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Some time on the bench can pay off, and it finally has for Philadelphia Union.

You began to see that clearly around the 62nd minute of the Union’s 3-0 win over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

Keegan Rosenberry and Derrick Jones entered the game for Ray Gaddis and Roland Alberg, respectively.

The game promptly changed.

A messy, physical, disjointed game slowed down. Rosenberry’s poise and class on the ball changed the tempo. Jones provided energy where Alberg’s had gradually died over the prior half hour. It only got better once Fabian Herbers entered the game, slotted in on the right, and pushed Chris Pontius back to the left side, where Pontius promptly helped create two goals and Herbers played a part in one.

All four were playing the positions in which they started on opening day. Each lost his spot. (Except Pontius, who moved across the field.) Rosenberry will likely return to the starting lineup this week, and Jones might too. When they do, it may be in their old positions, but mentally, they may be different players than they were a month ago.

The value of the bench

A benching can do a world of good for a struggling player.

We’ve seen it this year with C.J. Sapong. Many forget that he was an all-star last year. I certainly didn’t forget that I wrote last year, “You don’t need a DP striker when you have C.J. Sapong.” Some thought (and still think) that was delusional, but I still believed it entering this year and still believe it now.

Last year, Sapong struggled after Vincent Nogueira’s departure changed the team. He spent most of his time thereafter picking long balls out of the air with defenders hanging on his back. Whatever else hasn’t worked for the Union this year, Sapong hasn’t had to do that.

So circumstances changed.

What also changed was the fact that Sapong lost his starting job to Jay Simpson.

Time on the sideline changes a player. It gives a new perspective from which to watch the game, along with motivation to earn a starting job back. And it does all sorts of things that we can’t psychologize from outside the player’s head (i.e. we have no idea what’s going on in there).

Sapong is still the same player, however, who was good enough to earn an all-star spot last season. Today, he leads MLS in goals scored and got my vote for MLS Player of the Week.

It goes further than that. Oguchi Onyewu played perhaps his best game in a Union uniform on Saturday. You could chalk that up to a variety of possible factors:

1. He and Jack Elliott complement each other better than he and Richie Marquez.
2. He’s rounding into form after a two-year layoff.
3. He was motivated and focused after a benching.
4. None/all of the above.

In the past, Union head coach Jim Curtin stuck with some struggling players too long, most notably Sapong and Andrew Wenger.

Curtin is likely now seeing the success of benching some of those players. When even the golden child — Rosenberry — sees pine time, it sends a message to the rest of the team: The best players play. Period. When he gets another opportunity and plays well, it reinforces that message for both the players and the fans.

It could be a turning point in Curtin’s coaching career. Curtin is viewed as a player’s coach who consistently protects his players in public. Given time, he could come to be viewed as a coach who also gets the best out of his players, as he figures it out. He’ll have to earn that reputation, and in truth, it will be Sapong, Rosenberry and company who determine that.

From winless streak to unbeaten streak

The Union have now delivered three-goal halves in two of their last three games. They have pitched two straight shutouts. Their winless streak is over, and now they’re on a three-game unbeaten streak.

Yes, that’s how quickly the narrative can change. Here’s more.

The Red Bulls started last season by losing six of their first seven and getting shut out in five of those games. They went 15-3-9 the rest of the way to win the Eastern Conference.

Nobody is predicting Philadelphia will do that. (That said, before the season started, I picked them to go to the playoffs. That prediction looks really bad now, doesn’t it?) But when you consider that the last two MLS champions sat in 9th place in May of the seasons in which they won, anything’s possible.

There’s nothing like a 3-0 win over a rival to kickstart that sort of drive.

Miscellaneous Union notes

• Bedoya finding his way: Alejandro Bedoya is earning his paycheck with some excellent play of late. He put Sacha Kljestan in his pocket Saturday, and Kljestian might still be spitting out lint. The Union just need to figure out how to maximize Bedoya’s offensive potential. He wants to play the No. 8, and Union management wants him (ideally) at the No. 10. Neither one is quite right, considering how Bedoya consistently finds himself on the right side of the field regardless of what his stated position is. Unless the Union start playing a diamond midfield — not likely — he may fit best on the right of an inverted triangle. Regardless, it’s starting to look like they’re starting to figure it out.
• Pontius, back to being Pontius: Pontius has put in some workmanlike shifts on the right flank recently, but once he moved back to the left after Herbers entered the game, he created two goals. The flip is a good tool to use occasionally, but Pontius still has to be Pontius, and when he’s on his game, that’s as the best left-sided inverted winger in MLS.
• Curtin finally shows temper: Curtin has drawn some attention with his defensive and aggressive reaction Saturday to Philly Voice’s Kevin Kinkead, an occasional Philly Soccer Page contributor. (Watch below.) On one hand, it’s fair to ask whether Curtin will change tact to avoid running his starters into the ground this year, but Kinkead never actually got to that part of the question because Curtin cut him off. On the other hand, Curtin is right: 2017 is a different year. Sapong is a more mature player. Vincent Nogueira isn’t leaving in June. But Curtin still has to avoid overworking him. Jay Simpson will have to earn his paycheck eventually.

• Sugarman follow-up: Many readers praised Union owner Jay Sugarman for his open response to my open letter last week, and I give him a lot of credit too. Some readers asked for more specific details. So did I. Sugarman did not respond to my emailed inquiry.
• Goalkeeping highlights: Goodness, Andre Blake. Welcome back to the highlight reel after keeping your team in the game. And you too, Luis Robles. The save on Sapong’s header was just outrageous, and if not for that, Sapong wouldn’t have needed the penalty kick for the hat trick.
• Oh, and…: Good call, Bedoya, on ensuring that Sapong took the penalty kick. The captain did captain stuff, and it stopped a riot.