As his team looks to hit the September international break on a high note, Jim Curtin spoke about winning in DC, confidence, Orlando City, and Auston Trusty’s desire to learn.
Doing it in DC
Curtin was proud of his team’s performance Wednesday night, but emphasized that it won’t mean a thing if the team doesn’t make the playoffs. “The grit, the heart, the effort that they've shown during this stretch,” Curtin said, “Playing in some really difficult places to play, getting difficult results… but at the same time, we still recognize there’s work to be done.”
The head coach said he’ll consider resting players if they need it — “haven't picked the lineup yet, which is rare” — but that he thinks winning gives the players the energy to keep going.
“We've hit a point now where there's confidence in the group,” Curtin stated. “That kind of gives energy to the legs.”
Though the Union coach emphasized that he won’t just take everyone’s word for how they’re feeling. “We'll obviously still assess where they are physically and see where they're at, and I've asked them to be honest. Obviously, a group that I trust very much.”
Curtin also talked about why he used Derrick Jones to help kill of Wednesday’s match. “[Luciano] Acosta was really starting to drift high,” he said, “And we thought it was a time where Derrick's ability to break things up and cover ground, and then also keep the ball, even with — you saw so many tired legs on the field at that stage of the game, Derrick's ability to run with the ball led us to lean toward Derrick in that moment. You could see there are moments when he opens up his legs, guys don't want to chase him.”
Orlando playing better than their record
Although Orlando City has continued to struggle under James O’Connor, Curtin said he saw a lot of reasons to believe Saturday’s matchup won’t be a walk in the park.
“They've had a full week of rest,” Curtin noted. “They have a coach that's doing a great job implementing a new system where they want to press, where they want to be the team that's on the ball, so there's guys playing for spots for next year.
“You watch their games, they're actually playing some decent soccer. Balls are bouncing against them. We know what that felt like from the beginning of the year. You don't want to be the one to give another team any momentum.”
Trust in Trusty
Auston Trusty has played every minute this season, and Curtin thinks that as long as he continues to feel good, the center back will stay on the pitch. “At this point in the year, it's just about recovery,” the Union coach admitted. “And I hate to say it as a head coach, but what they're doing to recover is actually more important than what we're doing on the field at this stage. It's ingrained in the brain what their jobs are, but the process of getting these guys going again, and the quick turnaround is just as important. I think Auston's fine physically.”
Trusty’s strong play has not made him immune to calls from veterans on the team to remain focused and keep improving. Luckily, that’s something the young center back loves to do.
“He wants to get better every day,” Curtin said. “And that has been what's most powerful for him. He stays here after practice every day, takes additional reps, he listens to the older players and they're darn hard on him. You could write a book on — actually you couldn't write it because it would have a lot of expletives in it— you'd have, with Ale, with Haris, with Borek, how hard they are on Auston: It's only to make him get better. And I think he's taken that in stride and he's had thick skin. And it's made him better on the field. There's still another level he can go to, but the ceiling is really high.”
Trusty and the rest of the Union travel to Orlando to face Dom Dwyer and the rest of the Purple Lions tomorrow, Saturday, September 1, at 7:30PM EST.
