Balanced offense fueling Union’s turnaround
CHESTER » The Union last Saturday went to Red Bull Arena and created the best chances among either team to get a draw. Four days later, with manager Jim Curtin subbing out three of his front-four attackers, the club did the same thing against Chicago, controlling the game and running out 3-1 winners.
The results offer validation and caution regarding the club’s chances of continuing its roll.
On one hand, the Union (5-5-3, 18 points) have nicked points with different lineups, underpinning a four-game unbeaten run. At Red Bull Arena, the front four was led by Marcus Epps, who created the game’s two best chances. Fafa Picault was solid, as was CJ Sapong, missed penalty notwithstanding.
All three rotated out Wednesday, Picault only through a late illness that scrapped his intended start. David Accam continued to struggle against his former team. But Ilsinho created what several players identified as the game’s turning point, his stunning 45th-minute goal, and Cory Burke, in for Sapong, scored in his second straight start and drew a penalty.
“We’re scoring the goals now,” Haris Medunjanin said. “In the beginning of the season, we had a lot of chances, but we didn’t score goals. That was the main point for us, but now we’re showing that we’re creating chances and scoring the goals. A lot of us stepping up now, and we win. Everybody’s connected as a team and on the same page.”
The attacking continuity through significant personnel changes indicates the club’s scoring depth. And as Curtin mentioned in his sitor-play calculations Tuesday, the midfield trio of Medunjanin, Alejandro Bedoya and Borek Dockal is the fulcrum on which this resurgence has pivoted.
Both Medunjanin and Bedoya have played every minute, a record that will surely be tested in the last three installments of a stretch of five games in 14 days. Dockal, who missed the first week while nursing an ankle issue, has played all but 71 minutes of the ensuing 12 games, leading the Union in goals (three) and assists (six). The Union are 4-0-1 when Dockal had a goal or assist.
“Borek is a great player,” Medunjanin said. “He always can create something. He always sees the game, and when he gets the ball he already sees where he’s going to pass the ball. I think a lot of guys in front, sometimes they don’t understand each other because they don’t understand him; he just came here. I think it’s working step by step. He’s going in a good direction.”
The Union’s versatility on offense is particularly valuable given Sapong’s divergence in form from last season. The striker bagged 16 goals in 2017, a career-high. Though the Union missed the playoffs, they still outperformed their expected goals for (xGF) by nearly eight, one of the top 10 totals in MLS, per American Soccer Analysis. That led to a positive differential from expected goaldifference to actual goal difference (GD-xGD) of plus-5.1. The reason was Sapong being uncharacteristically clinical in finishing opportunities, turning half-chances into goals.
Sapong and his cohorts have gone the other way this season, often squandering sure goals. As a result, their GD-xGD this season is second worst in MLS at minus-8.1. Most of that falls on the attack: The Union have generated sufficient chances to score 18.4 goals, not including Wednesday’s affair. They’d scored just 12. That indicates that if the Union can recapture even an average conversion rate, their chances of winning would greatly improve. Dockal alluded to that Wednesday, believing the Union are playing about the same as before but with more chances hitting the back of the net to translate to results.
Yet the Union are thick of the playoff in the hunt. They have two more chances before the nominal midpoint of the season, the World Cup break, to continue making up ground. They are a point behind New England for sixth in the East, and while not much can be expected from Saturday’s trip to Atlanta, still scuffling Toronto FC presents a chance to glean points at home next Friday.
They head into the stretch, bookending next Tuesday’s Open Cup game against the Richmond Kickers, with confidence, including the reassurance that they can win decisively even when not at their best, as exemplified Wednesday.
“We’ve worked very hard and the coaching staff has done a great job to dig ourselves out of the hole that we maybe put ourselves in,” Curtin said. “We still were playing some really good soccer but weren’t getting points, and then you look at (Wednesday’s game), where maybe it isn’t our best night but you take three (points). This is how seasons go.”