After his team fell 3-1 to New York City FC on Sunday night, Jim Curtin said he was unhappy with how his team competed but believes a few tweaks can get them ready to handle NYC in the playoffs midweek.
Prep for the postseason
“Not the way we wanted to finish things,” Curtin began, “But this is the reality. Always going to be tough against New York City at home.”
The Union gave up two early goals off a set piece and an own goal before they began to claw back into the match.
“I thought that we started the game slow,” the head coach continued, “With the first ten minutes conceding off of a restart and an own goal. Not good. We're disappointed. Big picture wise and perspective wise, still a strong season from us to make the playoffs. We know what the task is. Most likely we'll be coming back here. It'll be difficult, but, again, we've stepped up in tough moments before.”
Changing shape helps
With Philly trailing in the second half, Curtin switched his team to a 3-5-2 shape with Ray Gaddis and Auston Trusty on either side of Mark McKenzie. Ilsinho and Fabinho were responsible for running the flanks while CJ Sapong and Fafa Picault stayed high.
“Guys gave better effort in the second half,” the coach said. “Went to a 3-5-2 and tried to press the game a little bit, created some chances. But on a night where you miss a PK, score an own goal, and you concede on a corner kick, your odds aren't going to be good against a NYC team.”
Full NYC squad, full Yankee Stadium experience
“That was the first time NYC has fielded their full team in a long time,” Curtin said, “And their full team has a lot of talent and it has a lot of big time players.” This was Yangel Herrera’s first start since May, and he helped provide a balance that NYC’s midfield has missed for the past few months. “It's always going to be a tough task to come to NYC and try to get a win with the quality that they have on the field,” Curtin continued. “It's a strange stadium, it's a strange place to come. It was a really end to end game, you're always one pass away from being in the opponent's penalty area. We dodged some bullets, they dodged some bullets. It would've been interesting if we'd hit the PK, get it to 3-2. But it just wasn't our night.”
Indeed, in the second half, Philly created three huge chances including the penalty that Fafa Picault couldn’t finish, and they will look to build on that strong work in the playoffs.
The Union will return to New York City midweek looking to avenge this loss in the knockout round of the MLS Cup playoffs.
