Back in shape, Elliott ready for MLS’s return

Two months away from soccer isn’t what Union defender Jack Elliott had planned for his spring. But the surprises have started to turn in a more positive direction.

For one, Elliott is happy to be in arguably better shape than when the Union dispersed in mid-March for the coronavirusinspired halt to the season. He’s pleasantly surprised with how his teammates have seemed to do the same.

And as the Union tick toward the July 9 opener of the MLS Is Back Tournament that marks the league’s return from COVID-19, he’s eager to trade the training for some long-awaited soccer.

“It was tough staying on track but I think for me, I just did a lot of running around the city, I know a few routes very well now,” Elliott, a Philadelphia resident, said via videoconference Thursday. “And I think doing that and

indoor workouts and some strength and body-weight work might even have gotten me fitter than before in preseason. I had enough time to do things, and I think everyone knows you just get bored of being inside, and going on a run was a good way out.”

Elliott and his Union mates are about to go from no soccer to a quick succession of three games in Orlando for the World Cupstyle tournament, which kicks off against expansion side Nashville SC. The three group-stage games count toward the MLS standings and determine who will advance to a 16-team knockout round. The tournament finalists would end up playing seven games in the Florida swelter, the final scheduled for Aug. 11.

Elliott and the Union head to Florida next week for their mandatory quarantine within the Disney bubble. The Union only just resumed full-team training last week. Individual workouts returned in late May, progressing to small-group exercises earlier this month. The gradual ramp-up has paid dividends, Elliott believes.

“It ended up being a good way of getting back into things,” he said. “I think after two months of not having training, if we had gone back in, first day we were allowed to train, going back into team training, there might have been a few issues or injuries. But I think the way it was released week by week, the individual training and then small-group training and into full-team training, it worked out fairly well for the situation.”

Echoing coach Jim Curtin’s sentiments from a day earlier, Elliott mentioned the feeling of a clean slate for the team. Their two games to open the season — a loss in Dallas and a draw with Los Angeles FC

— were three months (that feel like three years) ago. The format of the tournament is unprecedented for a club competition, so the fresh start opens the door for the kind of depth that will likely be called on, with so many games off such a short pseudo-preseason.

Motivation won’t be an issue, Elliott said, judging by the intensity at training. But one of the biggest obstacles could be off the field, even beyond the league’s effort to shelter everyone from the virus.

Union captain Alejandro Bedoya called the bubble plan a “luxurious prison” several weeks ago. While the MLS Players Association bargained with the owners to ensure a shorter stay, it still won’t be easy to be away from home and family for four to possibly six weeks.

Elliott, who’s young and unmarried, empathizes with teammates for whom the arrangement is trickier. But he hopes the Union can turn this latest pandemicenforced oddity into a competitive advantage.

“I think it’s going to be tough regardless of any situation that anyone’s in,” Elliott said. “It’s worse for other players, those players that just had children and foreign players that just brought their family over and they don’t speak English, not being with their family is going to be tough. Even just regular day-today, it’s going to be tough for me being away from my girlfriend and being away from home and living in a hotel room. I think anyone knows, if you live in a hotel room for an extended period of time, it’s tough and can be a little bit soulless in there and certainly a lot different to being at home. …

“I think as a team, we’ll be able to spend time with each other and help pass the time between the trainings and the games. I think the team chemistry will certainly be a good thing for us, spending all that time together down there.”