Lacking ‘purpose’ and shots, Union stumble vs. Crew

Saturday night was a chance for the Union to prove the assertions of their coach.

The team traveled to Columbus without Chris Pontius or Andre Blake. They were missing Roland Alberg to suspension and Fafa Picault and CJ Sapong to injury. So without four members of a reasonable first-choice front six, how would the depth that that Union had cultivated all season respond?

Listlessly would be an apt start to the description of the 1-0 loss at the hands of the Crew, thanks to a 65th minute goal credited to Justin Meram that any person who’d previously watched a game of soccer would call a Josh Yaro own goal for his 90-degree redirection of what might not even have been a shot.

But miscarriage of statistical justice aside, the goose egg next to the Union’s name spoke volumes.

“Overall, a tough night for the group,” manager Jim Curtin said. “Guys put a lot into the game. Obviously we are in a little bit of a tough time of the year to run into a tough stretch of fluke injuries that have hit us, some international callups. We had a lot of possession, but not a lot of purpose to the possession. We didn’t really make Columbus backpedal or have any difficult situations to deal with, so from that standpoint a difficult night.”

Curtin’s response nears the line of excusemaking, something he’s said that this year’s newfound depth should preclude. But that aside, Curtin would go on to say that, “we didn’t create enough tonight,” which is true in a sense. More true would be to assess that the Union created nothing, as in no shots on goal and only three shots total. Calling that purposeless would seem to sugarcoat.

Curtin drew up a front four of Ilsinho and Marcus Epps on the wings, Adam Najem in the No. 10 and Jay Simpson up top. That group had a grand total of four starts this season at the positions they occupied Saturday. Epps and Najem were making their first career MLS starts. Simpson, pulling down the team’s fourth highest salary, started his first league game since April 1.

And that’s where the notables end. Epps fired two shots from outside the box that missed the frame. Simpson had an effort blocked. Charlie Davies made his 2017 debut and brought little.

It all summed to former Union youth product Zack Steffen posting the shutout against the team that lacked the sense to sign him without having to scuff his gloves.

In isolation, that outing would be disheartening. But as part of a larger pattern, it’s more worrying. The Union (6-95, 23 points) are trending in the wrong direction at a time when they need to gain ground. They slip eight points behind Columbus (10-10-1, 31 points) for the sixth and final playoff spot and remain ahead of New England for ninth on goal differential. Even should they win the back half of the homeand-home with the Crew Wednesday, they’ve merely held serve while two more games have elapsed.

The Union’s annual late-summer swoon may have arrived early, with the Union winless in three straight, all on the road. More concerning is the attacking anemia: They have four shots on target in three games: Alberg’s penalty kick against Sporting Kansas City, Picault’s goal against Montreal and a pair of feeble efforts from outside the box.

Put another way: The Union’s only shot from inside the 18 in three games is Picault’s marker, manufactured off a shocking turnover by Chris Duvall where the Montreal defender errantly played a back pass right to Picault. That’s not going to get it done in a playoff chase.

Curtin lauded Epps and Najem, the two rookies in the lineup. But they still didn’t live up to the don’t-miss-a-beat mantra Curtin had espoused for weeks.

“It feels amazing,” Epps said. “As a kid, when you dream of playing professional soccer in front of big crowds, it’s great to have that first start in the books. Obviously not the result we wanted, but it’s a wonderful feeling to get that first start.”

“Obviously it’s not the result that we wanted, but getting my legs going in the first start and the first 90 minutes, it felt good,” Najem said. “Of course there’s a lot to work on, but just have to keep improving from here.”

Columbus looms against Wednesday, then the Union venture to New England for another game against playoff hopefuls. The Union are at the point of needing to force the issue away from home and deny points to their playoff rivals. And that imperative holds no matter who occupies the lineup.

MICHAEL REEVES — FOR DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA The Union’s Adam Najem, seen in the Open Cup tie with the New York Red Bulls last month, earned his first MLS start Saturday night in Columbus, but the Union generated little danger in a 1-0 loss.