Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
All on the line in playoff battle with Red Bulls
The history doesn’t need to be explained to Jim Curtin. He knows the Philadelphia Union have never won a playoff game. Knows that Sunday will be the first playoff affair in Chester since 2011. Knows the club’s record (0-7) and his record (0-5) in MLS Cup playoff games and U.S. Open Cup finals.
But the Union manager is also aware that once the opening whistle sounds against the New York Red Bulls Sunday afternoon at 3, none of that history will mean much.
“This is a big step,” Curtin said Wednesday. “You want to be playing in these games. You want to set yourself up for a home game, and now the next step is to take advantage of it.
“At the end of the day, it’s 90 minutes. We’ve played some really good soccer this year. And the challenge for our guys is to have this be the best 90 minutes of soccer they’ve played all season. If that’s the case, the results and those types of things take care of themselves.”
To take that step, the third-seeded Union need only do one more time what they’ve done all season: Play like one of the best teams in MLS. Having seen the long sweep of the Union’s growth, Curtin has been confident in two regards. First, that his club will bring their best performance. And second, that that will be enough.
Breaking that into granular aspects is more complex for the Coach of the Year finalist. It’s complicated on his side by the injury to Kacper Przybylko, officially listed as questionable with a stress reaction in his left foot. The German striker, tied for fifth in MLS with 15 goals, trained partially Friday, and the Union are likely prepping contingencies for a lineup with and without Przybylko.
Other game-plan points are more holistic. The Union have allowed goals in 20 of 21 outings; a long overdue clean sheet would be welcomed. Then there’s the thorny issue of slow starts: The Union have conceded first in five of the last six games. An early goal can change the complexion, and the Union are not at their best when chasing.
“We can’t give up dumb early goals,” captain Alejandro Bedoya said. “When we do that, it gives us an uphill battle and a big one to climb. Especially at home, if we could start like (we play) in the last 20-30 minutes of the second half, match their intensity, keep it at 0-0, bring us into the game and let our soccer take over, we’ll be better off. We can’t have Red Bull come in here and not match their intensity and even give up maybe a fluky goal here or there.”
Tactically, the No. 6 Red Bulls doesn’t offer a ton of surprises. The Red Bulls are synonymous with high pressure, getting after opponents to make them uncomfortable. It’s the model that Union sporting director Ernst Tanner, formerly with Red Bull Salzburg, injected to the club this year to great effect.
“It’s one of the most easyto-pick-out styles that you can have in our league in terms of it jumps off the page in film,” Curtin said. “They press the ball as good as anybody. I don’t think Chris (Armas) is going to turn a completely new wrinkle into the way they play or a completely new formation out of the blue that doesn’t suit Red Bull. They’re great at what they do, and we have to be at the top of our game to defend them and also create chances.”
The system is such that individual brilliance is less important. Seventeen Red Bulls have scored goals, led by Daniel Royer’s 11 and nine from Brian White, who spent most of last year in USL and who Curtin coached in the Union’s academy as a right back. They’ve excelled with Bradley Wright-Phillips, a certified Union killer and one of MLS’s most prolific scorers, and designated player Kaku relegated to the bench.
The Union struggled against Red Bulls this season. They beat New York, 3-2, at Talen in June but trailed 2-0 at half before three Ilsinho-influenced goals in 12 minutes rescued points. In September, the Union left Red Bull Arena with a 2-0 loss.
Even with a young squad replenished by its endless well of academy talent, the Red Bulls have the edge in postseason experience, in their 10th straight appearance. Only two Union players — Warren Creavalle and Aurelien Collin — have ever won a playoff game, and both are reserves.
The crowd in Chester could be an x-factor, Union partisans having waited eight years since a loss to Houston in 2011 for playoff soccer to return to the banks of the Delaware. The Union have sold out Talen on eight occasions this season, including five straight. The Union are 10-3-4 at home.
“I think we have seen some great atmospheres this season already in some of the games,” Bedoya said. “But I want to get the club the first playoff win, advance in the playoffs and get into the final. That’s what I came here for, to make a difference and I hope I can do that, be a part of it. The crowd’s been great so far this year, and I’m sure with a home playoff game, our first one in a while … there will be a lot of fans here.”
Curtin is also selling this special 90 minutes to his team as a rare chance to write the narrative of the season. Players have the power to determine how this season will be remembered. Curtin’s troops have taken well to that message in the past. He’s hoping it’ll work at least one more time.
“Until you win a playoff game, that will always be the chatter and the noise in the background that you haven’t taken that next step,” Curtin said. “We don’t hide from that. I’m a realist and I’m pretty open and honest about when my team plays pretty good, about when my team has to do better, and this is an example of one where we recognize it’s a good battle, a good matchup against a good team.”