When the Philadelphia Union returned to the East Coast following four weeks of training camp in Florida, they did so with a trophy.
And while winning the IMG Suncoast Pro Classic Championship isn’t going to lead to any parades down Broad Street, the preseason tourney title is still a nice boost for the Union leading into the start of the 2015 season -- whenever that may be. (More on that later).
“The guys were excited,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said Tuesday from the Penn Park bubble after the team’s first training session back in Philly. “We specifically set out to win it. It wasn’t just a fluke thing after we won and said, ‘Yeah, we wanted to win.’ I talked about that when we broke from our first stint in Florida. I said, ‘When we come back here, our goal is to win four games in a row and be the champs in this competition.’”
Curtin admitted the team’s first two wins of the tournament over the Costa Rican U-23 national team and London United were “easier” games. But what followed were two victories over MLS Eastern Conference rivals: an exciting shootout win over the Columbus Crew and a 3-1 title-clinching triumph over the rival New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
“Obviously it’s a preseason tournament, but wins are wins, goals are goals and shutouts are shutouts,” center back Ethan White said. “It’s good to have some silverware. We’ll put that up in the casing somewhere and look it and enjoy it. Hopefully there’s more to come.”
While posing with their shiny new trophy after the game was nice, perhaps the best part for the players was sending an early indication that they can work well together in 2015. That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, considering most of the team is still in place from last season. Still, striker Fernando Aristeguieta and center back Steven Vitoria – both of whom were acquired during the preseason – meshed well with the returners in the tournament.
Aristeguieta scored twice in his debut vs. London United, before adding goals vs. Columbus and the Red Bulls. The 6-foot-5 Vitoria, meanwhile, has struck up a promising partnership at center back with the speedier White.
“The chemistry is going to build some more, but we have a good starting point,” White said. “I usually like to be paired with a guy that’s dominant in the air, and I like to be the one that covers a lot of ground. I think it suits both of us pretty well.”
White added that it’s good that Aristeguieta and Vitoria will likely be the only new starters because “soccer’s a game where players have to know each other.” At the same time, there was still some uncertainty in the air when the Union convened Tuesday for the start of what should be its last week of the preseason.
Aristeguieta was not at practice because he’s in his native Venezuela finishing his work permit papers. More ominously, Brian Carroll and Danny Cruz were also not in Philly because they’re representing the Major League Soccer’s Players Union (MLSPU) in heated talks with MLS about a new collective bargaining agreement.
“It’s a little bit of a difficult week,” Curtin said. “You have guys missing with the CBA negotiations going on, a couple of players back and forth with that. But that’s the challenge that everybody’s got right now.”
As of now, no one is sure if the MLSPU and MLS will come to an agreement in time to start the season this week as planned. But at this point, the Union have no choice but to get ready for their scheduled season opener Saturday against the Colorado Rapids at PPL Park.
“You can’t really think about it,” White said. “You never know. We could be playing Saturday. It’s our job to come here and play hard every day. You never know what’s going to happen. But whether we’re playing or not, we’ve still got to train like we’re going to play.”
The Union still have other questions to answer as they finalize their roster over the next few days, as preseason trialists Eric Ayuk and draft picks Eric Bird and Raymond Lee are still looking for contracts. But after a good end to the preseason and his lineup mostly set, Curtin is ready for the regular season to start in a few days – and he’s hopeful that it will.
“The mindset to the guys is that there’s no excuse,” the Union coach said “We are preparing like we are playing the Colorado Rapids on Saturday at PPL. It’s an opportunity to set the tone at home.”