Philadelphia Union will host Orlando City SC on Saturday night, returning home to Subaru Park after a trip to the nation’s Capitol last weekend. On Friday after his team’s final training session before the match, Head Coach Jim Curtin met with the media, previewing the upcoming showdown.
Back at home
Orlando City comes to town with just two wins to show for the start of their season; Curtin hasn’t counted them out, but winning is a priority for the home side after dropping their last two matches at Subaru Park, then leaving D.C. with just one point.
"We have a tough task now with Orlando coming into town, a team that's very well coached by Oscar Pareja. A team that has some really good quality individual pieces, and a team that is hungry for points coming off what I thought an unfair result in their last game," Curtin said.
"They're dangerous opponent, but we know at Subaru Park, our fans will be behind us. We'll need them to be extra loud tomorrow and cheer us on to a great performance and a great result."
What's the key to a great result on Saturday? Curtin shared what his message to the team has been this week leading up to the match:
"We know we're capable of playing some pretty amazing soccer, but what we haven't done is do it for the complete 90 minutes. I'm not saying the perfect 90 minutes, but a complete 90 minutes, and that's been our focus this week and stressing to the players, 'let's do it from minute one to minute 90 like the Philadelphia Union at the level that we're capable of playing at.'"
Injury updates
Curtin provided an injury report for his squad, explaining that goalkeeper Andre Blake, Olivier Mbaizo, and Markus Anderson would be out for the match, though all three are on the mend.
“Andre is getting closer, still not fully back training with us. Markus is training off to the side, I think he'll be available to fully resume training on Sunday. Olivier also with his calf, I think he'll miss tomorrow, but hopefully be able to resume training at some point next week,” Curtin said.
That being said, Oliver Semmle will start in goal again, making his ninth regular season appearance this season.
Forward Facing
Philadelphia Union fans could see a certain face on the field for the second time this season; with Julian Carranza out due yellow card accumulation and Anderson injured, Curtin said it’s possible Israeli international player Tai Baribo could see the field against Orlando City. With three games in eight days on the schedule for the upcoming week, utilizing striker depth will be integral in securing results and keeping players fresh.
“Tai actually, to his credit has had a really good week of training, so that that part is positive,” Curtin said. “I think he could get some minutes in this game,, depending on how it goes. Obviously, I think he worked hard this week and we're a little short without Julian being there."
