The Philadelphia Union ended up going scoreless against a winless Sporting Kansas City team. While SKC haven’t given up a ton of goals, the Union should have been able to put one in the back of the net considering all of the returning players this week. The same issues have continued to plague the Union in the final third of the pitch and Jim Curtin had something to say about.
“It wasn’t our best night. Not our sharpest. I think we have a situation where we have a little bit of a lack of confidence in ourselves and I think it’s contagious. I think the one way to get out of that is with hard work and intensity and the guys are working hard. We aren’t sharp and I think that is clear for everyone to see.” Head Coach Jim Curtin on the state of the team currently.
The Union clearly are playing with a lack of confidence and its clear. There were multiple times that this team got into scoring areas in and around the box and just ended up passing to many times or flubbing the play in its entirety. Mikael Uhre and Julian Carranza had some great opportunities last night. Finishing the plays and the chances felt like another chore entirely. The strategy and the tactics for the Union pressing up and moving the ball forward was working to an extent, but the lack of believing in not only themselves, but their teammates were evident.
It could be that the tactics of the Philadelphia Union are now being exploited by opposing teams and can ultimately be countered by an opponent. Another issue could be a cold start, as what happened with last season as well. In any case, the lack of goal scoring is present and having to play in the Champions League as well on Tuesday may help them get some confidence back playing a good Atlas team.
Head Coach, Peter Vermes, of Sporting Kansas City is currently going through similar struggles with his club as the Jim Curtin with his.
” If you are going to coach, be prepared to suffer. When you win, everything is good, but when you lose, you need to carry it with you all week.” Peter Vermes understands what its like to go through this struggle. He continued on with how he has had different types of starts to the season and it is just a part of the daily struggles of going through a season.
As this season plays out, it’s only going to get harder, and Jim Curtin wants his guys to start getting some confidence in themselves.
“I want us to be more dangerous at home. I want us to be brave, I want us to take risks, to be relentless. I don’t care about mistakes, they are a part of this game but right now, our reactions after mistakes are almost like (you know). It gets contagious. We make another mistake, and it gets compounded.” Jim Curtin said about how he wants the team to play.
Overall, Curtin went on to say how he needs someone to step and make a play. Curtin wasn’t calling anyone out, but he knows being able to light a fire under his guys could potentially get going early on here. There were some guys who had some good stretches throughout the game, but ultimately need it to last at least 90 minutes. The Union finally got out of their slow start in the first 10 minutes and now, it’s going to be getting the monkey off their back and finding the back of the goal. Once one guy does it, then another will and so on and so forth.
Jim Curtin did try to send a message to his guys by subbing out Jose Martinez for Joaquín Torres and pulling that holding midfielder off of the field. Curtin tried to get his guys going and the substitutions he made were clear for the team to try to get some offense sparked. It is these types of games where you miss a Corey Burke or Sergio Santos in the lineup to help bring that energy and spark from your bench.
The Union will have Champions League play on Tuesday at home in Chester at Subaru Park at 8 PM. The fans need to bring the noise and the energy. Andre Blake knows how much the fans mean to this squad and appreciates everything they have done.
“You know, I’ve been saying it forever. We have the best fans in the world. We really appreciate them staying around and staying a couple hours later and we appreciate that. They did everything they could, and it was up to us to reward them. Unfortunately, we just could not do it for them!” Andre Blake said understanding just how much these games mean to the fans as well.
The Union will be away for their next MLS game on Saturday against the top of the Eastern Conference Cincinnati FC at 7:30pm.