The Union could do with a win, and the Chicago Fire should provide one

Though the Union are officially on a two-game winless run, no one in Chester is especially worried about it right now. Still, they could do with a win, so Saturday’s visit of a subpar Chicago Fire squad (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled) is well-timed.

“The thing about this group is, they know when they play well,” Union manager Jim Curtin said. “And they know that I thought — and they felt — that the El Salvador result was good. And they also know when we weren’t at our best, and that was the Miami [loss].”

It’s one of many signs of the team’s veteran savvy that they know it without Curtin having to turn up the heat in the locker room.

“We’ve been around each other now for long enough, and know each other long enough, [that] I don’t have to say as much — I don’t have to throw things or break anything,” he said. “They know when it’s good, and they know when it needs to be better. So this is a tough test early in the season against Chicago, and I expect a really good response.”

Curtin was being polite to the team which he long played on for a long time. This year’s Fire squad has low expectations, and it met them in a 1-1 tie at home against New York City FC last weekend.

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That score against one of the East’s better teams is mildly complimentary of a team that finished third-from-last last year, with a 10-15-9 record and nine points out of the playoffs. Though Chicago has some top-end attacking talent in Jairo Torres, Swiss World Cup winger Xherdan Shaqiri, and Kei Kamara, it took 75 minutes to get a goal from Fabian Herbers against the Pigeons.

The truth was found elsewhere: New York’s 10-9 edge in shots and 1.78-0.77 advantage in expected goals. That lack of punch is why Chicago signed Kamara, acquiring him from CF Montréal just before the season started.

He debuted at halftime, replacing former Union striker Kacper Przybylko — who has just five goals in 27 Fire games. There have already been calls in Chicago to dump him.

Kamara is the first player in MLS history to suit up for 10 different teams. The 38-year-old has been around for so long that the first four seasons of his pro career, from 2006-09, overlapped with Jim Curtin’s playing days. (They only played against each other once, though, in April 2006.)

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“A player that I respect a great deal,” Curtin said. “Very good in the air, comes to life when he gets the ball in the box, can create a goal for himself, really good timing of his runs and his movement. He’s been a tough striker to manage against for a lot of years, and a lot of different teams.”

Curtin noted he had his team focus on defending high crosses in Thursday’s practice to prepare for Kamara’s 6-foot-3 presence.

There could be some Union lineup rotation on Saturday, with left back Kai Wagner in focus. Tuesday’s Champions League game against Alianza is more important, and the Union hit the road to play Montreal on Olympic Stadium’s artificial turf next Saturday. So if Curtin can get away with resting Wagner against the Fire, he might do it.

Or maybe not, because Curtin said Thursday that Wagner “was fine to turn around and go again.”

“We would be totally comfortable going to Matt [Real], and that would be the natural selection there,” Curtin said. “Kai just gives us so much on set pieces too, so it’s a little tougher to make a decision there. But there will be a moment in this year when he needs a break.”

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