Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
As Quakes loom, McKenzie, Santos won’t be out long
The Philadelphia Union appear to have dodged an injury bullet with the two players who limped off late in Sunday’s loss to the New York Red Bulls.
Defender Mark McKenzie had an MRI that revealed no damage to his hamstring, just swelling that will be treated by rest and could have him back in the picture for next Sunday’s game at Columbus. Forward Sergio Santos has a Grade 1 hamstring strain, which could shelve him for 10 days to two weeks. But both are relatively minor issues, Jim Curtin reported Tuesday on a conference call.
Neither are with the Union (15-9-7, 52 points) in San Jose for Wednesday night’s game (11 p.m., LiveWell Network), which only hastens the process of squad rotation that Curtin was undertaking anyway.
“Wednesday night’s game will be a big opportunity for a few guys,” Curtin said. “We’re going to call upon, like I mentioned in the past, our full roster. Our key guys are going to still be on the field. Our guys that have logged the majority of minutes are fine to go with three games in a week. But now it’ll be the players in positions that we demand a lot of from the physical side, we’ll have a few changes.”
To read between the lines, that likely means midfield stalwarts like Alejandro Bedoya, Haris Medunjanin and Jamiro Monteiro will start. With McKenzie displaced from defense and Aurelien Collin likely to deputize, it’s highly probably that both Jack Elliott and Ray Gaddis will make their 32nd starts of the season, while Kai Wagner is in line for No. 28.
It’s at the other end of the field that the tinkering should apply. That could involve Marco Fabian returning to the lineup. Or Ilsinho, who hasn’t started in four games. Or possibly even Andrew Wooten, who didn’t make the 18 in Sunday’s 2-0 loss to the Red Bulls.
With Santos out, Wooten steps up a notch in the attacking order and could fit the bill for an underutilized player who gets a chance – just like Santos did in the win over Atlanta three weeks ago.
“It’s big opportunity for Andrew,” Curtin said. “It’ll be a big opportunity for a couple of other guys to step up like they have during the course of the year and they’ve given us good performances when we need them. And again, we’ve been a team that has relied on everybody.”
One player who won’t get that chance is Auston Trusty, who remains behind Collin in the depth chart though is in San Jose, presumably as the reserve center back. Trusty started 22 of the first 24 games at center back before losing his spot to Collin, then McKenzie. He’s been out of the 18 in recent weeks.
Curtin had positive conversations with Trusty but not enough to get the Media native back in the lineup.
“I had a good meeting with Auston two weeks ago, we sat and talked for 20 to 30 minutes or so,” Trusty said. “He expressed his wanting to stay in Philadelphia, to help the team, to get back into the lineup and all those things. So it’s a really good conversation. And now he’s improved his training in the last two weeks. Having said that, obviously we’ve picked Collin over him to travel and to be in the 18. But we’re going to need all of our guys now.”
No matter who is in central defense, the Union are looking to be better in the goal concession department. Only one of their last 18 matches has been a clean sheet.
“Points matter more than shutouts. That’s No. 1,” Curtin said. “I want to be a sound defensive team and our defense has led to our attack this year, so those statistics, I agree we can do better with the shutouts for sure.”
San Jose (13-13-5, 44 points) doesn’t have all of its guys. Midfield playmaker Cristian Espinoza, who has 12 assists, is suspended after two yellow cards in a 3-1 loss at Atlanta Saturday. Chris Wondolowski was sent off from the sidelines after he’d been subbed off. And coach Matias Almeyda, who has done wonders with the Quakes but remains a loose cannon, was also sent to the showers.
That’s a big loss for the Quakes, who sit seventh in the West, ahead of Portland only via goals scored and in desperate need of points. A win would vault them to fifth.
The points are valuable to the Union, too. Trailing New York City by six and Atlanta United by two entering Wednesday, the Union will know the result from when those two meet at 7 p.m. And with two results going their way, the club could find itself in second place heading into the weekend.
“Our response has been very good in these moments,” Curtin said. “And it will be no different now in a tough environment in San Jose, to bounce back and take points.”