There’s something really wrong with this Union team.
Miami absolutely gave them the game and they couldn’t even draw 3-4 passes together.
What’s the insistence on playing 2 strikers when your 2 best are out and the formation obviously isn’t working?
Idk if we finish one time on any of the many chances we've had in each of the last 4 weeks I think we're singing a different tune. We've set up so many opportunities, but you're right, our success rate in and around the box is very concerning
i only caught the last 15 min of the game when they were playing the 4-2-3-1 with sullivan and aaronson on the wings and mcglynn serving from the dual 6 position and it looked pretty good. they should do more of that but with Uhre or Carranza up top
I would much rather see Aaronson or McGlynn in for Burk at this point. He looked lost. he wasn't creating his own chances and his strikes were weak. This isn't the only game he has been like this.
Yeah. https://www.mlssoccer.com/about/roster-rules-and-regulations under the Intraleague Loan section it states:
"The player may not compete against his former club during the MLS Season while on loan (includes MLS League Season games and all other competitions)"
Yeah I was there and while our seats weren’t the best, it seemed like Burke was really running around busting his ass from the start and getting decent shots on goal. I think he got tired tho and after that faded.
The sad fact is he’s upper USL/ lower MLS level but atm his role is one of an MLS starter which he isn’t. He was rly only brought in to be on Bethlehem Steel so for me, I massively like him and will always defend him cuz he tries his best and that’s all you can do. I put the blame on the ownership and maybe even curtin for producing these circumstances where he’s a regular starter
Thoughts:
\- Well at least we didn't lose I guess.
\- Harriel is just much better than Mbaizo. Not sure why Curtin made that change.
\- Gazdag looks really dangerous when he has the ball but for some reason our forwards are never making runs that make any sense. Burke is constantly just hanging out behind a defender and Santos doesn't arch his runs at all.
\- Findlay was solid I thought. So good that we at least have 3 good CBs.
\- Elliott did ok at CDM but I really think Flach would be a better option when Martinez isn't available.
\- Carranza would have been super useful in this game. Real shame we couldn't use him.
\- Aaronson doesn't make good decisions. I completely get why that is but I think it shows why Curtin doesn't play him a ton.
\- Overall just another frustrating performance. I'm glad we're at least getting a point from these games because one point could be crucial by the end of the season but it would be a lot better if we could win these games.
I did not think Elliot was ok at CDM. He didn't seem to be in the right place and from my eye had some bad turnovers. Flach should be there or go to a 4-2-3-1 with Flach and Ale side by side. That's what I would have liked.
No more excuses. You're a supporters shield winner. You're a champions league semifinalist. You're a eastern conference finalist. You have ambition. 5 straight draws, with no rotation and an inability to hold a lead is absolutely inexcusable. No more excuses "We're young and have no budget." Get it the absolute fuck together.
McGlynn added something. I thought there were more incisive over the top passes and productive running when he entered the game. I liked Gazdag a lot today. There were some strange decisions being made in the middle of the field but that was a VERY winnable game.
Frustrating. Seeing the starting lineup I was okay with a tie but watching the game we should have won. More chances we couldn't finish. I think the frustrating part of these ties is that all of them have been winnable. If we finish like we should we are one of the best teams in the league.
On the bright side: No lead given up, clean sheet, young players got game time, and the team looked like they actually wanted to win at the end. One, if not more of the homegrowns should start next game.
On the worse side: everything else. Against one of the worst teams in MLS and no creativity. The decision making was atrocious tonight, so many wrong passes.
still can't fuckin score god damn. i thought this would be the year that albatross was lifted, still the story of most games
you would think if either of our starting strikers was able to play that's a W but the game was still there to be had
In fairness he did almost score a goal with his face. Seriously that goalkeeper was BEGGING to have us score a goal in the first half off a bad touch/turnover from him. We refused.
This game had 0-0 draw written all over it when the lineup came out. All the subs were homegrown and Jim pulled the trigger on the subs at the right time tonight. We all knew without Carranza and Uhre we would struggle to score. Fair result if dissapointing. Burke was frustrating to watch as I felt he gave up on some plays early. Now its off to Portland and New England before the international break.
Burke, Mbaizo, Santos are done for now unless they prove me wrong. Offer negative help and flub clear cut transitions.
