Player positioning just one of Curtin’s many quandaries
CHESTER >> Two weeks ago, with his team floundering offensively, Philadelphia Union manager Jim Curtin made the logical switch.
In came Roland Alberg, a defense-averse attacker who simply creates goals. Out went Derrick Jones, the Homegrown rookie who performed well but did little to boost the attack. For a half Saturday against Montreal, when Alberg scored a pair of goals and contributed to a three-goal lead, the decision looked like a masterstroke. But by the end of a 3-3 draw that extended a winless streak to 15 games in all competitions and seven to start 2017, the flip side of the coin was exposed.
With stocks of talent rating on the low end of the league spectrum further inhibited by a virulent confidence deficiency incubating for 240-some winless days, Curtin’s weekly selection task has become increasingly Sisyphean.
“We’re trying to find the best combinations that complement each other, that everyone understands each other’s their strengths and weaknesses,” Curtin said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “We’re still piecing together that puzzle. It hasn’t come off yet in a game. This was obviously the closest we’ve been to having success, so you did see us create three goals, which at home should be enough to get a win. But that balance isn’t quite there.”
This insidious game of whack-a-mole was evident on Ignacio Piatti’s opener for Montreal Saturday. Two minutes after Alberg’s penalty made it 3-0, the Impact midfielder and last year’s MVP finalist drove straight through the heart of the Union defense. With the center backs pinned back by forwards, Piatti penetrated to the top of the 18 then rifled a low shot past goalkeeper Andre Blake.
The area where Piatti executed the soccer equivalent of a savage pull-up jumper is where you’d expect a defensive midfielder to patrol. It’s the spot Haris Medunjanin, said defensive midfielder, gesticulated toward as Piatti bee-lined in. But no one picked up the assignment.
Therein lies Curtin’s catch-22: Absent a forward who creates chances for himself and highscoring wingers, the coach needs a goal threat in both the No. 8 and 10 spots to pack the attacking third. But doing so compromises the side’s defensive mettle, particularly with Medunjanin being quite upfront about his shortcomings in the ball-winning department.
In constructing a team around an unconventional No. 6 and an out-of-position No. 10 in Alejandro Bedoya, the Union have constructed a weekly conundrum that Curtin has yet to solve.
“It has to do with our whole group sliding together and not having it just be one guy who’s responsible or blamed for each goal,” Curtin said. “I do believe that Haris has been one of our best players. I don’t think he’s an issue at all. But at the same time, as a team defensively, we have to do a good job of not allowing the time and space that happened on that goal.”
Medunjanin isn’t going anywhere, his passing ability required to generate danger from the wings. Bedoya isn’t either after delivering his best outing of the season with another crack at Jones’ vacated No. 8 spot.
So the solutions more holistic.
“I think the defense starts up front,” Alberg said. “We have to do a better job to cut off passing lanes. But at the same time it’s a team and we all have to get much better.”
“I don’t think there’s one thing that can push us through it,” Curtin said. “It has to be as a group.” must be
*** For the first time in 42 MLS games, Keegan Rosenberry watched from the bench Saturday.
The 2016 Rookie of the Year runner-up has seen his level of play decline since a peak last summer that included a trip to the All-Star Game, and Curtin thought it best to give him a refreshing rest. While Ray Gaddis performed ably in his stead, Curtin isn’t looking at this as a permanent demotion.
“He’s been a little bit caught between two minds in terms of attack and defending and maybe lacking a little bit of confidence,” Curtin said of Rosenberry. “At the same time, he still is giving maximum effort. I had a talk with him — it’s a hard decision — but decided that in some instances it’s good to mentally, physically... and just the stress of always playing... it’s good to sit back and watch. That sounds like a coach talking, but I have been in those moments and you’re disappointed as a player to watch, but it also can relight a little bit of a fire and it can give you a little bit of a break. …
“If we’re going to get out of this — I’ve expressed that and Keegan and I have talked about it — Keegan’s going part of fighting our it.” to be a big way out of
*** Josh Yaro is running full speed without discomfort in his surgically repaired shoulder, and he did some light technical work with Ken Tribbett off to the side of training Tuesday. But Curtin doesn’t see the second-year center back’s return as imminent.
“Josh has been running very hard, working hard on his fitness,” Curtin said. “Still not cleared to join in training, so that’s hard because you want him back. But at the same time, the doctors have a plan for him.”
Asked specifically about the May 6 game against Red Bulls, Curtin said it’s not realistic to expect Yaro back by then, requiring a week or two of training before game action.