CHESTER, Pa. – It’s times like these when you have to remind yourself that Brian Carroll will turn 34 this summer.
That’s because over the past few weeks, he’s been playing more like a 24-year-old.
And the veteran’s revival has certainly been one of the driving forces behind the Union’s recent hot streak that’s included wins in three of their last four games, capped by Wednesday’s 3-0 rout of Columbus Crew SC.
“I was just talking to him earlier that he’s definitely turning back the clock,” Union defender Sheanon Williams told MLSsoccer.com from the locker room Wednesday. “He’s not the most talkative guy and you won’t hear much from him, but when you watch him play and you watch the dirty work that he does that nobody really notices. It’s huge for us, and it’s been a big reason why we’ve turned things around a little bit.”
Carroll had lost his place in the starting lineup at the start of the season – his 13th in MLS – and played only 178 minutes through the first 11 games.
But since then, Carroll has started and played a full 90 minutes for four straight contests, giving the Union a calming presence in the defensive midfield and linking up well with playmakers Vincent Nogueria and Cristian Maidana. That’s also allowed Maurice Edu, who played in that No. 6 spot for much of the season, to move to center back and stabilize a backline that’s led the team to three shutouts in the last four games.
“He’s very intelligent,” longtime teammate Sebastien Le Toux said of Carroll. “He knows this league and he knows how to play. People don’t really notice a lot of what he does, but he’s been huge for us.”
Some people are certainly taking notice. Against Crew SC, who he played for from 2008 to 2010 before coming to Philly, Carroll did a tremendous job closing down passing lanes, spraying smart passes around the field and even chasing players down to thwart Columbus counter attacks.
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And afterward, he was showered with praise by head coach Jim Curtin.
“He put out a ton of fires tonight,” Curtin said. “He calmed us down a lot. And the effort he put in tracking back 65, 70 yards, that’s ingrained in him. That’s what he’s about. He’s a winner. He’s a man. And he’s a guy that does so many of the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet.”
Curtin went on to say that the consistency the midfielder brings “makes you sleep at night easier as a coach.”
With that in mind, Curtin will likely give the veteran midfielder his fifth straight start for Saturday’s game against New York City FC at PPL Park (7 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
And, with already more than 300 MLS starts under his belt, his teammates think Carroll’s still got a lot more in him after that.
“He can play for a few more years,” Le Toux said. “People believed maybe a few months ago that he was done, but I believe in BC. He has a great mentality, and he’s great to have on the team because people can look to him as a leader. He’s the best leader by example that we have on this team.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