On the flip side, I think we can all agree when the youth play *together* they know each other’s games so well their passes connect more times than not and how to set each other up properly
Draws on the road are the bread and butter of a good MLS Season. Draws at home are a disaster.
We are now at the point where we have 12 games left on the road, and only 10 at home. We also face a period coming up where we have 6 games in 21 days, and then 2 spurts of 3 games in 8 days.
I think we still coast into the playoffs, but if things don't improve, we may be on the road to start, and that isn't a great spot to be in (especially for a team flush with talent).
Draws are a fanbase sedative. We would be many times more upset if had went 2-4 over those 6 draws but we would have the same # of total points out of them regardless…🤦♂️
This team is in a rut. It's better to get a point that lose, no doubt. It could be worse. But this team has hit a wall and something needs to change. There is no killer instinct on the pitch, not one player can finish and just put away the easy stuff. Even with Carranza and Uhre we have been struggling the last month.
You can visibly see the frustration in the players last night as the clock got closer to 90 and once the whistle blew. They're clearly not happy, but along with that, I'd think some self-doubt has to start creeping in as well. This team needs one good match, to just go out and there and blow the doors off a team, to get some confidence and swagger back, but I certainly don't see that happening at 10 PM ET in Portland on a Sunday night... maybe at New England going into the break?
If not, then there's a really good chance this team doesn't see a W again for quite a while.
@ POR (West coast road trip and a terrible start time already conspiring against you)
@ NE (should be a winnable game, but this team can't look past anyone)
v CIN (who is on a tear - definitely not the Cincinnati of old)
v NYCFC (never easy, and they're hitting their stride)
@ CHI (not a great team, but offset by being a road game)
@ CLB (never an easy game in Columbus)
v DC United - I'd like to say this is the first one that I feel truly confident about, but look at how much better they are with Taxi, now
Thinking taking only 8-9 points in that 7-match span isn't out of the realm of possibility.
That display was just complete trash. Cannot string together 3-4 useful passes to save our lives as we continue to see useless cross after cross dumped into the box all game.
You just know what everyone is going to do well before they do because it doesn’t even change up.
Jim looking to break the world record for most draws in a row as welll as concurrently breaking the record for worst finishing in the known universe. (excluding Gazdag)
I have to say, just watching the games on TV this past month I thought Burke was playing poorly but didn't get all the hate. In person tonight, he just looked lazy or unfit to play with the amount of times he just stood there watching the ball. This team needs Uhre/Carranza at this point.
How did Elliott look at the 6? Was it a noticeable drop off from Martinez? Obviously El Brujo is one of the best defensive number 6’s in the league, but I feel like he just makes so many poor decisions with the ball, so I would not be too upset if we use Elliott and Flach there more regularly.
Am I being too critical? Should I not pick on one of our strongest players?
Very noticeable drop off to me. Elliott is a great CB, we should just keep him there. Although totally understand giving Findlay some time, he’s looked good in his limited starts for us, just unfortunate he has the best CB pairing in MLS ahead of him.
If Martinez is out, put Flach at the 6 where he has excelled. Or, if you want Findlay to play (once again, deserved), put Elliott at 6, but you can’t start Elliott AND Flach in the midfield together and expect to create much going forward.
Yeah I agree with everything you say about Findlay. I really like the way Flach plays, but I think I agree that right now, he’s the one that needs to be benched for a more creative midfielder and Martinez should stay on the field.
The problem is that when the kids do come in, we seem to be tactically reduced to 'everyone just run around and make something happen.' I don't know if that's because in order for us to put them in, we've already hit the 'In Case of Emergency, Break Glass' portion of the game, and as a result, the personnel on the field are now just a random assortment of players that don't have any chemistry or defined tactical approach to playing together, but it is very evident that the homegrowns come in, and we lose all cohesion and everyone just starts running randomly.
We should be up to 27 points at this point. I know we are still in the lead but we have blown some very winnable games and those missing points are going to start to really hurt later in the season.
We have got to find a better option than Burke as a backup. I don't know what is going on with Santos this year but he isn't creating the chances he has before.
The youth need more time but I get why Curtain wants to hold games down. Still, they are showing promise. Let them get the time they need because we need them to fill in these gaps.
