Jim Curtin's Press Conference

On Tuesday, Jim Curtin had his weekly press conference to discuss the numerous topics of the Philadelphia Union.

"On DC, I thought we put in a strong performance, started the game really and were able to get a goal. Had a couple opportunities to go up 2-0, maybe lacked that killer instinct in front of goal... I was still happy with how we played" Coach Curtin said about his side's play in their 2-1 loss to DC United on Saturday.

After talking about the DC United game, Curtin shifted his focus to Wednesday's game versus Columbus Crew.

"Have a good Columbus team coming in with a lot of dangerous weapons: Kei Kamara, the leading scorer in the league,- a very well coached team by Greg Berhalter, a guy I respect a lot. They'll come into our building and it'll be a tough game, like every game in the Eastern Conference is."

Overall, Curtin then talked about the team's current run of play which has revived, if only slightly, talks of the playoffs.

"The guys are confident right now. There is a belief within the group. We're healthy-healthy as we've been- so there's some continuity each week, which goes a long way." Later on, Curtin said "Listen, we know were not anywhere we need to be in the standings, the table, but, at the same time, the last three games we've looked like what we can show. We can be a team that can play with anyone in the league... have some home games, 4 out of 5 at home in June, and we need to get on a run if we want put ourselves back in the playoff picture"

Later the coach commented on the teams injuries.

On Michael Lahoud:

"Michael Lahoud is coming aloud and he is targeting the US Open Cup, June 16th, as a date where we can hope to have him back to contributing in the game... We want him to have an impact in that game."

On Steven Vitoria:

"Steven Vitoria has trained the past two days for the first time and looks good. Hopefully, he will continue to progress. Obviously, there's a lack of fitness there with the time he's missed."

On Andre Blake:

"Andre Blake is able to jog now around the field, which is positive"

On Conor Casey:

"Conor looks like it'll be another week, week and a half...He knows his body well. He hasn't really pushed too hard because he doesn't want to aggravate anything in the quad."

Union announce two friendlies

The Union announced the scheduling of two friendlies this week.

One friendly will be on July 14th against newly EPL-promoted side AFC Bournemouth at PPL Park.

The other friendly is against affiliate Reading United on June 9th at Don Thomas Stadium at Exeter High School.

Schedule

The Union will face Columbus Crew at PPL Park on Wednesday (7PM EST TV: TCN or MLS Live) and then face a short turnaround on Saturday to face NYCFC at PPL Park (7PM EST TV: TCN or MLS Live).

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