CHESTER, Pa. — During his first season with Bethlehem Steel FC in 2016, Cory Burke was yanked out of a game after 19 minutes because his coach didn’t think he was playing hard enough or fast enough.
“He was upset with me and understandably so,” Bethlehem’s Brendan Burke (no relation) recalled to MLSsoccer.com. “But we were upset with him. We gradually ironed out that disconnect between what his physical capabilities are and what the expectations were within the system in terms of defending from the front at all times.”
Now, after graduating from Steel FC to parent club Philadelphia Union, it’s gotten to the point where Union head coach Jim Curtin can’t take Burke off the field at all.