CHESTER, Pa. – Before the 2015 season began, Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin had a tough talk with Michael Lahoud.
A former teammate of Lahoud’s at Chivas USA, Curtin has always rated the midfielder highly. But after watching him bounce in and out of the lineup both with Chivas and the Union, the Philadelphia head coach said it was time for Lahoud to take hold of his career and finally become a permanent starter.
“He put it a lot less lightly than that,” Lahoud told MLSsoccer.com with a laugh. “It was definitely a cold splash of water that I needed to put things in perspective.”
It seems to have worked as Lahoud has played a full 90 minutes as a defensive midfielder in five straight games and is poised to start again Saturday when the Union take on Columbus Crew SC at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday (7:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE). And Curtin believes the 28-year-old has helped stabilize the midfield after Maurice Edu was moved to the backline.
“I think Lahoud has been playing very well,” the Union coach said. “He’s one of the guys that I would say is performing at his top level.”
Curtin made it a point to say that other players aren’t playing to their "top level," which is why the Union head to Columbus with a disappointing 1-4-3 record.
But Lahoud has been one of the team’s recent bright spots, which is probably surprising to those that figured Edu would hold down the defensive midfield spot throughout the season. Knowing that he had to fight for a starting spot in the preseason made Lahoud that much hungrier.
“Coming in, my preparation for the preseason was good,” Lahoud said. “I worked my butt off and I enjoyed my offseason as well, so I came in pretty focused with a pretty balanced mindset. … Obviously I’m really appreciative of the confidence the coaches have in me at the moment. I’m just looking to build off that.”
Lahoud has been a starter for the Union before, starting 19 games in 2012 after coming over in an early-season trade with Chivas for former Philly captain Danny Califf. And after making only seven combined starts in 2013 and 2014, Lahoud started four of Curtin’s first five games after the Union head coach took over for John Hackworth last June.
- Get the latest Union headlines from PhiladelphiaUnion.com
But Lahoud only made two brief appearances in the final 13 games of the 2014 season, in large part due to his appearances with the Sierra Leone national team during Africa Cup of Nations qualifying that included long travel delays and a heavy emotional toll due to the Ebola outbreak in his native country.
Coming into this year, Lahoud decided to scale back those commitments and focus almost exclusively on the Union. And for Curtin, it’s showed.
“It was a huge learning experience for me about priorities and commitment,” Lahoud said. “I learned from that and my first priority is here to help any way I can. That’s what I’m all about right now.
“Barring a FIFA date, my commitment is being here to try to help this team get back in the fight. We’re not out of it. Not even close.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
