Ten days between Union playoff games is a long time, but players say they’re handling it fine

While Major League Soccer continues investigating Kai Wagner’s alleged use of a racist slur in the Union’s playoff opener, the team isn’t just sitting around and waiting.

There is much to prepare for ahead of Game 2 of the series next Wednesday at New England (7 p.m., FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV), especially because the Union might be without half their starting back line for the rest of the year.

Jakob Glesnes’ recovery from sports hernia surgery on Tuesday requires at least a six-week minimum, which would go past the Dec. 9 MLS Cup final. If Wagner is found to be guilty and punished the same way that the New York Red Bulls’ Dante Vanzeir was for using racist language in a game in April, he’ll be banned for six games, and the Union have, at most, five left: one or two against New England, the conference semifinal, the conference final, and the title game.

Another element of the Union’s prep work involves navigating the 10-day stretch between Games 1 and 2. MLS certainly got people talking about this year’s playoffs, but much of the talk has been unkind — including stern criticism from soccer veterans at the Los Angeles Times, The Athletic, and The Inquirer.

While the media have tried to stay busy at their jobs, Union players have tried to stay busy at theirs. A few days off at the climax of a taxing season are welcome, but resting too much can knock bodies out of the rhythm that pro athletes cherish.

» READ MORE: Kai Wagner practices with Union amid MLS investigation into allegations he used a racial slur on Saturday

“We know what we have to do to keep sharp and that’s what we’re going to do,” centerback Jack Elliott said after spending a drill session receiving exquisite crosses from Jack McGlynn’s left foot. (If Wagner is suspended, McGlynn will take over corner kicks and free kicks; and in that regard, Union fans won’t have too much to worry about.)

“We’ll have a few days of training, a rest day, and then our usual buildup,” Elliott added.

Midfielder Dániel Gazdag compared the 10-day span to how a FIFA national team window affects a club team’s schedule. Though his regular travels to Hungary’s national team mean Gazdag hasn’t got much experience with long breaks, he had a point about the time frame.

“We’ve got a lot of days to prepare for the game there in Boston,” Gazdag said, not quite nailing the geography, but the Revolution’s lack of a soccer stadium anywhere near central Boston is for writing about another day.

“We got the job done in the first game, we won, that was our goal,” Gazdag continued. “Now we’ve got the advantage, and we’re going there and we’ll try to win and close the series there.”

» READ MORE: The Union's playoff schedule is weird

Elliott, who has scored two of his 14 career goals in Foxborough, Mass., concurred.

“It’s another playoff game, another playoff atmosphere,” he said. “You just have to bring the same intensity that we did in the first game, and try and win the game and move on in two.”

Union fans usually don’t have much reason to pay attention to the third-tier USL League One, since there’s no Philadelphia-area team in it. There are some good stories, though, and one with local ties will be in the spotlight in the league’s championship game between North Carolina FC and the Charlotte Independence on Sunday (5 p.m., ESPN2).

North Carolina goalkeeper Brooks Thompson is on loan to the team from the Union’s reserve squad. The 21-year-old Indiana native joined the Union at the start of last year, when the club’s reserve team started in the MLS Next Pro league’s first season.

Thompson had previously been in Sporting Kansas City’s academy and played for its reserve squad until departing the organization at the end of 2021. The Union loaned him to North Carolina at the end of July so he could get regular playing time there, as teenage prospect Andrew Rick and MLS draft pick Holden Trent got most of the minutes this year.

» READ MORE: Union centerback Jakob Glesnes will have sports hernia surgery, likely ending his season

With chief backup goalkeeper Joe Bendik only on a one-year contract, the Union will have some thinking to do this winter about who fills out the depth chart next season.

Thompson’s record with North Carolina is 11-3-2, including a win in the playoffs. He has conceded 20 goals in those 16 games, with four shutouts — all since the start of September. If the stats aren’t quite ideal, he’s certainly on a good run of form. A championship win might help his case when the Union consider his future.