Wagner’s absence may send Union back to scrambling again
CHESTER >> Kai Wagner underscored his importance to the Philadelphia Union last week, with a hand in both goals of a 2-0 win over Chicago, including his fifth assist of the season. But another fifth — as in yellow cards picked up — will rule him out for this week’s trip to Montreal in what may be a very different expression of his value.
In Wagner’s absence, Union manager Jim Curtin is weighing a trio of options at left back.
“Kai will be missed for sure,” Curtin said Wednesday at his weekly press conference. “He’s done a great job for us at left back. … It’s next-man-up mentality. We’ve had a good mentality with that all year.”
The starting spot will be occupied by either Fabinho, RJ Allen or Matt Real. Fabinho got the nod against Real Salt Lake two weeks ago with Wagner unable to go with a quad issue. The defense collectively failed the test proctored by RSL in a 4-0 loss.
The 22-year-old German has started 20 matches. Outside of Fabinho’s cameo, the other two missed games came in late April/early May when Wagner was suspended for a red card picked up late in a 3-0 win over the Impact at Talen Energy Stadium. In those instances, Curtin chose Olivier Mbaizo to deputize at right back and slid Ray Gaddis to the left.
The three options this time are more straightforward replacements. Allen, a veteran signed July 2, is a natural right back but has plenty of experience on the left side. Mbaizo is working back from a meniscus tear and is only just getting back into first-team training, so he’s not an option.
Real is the most intriguing alternative. The 20-yearold Homegrown has played just one MLS minute this season, but in that appearance, he assisted on Kacper Przybylko’s game-tying goal against Orlando and nearly set up Jack Elliott for the winner. He’s built his fitness up from a disappointing lack of playing time at the Under-20 World Cup in May to 90 minutes via Bethlehem Steel.
“He’s been much better. He’s been really, really solid,” Curtin said of Real. “I think even in the limited minutes he’s got with the first team, he’s left a good impression. His training habits have increased. In all young players’ development, opportunities sometimes present themselves at different points of the year or different points of your career and you have to always be ready for them. I think he’s worked incredibly hard and has a good base of fitness. He’s 90 minutes fit, which is also important. We’ll see what the decision is, but I’m confident in all three guys that they can step on the field and do the job that’s needed to get three points heading into Montreal.”
Wagner’s absence is particularly difficult for two reasons. The Union (11-66, 39 points) face a tough trip to Montreal (9-11-3, 30 points), which sits sixth in the East despite a minus-11 goal differential. The Impact’s goal is to play tight games where the prospect of a defender jumping in to provide an extra attacker and a crossing threat is particularly important.
But the Union defense also finally righted the ship last week with its first clean sheet in nine outings. Wagner was a big part of getting the Union back to fundamentals, and now he has to sit.
“We’d been leaking a lot of goals and I think we had a good week of training where I think guys refocused and tightened things up and got back to just doing the little things perfect,” Curtin said. “That’s what we preached all week.”