Union Notes: Tai Baribo's Strong Form, Sam Adeniran's Impact, Cavan Sullivan's Future Playing Time

The Union are focusing on getting three more points out of this week from Saturday's home match with Nashville SC.

One win is great, but it means nothing if it can’t be added to with another victory.

That’s the message within the Philadelphia Union locker room ahead of Saturday night’s clash with Nashville SC.

“We now are stressing to the guys that one result doesn’t mean anything if we don’t follow it up against Nashville,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said.

“Nashville is still a very dangerous team and starts with Hany Mukhtar. Shaffelburg is in really dangerous good form coming off the Copa America. We have to be at the top of our game to get a result,” Curtin said.

The Union’s Wednesday night win over the New England Revolution moved them up one spot in the Eastern Conference table.

It’s not saying much, but it got them within three points of the final playoff spot in the East. Nashville comes into Subaru Park with a two-point advantage over the Union.

The Union may not leave Chester until August 31 depending on how deep they get into the Leagues Cup, which begins next Saturday, so this is the window to create momentum.

The Union added forward Sam Adeniran from St. Louis City SC on Thursday in a relatively cheap trade by MLS standards.

Adeniran is expected to bring a different element to the Union forward corps.

“First and foremost Sam is a great kid. You get to talk to him and meet him and be around him and he brings an energy, smile and happiness that injects life into the group, which is important,” Curtin said.

Adeniran brings something to the final third that the Union have lacked since Cory Burke was coming off the bench.

“You then get to the physical tools and he’s every bit of 6’4”, 6’5”, strong in the air and right away through the data he’s our fastest player and it’s not close,” Curtin said. “Speed kills and it changes the game. He not only has the ability to get in behind, but he has, for a big guy, really soft feet and can finish around the goal.”

“I think he sees us as a team that plays with two strikers and is a good fit for him. We maybe haven’t had a target striker in that you think of big, strong hold-up play and winning aerials. He checks that box, whereas even Julian before him was kind of a slasher and looking to run hard into the box. Mikael is a guy who runs in behind. Tai has emerged as a guy who can come underneath and receive balls at his feet.

“They are all okay in the air, but when you see Sam’s presence and the physicality and also the ability to run in behind, it’s a really good fit.

Curtin delivered a simple message to Adeniran for his likely Union debut on Saturday.

“We see a natural fit for us. Keep things simple. We’re going to play with two strikers. Sam will play a role for us tomorrow at some point. I’ve told him he’ll be involved. I want to keep things as simple as possible. He’s been here for two days. You don’t want to overload him with information, but keep things simple. Realize all of our strikers at the Union get service. We will get you service, just run hard in the box and get on the end of crosses. We see how good you are in front of goal and trust our guys will get you the ball.

“Defensively, keep it simple and work with your other striker to keep the ball on one side, lock it in and make it predictable for the guys behind you. And as our strikers set the tone, the other eight guys behind them will follow. Very simple message, but one that he’s more than capable of executing. It’s been great to work with Sam so far and I think his future here is hopefully very successful and longer than just the end of this year.”

The striker play has improved compared to the low expectations set once Julian Carranza departed for Feyenoord.

Tai Baribo is up to six goals and has impressed in every way possible that a Union forward can.

“Tai’s been incredible,” Curtin said. I couldn’t be more proud of any one of our players than I am of Tai. He came in, it took a little bit of time to get up to speed and acclimated. As you re-analyze things, maybe he didn’t get the reps with the first-team guys. Obviously, Julian is here so you get less and less of those and don’t get as many actions with Dani or Mikael in training. You’re working a lot with the second team.

“If Tai looked exactly like he looked right now, of course we would’ve pulled the trigger quickly and found more minutes for him. It’s a two-way street. But he’s been incredible. His work rate on the field has been incredible. We’re going to look forward now.

“His goal output is incredible, but the work rate defensively to back pressure, to make deflections, make a block, to disrupt the attack of opponents in the 90th minute of games is something he deserves a ton of credit for. I’m really happy for his success and I just want it to continue.

Curtin’s detail about practice adds a little more context into why Baribo didn’t find more playing time while Carranza was on the roster.

It doesn’t absolve Curtin of the mistake of not at least trying Baribo for more minutes, but there’s at least some logic from the coach’s side as to why the Israeli international was held on the bench.

The Union’s bench on Saturday will have Cavan Sullivan on it. Curtin and the coaching staff was impressed with what they saw in the 14-year-old’s short stint on Wednesday.

“He deserves to be in the 20 again so he will be. He trained really good today and has been sharp. Obviously he has a little bit of confidence because he gets that initial debut opportunity. It’s something that stays with you forever. I thought the touches that he had in a short time showed he more than belongs.

“The moment the other night was a special one where Quinn scores the goal, Cavan gets the celebrate with him and Cavan comes in and helps us. I know it’s 5-1 and people say it’s over, but he did a really good job. He had a couple one-touch passes and showed that he’s not afraid to dribble at defenders that are much older than him. He did a great job of stepping into the game and left a good impact on the game and a good impression on the coaches.

Sullivan shouldn’t play in every game, but there will be situations where it is advantageous to put him on the field, especially at home when the Union carry multi-goal leads.

He still has to be around the No. 3 attacking option off the bench. He has tremendous skill, but you can’t put the workload of a No. 1 or No. 2 attacking sub on a 14-year-old. That’s just not how you handle it.

The Union were in a great spot to give Sullivan his debut on Wednesday, and if the Union revert back to their normal home form, we could see 10-15-minute stints from the Homegrown player as the season goes on.

Photo Courtesy of Philadelphia Union.