Hometown heroes try to solve road mystery up in the mountains
CHESTER » Whichever appropriate four-letter word you wanted to raise, it was considered a dirty one around Talen Energy Stadium last year.
Anytime the term “road” or “away” was broached with Jim Curtin last year, the Union coach’s complexion would contort in frustration and befuddlement. Just as his team had finally figured out the secret to sustained form at home, it fell flat once it exited their home’s gates, with one win in 17 road games, an embarrassing return of nine points from a possible 51.
This season, as the club resolved to break from its non-playoff past, many nagging traits of yesteryear have fallen away. And the next one in the Union’s sights is that prickly road thing.
The Union get their first chance to prove last year’s away abomination was an aberration in 2018’s maiden voyage to Colorado (9 p.m., Live Well Network).
The road struggles have been dissected within an inch of their lives. Time zone, travel, diet, sleep schedules, recovery time — all of it has been compiled into spreadsheets and reports that Curtin cheekily called “comprehensive” this week as the club arms itself against a repeat. Some of the broader strokes are obvious: The Union departed for Denver Wednesday, two days earlier than they would’ve two years ago. That permitted two practices for players’ bodies to acclimate to altitude and Mountain Time.
What Curtin emphasizes is not so much adapting to new conditions in a vacuum, but for the Union to minimize distractions and external influences so as to focus on maximizing its performance.
“We know that when you go on the road and the challenges that presents, it’s about us as a team,” Curtin said. “We need to be the team that’s on the ball, trying to dictate possession, creating chances. And we’ll ask our guys to be as brave as they were in Talen Energy Stadium, to be that brave on the road.”
Colorado (0-1-1, 1 point) presents an intriguing set of opportunities. In MLS’ helter-skelter scheduling, Week 5 of the season is the first in which both the Rapids and the Union play, the teams with two bye weeks apiece in mirror-opposite weeks. Colorado is slightly further along in its season, ramping up early for a twoleg Round of 16 tie in the CONCACAF Champions League dropped to Toronto in late February.
Those games are valuable to the Rapids’ adjustment to new coach Anthony Hudson, the American-born former manager of Bahrain and New Zealand’s national teams. He brought in 13 new players, including a British Isles lower-division sampler of player (Jack Price, Danny Wilson and Joe Mason) plus a pair of Kiwis in Decklan Wynne and Tommy Smith. Add in well-traveled midfielders Yannick Boli and Enzo Martinez, and you have a squad that may not be better than the one that finished 10th in the West and scored an MLS-worst 31 goals last year, but it will certainly look different.
Colorado will toss a few new looks at the Union (10-1, 4 points). It is Philadelphia’s first opponent to deploy three at the back this season, Hudson an adherent to the 3-5-2 that hinges on strong wing back play from Marlon Hairston and American loanee Edgar Castillo, the latter of whom set up a goal last week. Both of the Union’s previous opponents also deployed oneforward systems; Colorado choose to stretch the field with Dominique Badji as a traditional No. 9 but with Mason or another forward playing off his shoulder. Neither designated player Shkelzen Gashi nor veteran German midfielder Stefan Aigner has played in MLS yet this season, complicating the process of anticipating the Rapids lineup.
“They are a team that runs and fights for every second ball. They are direct in their approach,” Curtin said. “It’s the first team we’ll face a real, true twoforward system, which is different for the center backs to deal with because you have to be communicating, you have to be talking and a lot of times now you’re going to be one-v-one for seconds at a time. You might not have help that you usually would have when it’s just a one-striker system. A lot of little adjustments we’ve talked about this week.”
The Union will have their own adjustments. Fabinho is out after knee surgery, meaning Matt Real could get his debut at left back, if he bests Ray Gaddis this week. They’ve also spent two weeks integrating Borek Dockal into the system, and by allowing four goals in two games, Colorado has shown to be susceptible to being broken down in the box, a facet Dockal was specifically acquired to bolster.
Over it all hangs the knowledge that had the Union turned just three of four results on the road last year, they would’ve been in the playoff picture. So as daunting as the struggles may seem at times, the reality is how thin the line between success and failure in this department of MLS insanity can be.
“As little as three or four wins out of 17, which sounds so easy, pretty much guarantees a playoff spot, which is crazy to say,” Curtin said. “You’re striving for those three to four wins at a minimum that gets you — obviously, you want more — but that is kind of the starting point in the data that we’ve put together.”