Union Presser Notes: Jim Curtin previews weekend matchup with Sporting Kansas City

After a whirlwind start to the 2024 campaign, Union head coach Jim Curtin addressed the media on Friday afternoon to recap the survive-and-advance performance against Saprissa in the Champions Cup and to preview their matchup with Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Here’s every word the Union boss said in his presser!

Curtin previews MLS matchup at SKC

Curtin started the press conference by thanking both Union and Saprissa fans for creating a great atmosphere. He noted that his Union side made it harder for themselves to advance than it needed to be.

Curtin: “Having said that, we showed a lot of character and heart to go down a man through 120 minutes and find a way to get a win and move on. Our reward is to play a good Pachuca team, a team that we know has a ton of talent, but first and foremost, and most importantly is a return to league play.

Going to Kansas City is always very, very difficult. Peter Vermes does an incredible job with his group being tough. Having gone to the stadium in quite some time and to have to go there in a home opener is a real challenge. But we’ll regroup, we’ll recover as quickly as possible, put a group on the field that will go there to try to get a point or three and we know the task will be tough. We’ll have to be almost perfect on the day to get that done.”

Question: “Hi, Jim. How’s Andre, first of all?”

Curtin: “Yeah, he’s doing well. Improving quickly, it’ll be close for the weekend and I think worst case, hopefully, he’s back by Tuesday. That’s the hope. But it’ll be close for this one. I’m going to go have a meeting with him right now after this. We’ll see.”

Question: “And a few of us were chatting with Oliver [Semmle] some after the game on Tuesday and he was talking about some of the goalkeepers who he’s looked up to as he’s developing his career. And he mentioned Manuel Neuer and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, probably any German player would. But you come to think of it, it’s not just for the shot-stopping for how they play with their feet and the distribution. And when you guys were scouting a backup goalkeeper, how important the piece of the puzzle was that?”

Curtin: “Well, those are two great role models. And certainly when you think of the German goalkeeper, you think of a real presence back there. But your point is a good one. The modern goalkeeper, the modern game, they have to be able to play with their feet. Neuer is a guy who could probably play on the field for some clubs. He’s that talented. More and more comfortable, right?

You have to remember too, from college to the USL to now MLS, those are big jumps. And things even like how hard guys strike a ball is different as you move up in levels.

So he’s still going through a lot of new things. It’s a trial by Fire and he’s done a great job for us in a short amount of time. So hopefully that can continue. He’s a guy that we believe in. We know has a bright future.

He has been thrown into it a little earlier than we wanted to, absolutely. But this is why the guys are professionals and why they get paid to do what they do. So yeah, good modern young goalkeeper that has a bright future here at the club.”

Question: “Hey, Jim. Mikael’s been scoring some goals early this season. What did you see from him, especially with his movement? It seemed like in the Chicago game, he made some of those really good hard runs. Is that kind of when you know that he’s dialed in, and how much of that is mental with him and how much of it is the fitness that you talk about.”

Curtin: “Yeah, Matt, you’re out at the training field a lot, right? So you see, we try to get into that, we call it the assist zone, the place where Quinn played a couple of balls from in that last game. And we coach a really hard run at that near post.

It’s the easiest way to score goals. And it is a run that also clears space for others because every centerback has to respect that run. And sometimes you take the center back with you and it leaves it open for a cutback, which you’ll see us execute too. So critical for Mikael to run at that near post.

Sometimes your movement to get a one-touch finish is more valuable, or I shouldn’t say easier, but it’s a better way to work then, you know, receiving a ball and dribbling and beating five or six guys. The movement is with the brain.

And if you have that down and the timing can be right and the weight of the pass and the cross can be right. It’s a great way to score goals. And Mikael does have a lot of those, you know, one-touch finishes for sure.”