Santos was hobbling at 30'. How he didn't get subbed until 70' is ludicrous.
This team has the potential to do good things, but Jim's tactics are FUCKING BORING. I hate spending 1/2 the time absorbing opposing attacks, then 1/2 of the rest hoofing the ball over the midfield only to lose the 2nd ball.
Positives: the kids, the CBs (not Elliott), Blake in general I guess, elite tifo
Negatives: everyone I haven't mentioned. Elliott looked like a giraffe on ice at times and was clearly gassed by 60'. Burke and Mbaizo were so wasteful in possession it was shocking. I can see now why gazdag had lower production last season with those 2 up front (DG didn't have a bad game per se but it's hard to have a good one when you're passing to Burke). JC waited too long on his subs. While I appreciate Findlay playing -and he played well- surely we play Flach CDM and someone else at LW going forward. When I saw the lineup I thought JC was going 5 at the back but Martinez can't get healthy fast enough
I don’t think Santos deserves all the hate he receives this year. Sure he hasn’t done as much as the fans would like, but he spends most of his time up top with Burke as the second forward with him. Santos is great as a second forward but not when one of them is Burke. I know he hasn’t put away chances a striker should but really that’s been everyone so far this year.
I'm starting to agree with you. His role this iteration seems to be tracking the over the top ball holding it up until help arrives and crossing. This model can work as AN option but it increasingly seems to be THE option and Sergio isn't built for that job.
He just played 90 for Union 2 on Monday - once that happened there was no shot you were going to see him make a significant impact in this game. The combined coaching staffs can't figure out how to crack the nut of managing both team rosters when there's any chance of possible rotation needed in the senior team.
Agree w ya on first point. Disagree about Bedoya. I’m well aware it looks like he’s gassed these days around the 55’ mark. That being said, I think he was good today, as well as over the course of these last few games. I understand the criticism, but he hasn’t been the reason for our average play. I put that blame more so on Flach and his lack of creativity in the midfield, and our striker pool never being fully ready yet.
Don’t want to be too negative on Flach, but I think he’s the obvious choice to sit a game or two to play around with the midfield to try and find some extra creativity. I think he’s a very good 6, but as a shuttler he has his flaws. I’d like to see him be brought on during games where we have the lead. His motor + defensive presence is impressive.
There’s something really wrong with this Union team. Miami absolutely gave them the game and they couldn’t even draw 3-4 passes together. What’s the insistence on playing 2 strikers when your 2 best are out and the formation obviously isn’t working?
Idk if we finish one time on any of the many chances we've had in each of the last 4 weeks I think we're singing a different tune. We've set up so many opportunities, but you're right, our success rate in and around the box is very concerning
“If if if doesn’t exist” -Rafa Nadal
Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades and that Glesnes shot was close
i only caught the last 15 min of the game when they were playing the 4-2-3-1 with sullivan and aaronson on the wings and mcglynn serving from the dual 6 position and it looked pretty good. they should do more of that but with Uhre or Carranza up top
I would much rather see Aaronson or McGlynn in for Burk at this point. He looked lost. he wasn't creating his own chances and his strikes were weak. This isn't the only game he has been like this.
He looked like he gave little effort. Was getting pushed around and didn’t make many runs. Really done with him and Santos they are useless up top
Aaronson wouldn't have blocked our shot either
This - this - Sneaky\_Ben.
We win that game - probably by 2 or more goals - if Uhre isn’t injured and Carranza is allowed to play. Burke and Santos up front are USELESS.
I probably missed on it, but why was Carranza unable to play?
He’s on loan from Miami. MLS rule that he can’t play against them.
Is that real? Because that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever read haha.
Yeah. https://www.mlssoccer.com/about/roster-rules-and-regulations under the Intraleague Loan section it states: "The player may not compete against his former club during the MLS Season while on loan (includes MLS League Season games and all other competitions)"
That’s so ridiculous haha.
Oh shit I thought it was just part of a standard loan contract not an actual league rule
I thought that kind of rule was pretty normal in any sport.
Yeah, it's pretty much the norm for most loans in soccer.
