Union aim for an electric end to winless skid
CHESTER » Mired in a stretch of five games without a win, the Union is looking for a spark when they host Inter Miami Wednesday night (7:30, PHL17). Yet they will be without a pair of regulars.
That would be Julian Carranza, who is on season-long intra-league loan from Miami and can’t play against them, and Jose Martinez, due to yellow-card accumulation suspension. Off the bat, that means two roles for someone not usually in the lineup, hopefully to shake the Union (5-1-5, 20 points) from an 0-1-4 stretch.
“We need a spark right now,” manager Jim Curtin reiterated Tuesday. “Whether it’s one guy getting hot, multiple guys getting hot, we need a big performance tomorrow in terms of how we create chances and our actions in front of goal.”
Carranza, a casualty of Miami’s harebrained early roster build, has been the Union’s most sustained threat, with four goals and three assists in 700 minutes. He had three goals in 1,200 minutes with Miami in 2020 and 2021.
Not among the options to fill his role is Mikael
Uhre, who continues to recover from a quad issue. Though scans returned no sign of damage, Uhre is still reporting discomfort. He trained individually Tuesday.
“He’s improving but still not quite ready to help us tomorrow,” Curtin said of Uhre.
Those two absences leave Sergio Santos and Cory Burke as the two available forwards should Curtin stick with the 4-4-2 formation. Or he could opt for the 4-3-2-1, used in last week’s U.S. Open Cup loss to Orlando City, with Daniel Gazdag and Paxten Aaronson as twin No. 10s.
As for Martinez, Curtin has repeatedly praised him for his unique ability to hold down the center of the pack as a lone No. 6, the Venezuelan exemplary in his field coverage, combativeness in tackles and passing ability. It’s the combativeness that has him on the sidelines after his fifth yellow card of the season in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with New York Red Bulls.
Curtin’s options for a direct replacement are less than ideal. Leon Flach started at that spot against Orlando City. Jack Elliott could fill it if Curtin deems Stuart Findlay the best player on the bench to field his strongest 11. Both come with the caveat of possibly needing to shift tactics to get a second midfielder in there, something like a 4-2-2-2.
“There’s different ways we can do (it),” Curtin said. “I think we’re best with Jose out there, but with the national team, with injuries, with suspensions, there’s going to be opportunities for others to step up. It is finding that balance. What makes all the players around our group the strongest? Sometimes that might mean we have to double up the six because the skillsets of different guys are just different from Jose’s. He likes being alone in there and likes covering the ground side to side, where sometimes maybe it’s better to have two.”
Inter Miami (3-6-2, 11 points) isn’t the worst team to face when missing Martinez. While Phil Neville’s team is much improved and finally moving in the right direction, they aren’t the most likely bunch to overrun anyone in central midfield away from home.
Martinez’s absence, however the tactics compensate, requires everyone to raise their games. Curtin will insist on that happening within the confines of each guy’s role, doing more but not trying to do too much.
But as a whole, the Union need more. Being beaten once in 11 games is great, but the lack of victories — and specifically, the preponderance of blown leads in the last five —
is a trend Curtin wants to halt.
“This group is very close to having that breakout game where we get multiple goals and maybe kill a game off in that fashion,” Curtin said. “As you step back and look at the 11 games we’ve played, we’ve been beat once, but having said that, there’s too many ties in there that should be wins. I think this group is hungry to take that next step.”