The Union prepare to play their regular-season opener with replacement refs

As the referee lockout continues to affect Major League Soccer, the Union hope the replacement officials don’t have too big of an impact on Saturday’s regular-season opener against the Chicago Fire at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled).

“You always hope that both sides are negotiating in good faith and that they can come to a conclusion,” Union captain and midfielder Alejandro Bedoya said. “At the end of the day, obviously, this will get resolved — how, I’m not sure. But I hope that the two sides can come together, or however many different sides there are can come together, and get it going.”

The replacement refs have experience in lower-level pro leagues, college soccer, and, in some cases, other countries. But the speed of play in the top flight and the fitness required to keep up — plus the complexities of video review, for officials involved in that — are on a different level.

A report by the Athletic on Friday also noted that of the 60 officials hired for this weekend’s games leaguewide, just 17 have the U.S. Soccer Federation’s highest-level refereeing license.

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Jim Curtin is one of many managers across MLS who played in the league. Back then, he was a players’ union stalwart, as Bedoya is now. These days, there’s only so much Curtin can say without getting in trouble with his bosses.

“I’m not going to lie and tell you it’s not a part of the game — it is at every level in every pro sport,” Curtin said. “But hopefully, with the addition of VAR [video review], with the good job that the league’s done to get the new officials up to speed as quickly as possible, they can rely on that and lean on that professional experience that they have. And execute on the field, just like the players.”

MLS was fortunate that it didn’t have a bad viral moment when Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami played in the season kickoff game on Wednesday. The potential for disaster hasn’t been much of a talking point in the Union’s locker room because there’s enough for the players to deal with as is. But it hasn’t been ignored, either.

“Of course you want to have the best referees on the field so the games are going as smooth as possible, but we can’t have our focus there,” centerback Jakob Glesnes said. “We have to just deal with what we’re getting.”

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On Friday afternoon, a separate source said players and coaches have been threatened with “major fines” if they say too much about the lockout. It wasn’t known whether Bedoya knew that when he offered some polite criticism Friday morning.

“I don’t think it’s a great look for the league as it continues to grow, that they’re having this type of labor dispute,” he said. “Especially you know, everybody’s ‘Messi, Messi, Messi!’ and his first game is with replacement refs — not the real professional referees. So it’s something that I hope gets resolved quickly.”

The Union’s longtime captain is glad that he’s finally settled in with the new contract he spent so long trying to get.

“You miss the guys the whole time during free agency — it’s just a lot of texts and phone calls,” Bedoya said. “So then to just finally be in the same rooms and getting the banter flying and preparing again for the start of our season, it’s been great. I’m happy to be back; my family is happy to be back.”

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Bedoya played the Concacaf Champions Cup game against Saprissa on Tuesday as a second-half substitute, with Quinn Sullivan starting instead. By the time Bedoya entered, Julián Carranza had tied the game, 1-1, and momentum had shifted in the Union’s favor after a rough first half.

“I’ve got to give the team a lot of credit for coming in at halftime, getting it all together, and coming back and being resilient,” Bedoya said.

Goalkeeper Andre Blake suffered a minor adductor injury in the 3-2 win at Saprissa. He was able to play through the pain, but it has to be frustrating that he suffered yet another groin-area injury in the first game of the year.

If Blake can’t go against Chicago, new backup Oliver Semmle will step in. Curtin said it will be a game-time decision

“He’s been an excellent goalkeeper in the [second-tier] USL at Louisville for quite some time,” Curtin said. “If he’s called upon tomorrow, I know he’ll be ready. The back line has full confidence in him, and he’s done really well in training so far, getting acclimated to his team.”

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Centerback Jack Elliott also is dealing with a minor adductor injury and was held out of the Saprissa game. Curtin said he’s ready to go for Saturday.

Striker Tai Baribo was sidelined for part of the preseason because of a foot injury. Curtin said that cost him an opportunity to move up the depth chart — and he said so with unusual bluntness.

“It’s a merit-based system — I think every player on our group knows how clear that is,” Curtin said. “Having missed a couple of weeks in the preseason, that was a tough way to start. But again, as we all know, it’s not about how you start, it’s how you progress during the course of the season, and we expect big things from Tai.”

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