A point on the road against Vancouver has Philadelphia Union on the verge of first place in the Eastern Conference, but Jim Curtin's focus remains on finding solutions as he juggles playing time, suspensions, and injuries. Curtin has found contributions up and down the lineup this season and against the Whitecaps Kacper Przybylko rewarded the head coach with a goal after receiving his first start. Matt Freese also produced four saves in his first start of his career and Curtin said he'll lean on his club's depth again Wednesday against FC Cincinnati, particularly because he still didn't know the status of Kai Wagner even as the final training session before the next match ended.
"Unfortunately it’s Tuesday the final practice is under our belt and I don’t know," Curtin stated. "That’s where that one is at and if I say anything more than that I’ll probably get in trouble and you can imagine how tough that is."
And while the head coach is desperate to know if he can use Wagner against Cincy, he doesn't dispute that the German fullback deserved his red card against Montreal.
"Is it a red card? 100 percent I am on board with that decision and I agree with it completely. Is it more than that? I don’t think so and we’ll find what they the final, final, final verdict is on that hopefully soon."
If Wagner remains out, Curtin isn't too worried because he has a deep, talented bench this season. "We have worked very hard as a team, as a staff," Curtin began. "We’ve shown our depth and we’ve worked hard to set ourselves up now where five out of our next six are in Talen Energy Stadium. It starts tomorrow night with a team that we will not take lightly."
The head coach also emphasized dead ball defending as a key to taking points against FC Cincinnati. "Obviously restarts has been a big focus with the amount of size that Cincinnati has in how they attack the ball in the box."
Marco, Sergio, and Dre
Attacker Marco Fabian and striker Sergio Santos have returned to training this week and both could get their first minutes in a while during the upcoming matches against Cincy and New England.
"“Marco trained yesterday," Curtin said Tuesday. "Was his first day back on the field fully with the group but we were away so it was delayed a little bit. Has shown well in training but still isn’t 100 percent, but is close for being available for selection for tomorrow. "Sergio [Santos] has been very sharp in practices and looks to be fully ready to go, fitness will be an element with him in terms of how many minutes that will be but certainly has played well in training and we’re ready to see him again.”
The news is less positive for Andre Blake, and the starting goalie probably won't return to training for another week.
"Progressing as expected right now and will still likely miss another week or so and then we will hopefully ramp things up and see what he can tolerate," Curtin said of his goalie. "He’s usually a quick healer and is an important part to our team and has been having a good season so the sooner the better for Andre. We also recognized that with the Gold Cup coming that is something that he has in his sights as well."
The Gold Cup begins in early June and Blake is on track to be a major piece for a Jamaican side hoping to return to the final.
Big minutes throughout the roster
Three players that won't be eligible for the Gold Cup are Kacper Przybylko, Olivier Mbaizo, and Kai Wagner.
Przybylko scored against Vancouver, but Curtin pointed to the striker's work off the ball as an element of his game that stood out. "I thought he did a lot of good work for us defensively," Curtin argued. "Did a good job finishing off his chance and when you talk about being clinical, the top strikers in world they don’t need seven or eight chances, they get one look and they seize it and I think Kacper did that against Vancouver."
The big striker looks to have earned more minutes in the future and Curtin thinks home fans will see even more strong performances going forward. "I think he’s excited now to do it for the first time in front of our home fans," he enthused. "We’ll have to be smart with his minutes and where he is fitness wise because we don’t want too much too soon."
Olivier Mbaizo saw his first minutes of the season last weekend and Curtin said while he liked what the fullback did going forward he still wanted to see more defensive nous from his young charge.
“He was in a really high advanced position," the head coach smiled. "Statistically we looked at the metrics for his average on the ball starting point was higher up the field than every right back in the league so far so his starting point was high -- and maybe too high in some instances -- so we will talk with him on that.
"Especially when you play Cincinnati, who is looking to break in behind, so he’ll have to do some recovery sprinting.
"It’s a good thing but something also we need to keep under wraps because it can’t be too much especially in the first 15 minutes where it’s maybe a better time to feel things out and remind him that he is a defender first and the goal is behind him is the message we’ve been reiterating. You can see his energy when he runs forward, he’s powerful and explosive and overall had a good performance and you can start to see is potential and aggressiveness going forward."
If Kai Wagner remains out, Mbaizo could get a chance to show he can adjust his positioning in a hurry.
The Union face Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. ET at Talen Energy Stadium before welcoming New England Revolution to town on Saturday, May 4th.
