Ahead of Philadelphia Union’s MLS is Back opening match, Head Coach Jim Curtin spoke once more about the position battles that have heated up with New York City FC on the horizon on Thursday morning.
Defensive Midfield
With both Warren Creavalle and Jose Martinez each splitting the starting start at the Union’s No. 6, the battle will go down to the wire up until the starting XI is announce Thursday morning. While the two are in competition for who is on the pitch for the opening whistle, that doesn’t mean it’s only one or the other for who will play.
“I have a healthy with two central defensive midfielders that are both playing at a very high level right now,” Curtin said Tuesday afternoon. “They’ve been pushing each other everyday in training and I think you’ll see both of them in the game at some point together to close out what is a very good New York City attack. Warren’s experience is very valuable and Jose is playing at his highest level.”
Forward
Everyone assumed that the lethal combination of Kapcer Przybylko and Sergio Santos would lead the Union attack but that might not be the case with Curtin announcing some minor injuries to the position.
“Sergio [Santos] is one of the guys that has a minor, little tweak and injury so we’ll try to get him up to speed as we can for tomorrow and the game,” Curtin said. “Michee Ngalina has a minor quad and he’ll be back in training [Wednesday]. Andrew Wooten as well picked up little knock in training and he should be back in training tomorrow as well. Those three and unfortunately it’s to the same position but it’s a race to get those guys back against NYCFC but all minor injuries.”
Despite the loss of his partner, Przybylko stressed the importance that all the players on the Union’s roster will be important given the MLS is Back format.
“We need all players and the schedule is very tight so we need all our players,” the striker said. “Personally it’s very sad missing my two forward teammates given how we like to play with the 4-4-2 and do our pressing. I think they are doing well in the recovery process and are starting to warmup with the team and Michee is doing a good job and is practicing a little bit more than Sergio and Andrew. It will be just like the regular season where we need all the guys at each position to keep up the quality.”
Starting Centerbacks
Referred by Curtin countless this year as the team’s strongest position, Union homegrown Mark McKenzie spoke on Wednesday about the group as they fight for the starting spots against NYCFC and how each player makes each other better.
“I think that each of us has our own experiences. I’m the youngest of the group with Collin being the old head as I like to say. He’s a veteran and has hundreds of matches under his belt so being able to pick his brain in how he sees and how he got to this point in his career is a testament to the kind of player he is. With Jack his abilities speak for himself with his first year being a rookie of the year finalist plus Jakob is an absolute baller as well. We feed off the competitive edge of each of us and we’re all fired up to get back out on the field again.”
All these answers will be seen on Thurday, July 9th when the Boys in Blue face off against NYCFC. Kick off is set for 9 a.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
