The Philadelphia Union featured three different players making a debut, but in less than ideal circumstances in a 3-0 victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday afternoon at Talen Energy Field.
Only one debut was planned, as Kacper Przybylko has impressed at Bethlehem Steel, the Union’s USL affiliate.
Aurelien Collin started at centerback, despite being third choice for the position.
Auston Trusty’s red card last week against LA Galaxy forced Union coach Jim Curtin to make a change, but the night before the match, he received a notification that second choice defender, Mark McKenzie, was undergoing emergency surgery for appendicitis.
“It was a unique week in terms of preparation with some different guys missing with injury and suspension,” Curtin said. “It got stranger last evening with the call from Mark McKenzie recovering from surgery. It’s not something that is covered in the coaching courses.”
Marco Fabian and Sergio Santos were the two players that were certainly missing from injury. Fabian picked up an ankle injury in the Galaxy match, and Santos is working back after a hamstring injury from earlier in the season.
“We talked a lot in preseason with Ernst [Tanner] about improving the depth of the squad, having the next man up mentality,” Curtin said, “where guys are willing to step in and have it be as seamless as possible.”
Kacper Przybylko has impressed with the Steel (Photo credit Charlotte Thomas)
That mentality was put to the test when goalkeeper Andre Blake went down with a suspected groin injury, and 20 year-old goalkeeper Matt Freese had to step in to secure the shutout.
Freese continues what has become an extensive list of Union academy products stepping up to the big stage.
Auston Trusty was the first to establish himself as a first-team starter in 2018, followed by fellow center back, Mark Mckenzie.
Brendan Aaronson made the adjustment this season with style, scoring the go-ahead goal in Atlanta in his debut.
“There’s not a big falloff when we go to different parts of our roster,” Curtin said. “That’s what a true team is, this is a 34 game grind.”
On top of the losses of personnel before and during the match, Kai Wagner received a red card in stoppage time, and will miss the trip to Vancouver next weekend.
That opens the door for another player to step up to the task, the likely candidates being youngsters Olivier Mbaizo and Matthew Real.
“We’ve had red cards, we’ve had sickness, illness, losing family members – just a lot of adversity so far and every man has stepped up in a big way,” Curtin said. “It says a lot about the character of the group.”
Aurelien Collin stepped into his role last second after Mark McKenzie’s surgery (Photo credit: Charlotte Thomas)
The most important thing for Philadelphia in dealing with absences so far has been the ability to remain playing at a high level. In the past the adversity could easily have meant a slip in form and a drop into the trenches in the eastern conference table.
“We did a really good job in the off season in acquiring good talent – obviously at the top end of the roster but also the young guys pushing for minutes,” Curtin said. “It used to be that a red card, an injury could change us in a drastic way, now we have a group that can step in and make a seamless transition.”
The changes to the squad have not only improved the depth, but helped shore-up past issues as well as raise the overall level of play.
“Do we want to be average and be in that fight for fifth through 12th in the eastern conference or do we want to be a team that moves forward?” Curtin said. “I want these guys to go to the next level and not be an average MLS team, which is what we’ve been.”
Montreal have historically given the Union trouble at Talen Enegry Field. The Union have not won in 5 years at home against Montreal before this match.
The last minute surgery and plethora of other issues did not ease Curtin’s mind before kickoff.
“When you wake up at six in the morning to a text that says Mark [McKenzie] is going into surgery, you look at Montreal and go ‘oh here we go again,'” Curtin said. “Every team has one that maybe they don’t match up against, but we changed that today.”
While the Union were perhaps not playing at the level that Curtin wanted on Saturday, the home team was still good enough to score three goals and come away with a win against a team with three straight shutouts.
“It wasn’t the way we wanted to press and the tempo we want to play at,” Curtin said. “The performance on the field – we’ll all say it wasn’t our best, but we still came away with three points.”
Curtin confirmed that Blake will be out for “some time,” and probably won’t be available when the team makes the trip to Vancouver, though he is waiting for a scan to accurately assess the situation.
As it stands, the Union could potentially be without Andre Blake, Kai Wagner, Mark Mckenzie, Sergio Santos and Marco Fabian next week.
It doesn’t seem that it will affect the Union all that much, however. There is always another player ready to step up to the challenge.
The Union moved to third place and play in Vancouver next weekend, while Montreal remains in fifth and turn around quickly to play in New England on Wednesday.
