Late-night heroics in Nashville.
Gazdag nods at the final whistle.
It took until the dying breaths of the match for Daniel Gazdag to give the Union the ROAD win in Nashville.
Some uncertainty leading into the match, especially surrounding Andre Blake and the precautionary steps taken during the Minnesota game, which led to him and Semmle sharing the clean sheet.
However, Blake missing a game, yet again, poses some complications. Due to MLS rules, Andrew Rick, a young Union II player, can only be loaned to the first team a total of four times in a league season. Through early April, the Union are already halfway there.
During the press conference, I asked Jim about this and if the Union may consider moves to solve this problem:
"If we do miss Andre on this one, that's another call-up we would use for Rick, which is a good thing. Rick is going to have a great future here in the club, be a first-team player. But, as you start to use those four allotted call-ups, all of a sudden your roster status changes... I wish it were a little simpler, where you could call up your own players and try to develop them...
Hopefully, Andre is able to go on Saturday and not have to burn one of those calls... You can talk about now, in the right moment, if there is someone else, but we haven't really seen anyone or felt the need to make that move quite yet."
Spoilers - Blake did not play and Andrew Rick got his third short-term contract, congratulations to him. Another interesting note about the build of the game was Curtin’s answer when asked about man management and how he works with players that, outside of the Union, would more than likely be starting-caliber players.
He shared:
"It is the hardest part; to keep those hungry and training hard every day, and they deserve a ton of credit because they are very professional.
I'll go back to Rafanello, who gives us an incredible 90 minutes in Portland and doesn't even get a second in the game against Minnesota, but comes and trains hard the entire week. That's a real team.
That's the definition of what it means to be a professional."
Not an easy situation to be in, but one that, as a coach, he must handle.
Nashville wise, nothing really noteworthy in terms of the pre-match press conference, though many would argue that Gary Smith’s time, Nashville’s head coach, could quickly come to an end due to the run that they are in (seven points after seven matches played and a negative five-goal differential. OUCH).
Ahead of the match, he shared the following about Philadelphia:
"Not much changes about the group in the way that they play and their mentality and certainly in the way that they apply themselves. Not a lot of movement in terms of bodies as well... They've suffered, probably, as much as anyone in the (CONCACAF) Champions Cup. I don't mean the results, I mean in terms of scheduling, and what they were getting out of their league form. They have certainly shown a competitive edge as they have come out of that (CONCACAF) Champions Cup."
So, how did the two teams take on the field?
The game went, well, horribly for the Union in the first half with Nashville riding the momentum and building throughout the half and ultimately scoring in 42 minutes through a header from Surridge.
Though, the game could have been over well before half, with Semmle being called upon multiple times.
At halftime, something had to change for the Union to get something out of this trip and Curtin was certainly involved. A formation change and a bit of patience led to who else but Julian Carranza scoring his 8th goal in 8 matches, his third consecutive match with a goal. Making it difficult for the organization to justify letting him walk away on a free transfer or be sold.
After the match, I asked Curtin about the future of Carranza and his thoughts on the player:
"I love Julian Carranza. Not just because he scores goals, but because he is a great person; he is really a humble kid. He gets along with everybody in the locker room, but he is also a killer. He is nasty, mean on the field. He will do anything to score a goal and help the team win. That is a true striker's goal tonight, when we needed a big one, he went and got us a goal that turns the whole momentum of the game.
That's what the best strikers do. I want our best players to stay here, forever.
I am also not naive to know that a lot of clubs in Europe are going to come asking for him. All I can do is work with him as best as I can for as long as I can, and him do the same.
He is going to give everything for this club, for this badge; he is going to try and score as many goals as possible."
Fortunately for the Union, that was not the last goal in store for them, and it came from the man who is most prolific from the penalty spot, Daniel Gazdag. More impressive? It was from a corner kick, AGAIN.
Not an easy win by any stretch of the imagination and Curtin knows this. After the match, Curtin spoke about the culture of the club and the resiliency to battle until the end:
"I give the players all the credit. They have a ton of heart, they are never out of the game, they will play until the final whistle.
It has been instilled in them, from minute one to minute 90, anything can happen. We stick with things. Do we play perfect, beautiful soccer, all the time? No. At the same time, I think we do everything for the badge, for our fans, for the city; these guys give everything. That is ingrained in them now. They have been in the battles together.
Don't underestimate the importance, as much as I hate losing, our one loss this year was, I'll just say, an ass-kicking. An ass-kicking early in the season, and that is something that I think can still find good in. You can have a little bit of a reset, not to be too high.
To realize that we need all 11 guys working their asses off like they did tonight to get a win, to get a result. Proud of the group, we will stay undefeated and try to push this as long as we can."
Extremely refreshing to see the squad stick together until the end and earn themselves the right to call themselves the last undefeated team in the league. Remember that bit about Andrew Rick?
Well, it did happen, so, I followed up with Curtin.
"It is a silly rule.
I understand why they are in place; so teams don't have forty-man rosters, but in this instance, we are not manipulating things at all. We have a goalkeeper with a concussion. Can't we just call one of our own and not have it be some penalty attached to it?
Where we now have to weigh and measure, do we call him up again because again it triggers something in this roster spot and maybe someone else needs to be cut because of it?
It is just unfortunate because it puts some people in some awkward situations."
Some interesting words from Curtin. I am sure we will learn more soon, especially with Blake having to travel to represent Jamaica, nevermind potentially missing another game due to injury.
On the other hand, Gary Smith is on a hot seat. Nashville sits with only seven points after seven played. Additionally, his squad holds a -5 goal differential. How bad are things? Here he is, unsolicited, talking about going to the market to find “replacements.”
"I think we're at a point where we certainly need to consider what it looks like in the open market to get a body or two in... it could be quite difficult, of course, because the window closes soon. But I will certainly be talking to Mike about that next week."
OOF - not good!
The Union now prepare to face their fiercest opponent on the 14th, the synthetic turf at Atlanta’s home. Let’s hope Blake is healthy, that the team can deal with the pace of the surface, and that after that match, the recovery is good.
#DOOP!
Bonus:
Monterrey keeps the Union’s Dream Alive
For those not aware, should Monterrey with the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Union would qualify to the Club World Cup, earning themselves a nice pay day. Monterrey won the away leg in Miami and now head to Mexico on the 10th.
Here is a fun piece from Gabriel Moreno, whose work I love!
It brought back a lot of memories of my 14 years in Bolivia.
I messaged him with an idea and he CRUSHED IT!
Monterrey Mascot: "And why aren't you on the side of the guy in pink?"
Philadelphia Snake: "Because I want to go to the Club World Cup with you!"
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE U-17 ACADEMY Team!
Back-to-back Generations Adidas champions!
Video Credit: Philadelphia Union, APPLE/MLS, Nashville SC