QUOTE SHEET: Union knock off Columbus 3-0

Philadelphia Union Head Coach Jim Curtin
Opening statement…
First off, a thank you to the fans. I thought that the stadium was loud tonight and they pushed us on when we needed it. Obviously a week that was maybe the most unique of my coaching career in terms of not knowing player availability, injuries, suspensions and international call-ups. We probably had four to five different lineups selected and were training them during the course of the week. We were hoping for the best scenario and we got the absolute worst scenario in terms of whom we were missing. Before the game started we talked about the 16 guys in this locker room doing whatever it takes to get three points tonight. It’s not about formations, it’s not about tactics, it’s not about any of that. It’s about finding a way, in our home stadium, to take three points and I give full credit to all the players tonight for the effort they put in, to keep a clean sheet and that next man up mentality. There were a lot of really good performances. I also say that our medical staff, our sports performance department, and all my assistants, it was a challenging week in terms of not knowing exactly whom we could select, but overall I couldn’t be prouder of the guys. It was a big win tonight. Obviously, we are early in the season, maybe it was not our best performance compared to even the [Sporting] Kansas City or Atlanta performances, but at the same time it was about rolling up the sleeves, getting three points, and we got a really big performance from David Accam and obviously Ilsinho chipping in with the goal as well. We are a team and every guy has to be ready when they are called upon and I thought tonight that showed.

On David Accam’s performance…
It was emotional for him for sure as well. We are all rooting for David [Accam], he has gone through a lot on the field, off the field, injuries, things he can control, things he can’t control, so for him to have a performance like tonight when we really needed it as a team was big time. He really stepped up, not just because he scores two goals, but his work rate defensively on the counter attack giving us time to breathe just a really top performance from David. Credit to him because he has put a lot into the offseason coming back from injury and again really happy for him. He is a great kid, he has been professional throughout his entire time here and he just wants to help and reward the fans and reward his teammates and he did that tonight, which was a special moment for David.

On the play of the attacking front three…
It’s no secret that we play our best when we have a lead as well. When we get ourselves ahead by a goal and teams have to change and open up, it leads to us being able to take control of possession and then getting teams on the break. We put our best attacking group that we could out there to start the game, got our goal and then the players did the rest from there. Overall, we knew reserves were going to be limited, we’ll just say that. There were situations where we were saying, “if one of the front three tires, do we get [Mark] McKenzie or [Aurelien] Collin up there in an emergency situation?” We talked through hundreds of scenarios, and when I say 100, it was probably literally 100 different things that can happen during this strange week. Overall, we needed the attackers to step up and they did in a big way. David [Accam] gets two, Ilsinho gets one, Fafa [Picault] runs like crazy and was a pest all night, and he deserved a goal but doesn’t get one. I was happy with the front three, how they performed and everyone else around them did a good job.

On the clean sheet and defenders’ performances tonight…
Listen, it’s still a very young back line but it’s one that is growing with every game. Again, it is still early; we are four games into this thing. They have faced some really tough attacks in Kansas City and Atlanta. Tonight we really were able to limit Columbus’ opportunities. We started the game plan to deal with [Federico] Higuain and how he floats around the field. Also, it might sound unique, but their right back [Harrison] Afful is one of the most dangerous attackers that our league has. Really making him defend, was the best defense for us, but then also tracking him and making it a hard night for him, and I thought we did that for the most part. Also, the box defending from the back four, taking pride in that and then keeping a clean sheet. Carlos [Miguel Coronel] had minimal action but when he was called upon he did a good job catching a cross or two. Overall, we get clean sheets as a team, but the back four certainly is performing very well right now.

On Kai Wagner’s performance . . .
He’s been excellent for us, he’s been even more than I anticipated to be honest. As a coach you’re getting a young left back, we can cross the world right now even when we watch the international games this weekend, there’s no very many strong left backs and Kai stepped into that job and has been a top defender for us in every one of our games. He’s had some tough assignments as well when you look at the wings he is facing. Tonight was no different and he stepped up and made it look easy, so he’s been composed, he’s been intelligent with winning his duels, and he can obviously cross the ball as we saw tonight. You have to get in behind because he only needs half a step to whip in the ball so overall Kai has been excellent for us, still young too, it’s a good thing, and it’s a back line that’s growing together, does take a little time to get used to each other’s strengths and weaknesses on the field, but we’re starting to see them pick that up now and I’m really proud of the effort and the clean sheet.

