CHESTER, Pa. -- As soon as Jim Curtin was hired as the Philadelphia Union’s head coach last year, he set about building a defensive-oriented team that would be known for winning 1-0 games.
It’s been especially difficult, then, for him to see his team give up a staggering 21 goals this season -- at least seven more than any other team in the league. And heading into Sunday’s game against D.C. United (7 pm ET, Fox Sports 1) he knows the only way for that to change and for his vision to be fulfilled is to cut down on the individual mistakes that have been plaguing the team -- from all areas of the field.
“I think as a team we’ve been poor defensively,” Curtin said. “It’s something I’m not happy with -- with myself, with the team. There’s a lot we can work on. Defending starts with the forwards, it goes to the midfield, the back four, and then the goalkeeper. It’s a team issue.
“Early on, we gave up too many goals on restarts. We’ve kind of fixed that a bit and now, if you go back and really break down all the goals, which is way too many, they’re individual mistakes.”
Curtin noted that the team generally has “bodies behind the ball” and “numbers in the box.” The problem, he said, has not been with organization but with mistakes he described as “self-inflicted” and “silly,” pointing to the back passes that led to two goals in Philly’s 3-0 loss to Vancouver this past weekend.
Those are characterizations that captain Maurice Edu agrees with.
“I think a lot of the goals we’ve given up have been from us making mistakes and gifting away goals,” Edu told MLSsoccer.com. “I think when teams have made mistakes on us, we don’t capitalize as much as when we make mistakes and teams punish us for it. We need to make teams really work and create a beautiful play to score a goal -- not just gift them chances.”
Edu may be asked to defend more this weekend as Curtin mentioned him as a possibility to move from the midfield to center back with Steven Vitoria questionable (groin) and Richie Marquez suspended (red card).
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And while the Union’s defensive problems run much deeper than the backline, Curtin sounded hopeful that a center back partnership of Edu and Ethan White could help eliminate mistakes because “they like playing with each other.”
White -- who’s also familiar with many D.C. United players after playing there from 2011-2013 -- is hoping to get that chance against his former team and start his third straight game after sitting on the bench for most of April.
“We’ve had a lot of rotation with injuries and that kind of stuff,” White said. “We’re all pro athletes. We’re all paid to do what we do, and we’ve got to deal with the changes that come through. With the rotations, we’ve all played together. I’ve played with Mo, I’ve played with Steve, they’ve all played together. No matter who’s playing, we’re ready for it.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