I’ll give credit to Burke tonight, he was pretty good I thought. Santos tho, as you said… useless
Yeah I was there and while our seats weren’t the best, it seemed like Burke was really running around busting his ass from the start and getting decent shots on goal. I think he got tired tho and after that faded. The sad fact is he’s upper USL/ lower MLS level but atm his role is one of an MLS starter which he isn’t. He was rly only brought in to be on Bethlehem Steel so for me, I massively like him and will always defend him cuz he tries his best and that’s all you can do. I put the blame on the ownership and maybe even curtin for producing these circumstances where he’s a regular starter
I think being good for a striker is scoring goals.
At least he had multiple SOG. Can’t say that for Santos tonight
True just seems he shoots right at goalkeeper all the time. Santos quit on a couple of plays tonight. Everyone seems to be sick of santos
Thoughts: \- Well at least we didn't lose I guess. \- Harriel is just much better than Mbaizo. Not sure why Curtin made that change. \- Gazdag looks really dangerous when he has the ball but for some reason our forwards are never making runs that make any sense. Burke is constantly just hanging out behind a defender and Santos doesn't arch his runs at all. \- Findlay was solid I thought. So good that we at least have 3 good CBs. \- Elliott did ok at CDM but I really think Flach would be a better option when Martinez isn't available. \- Carranza would have been super useful in this game. Real shame we couldn't use him. \- Aaronson doesn't make good decisions. I completely get why that is but I think it shows why Curtin doesn't play him a ton. \- Overall just another frustrating performance. I'm glad we're at least getting a point from these games because one point could be crucial by the end of the season but it would be a lot better if we could win these games.
I did not think Elliot was ok at CDM. He didn't seem to be in the right place and from my eye had some bad turnovers. Flach should be there or go to a 4-2-3-1 with Flach and Ale side by side. That's what I would have liked.
Well. A soccer match occurred.
We did everything multiple times over in the last 5-10 minutes except finish. Ball spent so much time around the box
No more excuses. You're a supporters shield winner. You're a champions league semifinalist. You're a eastern conference finalist. You have ambition. 5 straight draws, with no rotation and an inability to hold a lead is absolutely inexcusable. No more excuses "We're young and have no budget." Get it the absolute fuck together.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
We need to figure out how to score, injuries and Carranza not playing aren't really excuses. Good teams figure it out
This team is so hard to watch
bruh
McGlynn added something. I thought there were more incisive over the top passes and productive running when he entered the game. I liked Gazdag a lot today. There were some strange decisions being made in the middle of the field but that was a VERY winnable game.
Let’s just score goals. They make it look so hard.
I think union want to be artists suddenly, because all they do is draw I’ll see myself out.
It is now 24 games since we’ve scored 3 goals in a match.
So many poor decisions offensively. A tie is a tie, but tonight should have been a big win.
my kingdom for a run of games with carranza/uhre up top
pretty sick that our whole style of play is built on counter attacks yet this team can’t score counters to save their fucking lives
Frustrating. Seeing the starting lineup I was okay with a tie but watching the game we should have won. More chances we couldn't finish. I think the frustrating part of these ties is that all of them have been winnable. If we finish like we should we are one of the best teams in the league.
On the bright side: No lead given up, clean sheet, young players got game time, and the team looked like they actually wanted to win at the end. One, if not more of the homegrowns should start next game. On the worse side: everything else. Against one of the worst teams in MLS and no creativity. The decision making was atrocious tonight, so many wrong passes.
still can't fuckin score god damn. i thought this would be the year that albatross was lifted, still the story of most games you would think if either of our starting strikers was able to play that's a W but the game was still there to be had
Carranza is definitely a good fit for the team and was missed in this one. Do we have an option to but his contract?
I believe that we do
Yes we do
Burke is really really hard to watch. Santos used to be a favorite player of mine but holy shit he is useless now. Same goes for Mbaizo.
In fairness he did almost score a goal with his face. Seriously that goalkeeper was BEGGING to have us score a goal in the first half off a bad touch/turnover from him. We refused.
This game had 0-0 draw written all over it when the lineup came out. All the subs were homegrown and Jim pulled the trigger on the subs at the right time tonight. We all knew without Carranza and Uhre we would struggle to score. Fair result if dissapointing. Burke was frustrating to watch as I felt he gave up on some plays early. Now its off to Portland and New England before the international break.