On Brenden Aaronson’s performance . . .
In some ways, I talked to the staff here before we played in Atlanta saying that as crazy it sounds he’s going to be nervous going into this, but this is an easier game to play in then it is in your home stadium because there’s nothing to lose, you’re supposed to lose in Atlanta, that’s a fact. When any team goes there, you’re supposed to get beat, he’s got 50,000 people, I think he’s probably numb for the first 10 minutes of that game and then just settle in and was really clean and dominant on the ball. Whereas here now, he probably has 150 tickets that he has to leave for people, there’s the press the whole week that he has to do, the Medford Messi whatever you guys write I think I’ve heard. These are a lot of things for a young kid to hear and digest and still keep a level ahead, again he’s 18 years old, I think I’ve said this before but when I was 18 I was throwing rocks at cars. He’s doing some things at 18 that aren’t normal, but he’s not normal. He’s a special player, we have to keep him humble and hungry. He was nervous tonight, you can see not quite as clean. We talked at halftime about just connecting your first couple passes of the second half and easing into it. Wasn’t his sharpest game, but I’m going to demand a lot of the kid, even though he’s 18, so again it’s a scenario where I think he can do better. I’m going to hold him to that, but overall, he still worked his tail off, ran a lot, ran till he cramped up. But it is different, playing at home, away, and it’s all new for him. We’ll work this week to get him prepared for Cincinnati, but he’s proven to be a guy that we need in our starting eleven which is pretty special for an 18 year-old.

On Brenden Aaronson’s emotions . . .
It’s a weird one because I feel like he’s been in this stadium so many times, as a fan, as an academy kid, now as a professional, so he kind of feels the same to him, he’s comfortable here, but what people don’t always recognize for a young professional is the distraction that can come during the course of the week, the leaving tickets, making sure you’re calling everyone back, texting everybody, trying to keep a level head of preparing for what the most important thing is which is stepping on the field against Columbus against Artur and Ricardo Clark who probably have 350 games under their belt and is going to be chasing you all night. It’s an experience where you try to make it as comfortable for him as possible, but once the whistle blows, he usually settles in just like he did in Atlanta, just like he did tonight, but again I’m going to demand a lot of him because he’s a special player, and I think he could have been a little bit sharper in some areas tonight, and he said the same thing. We see it the same way, he demands a lot of himself, he has a bright future, we’re going to try to bring every ounce of talent out of him.

On his lineup . . .
With Jamiro [Monteiro] specifically I would say this morning finally found that out, and then with Marco [Fabian] it was Thursday afternoon. You prepare like they’re going to play because they’re key players, so you have different guys taking reps at different spots, talking about is the diamond the best with the personnel that we have, is it a little bit of a tweak of the 4-2-3-1, so we had a couple plans going in hoping that both guys would at least be available to us, unfortunately they weren’t, I’m not going to talk much about that. It was difficult, I give the players and my coaching staff a ton of credit through their professionalism that they all showed, but going into Friday we had, even with Dave [Accam], the walk through of practice until we walked out onto the field, we still weren’t sure exactly what personnel we had or what formation we were going to use or how we were going to tweak things.

On Brenden Aaronson’s substitution . . .
I think it was just a cramp, he was fine.

Forward David Accam
On scoring his first two goals of the season . . .
It feels great for me; lately I’ve been having a tough time on and off the field, so today is amazing to get my first two goals on a home game for the club.

On his return from injury . . .
Yes, I think so everything is in the past now. I am just looking forward to playing again and I’m feeling much better. I had a good preseason and for me I just want to get a chance to move forward, to work and do my best.

On his emotions after first goal . . .
No, it wasn’t planned, I just scored and everything just came out. I felt emotional and I knew my dad was watching this game and wherever he is, he’s watching this game so everything just came out.

On if his dad got to see him play while abroad . . .
No, he didn’t. That’s really why I’m really sad because I was planning to bring him here to watch some of our games. Unfortunately it didn’t happen so today was for him.

Goalkeeper Carlos Miguel Coronel
On making his debut start at home . . .
I’m very happy; it was a very important game. It was something that we deserved and we played hard for that. I’m very happy we were able to achieve this result here in front of our fans.

On the uncertainty of who would play this week . . .
We have very good players; the team is very good of course. We have this problem of call-ups for the international matches, but overall our team is very good so it doesn’t whether we have 18 or 16 we had a good result and everything went well thankfully.

On working with Andre Blake . . .
Well, it always feels good to play with people who have the experience he has so he has. I’m also looking to achieve something like that; it’s a good opportunity that I appreciate to have to play with people like that.

On Brenden Aaronson’s performance . . .
I feel very happy for players like him who are having a very good experience. He is a great player and apparently he is a great idol here and we are happy that he is being able to play well as he is.