Stewart reportedly close to U.S. Soccer move
CHESTER » The Philadelphia Union is on the tongue of people across the American soccer spectrum this week, and its twogame winning streak isn’t exactly the reason.
Reports have linked sporting director Earnie Stewart to an advanced stage of negotiations with U.S. Soccer for its new general manager job, which would see him end a 2½-year stint as the man in charge of the Union’s soccer operations. As the Union prepare to visit rival New York Red Bulls Saturday night (7, PHL17), coach Jim Curtin said it’s not something that has any bearing on his team.
“We’re incredibly fortunate to have him here,” Curtin said Thursday at his weekly press conference. “For him to be in the conversations with U.S. Soccer speaks to the pedigree and quality that he has. I can’t really talk and speculate, what if this happens or this. I try to stay in the moment. Earnie is our leader and a guy that is focused on us beating Red Bull just like I am.”
The topic hasn’t come up with players, many of whom Stewart signed, Curtin said. Stewart has been in Philadelphia this week, attending training session per usual. So Curtin is hopeful that it won’t be a distraction from normal operations.
“The players understand and they see things, but everybody’s remained focused,” he said. “At this time, anything further is just speculation and we really can’t talk that way. We’re focused on the now. … We are focused now on Red Bull, and the players are focused in on that. We saw a good session today, and that is the most important thing, going up to Red Bull to try to get some points.”
The Union (4-5-3, 14 points) have a rare spate of momentum with two straight wins, the last a comprehensive dismantling of Real Salt Lake, 4-1, at Talen Energy Stadium last week. It’s their first span of consecutive league wins in-season since last July. With scuffling Chicago coming to town next week, a result at Red Bull Arena could lead to an extended string of positive outcomes.
The Union face a tough task against the red-hot Red Bulls (73-0, 21 points). They enter fourth in the Eastern Conference, though with games in hand on everyone; they lead MLS in points per game at 2.1. Jesse Marsch’s team has won four straight and five of six. Three of the last four wins have come on the road, including last week’s statement 3-1 win over Atlanta United at Mercedes Benz Stadium. Add the Union’s 1-7-2 all-time record at Red Bull Arena in MLS games, and it’s a tough task.
The spotlight will fall on the Union’s two teenaged center backs, Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty, in what Curtin called their toughest test yet against prolific hitman Bradley Wright-Phillips. He leads the league with eight goals, while Kaku is atop MLS with nine assists.
The challenge is two-fold. Yes, Wright-Phillips is a tremendous scorer who can punish defenses that offer him the narrowest window of space, and do so to a degree that few forwards in MLS ever have. But he’s also the first line of Red Bulls’ signature high press. That could be where Trusty and McKenzie face the toughest task, being put under pressure every time they’re on the ball by a swarming defense designed to create turnovers in dangerous area and spawn quick moves to goal.
“You look at his production, and it’s not just goals,” Curtin said of Wright-Phillips. “He sets their line in terms of pressure and pressing cues. He works so hard. It’s tough to find a combination of a guy who gives you so much production with goals and assists and also has the other side which is the work rate and the leadership that he’s shown on the field.”