CHESTER — It hasn’t been hard to divine for the better, just like it wasn’t difficult to divine for the worse.
When the Union were mired in a 10-game winless streak, conceding 20 goals in an eight-game stretch, manager Jim Curtin could unambiguously point to the Andre Blake-shaped hole in the lineup as a reason. Take the best goalkeeper in the league and one of the best players in franchise history out of any team, and there will be effects, to put it lightly.
Reintroduce him to the group and … well, it hasn’t exactly been like flipping a light switch, but it’s been close.
In five games since Blake has returned from knee surgery, the Union are 4-0-1. They’ve allowed just two goals, with one fewer clean sheet (three) than during his entire three-month absence.
The only downside is that only two of those games have come in MLS play, where the Union need desperately to make up ground in the Eastern Conference standings. Instead, they’ve been wasted on the made-for-TV diversion that is the Leagues Cup, in which the Union travel to Eastern Conference leader FC Cincinnati Tuesday night for the Round of 16.
Still, strong performances are strong performances. And the challenge, after searching for them in vain for three months, is to translate them from Leagues Cup to league play.
“It’s five pretty solid performances at home where we’ve gotten results in a row,” Curtin said, “so it gives everyone a little bit of confidence.”
Winning on the road will be the challenge for the 10th-place Union down the stretch. Five of their last nine league games are away from home, all at teams currently in playoff position. They cap the season in Chester against Cincy, which could be wrapping up the Supporters’ Shield by then.
Three-point gimmes are few and far between, which portrays Tuesday’s affair in a delicate light. The Union would love to advance and get closer to the monetary benefits and CONCACAF Champions Cup spot that comes with being near the top of the Leagues Cup. But if they can glean some form and some rest by bowing out now, that might not be even better for the season’s main objective.
The first part has happened thanks to the Union rediscovering their defensive mojo. Back-to-back wins over New England and Nashville by a combined score of 8-1 before the break in league play resuscitated a season that had sunk to last place. They’ve added clean sheets against Charlotte and Montreal in the Leagues Cup, the last a 2-0 decision over the Canadians Friday at a mostly empty Subaru Park.
Those last two opponents are clubs the Union would say they’re better than at full strength this year, despite having an 0-2-2 record against them in league play, games that have come at something considerably less than full strength.
Blake is a primary reason why. Look no further than his save of a Bryce Duke breakaway in the ninth minute Friday, which allowed space for Tai Baribo’s brace late in each half to send the Union on. That sliding save bailed out a terrible step up by Jakob Glesnes, the kind that has led to goals without Blake’s error-erasing presence.
“He’s the best keeper in this league,” Glesnes said. “He should probably not be in this league, to be honest. Of course it’s good to have him back behind us because if you mess up a time, he will save. You saw it today on the first save – bad touch from me and he saved me. That’s the difference from earlier, he’s saving that and you see the shot Sam (Adeniran) is taking and Tai is there for the rebound and the goal. That wouldn’t happen three months ago.”
“We’re more steady,” Blake said. “Guys seem more comfortable in a sense, and that’s soccer sometimes. You need to feel comfortable when you’re out there, and for whatever reason, that wasn’t the case. I’m just happy right now that we’re on a run and I think we still can be better. We have to keep pushing ourselves. We can’t get complacent. We don’t have time for that.”
In a perfect world, the Union hope to be able to bottle up what’s working in Leagues Cup and save it for when MLS play resumes Aug. 24. That presumes they can get there without injuries and maybe benefit from a team or two that has too long a layoff after being bounced from Leagues Cup early.
It’s a case of not being able to do anything to help their league standing now but plenty that could hurt it. At the very least, the results have avoided that.
“We all know where we are in the league,” Blake said. “The last two games we won were very important and we’re carrying that run of form over into the Leagues Cup. So that aim now is to keep going, see how far we can get in the Leagues Cup and hopefully we can maintain that form to get back into the league and go on a run.”
“We just have to keep building confidence from what we have been doing the last games and keep building (on) it,” Glesnes said, “because we know we are good when we have the full team back.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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