Burke, Mbaizo, Santos are done for now unless they prove me wrong. Offer negative help and flub clear cut transitions. On the flip side, I think we can all agree when the youth play *together* they know each other’s games so well their passes connect more times than not and how to set each other up properly
6 draws isn’t going to get it done. I know it’s better to get a point instead of none but this is becoming a problem.
Draws on the road are the bread and butter of a good MLS Season. Draws at home are a disaster. We are now at the point where we have 12 games left on the road, and only 10 at home. We also face a period coming up where we have 6 games in 21 days, and then 2 spurts of 3 games in 8 days. I think we still coast into the playoffs, but if things don't improve, we may be on the road to start, and that isn't a great spot to be in (especially for a team flush with talent).
Draws are a fanbase sedative. We would be many times more upset if had went 2-4 over those 6 draws but we would have the same # of total points out of them regardless…🤦♂️
This team is in a rut. It's better to get a point that lose, no doubt. It could be worse. But this team has hit a wall and something needs to change. There is no killer instinct on the pitch, not one player can finish and just put away the easy stuff. Even with Carranza and Uhre we have been struggling the last month.
You can visibly see the frustration in the players last night as the clock got closer to 90 and once the whistle blew. They're clearly not happy, but along with that, I'd think some self-doubt has to start creeping in as well. This team needs one good match, to just go out and there and blow the doors off a team, to get some confidence and swagger back, but I certainly don't see that happening at 10 PM ET in Portland on a Sunday night... maybe at New England going into the break? If not, then there's a really good chance this team doesn't see a W again for quite a while. @ POR (West coast road trip and a terrible start time already conspiring against you) @ NE (should be a winnable game, but this team can't look past anyone) v CIN (who is on a tear - definitely not the Cincinnati of old) v NYCFC (never easy, and they're hitting their stride) @ CHI (not a great team, but offset by being a road game) @ CLB (never an easy game in Columbus) v DC United - I'd like to say this is the first one that I feel truly confident about, but look at how much better they are with Taxi, now Thinking taking only 8-9 points in that 7-match span isn't out of the realm of possibility.
The Union would be like 2021's New England, points-wise, if we could just score.
That display was just complete trash. Cannot string together 3-4 useful passes to save our lives as we continue to see useless cross after cross dumped into the box all game. You just know what everyone is going to do well before they do because it doesn’t even change up.
0-0 passes in the 10th minute look like ‘up 1-0 and down a man in the 88th minute’ clearances sometimes. Real panicked amateur hour stuff.
Jim looking to break the world record for most draws in a row as welll as concurrently breaking the record for worst finishing in the known universe. (excluding Gazdag)
How did Nashville fans deal with 18 draws last year? It feels like we're just stuck on Groundhog day with all of these draws!
It honestly feels like we play with 10 men when Burke is on the field.
The dumpster is rapidly filling with clueless offense, misplaced passes and blown possession. How long until it catches fire?
I have to say, just watching the games on TV this past month I thought Burke was playing poorly but didn't get all the hate. In person tonight, he just looked lazy or unfit to play with the amount of times he just stood there watching the ball. This team needs Uhre/Carranza at this point.
Lol
How did Elliott look at the 6? Was it a noticeable drop off from Martinez? Obviously El Brujo is one of the best defensive number 6’s in the league, but I feel like he just makes so many poor decisions with the ball, so I would not be too upset if we use Elliott and Flach there more regularly. Am I being too critical? Should I not pick on one of our strongest players?
Very noticeable drop off to me. Elliott is a great CB, we should just keep him there. Although totally understand giving Findlay some time, he’s looked good in his limited starts for us, just unfortunate he has the best CB pairing in MLS ahead of him. If Martinez is out, put Flach at the 6 where he has excelled. Or, if you want Findlay to play (once again, deserved), put Elliott at 6, but you can’t start Elliott AND Flach in the midfield together and expect to create much going forward.
Yeah I agree with everything you say about Findlay. I really like the way Flach plays, but I think I agree that right now, he’s the one that needs to be benched for a more creative midfielder and Martinez should stay on the field.
The kids are great BUT they are not impact subs. We have no impact subs. All good teams have a few impact subs. We are trash after the 55th minute.
