The Union and FC Cincinnati don’t like each other, no matter how nice they are about it

Whenever the Union and FC Cincinnati play each other, Union manager Jim Curtin says lots of nice things about his counterparts who used to work with him in Chester.

Though there aren’t as many these days as there used to be, there are still plenty: manager Pat Noonan (who always says lots of nice things back) and general manager Chris Albright in particular, and players Sergio Santos and Alvas Powell.

But don’t be fooled. Once the microphones go off and the stadium lights go on, these teams reveal that on the field, they don’t like each other one bit.

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone said so out loud?

“I mean, we definitely don’t,” Union goalkeeper Andre Blake said ahead of the teams’ latest clash, Tuesday in Cincinnati in the Leagues Cup round of 16 (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). It will be their eighth meeting in the three years since Albright and Noonan switched sides, including two playoff games; and there’s at least one more still to come this season in the regular-season finale at Subaru Park.

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“They’re a good team, and we are a good team as well, and we want to win, and they want to win,” Blake said. “So it’s going to be like it is: very competitive, fight, scrap, good soccer, these games include everything. … It’s going to take a really good performance from us because they are really good team.”

If you’re inclined to say a game of “fight” and “scrap” is mutually exclusive from “good soccer,” you aren’t alone. But those traits do make for compelling television — or online streaming these days — and there should be plenty of that again on Tuesday.

“We tend to bring the best out of each other, because there is an element of wanting to be close friends and competitors,” Curtin said Monday at a news conference in Chester, with Noonan holding court at his team’s practice facility a few minutes later. By the time they finished, the audiences for both had piled up enough questions to fill a leftover tub of Cincinnati’s famed Graeter’s ice cream.

“No one was more competitive than Pat and Chris when they were here,” Curtin said. “They’ve obviously taken that to Cincinnati and put together an amazing team. We’ll go there as the underdog, and we’ll go there and be brave — we know it’s going to take a really good performance in their building to survive and advance.”

The contempt bred by that familiarity has kept referees as busy as the players. In those seven games since the start of the Albright-Noonan era in Cincinnati, there have been 20 goals, 38 yellow cards, and two ejections — and just one Union win, by the way, a 1-0 edging in the 2022 playoffs. There’s also been plenty of heat in the extended preseason scrimmages the teams contested this year and last year, though official stats weren’t fully kept.

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“It’s a good, healthy rivalry, but on the field it does get a little chippy,” Union right back Nathan Harriel said. “At the end of the day, you know, just keep calm, cool, collected, and eventually just let our play take over.”

And does that familiarity make preparing any easier, especially on short notice during a tournament?

“It doesn’t feel easier,” Noonan said. “We’ve faced them enough times where we know the personnel, they know us, but it hasn’t just been one shape for both teams. ... It doesn’t always look the same, that’s what keeps you on your toes.”

Teen phenom Cavan Sullivan has still played just once for the Union’s first team. He’s been on the bench for the last two Leagues Cup games but has not played, although he has played for the reserve squad — and played well.

Sullivan has recorded an assist in two of his last three reserve games, including a highlight-reel charge down the right flank in Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Chicago Fire’s reserves at Subaru Park.

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For as much as fans want to see the 14-year-old in action, it doesn’t make sense to play him with the first team when it’s clear the opponent will be big and physical. Cincinnati definitely qualifies as that. So while tempering expectations, when might we next see Sullivan play a first-team game?

“He has an ability to do something that we don’t have a lot of, and haven’t had a lot of since Ilsinho, which is beat someone off the dribble with that quick first step,” Curtin said. “So that’s a real weapon that you can imagine now, if you need a goal late, if you’re down a goal — if you want to go at, maybe, a weaker outside back or wingback that we think we could exploit — Cavan would be a guy that we would choose for that.”

Curtin praised Sullivan for “taking real steps forward,” especially in practices with the first team, where Sullivan spends most of his week.

“And it’s not just settling in and fitting in and training, he’s leaving an impact in trainings; which means scoring goals in 6-v-6 games, or doing really well with his defensive pressuring, and also the recovery sprints, or whatever it might be,” Curtin said. “Sometimes you guys don’t get to see it, and I know you want to see it all right away for 90 minutes. But I can say if he continues on this trajectory, he’s going to contribute in some big situations in the league moving forward.”

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