Union hoping to take advantage of Orlando City’s busy schedule
Opportunity awaits for the Union, a team that recently has shown the ability to take advantage of its chances.
The Union’s last five games have been against teams outside the playoff positions, a stretch they navigated with a 3-1-1 record. Of their final 13 games, Saturday’s trip to Orlando City (7:30, PHL17) is one of only five against teams currently in playoff spots.
Two of those are the Lions (8-76, 30 points), who sit in fifth but haven’t made a convincing claim to a playoff position. Add in the selfhandicapping of Wednesday’s fillthe-coffers friendly against Arsenal — a 3-1 loss delayed by lightning — and next Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup semifinal against New York Red Bulls, and Orlando would seem a winnable trip for the Eastleading Union (10-2-9, 39 points).
“We have a confident group right now,” manager Jim Curtin said via Zoom Thursday, “and we want to make a push to separate as much as we can from that red playoff line and put ourselves in a good position to play as many games as possible at Subaru Park.”
Taking nine points in nine days, outscoring opponents 11-2, will have that effect. That return is one fewer than Orlando City has had in the last two months, an indifferent 2-3-4 run since late May.
Orlando City made a minor splash with the acquisition of U.S. international Nicholas Gioacchini this week from French club Caen. It’s unclear whether he’ll be available Saturday. Curtin is also weighing how Orlando might rotate its squad, perhaps prioritizing the Open Cup game. They’re two wins away from the first trophy in club history there.
Either way, Curtin’s respect for Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja is unflagging, and he’ll be ready for a dangerous team that is well-drilled in its principles.
“Whether they play their starting squad or if they rotate, we expect a really, really tough match in difficult conditions,” Curtin said.
“(It’s a) very well coached club and they have a lot of dangerous players that can beat you individually, and they’re a really strong opponent.”
It’s the first meeting between the clubs this season in MLS, though they met in the Round of 16 of the Open Cup in May at Exploria Stadium, a 2-1 Orlando win. The Union are 1-2-4 alltime in Orlando, including a 1-1 draw during the MLS Is Back Tournament at the Wide World of Sports.
The Union must navigate the biggest lineup change of the weekend. While Jack Elliott (knee) is back and trained fully all week, the club is without Alejandro Bedoya, suspended for yellow card accumulation.
On that, Curtin called Bedoya’s
recent infraction, “the worst yellow card of the season,” delaying a restart by swiping the ball away from New England defender Henry Kessler late in last week’s 2-1 win.
The Union have options, after deploying a 4-2-3-1 formation last week with Jack McGlynn performing well in a spot start. Mikael Uhre has six goals in nine games, and Julian Carranza scored a hat trick in his last start against D.C. United, should the Union choose to go with two strikers.
With the midweek transfer of Stuart Findlay to Oxford United — Curtin again thanked Findlay profusely for extending his stay in Philadelphia to cover Elliott’s injury —
the Union will carry 23 players, a very small roster in a league where 30 is the maximum.
For now at least, that’s fine by Curtin.
“We’re able to navigate things with a smaller sized roster,” he said. “Everybody has stepped up and feels like they’re part of things now. Obviously, we’re always trying to upgrade and improve, but I think this group is the group that will move forward. This is the group that will push to get in the playoffs, and it’s a group I believe in very much.
“We’ve shown that we have a good, deep squad, and that’ll have to be utilized now.”