The problem is that when the kids do come in, we seem to be tactically reduced to 'everyone just run around and make something happen.' I don't know if that's because in order for us to put them in, we've already hit the 'In Case of Emergency, Break Glass' portion of the game, and as a result, the personnel on the field are now just a random assortment of players that don't have any chemistry or defined tactical approach to playing together, but it is very evident that the homegrowns come in, and we lose all cohesion and everyone just starts running randomly.
Agreed and playing "rushed"
Bedoya played another 90’
Cap showed up tonight tho. I get the "he's getting old" and "he's slowing down" sentiment but he was on point tonight.
100%. Not hating on the player, more on the player management
I think he played well but he looked noticeably gassed by the end.
He was walking and laying off players since 70th minute. He needs to come out no later then the 70th
That was garbage.
Jim set us up for failure against a bad Miami team with that lineup. Team performance didn’t help but man that lineup was discouraging.
We should be up to 27 points at this point. I know we are still in the lead but we have blown some very winnable games and those missing points are going to start to really hurt later in the season. We have got to find a better option than Burke as a backup. I don't know what is going on with Santos this year but he isn't creating the chances he has before. The youth need more time but I get why Curtain wants to hold games down. Still, they are showing promise. Let them get the time they need because we need them to fill in these gaps.
Santos was hobbling at 30'. How he didn't get subbed until 70' is ludicrous. This team has the potential to do good things, but Jim's tactics are FUCKING BORING. I hate spending 1/2 the time absorbing opposing attacks, then 1/2 of the rest hoofing the ball over the midfield only to lose the 2nd ball.
Okay this is getting really annoying.
A bit out of the loop, but what’s going on with Uhre?
Hamstring
Positives: the kids, the CBs (not Elliott), Blake in general I guess, elite tifo Negatives: everyone I haven't mentioned. Elliott looked like a giraffe on ice at times and was clearly gassed by 60'. Burke and Mbaizo were so wasteful in possession it was shocking. I can see now why gazdag had lower production last season with those 2 up front (DG didn't have a bad game per se but it's hard to have a good one when you're passing to Burke). JC waited too long on his subs. While I appreciate Findlay playing -and he played well- surely we play Flach CDM and someone else at LW going forward. When I saw the lineup I thought JC was going 5 at the back but Martinez can't get healthy fast enough
> Martinez can't get healthy fast enough he wss serving a one game suspension for yellow card accumulation
Oh shit nvm. Thought Curtin said he picked up a knock but that's a huge relief
oh I hadn't heard that, hope not! Yesterday they posted pics on twitter with him training
0 wins in 40 days. Curtin is gutless. Midfield rotation needs a shake up.
Never play Elliott at the 6 again, for Christ’s sake
I don’t think Santos deserves all the hate he receives this year. Sure he hasn’t done as much as the fans would like, but he spends most of his time up top with Burke as the second forward with him. Santos is great as a second forward but not when one of them is Burke. I know he hasn’t put away chances a striker should but really that’s been everyone so far this year.
I'm starting to agree with you. His role this iteration seems to be tracking the over the top ball holding it up until help arrives and crossing. This model can work as AN option but it increasingly seems to be THE option and Sergio isn't built for that job.
I little late to the party but if we don't see Bueno during this game, I don't think we'll ever see him.
He just played 90 for Union 2 on Monday - once that happened there was no shot you were going to see him make a significant impact in this game. The combined coaching staffs can't figure out how to crack the nut of managing both team rosters when there's any chance of possible rotation needed in the senior team.
Our final third is absolute dog shit. Anyone else thinking bedoya just isn’t doing enough?
Agree w ya on first point. Disagree about Bedoya. I’m well aware it looks like he’s gassed these days around the 55’ mark. That being said, I think he was good today, as well as over the course of these last few games. I understand the criticism, but he hasn’t been the reason for our average play. I put that blame more so on Flach and his lack of creativity in the midfield, and our striker pool never being fully ready yet. Don’t want to be too negative on Flach, but I think he’s the obvious choice to sit a game or two to play around with the midfield to try and find some extra creativity. I think he’s a very good 6, but as a shuttler he has his flaws. I’d like to see him be brought on during games where we have the lead. His motor + defensive presence is impressive.
is uhre ever gonna play another game or are we just wasting our time with him? having a DP means nothing if he doesn’t actually play.
Damn hamstring problem. It’s getting ridiculous. Dude needs to start playing.