The Union’s young prospects starred in Olympics qualifying. Will Jim Curtin play them now?

Jim Curtin knew the question was coming days ago, and he was ready for it.

His quartet of young American rising stars — Paxten Aaronson, Brandan Craig, Jack McGlynn, and Quinn Sullivan — is back from Concacaf’s under-20 men’s championship. They earned national headlines for starring in the U.S. team’s title run, which helped the program end a 16-year Olympics qualification drought.

So will Curtin play them more now?

“The challenge now is to go from that competition against kids your own age to doing it against the professionals, which I think they are more than capable of doing,” Curtin said Thursday at his news conference previewing Friday’s nationally televised home game against D.C. United (8 p.m., ESPN, ESPN Deportes).

“Obviously, with the busy schedule, they’re going to get minutes. Sometimes it’ll be off the bench. Sometimes it will be as starters as we move forward. But certainly we’ll rely more and more on them in the second half of the season.”

Those were the words everyone wanted to hear. But beyond the rhetoric, what actually could happen on the field?

» READ MORE: Four Union players led the U.S. men’s soccer team to end its 16-year Olympics drought

Let’s start with Craig and Aaronson because their paths for this year are the most straightforward.

Craig is No. 4 on the Union’s centerback depth chart, behind starters Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes and first backup Stuart Findlay. That isn’t changing any time soon, unless there’s an injury or a departure.

Elliott and Glesnes arguably are the league’s best centerback tandem, and Craig is the first to admit that 18 years old is a bit young to be a regular at the position.

“We mold older, more experienced defenders [who] grow slower and really take our time [developing]; we’re not really rushed into things,” Craig said. “It’s great learning from Jack and Jakob every single day in training and obviously watching them in games. I always notice their tendencies, and I always pick up after them, and I use them for my game.”

Then again, could a departure be in the cards? A report by Major League Soccer’s website on Thursday claimed the Union are preparing to sell Findlay to English third-division team Oxford United.

Aaronson was brilliant in the Concacaf tournament, winning the Golden Ball award for most outstanding player and the Golden Boot for top scorer. But he isn’t going to knock Dániel Gazdag out of the Union’s starting lineup every week because Gazdag has been the club’s best player this year.

The simplest answer might be the best for now: Have Aaronson be a regular second-half sub and a starter in stretches with short spans between games. He could play as an attacking midfielder or as a second forward, having shown with the U.S. that he can work on the front line in certain situations.

But a formation change to get Aaronson and Gazdag on the field together might not work well. Though the 4-3-2-1 “Christmas tree,” looks good on paper, it risks isolating the lone striker too much — which has happened to the Union before.

» READ MORE: Paxten Aaronson keeps up a family tradition of playmaking skill

The tougher questions are about McGlynn and Sullivan.

With McGlynn, the balance of playing time between McGlynn and Leon Flach — and the offense-vs.-defense balance that comes with it — was one of the biggest talking points at the start of this season. Flach’s passing game and overall attacking contributions have improved this year, but he’s still a defense-first midfielder. McGlynn is much more of a two-way player, especially when it comes to ball possession.

“We can find different ways to utilize Jack,” Curtin said. “His ability to pass is that of a deep-lying playmaker — he really can pass the ball; he’s very confident on it — whereas Leon gives you maybe a little more ball-winning and defending. So it depends on the matchup, depends on the day, but those discussions will continue to happen.”

That was one of three hints Curtin offered on the subject.

“Leon’s been solid for us — he’ll do any job that we ask of him, whether it’s as a second No. 6 [or] on the left side of the diamond,” Curtin said for one of the others. “It’s a good, healthy competition.”

The third hint wasn’t directly about McGlynn but might be the most important.

“The possession and the passing accuracy has been a little bit too low,” Curtin said. “I’m not concerned with the possession [percentage] if we’re scoring goals and we’re creating chances. But now [we] get into a moment where we almost need possession just to let our guys breathe.”

This was especially true in Sunday’s scoreless tie at Columbus. The Union barely held on at the end to escape with a point.

» READ MORE: Jack McGlynn was the Union's teenage penalty shootout sensation in last year's playoffs

Sullivan has been projected since last year as Alejandro Bedoya’s backup on the right side of the midfield diamond. That concept has been around since last summer, and the idea that Bedoya plays too much to stay healthy all year has been around for even longer.

But U.S. U-20 coach Mikey Varas’ use of Sullivan as a winger worked superbly, propelling Sullivan to six goals and four assists in the tournament. Now the door is open for Curtin to use the player in a lot of ways. One could be bringing back the late-game 4-2-3-1 setup of past years when Brenden Aaronson and Ilsinho played out wide — this time with Sullivan on the left and Olivier Mbaizo on the right.

“When you talk about Quinn and his skill set, he’s a soccer player first and foremost,” Curtin said. “To pigeonhole him in one position, or he’s this, or he’s that, I think is unfair, because he does a lot of things well. And the second part of that is he’s a playmaker, no question about it. When he is in and around the goal, right foot, left foot, his shooting’s as good as anyone on our team.

“Whether he’s playing as a winger, whether he’s playing on the side of the [midfield] diamond, whether he’s playing as a second 10 [attacking midfielder], I think they’re all options that we can utilize him in. And he’s certainly a guy that has earned more minutes for the first team.”

» READ MORE: Quinn Sullivan’s bicycle-kick goal in his first MLS start was a dream moment for one of Philly soccer’s most famous families