Against KC, Union aims to close Open wounds
CHESTER >> Sporting Kansas City’s last visit to Chester is indelibly etched in Jim Curtin’s mind.
The pain of that evening 11 months ago in the final of the U.S. Open Cup lingers for the Union. Even if the key figures of those devastating moments — Andrew Wenger’s grimace after being stoned in the shootout’s eighth round; Jordi Quintilla’s sprint from the spot after slotting home the trophy-winner — won’t take part in the return engagement, the sentiment remains fresh.
“Our fans will remember that heartbreak forever. I’ll remember it forever,” Curtin said Friday at training. “It’s still in your mind. But it’s entirely different teams at this stage.”
The two perspectives coexist. It’s likely that no more than five players from that Open Cup final loss will be in the Union’s lineup Saturday night (7, TCN). But the second straight Open Cup heartbreak on home soil fuels the larger narrative this season, where the Union hope to overturn the failures of the past.
To do that, they have to alter some recent trends as well. For months, the Union (10-97, 37 points) had struggled in vain to win games away from home. They’ve turned the tables with consecutive road wins at New England and Columbus. But they’ve temporarily misplaced their steadfastness at home, going without a win at Talen Energy Stadium since July 9, including two straight setbacks.
Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over the Crew improved the Union’s mark in midweek MLS games to 3-0-2 this year. But the comeuppance for that success is a paltry 0-4-2 mark in weekend games immediately following Wednesday night affairs, including Open Cup ties.
Meshing together those two positives is the logical objective.
“We’ve shown that we can be fit,” Curtin said. “Now the next step is putting together a solid three games in a row. Even though Toronto was a loss, we still had some good moments from it and moments where we learned a lot.”
Attaining a result against Sporting KC (11-11-5, 38 points) also requires upending gloomy history against the Western Conference. The Union are 0-5-3 in inter-conference affairs, mercifully with just two left.
“It’s a tough one to put your finger on,” Curtin said. “We have not been good — it’s no secret — against the Western Conference teams. I don’t have an answer for why that is because I think we have a strong team and for whatever reason, we haven’t gotten results against the Western Conference. We’ll look to change that tomorrow.”
The bright side is that SKC hasn’t had much success away from home, going 2-7-4 on the road. They played a mostly reserve side in Tuesday’s CONCACAF Champions League loss to Vancouver, necessitated in part by a raft of injuries. Starting goalie Tim Melia (back) remains out, as do defenders Lawrence Olum (ab), Chance Myers and Nuno Coelho (hamstring), and Seth Sinovic (ankle).
Add in Kevin Ellis’ suspension for violent conduct and Ike Opara’s race to recover from an ankle injury, and Graham Zusi deputizing at right back could be one of the easiest options for coach Peter Vermes to fill the voids. Yet somehow, KC remains stingy, having allowed just 30 goals in 27 games, the fifthbest total in MLS.
With Benny Feilhaber (one goal, three assists in his last four matches) in a good vein of form to complement Dom Dwyer and his 12 goals this season, SKC remains a formidable side to try and stop.
The Union, meanwhile, will likely be without the services of Ilsinho (foot), who trained partially Friday after missing Wednesday’s game. Brian Carroll also remains on the road to recovery from his plantar fasciitis but participated fully Friday.
The Jamaica and goalie Andre Blake can’t return from Panama City Sept. 2 with some kind of result, their hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup will be dashed with two barren years to go.
That’s the understanding Blake carries as he departs next week for the final two fixtures of the fourth round of CONCACAF qualifying.
“It’s big games,” Blake said Friday after Philadelphia Union training. “I think the guys have been in this situation before. I don’t know what the result’s going to be, but I know for sure when it comes down to these situations, the guys go out and give their best. So hopefully their best will be good enough.”
Jamaica sits third in fourteam Group B with four points from four games. It finishes the six-game round robin Sept. 6 with a winnable game at home against bottom-dwellers Haiti. But that could be academic if it can’t eke out at least a draw against second place Panama (2-1-1, 7 points).
Only the top two in each of the three groups advance to the fifth round of qualifying, the Hexagonal.
Blake, who was named to the roster Tuesday along with Bethlehem Steel forward Cory Burke, could have a big say in Jamaica’s ability to progress. The goalie’s next cap will be No. 13. He played all three group-stage games in Jamaica’s brief stay in this summer’s Copa America Centenario, in which Jamaica didn’t score a goal.
“The biggest thing is going to be for us to see how quickly we can get together and start forming that team chemistry,” Blake said. “The greatest thing is that the coach tries to be consistent with the players that come in, so at least it’s not playing with total strangers. So that’s good. We didn’t have a great Copa, so going into the World Cup qualifiers, we know what we have to do, and I don’t think the guys need more motivation.”