Following a 3-0 loss to Portland that included a pair or second half penalties, Union head coach Jim Curtin spoke to the media about his team’s performance and preparing for a semifinal match against Chicago Fire on Wednesday.
Prepping to Firefight
“We approached the game with a focus on picking our strongest team for Wednesday,” Curtin admitted. The Union handed rare starts to Derrick Jones, Fabian Herbers, and Jack Elliott on Saturday in order to rest key names like Ale Bedoya, Haris Medunjanin, Mark McKenzie, and Fafa Picault. Chicago Fire, Wednesday’s Open Cup opponent, also sat big names Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nemanja Nikolic, and Alexander Katai.
“We identified what we thought that would be and then kind of worked backwards from there,” Curtin continued. “I still think that, the performance of the guys that stepped on the field, a lot of them did well and turned some heads, and showed that a lot of them belong in the 18 and some of them even in the starting lineup discussion. So we’ll take a lot of positives from that.”
Jonesing for minutes
In his first start of 2018, Derrick Jones had Philly’s best chance at a goal and put in a solid performance that highlighted his ground coverage and physicality.
“I thought he was great,” Curtin enthused. “I thought he was on the ball, especially in the first 15 minutes of the first half, kind of controlling the tempo, breaking up plays, doing all the things that make him a very good player for us.”
Jones left the match once the Timbers went ahead on a penalty, with the Union throwing on Bedoya and Medunjanin to chase the game. “As the [first] half wore on we didn’t get [Jones] involved enough. We challenged him at halftime to get on the ball more. [He] made a couple good plays in the second half as well,” Curtin said.
Still seeking the little breaks
“In the key moments in the box, whether it’s a good save for them or if we’re just maybe not getting the right contact on the shot, it’s a challenge for us,” Curtin said.”That part’s clear.”
Indeed, the Union were once again the team with the first big chance, but they failed to finish and the Timbers capitalized on Fabinho’s wild fall into Alvas Powell in the box to take the lead.
And although he did not score, CJ Sapong was heavily involved on the night, giving Curtin hope that his striker is about to turn a corner. “I actually thought CJ had an excellent night tonight. He worked his tail off, held the ball up for us, did a great job,” the coach said.
“I still think on tonight, we could have gotten a point out of tonight even with the performance we had. It didn’t go exactly our way tonight, but at the same time I still see some positives and I think we’re setup to go against Chicago at home where we do have a lot more of the ball — and we actually did have a lot of the ball tonight — so I think we’re set, ready to go.
“It’ll be a fight though.”
Philadelphia faces Chicago at Talen Energy Stadium Wednesday night at 7PM EST in the US Open Cup semifinal.
