For Stewart, trust remains in approach by Curtin and club
CHESTER >> Speculation has swirled around the job status of Philadelphia Union manager Jim Curtin in recent weeks, as the club has started the season winless in six games to extend a barren run to 14 contests in all competitions, dating to last August.
Those queries stop at the foot of Earnie Stewart, who offered Curtin his vote of confidence last week in an interview with ESPN. While the acrimony of fans — online and in a stadium increasingly pockmarked by empty seats — is reaching a crescendo, Stewart adopts a longer view, appealing for short-term steadiness in service of long-term growth.
“I stand here today and say that our group today is better than it was last year,” Stewart told the Tuesday. “Simple as that. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that the results are the same.”
There’s a cognitive dissonance in the internal and external views of the embattled Curtin. From the outside, it’s tempting to fixate on an avalanche of negative outcomes in a business that is, as Curtin often notes, inherently results-oriented.
The Union (0-4-2, 2 points) sit last in MLS, the only team without a win. They’ve lost a franchise-record-tying four straight, the fourth such string of futility; three have come under Curtin’s watch, including four losses to end the 2016 regular season. The 2017 Union side is the first in club history to start a season winless in six games.
Stewart’s view is processdriven. In evaluating Curtin and the technical staff, Stewart appraises how the manager obeys the principles that guided last year’s playoff run, foundational elements Stewart implemented upon his appointment 18 months ago.
Though results haven’t followed, Stewart remains satisfied with Curtin’s adherence to the same sound methods that informed 2016’s success.
“It’s about the whole and everything that we do,” Stewart said. “I believe our messaging and the way we go about business is no different from last year. I believe that messaging is exactly the same.”
Stewart’s long-term mandate as sporting director offers the vantage point to gaze over the peaks and valleys, an outlook tailored toward big-picture thinking. Just as he sought last summer to dampen hype surrounding the first-place Union, Stewart likewise now won’t descend the depths of doom and gloom that some project. The difference between those two states, in Stewart’s reality, is a finer line than the standings indicate, though Stewart elects not to cite luck as is Curtin’s wont.
“That difference is not as big as people believe it to be, and sometimes you almost want to make more of something than there is,” Stewart said. “What you look for in a coach and a coaching staff is to follow what we’ve been doing all year the exact same way. Not panicking, like talking about all kinds of changes here, there, because usually that will only add to the chaos. That’s my experience in everything.”
Stewart appreciates that the offseason brought significant personnel changes. Four starters made MLS debuts on opening day; the Union’s rotation includes seven new players touching the field.
Synching the chemistry and form requires time and tinkering, from players and coaches.
One example of consistency lies in Curtin’s selection preferences. Last week, he firmly stood by the 4-23-1, his standard formation the last three-plus years. (On formation specifically, Stewart’s response is instructive: “When you speak to Jim, you speak to me. And when you speak to me, you speak to Jim. So we’re on board with what we’re doing.”) Stewart sees formational stability as another bulwark against the chaos that drastic changes can engender, making roles and responsibilities more intelligible to players struggling for form and confidence. Stewart acknowledges that the Union lack players like “the Chelseas and the Man Uniteds where you have players for $100 million or $50 million that can adapt to any style at any on any given day.”
“I don’t believe in change (just) to change,” Stewart said. “I don’t believe that. It does not help players.”
Stewart is unequivocal on another disconnect with the external views: For him, the clock on Curtin began when Stewart took over. Curtin’s struggles in 2014 and 2015, with the roster mish-mash and incoherent direction of a deposed regime, are immaterial to Stewart’s evaluation.
“For me, it has no bearing at all because I don’t know anything about the situation,” he said. “I don’t know about 2014, I don’t know about 2015, apart from what I see in statistics and results. I can’t judge somebody on the fact that they lost games in 2014 when I was not here. …
“I didn’t know what the vision was at that moment, what they set out to do, what they did every day. I do know what it is now, so I can judge him and the coaching staff on what I see every single day on the training field and what eventually you see in games.”
It’s not all rosy. Stewart points to a dip in collective confidence against Portland two weeks ago, which the club focused on preventing last Friday against New York City FC. While that still turned into a 2-0 loss, the Union weren’t vanquished until David Villa’s wonder strike in the 90th minute, a positive sign that the team is sticking with the quest to improve.
“What we looked for last Friday, in combination with the coaching staff, is that no matter what happens in this game, we dare to make mistakes, we believe in each other, we trust in each other,” Stewart said. “And anybody can say what they want, but moment
“We don’t have to hide under it or anything like that, but the fact of the matter is you’ve got to get out of it as quickly as possible, and that is following exactly what we do and what we did last year.” — Union executive Earnie Stewart on overcoming the start to the 2017 season team’s slow
that’s what I saw. So when we dropped 1-0 behind — we did not create chances, I agree with that part — but they did not give up. And that is very important. That says a lot about how they respond to the coach and the coaching staff.”
In the broad-strokes treatment of the Union’s malaise, it’s easy to cite examples bereft of context. Seattle, for instance, struggled last season, then replaced Sigi Schmid with veteran deputy Brian Schmetzer, who delivered a long-coveted MLS Cup. (It also added Nicolas Lodeiro; a player of the Uruguayan’s caliber — and his $1.7 million salary — isn’t arriving in Chester any time soon.)
Stewart highlights the lack of that assertion’s counterfactual: There’s no way to know if the Sounders would’ve still won had Schmid stayed. Instead, Stewart emphasizes other examples. The New York Red Bulls stuck with Jesse Marsch after six losses in the first seven games of 2016 … which led to a 16-game unbeaten streak to close the year. Or there’s Columbus’s steadfastness behind Gregg Berhalter, which has the Crew atop the Eastern Conference seven games into 2017 after a tumultuous 2016.
Instead of a knee-jerk reaction to shake things up, Stewart believes the way out of the tailspin is to remain steady.
“If you want to get through this, which is a rocky start, it’s as simple as that,” Stewart said. “We don’t have to hide under it or anything like that, but the fact of the matter is you’ve got to get out of it as quickly as possible, and that is following exactly what we do and what we did last year.”