Union Return From Break, Host Portland Saturday
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Union return from a week off and they return to MLS action on Saturday night as they welcome the Portland Timbers to Chester.
The Union have been idle since June 30th, when they defeated D.C. United 2-1 to advance to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup. Head coach Jim Curtin says a few days of rest were welcomed.
"We had a tough build up going into (the bye)," Curtin tells KYW Newsradio. "Playing Saturday-Wednesday pretty much for two months straight. So (good) to give the guys a little bit of down time, a little rest and have a little momentum going into the break, you know we're 6-3-1 in our last 10 (MLS and Open Cup) so I'm very happy with that."
Listen to the entire interview with Union head coach Jim Curtin
Philadelphia is 5-10-4 in MLS play this season. They have shown flashes of really good play this season, but also have let some points slip away and Curtin says a goal going forward is to find consistency.
"We've proven we can play with anybody," Curtin says. "We just need to take care of business against the teams that are maybe equal or below us on the table. That's usually the best way to make the playoffs."
Portland will come to town with a record of 9-6-4 and with 31 points they are just one point behind Western Conference co-leaders Seattle and Vancouver.
"First off, they're on a great run of form," Curtin says. "They've inched their way to the top of the Western Conference, in their past ten games they've been excellent after a slow start."
As for how they will try and attack the Timbers.
"The one thing we'll try and do," Curtin says," is their outside backs are very aggressive going forward, so we'll try and play balls into the space that they vacate and try and get in behind them when they do go bomb forward, as they have a tendency to do."
This will be the only meeting between the Union and the Timbers this season.
Philadelphia and Portland will get underway at 7:00pm on Saturday night.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.