Curtin gets defensive in praising his players
CHESTER >> The weekly accolades earned by the Philadelphia Union’s four-game winning streak have naturally gravitated toward the offensive side of the ball, a consequence of placing three players among the MLS leaders in goals and assists.
But Jim Curtin, as a pragmatic manager and former MLS defender, understands the root of that success sprouts from the other end of the field. The Union are in the midst of one of the stingiest stretches in club history, having conceded just one goal in five matches.
The defense serves as a microcosm for the Union’s early-season declarations. While they played passable soccer, even at times better soccer than their opponents in an eight-game winless run, the results didn’t follow. And Curtin’s method of righting the ship eschewed wholesale changes in favor of tinkering. The hallmarks remained the same — high pressure, 4-2-3-1 formation, building from the back and strength in duels, but those strategies required a bit of polish. When applied, a six-game unbeaten run has gleamed.
“You can talk about a couple of little things on the field, but first and foremost it starts with the culture of the club that Earnie (Stewart) has instilled that we’re not going to get too high or get too low,” Curtin said. “We’re going to stick with what we believe in.”
Curtin traces the single biggest change in fortune to a drastic increase in conversion rate on chances in front of goal. But on the defensive end, subtler adjustments have made a world of difference.
Personnel-wise, those haven’t been strictly about talent. Were you to list the Union’s most talented defenders entering 2017, the likely top three (Richie Marquez, Josh Yaro and Keegan Rosenberry) have played peripheral roles, if any, in the surge. But those logging minutes — Ray Gaddis, the out-of-left-field rookie Jack Elliott and the suddenly shorter in the tooth Oguchi Onyewu — have stuck to the principles and executed. Curtin cites a heightened awareness in central midfield positioning, ensuring Haris Medunjanin or Alejandro Bedoya remains fixed in front of the back four as a shield whenever the Union attack, that has diminished chances generated through the middle of the park. They’ve been more conscientious of spacing, Curtin implementing a 35-yard guideline from center forward to center back to prevent stretching. (Caleb Calvert’s goal Saturday precipitated from Colorado moving the ball 80 yards vertically in about 10 seconds.)
The Union stress high pressure to put opponents, particularly defenders, under duress on the ball. Fafa Picault has provided scoring punch from the wing, but his quickness and determination to close down opponents has also made an impact. With Ilsinho redoubling efforts centrally to complement CJ Sapong’s pressure, the Union aren’t tucking wide forwards inside to press, preventing a common distortion.
Curtin also credits “playing the percentages,” i.e. concentrating defensive attention on the other team’s most dangerous playmaker. Repeatedly, Curtin has rattled off the list of primary offensive creators — Jermaine Jones, Sacha Kljestan, Luciano Acosta, Alex, Kevin Doyle — that the Union have successively shackled, which has correlated with their defensive streak.
All those factors serve as possible answers to the ubiquitous question of, “what is missing?” so often bandied about in the first two months. When coupled with the confidence boost of a long-awaited breakthrough in the win column, alleviating the weight of a long barren streak that can induce players to overreach, the soundness of approach and mentality have coalesced into results.
“When it’s not going well … the tendency is to try to do more and help the squad, which is natural, it’s human nature,” Curtin said. “But getting the guys to understand that that’s not when we’re at our best. We’re at our best when everyone is just doing their job. Just do your job is kind of the message. From there, better things start to happen.”
*** Curtin anticipates shipping out to Salt Lake City after Thursday’s training with 19 bodies to allow late flexibility in squad selection, but Roland Alberg is looking increasing unlikely to be among them. Alberg is responding to the injection to treat his quad strain, but the coach admitted, “It’s going to be close. Taking a little longer than I expected.”
Fabian Herbers made way early against Colorado and has been diagnosed with a groin/adductor strain that Curtin estimates will cost the secondyear pro two to four weeks. Curtin has readymade replacement in mind.
“Marcus Epps is more than capable of stepping in,” Curtin said. “And he’s been playing great in Bethlehem, he’s been playing great in training.”
Epps has started seven games with Bethlehem and made the Union bench once, April 8 against Portland.
Josh Yaro (shoulder) continues to make meaningful strides toward a return, upping his fitness with the first team. Curtin is targeting early June to discuss Yaro returning to game action, likely with Steel first. a