Curtin playing kids, but balance with vets missing

CHESTER » If you chopped the field in half Friday night, you’d find two drastically different problems for the Philadelphia Union.

Against Orlando City Friday night, the Union fielded the thirdyoungest backline in MLS history (the other two being its previous two lineups), then found a way to get younger when 22-year-old Jack Elliott exited with a groin injury for 19-year-old Mark McKenzie.

In the attacking half, the Union have assembled a core of veterans — the youngest starter aged 27, with no one under 29 as the game ended with the club pressing in vain to recoup a 2-0 loss.

The result is a palpable irony so endemic to the Union. It opted for youth at the back, and six goals conceded in five games isn’t a bad return for the bloodletting that’s occurred. But the penurious front office pumped precious funds into the attack, yet it’s that side of the coin that has failed the Union. Perhaps a blending of the two points of view that could serve them moving forward.

The Union in 2018 has lunged headlong into an embrace of playing young kids. But have they selected the right ones?

Friday presented a situation

where 19-year-old rookie left back Matt Real was culpable on both first-half goals, while steady if onedimensional veteran Ray Gaddis sat the bench. Similarly, Anthony Fontana remained rooted to the pine as the Union sought an infusion of energy late. Instead of the precocious 18-year-old, manager Jim Curtin opted for Ilsinho, then Jay Simpson, and stuck with Borek Dockal in the No. 10 despite the Czech designated player providing little evidence in four starts for that confidence.

It’s only taken five games for the Union to reach a plateau in its “Play your kids” movement. Curtin has never succumbed to the desire to haphazardly deploy all of his young players simultaneously. But he’s gained a fair amount of evidence now as to what they can do in game situations, which could allow him to shift the focus on playing the right kids.

That’s certainly Auston Trusty, now the elder center-back statesman. He did well late with McKenzie, the Union (1-2-2, 5 points) knowing that Orlando City would bunker in and spring for counterattacks with a two-goal lead to protect.

“I thought I handled myself well out there, being able to connect on the first couple passes and get into the game,” McKenzie said. “But at the end of the day, we didn’t get the result that we wanted.”

“I’ve said it before about the young guys getting minutes, you don’t need much,” right back Keegan Rosenberry said. “Once they connect the first pass, the adrenaline and the athlete in you takes over and you see that with these guys, and I thought Mark did really well tonight when he came on. He was calm. He played some passes that were taking two lines of defenders out of the play. I was proud of him. He stepped right in, and that’s not easy.”

Real, however, has looked overmatched at

times. After consecutive shutouts with Fabinho starting, the Union have allowed six goals in Real’s three starts. While he’s gotten forward and created chances that haven’t been chased in (not his fault there), it hasn’t offset his defensive shortcomings.

More so than the youth, the veterans have led the Union astray. Three goals from five games, and only one in four games of 11-v-11 action, are a bleak return. Even more concerning is that the Union have outshot opponents by a near two-to-one margin, 87-48. But they’re much closer in shots on target (27-19) and are being doubled up in goals (6-3). And all the while, youngsters like Fontana languish on the bench while players that are supposed to be ahead of them on the depth chart haven’t played like it.

“I still have real confidence in the group,” Curtin said of the midfield. “I think we have quality players on the field and I think we create a lot of chances. … I agree we were not perfectly clean through the midfield

with our passing, but at the same time we still had a lot of the ball and still created a lot of chances. The ball is not bouncing our way right now and it is not going in the net with that now obviously confidence drops and we are not built to chase a game from behind. It is a challenge.”

In five games, Union Homegrowns have logged 815 minutes. That ranks second-most in franchise history for an entire season, trailing the 2015 campaign (989 minutes). That qualifies as progress, for both a club that had failed to practice what it preached and for young players aiming to take the next step in their development.

But the time has come for quality over quantity for a team struggling to get results. Whether that quality is provided by a veteran defender instead of a higher-ceiling prospect, or an 18-year-old in the place of a faltering million-dollar DP doesn’t really matter for the Union, as long as someone provides the incisive edge to get a win or two.