QUOTEBOOK
Head coach Jim Curtin
On this year’s matchup...
“I think it’s two really good teams, obviously in the league. It’s two coaches that know each other really well. Jesse (Marsh) is
a friend and former teammate that I played with for a lot of years. I think one thing that can be said is, when we played there
under Bob Bradley, he instilled in us that the Open Cup is a serious competition. It’s one of the two trophies that there are in
this country. I know that people say, ‘Are they going to play a full strength lineup?’ I know for a fact they are playing their guys
because that’s how Jesse is with it. That’s the same way I treat the Open Cup and we’ll both put our best lineups out there. We
have the advantage of being on our home field this year, which is huge.”
On mixing some reserves with starters…
“They could factor in, for sure. Again, when I say play our best lineup that means, that is available, that is healthy to turn it
around and play it 100-percent again. You could see a change or two, but it’s not going to be one where we rest five or six
guys. I think it’s been proven in the league now that when you rest five or six starters, you lose, in MLS these days. There might
be the occasional outlier where a team upsets somebody. The depth is improving in our league, but its still, with the salary cap,
not at the level it can be in Europe, for example.”
On Red Bulls entering with extra emotion after last year…
“Just rewind to this preseason. We had kind of a little sort of a bench clearing situation with them. Again, there is no denying
the fact that we don’t like each other, for sure. They’re competitive. We’re a competitive team. They have a very good group.
They’re in very good form. They’re playing some of the best soccer in our league right now. Jesse is a great coach and we’ll
have to be ready enough for the fight. I actually do look back on that preseason game, though, as a moment where - Ilsinho is
a guy that is essentially on trial with us, but it showed that we were going to be a group that is together. I do look back at that,
going down a man, play them - again, preseason is preseason, but it still showed our group is together and we’ll fight for each
other. We’ll need to continue that mentality the rest of the year.”
On last year’s Open Cup match against Red Bulls...
“It was unique. The kickoff was the craziest, for a midweek game to kick off in the afternoon, it was strange getting the guys
prepared and ready for it. Obviously, they had a lot of the ball on the day, and we dodged some bullets, certainly. But, we
showed a good fight. John (McCarthy) did a good job in penalty kicks. It was a great tie. I think Conor (Casey) gets a red card
in that one, down a man early and then I think Ayuk scored a great goal. We have always taken this competition seriously and
we are going to do the same this year.”
chronicalling curtin’s cup
Oct. 15, 2003 | Curtin started and played 90 minutes in Chicago Fire’s 1-0 victory over MetroStars in the 2003 Final.
Sept. 27, 2006 | A 91st minute substitute against LA Galaxy, Curtin won his second U.S. Open Cup and helped Chica
go lift the trophy for the fourth time in franchise history with a 3-1 victory at Toyota Park.
June 17, 2014 | Curtin makes his head coaching debut, leading the Union to a 3-1 victory in extra time over Harrisburg
City in the U.S. Open Cup Fourth Round.
Sept. 16, 2014 | The Union fall to Seattle Sounders at home in the 2014 Final, 3-1, in extra time.
Sept. 30, 2015 | Curtin’s second U.S. Open Cup Final as a coach ends in a defeat to Sporting KC 1-1 (7-6 PK) at Talen
Energy Stadium, dropping his coaching record in the tournament to 8-2-0.
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