Union face a choice: Brenden Aaronson, Haris Medunjanin, or Jamiro Monteiro won’t start vs. FC Dallas

Two weeks after Union manager Jim Curtin didn’t have a full bench for a game, he faces the opposite problem heading into the meeting with FC Dallas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. With almost everyone healthy, Curtin has to leave a midfielder worthy of starting out of the lineup.

Specifically, one of Brenden Aaronson, Haris Medunjanin, or Jamiro Monteiro won’t start. Given how well Aaronson and Medunjanin have played recently, the odd man out is likely to be Monteiro, who made his Union debut this past weekend.

“That’s a good problem for a coach to have,” Curtin said Wednesday. “It’s always difficult to change a winning team, but also, Jamiro is making it very difficult because he has shown, certainly, starter talent in his ability every day in training."

Monteiro played 20 minutes as a substitute in the 2-0 win at FC Cincinnati, but even in that short time he showed a lot.

“You see some of his qualities: the ability to close the ball, to not just win the ball but connect the first pass,” Curtin said. "The speed at which he closes the ball down is very, very quick, and something that really pops to the eye.”

Curtin also took a bit of heat about Mark McKenzie’s lack of playing time. It likely wouldn’t be an issue if not for the under-20 World Cup, and the back-and-forth between Union sporting director Ernst Tanner and U.S. coach Tab Ramos about whether McKenzie will go to the tournament. But the matter will stay in the spotlight until there’s a resolution.

“Mark is still a great centerback and he’s a great young player -- I don’t want to talk to him like it’s a funeral or something like that,” Curtin said. “He’s doing everything on the field in training, but he just happens to have two guys that are playing well right now and the team is winning.”

Those two guys are Auston Trusty and Jack Elliott, Positionally, Elliott is the one who’s keeping McKenzie off the field. And it’s hard to argue with that, because Elliott has played very well in the last few games.

“He’s playing at probably his best level right now,” Curtin said of Elliott. “That’s part of pro sports, that’s part of what happens.”

Still, there have been opportunities to at least give McKenzie some time as a substitute. Curtin said he has considered it.

“It could happen, it could help,” he said. “But at the same time, centerbacks aren’t usually changed a lot throughout the world. Mark understands the position, he understands the highs and lows.”

After missing the last few games with a hip flexor injury, striker Sergio Santos has been back on the practice field this week. Curtin said the Brazilian is likely to play with Bethlehem Steel this weekend when the Union’s USL team visits Swope Park Rangers, Sporting Kansas City’s USL team.

Curtin admitted that “maybe we rushed things a little bit with his integration into a new team, a new league, and maybe pushed a little too hard, and we had a setback. ... Now we’ll have to regroup in building him up.”

SEPTA is continuing its trial of an extra postgame train into Center City for fans going to Talen Energy Stadium on Saturday night. It will leave the Chester Transportation Center at 10:30 p.m. Pregame service from Center City will be as usual, leaving once an hour. Fans can take a free shuttle between the regional rail station and the stadium.

The extra service debuted on March 22. SEPTA said 29 passengers used it, which isn’t a big number, and the agency wants to try to attract more riders. The trial will continue for another few weeks.