All on the line in playoff battle with Red Bulls
CHESTER >> The history doesn’t need to be explained to Jim Curtin. He knows the Philadelphia Union have never won a playoff game. Knows that Sunday will be the first playoff affair in Chester since 2011. Knows the club’s record (0-7) and his record (0-5) in MLS Cup playoff games and U.S. Open Cup finals.
But the Union manager is also aware that once the opening whistle sounds against the New York Red Bulls Sunday afternoon at 3, none of that history will mean much.
“This is a big step,” Curtin said Wednesday. “You want to be playing in these games. You want to set yourself up for a home game, and now the next step is to take advantage of it.
“At the end of the day, it’s 90 minutes. We’ve played some really good soccer this year. And the challenge for our guys is to have this be the best 90 minutes of soccer they’ve played all season. If that’s the case, the results and those types of things take care of themselves.”
To take that step, the third-seeded Union need only do one more time what they’ve done all season: Play like one of the best teams in MLS. Having seen the long sweep of the Union’s growth, Curtin has been confident in two regards. First, that his club will bring their best performance. And second, that that will be enough.
Breaking that into granular aspects is more complex for the Coach of the Year finalist. It’s complicated on his side by the injury to Kacper Przybylko, officially listed as questionable with a stress
reaction in his left foot. The German striker, tied for fifth in MLS with 15 goals, trained partially Friday, and the Union are likely prepping contingencies for a lineup with and without Przybylko.
Other game-plan points are more holistic. The Union have allowed goals in 20 of 21 outings; a long overdue clean sheet would be welcomed. Then there’s the thorny issue of slow starts: The Union have conceded first in five of the last six games. An early goal can change the complexion, and the Union are not at their best when chasing.
“We can’t give up dumb early goals,” captain Alejandro Bedoya said. “When we do that, it gives us an uphill battle and a big one to climb. Especially at home, if we could start like (we play) in the last 20-30 minutes of the second half, match their intensity, keep it at 0-0, bring us into the game and let our soccer take over, we’ll be better off. We can’t have Red Bull come in here and not match their intensity and even give up maybe a fluky goal here or there.”
Tactically, the No. 6 Red Bulls doesn’t offer a ton of the Union. Daniel Royer has 11goals and six assists for New York. Kaku has two goals and one assist over the last 10games for the Red Bulls. LAST 10GAMES: Union: 5-4-1, averaging 1.7 goals, 1.5 assists, 4.9 shots on goal and 5.3corner kicks per game while allowing 1.4goals per game.