Union head coach Jim Curtin was extremely clear about what he thought his team needed to do to improve when they face Sporting Kansas City next Sunday. "Obviously there's things we need to work on," he began. "Offensively, defensively. In particular our transition defense and defending the box."
"We actually started the game very well," he continued. "Created some chances, and it just became a day where we weren't good enough in both boxes. Offensively, finishing off plays, and defensively tracking guys in the box."
Defending in the box -- the area Curtin called the "red zone" -- let the Union down on both of Michael Bradley's goals. The Toronto captain arrived late and tucked home the first two TFC finishes before Nick DeLeon notched the third in extra time of the second half.
Unfinished business
"I think we had a lot of the ball," Curtin emphasized. "We had some really good looks at goal, especially in the first half when we had them under the gun a little bit. You talk about box defending and the play that Mavinga makes on Cory Burke in the first half, a little unlucky off the post off the restart.
"The one that gets on Fafa quick, it's a difficult one and on a different day some of these bounce your way and they go in and it changes momentum quickly but it just wasn't our day today."
Indeed, the Union created chances in the Toronto box, but they could not puncture the visitors' defense. Fafa Picault was active in the penalty area, and Marco Fabian nearly pushed one in late, but overall it was hard for Philadelphia to consistently put pressure on Alex Bono in net.
Looking to build
"You only get one chance at the home opener," Curtin conceded. "And we came up a little short."
As the Union prepare for Kansas City, though, the coach thinks they need to emulate a lot of what they did in the first half.
"The message at halftime was: We played a decent half," he said. "We were the ones that were proactive and not reactive. So I thought we were achieving a lot of the goals we set out to attain; conceding a goal late in the half was difficult."
And on that penalty? "I've heard mixed," Curtin said cautiously. "Regardless, Andre saves it so there's some emotion there."
The Union return to action on Sunday, March 10 as they travel to Kansas City to face Peter Vermes' high-flying Sporting side.
