Fabinho’s injury leaves path to playing time for Real

Practice had ended a half-hour earlier Tuesday, but a makeshift spine of the team remained on the field at the Union’s Power Training Complex, under the proctoring of assistant coach BJ Callaghan. As the four players pinged passes and pantomimed strategies of attack and possession, the spotlight fell brightest on the member of the quartet that stands apart in terms of playing time.

Auston Trusty is a starter at center back. Derrick Jones and Anthony Fontana are regulars in the 18.

That leaves Matt Real, whose road to the lineup has been cleared this week by a leg injury to Fabinho that required surgery. Though that doesn’t guarantee a start for the Upper Darby native, he’ll make his first match-day roster for Saturday’s trip to Colorado, and he or Ray Gaddis will land in the lineup.

“I haven’t heard anything yet,” Real said Tuesday after his post-practice supplemental session. “I’m just working hard every day in training. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to make my appearance this weekend. If not, I’m just going to keep working harder and harder, and hopefully sometime soon I’ll get my first appearance.”

“We’ve given them both reps in training,” manager Jim Curtin said. “Obviously Ray is a consummate professional, he does whatever’s asked of him. He’s played hundreds of games in this league and is experienced and knows the ins and outs of the league.

“Matthew is the true left back and has played that position his whole life. So we have a choice to make. I won’t give Colorado a head start on which way we’re going to go. But both guys, I think, are serviceable and if they’re called upon, they both can handle the challenges of a road game.”

This has been a particularly busy week for Real. He spent the first half of the international break in camp with the United States Under-20s in Spain, playing in a pair of matches against France’s U-20s. Fabinho’s injury, a slight meniscus tear and MCL sprain necessitating four to six weeks on the sidelines, granted Real an early release from camp.

Real’s teammate Mark McKenzie stayed with the U-20s, but McKenzie will also make the 18 in Colorado thanks to injuries to Richie Marquez (sports hernia) and Josh Yaro (Curtin: “minor groin injury, nothing severe.”). McKenzie, as the reserve center back, played for the U.S. against Atletico Madrid’s Under-21s, arriving back in the States Wednesday to join the Union on the way to Denver.

Between the U-20 matches and a start in Bethlehem Steel’s opener two weeks ago, Real has fully recovered from a preseason ankle injury. While Real is hoping for a chance, he’s not pressing this week, and not just because of the Brazilianborn Real’s affinity for Fabinho as a mentor.

“For me, no, I’m just going to keep playing the way I’ve been playing, keep having the same approach to each training session,” Real said. “I’ve been training every session hoping to break into the 18 one way or the other. His injury doesn’t change much for me. I’m just going to keep working hard to improve myself.”

The start will come down to Real and Gaddis, the reserve right back who deputized ably against Columbus. Gaddis could be the more enticing choice as a defense-first option against the bombing runs of Rapids right winger Marlon Hairston.

Curtin has turned the page on a reticence to play a young player, thanks in large part to those prospects’ improvement. On the spectrum of challenging debuts, cutting Real’s teeth on the road against a team that was among the worst in MLS last year in attacking potency isn’t the most terrifying.

“We’ve preached it for several years now but you’re starting to see it on the field, we want to be known as a club that all American young kids look to and say, ‘they play young American players; I want to go there,’” Curtin said. “We’re not just talking about it now; we’re starting to do it.

“That’s five guys, five Homegrown kids, American kids who are all eligible for our national team, that’ll be making this trip.”

Even if Gaddis gets the nod, Real will be needed for the bench, which is a step forward in his first season on the MLS roster.

“I’m fit, I’m sharp,” Real said. “I’m just trying to mentally prepare myself for whatever comes. For me, you always have to look at the best things that are going to happen and the worst things that are going to happen. And for me this weekend, I’m just going to go into the weekend mentally prepared, whether I start, whether I come off the bench, whatever my role is, I’ll be prepared to execute that.”