two goals in Costa Rica, the first with a great slipped through ball to Gazdag. Both times, Carranza was left with tap-ins.
“He made, I thought, two really mature plays for a young player,” Curtin said. “… Two composed plays that I count as assists, the pass that leads to the pass that leads to the goal. Really good, mature plays from him. I think you’ll see when the game opens up and stretches and he has those fresh legs still, because he doesn’t get tired, that can be a real weapon, late in games especially. “
Sullivan gives the Union real options in terms of style in midfield. He doesn’t play like Bedoya, a winger who can get to the byline and create overlaps with the right back. McGlynn, on the left, tends to drift deep to find space to serve balls with his sumptuous left foot. Sullivan plays more like Bueno, who is good at dribbling into the final third and taking guys on.
It’s only a start, Sullivan knows. But it provides a platform to keep pushing on.
“I feel super comfortable in that role,” Sullivan said. “Hopefully I keep playing it throughout the season and keep getting good results for the team and for myself.”