Union’s Alejandro Bedoya moves on fast from Real Salt Lake loss; U.S. women coming to the Linc?
"Nobody played well," Bedoya said. "It just didn't happen for us from the beginning to the end."
Alejandro Bedoya takes pride in being a vocal leader on the field and in the Union’s locker room. But sometimes, he admits, it’s better just to leave a bad game behind and move on.
That was the case last Saturday after the Union’s 4-0 loss at Real Salt Lake.
"Normally, I'm going into the locker room chucking something and shouting stuff, but I just calmly said to the group, this is a game where it is what it is, it happened, it's over, move on to the next one," he said Wednesday after a lengthy practice under a scorching sun. "Nobody played well. It just didn't happen for us from the beginning to the end."
The result has made the home game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against the Chicago Fire (PHL17) even more of a must-win than it already was. Chicago sits in 10th place in the East, 14 points behind the first-place Union.
"At home, we should be confident, we should be re-energized now this week after a terrible showing," Bedoya said. "That [loss] was not at all what we know we're about."
Bedoya knows he needs to improve, too, especially in the attacking third of the field. He often gets the ball just outside the 18-yard box and has good looks at the goal, but he passes instead of shoots.
That is not just the view from the press box or the stands.
"My wife, my father, they all scream at me after the game: ‘Why didn’t you shoot?’ " he said. “I know I’ve got a good shot, but I’m always a pass-first guy. ... I should be definitely shooting more, at least so I can maybe get the defense to think a little bit more.”
Injury updates
Key midfielder Jamiro Monteiro is likely to miss the Chicago game because of the sprained ankle that kept him out last weekend. Sergio Santos might be out too after rolling an ankle Tuesday in the exhibition game at fourth-division partner team Reading United.
The good news is winger Ilsinho will be back after overcoming a left adductor strain. Also healthy is midfielder Warren Creavalle, who suffered a broken foot in June while with Guyana’s national team. The injury forced him to miss the country’s first appearance in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
Creavalle can help bring some bite back to the midfield that has been missing in Monteiro’s absence.
Backup goalkeeper leaving
Carlos Miguel Coronel, the Union’s No. 2 goalkeeper, was recalled earlier this month from his season-long loan to the Union by Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg. Union sporting director Ernst Tanner said Wednesday that Coronel is likely not coming back to Chester.
“We are probably going to release him as soon as we have a replacement for him,” Tanner said. “Maybe we’ll have some news for you very soon.”
U.S. women might be coming to the Linc
While nothing is official, multiple sources say that Lincoln Financial Field is leading the race to host the U.S. women’s soccer team’s Aug. 29 World Cup victory tour game.
The Eagles are on the road that night for their preseason finale, against the New York Jets. The Birds will host the Ravens on Aug. 22, then don’t play at home again until Sept. 9. That gives some time to clean up the playing surface from the beating it takes during football games.
The U.S. team’s first game after the World Cup triumph in France is Aug. 3 against Ireland at the Rose Bowl, site of their predecessors’ title win in 1999. The remaining victory tour dates are set -- Aug. 29, Sept. 3, Oct. 3, and Oct. 6 -- but the venues and opponents aren’t.