Union not exactly revved up as season winds down

The standings and the vibes tell you two very different things about the Union and the New England Revolution ahead of Saturday’s Decision Day clash.

Both are snugly in the playoffs, closer to the top of the Eastern Conference than the cut line. The Union (15-8-10, 55 points) sit third, and a draw or better will seal a top-four spot and hosting duties in the best-of-3 first round. The Revs (14-9-10, 52 points) are fifth, their playoff destiny long since secure.

And yet … the Revs enter with a 1-4-3 record in their last eight after the dismissal of Bruce Arena and much of his staff. The Union, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last eight (2-0-6) and are 5-1-6 over their last 12. But it doesn’t feel like that around Chester these days.

“It’s been a long, demanding year,” manager Jim Curtin said Thursday. “We’ve played more games than we ever have. We’ve won more games than we ever have as a club, too, so I tend to try to focus on the positive things. We have an opportunity in our final games to finish with the third-most points in a 29-team league, and it doesn’t feel that way at all.

“Externally, where there’s always noise; internally, it doesn’t feel that way in here when you talk to the staff or players.”

Part of that is a level of uncommon backroom discord. Kai Wagner has one foot out the door, with his contract up at the end of the year, teams in Europe willing to take a flier on him on a free transfer and Wagner openly commemorating his final home game at Subaru Park last week.

A report in The Athletic last week revealed that the club doesn’t plan to extend a contract offer to Alejandro Bedoya when his deal expires at season’s end. Bedoya won’t comment on it, but players (including Wagner) have come to his defense on social media. All this discord while the club has gone through a series of injuries, suspensions, draws that have felt like losses, seven games in 22 days, then 14 games off in the international break.

It has cast Curtin into the unusual role of firefighter, on decisions mainly out of his control.

“That’s the job of a coach,” Curtin said. “There’s been a lot of contract stuff this year, as there is with any team that gets talked about. Sometimes it remains internal; sometimes it goes outside. … It’s a locker room of players that all love each other and have won a lot of games together and won a ton of big games together. It’s a group that I’ll still always defend.”

This week has been disjointed, with 10 players away on international duty. Most are back as of Thursday. The one carrying an injury, Jose Martinez, is suspended this weekend. Olivier Mbaizo picked up a knee injury that Curtin said, “could take some time.” Matt Real rolled an ankle in training this week. Jesus Bueno only returned to training Wednesday with a knee issue.

The turf in Foxborough will be an issue for Bueno, as well as with Leon Flach and Jakob Glesnes, both healthy but not wanting to exacerbate long-term core muscle injuries.

New England can jump the Union with a 3-goal win. That would leave the teams even on points, even on wins (the first tiebreaker), even on goal differential (the second tiebreaker) and the Revs ahead on goals for (both enter with 56). There’s an outside chance the Revs and Union could meet in the playoffs, either in fourth and fifth or third and sixth, to play an opening-round best-of-3.

“There’s still a lot of seeding that’s up in the air,” Curtin said. “We have to go on the field and execute. They’re a very tough team and they’ve played some very tough games. It’ll be a hard-fought battle to get as high a (playoff) spot as we can get.”

Source: Berkshire mont