Question: “Hey, Jim. When it comes to Jakob and some of the mistakes that he’s made early on, is that a function of he’s still getting back to 100% from the sports hernia and maybe he’s overcompensating especially on handball that led to the free kick? Does he maybe play that wrong in anticipation? How are you guys viewing those mistakes on film? And do you think the recovery from the sports hernia does have something to do with it?”

Curtin: “Yeah, look, I think some of the goals are strange. Some of them are mistakes. The good thing is, I think with all the goals, they’re very, very fixable, technical things that we can do better with. So Jakob’s been an incredible defender for us. The life of a defender in particular in a centerback position is such that there’s something on every goal that’s conceded that you can do differently to prevent it. So it is a thankless job.

You know, obviously, you know, the one fluke goal in Saprissa was strange. A couple penalties, even the free kick with the handball, they’re just uncharacteristic plays. I have full confidence Jakob will get himself going and those errors will be behind them. And we’ve stressed to the entire team – Our foundation still will be our defending and how hard we are willing to work on the defensive side of the ball.

So it’s a situation where as a group now, can we be a little more compact, not so stretched all together. And then Jakob plays the center back position right on the edge, you know, he’s a forward first defender. And we want him to be confident and comfortable doing that. And I know that he will be.”

Question: “With the situation that the club finds itself in terms of playing sporting Kansas City this weekend, making it really difficult for a very important game at home against Pachuca, Is this a situation where maybe you see the Carranza’s of the world and the Daniel’s of the world, maybe taking a break, taking maybe a 60-minute shift versus a full 90? What can we as the press sort of expect in terms of the bodies you’ll be putting out in the time management?”

Curtin: “Yeah, well, look, without giving Peter too much of a head start, I’ll just say, I’m sure he was he’s a competitor, right? So he’s probably excited that game went 120 minutes or not disappointed that it went 120 minutes. So that does make it harder on us for sure. The Champions League is the gift and the curse guys. It is a great competition to play in.

And it’s a great, you know, great test for your club and your team against these opponents. But it makes the beginning of the schedule brutal. And let’s be honest, the history of the league will tell you points, unfortunately, are tougher to come by when you’re playing on a Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, you know, kind of cadence.

So that’s something that we’ll have to navigate and deal with. If we went 90 minutes, I think the plan would have been a little different for this weekend. But you know, we have full focus on Kansas City right now. Will there be some guys that maybe play 45 minutes, some guys that play 60, some guys that play 90.

Absolutely – who those are, I am not going to reveal right now to give Peter a head start. But it’s a tough place to go play no matter what. And we’re going to have to play at our Max to get points there, just like it always is when you go to Kansas City, incredible crowd, incredible atmosphere, a great coach, a great leader, and great players.

So in their home opener, it’s very important to navigate the first half and not find yourself in a hole. And in certain moments now, can we be smart on the counterattack? Can we go and transition and try to hurt them? Because look, every team in this league has strengths and weaknesses. Anybody can beat anybody as you see weekend and week out. We’re going to give a maximum effort on Saturday and then recover as quickly as possible for Tuesday.”

MLS — Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Union

Question: “And how is Leon progressing in terms of his injury? Obviously, it’s been a few weeks, if not a month now, since the injury. Do you have any updates?”

Curtin: “Yeah, it’s progressing well. Texted with him the other day on his birthday. He’ll be back in Philly soon. We gave him some time to be with his family. He’s obviously working hard to maintain fitness. You can still do things, you know, physically to keep your fitness at a high level, even with the injury to the pec muscle. But yeah, he’ll be back with the group here very shortly. And everything is on pace for a return, you know, before the crazy summer starts where we’ll be missing seven or eight guys with national team duty.”

Question: “Hi, coach. Good afternoon. You’ve seen with all the games, you’ve got a lot of rotation that you’re looking at from the next two games. One area where you don’t seem to have any issue is right back, where you have two quality starters. Speaking of that, is there any news on Olivier Mbaizo’s visa situation for his family? It’s been a while since we heard anything.”

