The Union steadied themselves with a tie in Austin, but still have much to do on defense

The first thing you do when faced with a big problem is stop it from getting worse.

The Union certainly did that Saturday night in their first-ever meeting with Austin FC, a 2-2 tie that was so full of fouls that you’d think they were next-door neighbors.

“We’re at our best when we’re proactive and not reactive, and you saw sometimes that just means being a little bit in the opponent’s face,” Union manager Jim Curtin said afterward. “Nasty, mean, whatever word you want to use, not backing down. So I think you saw a good response, for sure, from the group.”

But that doesn’t mean all is well yet. The disastrous four-minute stretch of the second half when Austin scored both its goals was a sign that the Union still have much to do defensively to get back to the usual standard.

“When you lose 6-0, there’s going to be, naturally, deserved noise from the outside, as there should be, and I thought that they still gave a good response,” Curtin said. “First half [was] excellent. That three- or four-minute span there, we were a little unlucky, I thought, on the first goal. The second goal should never happen. But [we] showed character to get a draw and respond.”

» READ MORE: Union rally in tie at Austin FC with goals from Dániel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre

It’s not just that the Union have delivered only one shutout so far this year, the home game of the Pachuca series in the Concacaf Champions Cup. It’s that they’ve allowed two or more goals in five of their seven games.

Is it a coincidence that the Union have given up so many goals with the attack-minded Jack McGlynn and Quinn Sullivan starting in central midfield, instead of the more defensive-minded Jesús Bueno, Alejandro Bedoya, or Leon Flach?

It might not be, even though Flach counts differently because he’s out injured. Curtin acknowledged it Saturday night.

“Look, I think with any really, really talented young players — and Quinn and Jack and Nathan [Harriel] all fall into that category as top young players in this country — the offensive stuff, the attacking stuff, that’s the part that you give them the freedom,” Curtin said as he started in on the subject. “In the final third of the field, I take the handcuffs off, do whatever you want. … That part of things is been excellent.”

Then came the other side.

“With young players, though, the only way you get the experience of what it really means on the defensive side — to cover on the weak side, to be in the right spot at all times, to anticipate, ‘Am I in a good position if the worst possible thing happens right now?’ — you only get that through real games,” Curtin said. “And there’s going to be mistakes, you’re going to concede goals, but I think they’re getting better at the defensive side of the ball.”

» READ MORE: The next stop for 14-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan is the Union’s reserve team

He then name-checked Flach, partly because Flach was name-checked in the question, but not just for that.

“When you talk about Leon, his skill set is completely different, right?” Curtin said. “He has defense-first ideas. But we also have to score goals, and different players give you different options. … They’re getting better and better defensively, but it’s still some good things and lessons to learn.”

Things aren’t likely to get better next week, when Major League Soccer plays through this month’s FIFA national team window. If you tune in to Saturday’s game at the Portland Timbers (10:30 p.m., Apple TV) and wonder where everyone is, blame the league, not the Union.

Expect the Union to be without eight players due to international call-ups, three due to injuries, and four due to loans elsewhere that they can’t be recalled from. Right now, it looks like the club will have 15 field players available. It would be 14 if Cameroon’s national team was playing, but it surprisingly isn’t. So Olivier Mbaizo will be available.

That means Curtin will be able to field a proper back line of Mbaizo, Jakob Glesnes, Jack Elliot, and Kai Wagner. Oliver Semmle will be in net due to Andre Blake’s absence with Jamaica for the Concacaf Nations League final four.

What happens in front of them, though, remains to be seen. There will probably be two hardship call-ups from the reserves, goalkeeper Andrew Rick (who’s already been with the first team because Holden Trent is injured) and one field player. If that’s big-time academy prospect CJ Olney, it will be worth staying up late to see if he plays.

But it could be a long night otherwise.

» READ MORE: What to know about the Union's national team callups this month