Curtin: “Yeah, look, you’re right. We have two starting caliber right backs. That’s a real luxury for us to have. You guys have seen us utilize that. I think both players are our starters on 90 percent of MLS teams in this league. I think we’re very fortunate to have both of them.

You know, look, Olivier and his family situation is fluid. We’re still actively working to help him as best we can to get everything sorted out and get him reunited with his family. It’s not easy. It’s kind of the things that maybe you guys don’t get to see the day in and day out of these players. They are dads. They are normal people and it’s hard when you’re away from loved ones.

So we’re trying to aid in that. Unfortunately, as a head coach, I don’t have much say in government affairs and who can get in and out of this country. But we have a lot of people at the club working hard to make this situation as best we can and make Olivier as comfortable as possible.”

Question: “So there’s still a chance that he could obtain a visa. His family could obtain a visa and that you wouldn’t have to sell him necessarily?”

Curtin: “Sure, yeah. Again, Olivier has been involved in transfer rumors because he’s a good player. I would say the last 20 windows that I’ve been here. You know, so it’s like it’s one of the scenarios where there’s always a little interest and then you’re weighing what the offers are or where they are. You’re speaking with the player. You’re seeing what’s best for him in certain moments. And we’re lucky to have him selfishly as a coach.

I love to have two starting caliber guys at every position. It’s hard in this league to do that because of the cap and the roster size and the different things. But we’re certainly at that position. We are solid. And again, we’ll do what’s best for the club, the player, the family. Again, because these guys are human beings first and foremost.”

Question: “Jim, one of these days, we don’t know exactly when, but one of these days soon we think there’s going to be the announcement of what the Open Cup format is going to be for the year. There’s been a lot of talking about it, a lot of shouting about it, a lot of rounds of shouting about it. What’s your take on sort of where things are and where do you hope they go?”

Curtin: “You guys know my love for the competition. It’s a great one. I know that all sides are working to find a solution. I don’t think that the solution that comes out for this season will be necessarily the solution forever. And that’s kind of all I can say about that without getting in trouble or something. I know what the format is, if that’s what you’re getting at. A few of us might, but can’t say it yet, so.”

Question: “I’m going to pack a question about a few guys in it at once, David Vasquez signs the Union 2 deal. I assume that’s to get him in, It’s to start and there’s going to be a hole in the summer he could potentially fill. But I also wanted to ask, you guys anywhere close with Neil Pierre on a similar deal? I know you liked what he did in preseason. Where does it stand with him and how do you project Vasquez starting off with Union 2?”

Curtin: “Yeah, three exciting names. Look, Vasquez, Olney, and Pierre were three guys that I thought really stood out in preseason and showed that they’re ready to take a step forward. Having said that, it’s really, really hard to become a full-time starter in this league. I continue to stress to you guys that, I’ll use Quinn even, again, Quinn was a great player last year, but he took a big step and is still only 19. I know everybody wants it right away for every guy, but it takes a lot of hard work that you guys don’t see. Quinn is now being rewarded for that hard work.

The line now and the next group of guys is a Neil Pierre, is a David Vasquez, is a CJ Olney. Those are guys that we have real, real high hopes for. I think have the qualities to become great players for the Philadelphia Union. Have quality to play wherever they want to play because of their talent. We want to try to create that environment that gives them the opportunity to reach their max. That’s all we can do.

But yeah, certainly guys that I’m very high on, I think we’ll be training with the first team full-time because I think getting the reps against Carranza Bedoya, Glesnes, Blake, playing against these guys day in and day out is the way that development gets accelerated. Testing them against them is the best thing for them. They’re close. We want them with the first team as quickly as possible, but also they play a role in that development too. I say it to you guys a lot. This game tells the truth. It has a way of humbling you. So yes, they’re on a great trajectory, but they have to stay humble and stay hungry.”

Union is back in action this Saturday night on the road at SKC. The Philadelphia Union returns home this coming Tuesday to continue their CCC run against Pachuca!