Point in Cincy leaves Bedoya happy if not satisfied
Alejandro Bedoya fills many roles for the Union on the field. Among his most important off it is as the club’s constant reality check.
It applied last Sunday, when the Union ran roughshod over Montreal once they went up a man in the 16th minute. And it applied, in more benevolent terms, Wednesday night after a 0-0 draw in Cincinnati.
“I expect a certain standard, especially when we’re playing so well, we’ve got to keep it going,” the captain said. “A point is a point away, I understand that after the game, but there’s definitely a little bit of disappointment that maybe we weren’t able to get a win because we think we are a better team. We just didn’t have it in us.”
Bedoya’s clear-eyed perspective is a vital part of his leadership, especially in the chaos of 2020. Perspective is key, even as the team continues to rack up points. The Union (7-2-4, 25 points) are 5-1-2 since play restarted from the MLS Is Back tournament and have lost only once in 11 league games since July. They’ve done that with varying degrees of effectiveness, all on display in just the last three games.
Ten days ago, they needed a starring turn from Anthony Fontana to dismiss 10-man New England, surrendering the lead to an undermanned squad and waiting deep into stoppage time to reclaim it.
Last Sunday, as Bedoya was only too happy to point out, the Union trailed by a goal and were outplayed by the Montreal Impact at Red Bull Arena when Romell Quioto’s elbow connected with Mark McKenzie’s face and the Impact were forced to play with 10. The 4-1 deluge looked great on the scoreboard, but it failed to delude those in the locker room.
“For me, even last game at Red Bull, we won 4-1 but even after the game, I came into the locker room, and you can’t get complacent,” Bedoya said. “I told the team, ‘Hey guys, if we’re going to be real with ourselves, the first 20 minutes against Montreal were not good enough.’
“We got kind of bailed out with that red card from the lack of discipline on the Montreal side and after that it was kind of easy, but we were down 1-0 and Montreal was giving us fits. You’ve got to be honest with yourselves, too.”
It’s key to solving the cipher that of the 2020
season. Few teams are playing consistently at their best, with midweek games aplenty and all the challenges of life in a global pandemic. Many are inundated with injuries, with precious little practice or recovery time. As historic routs in the Western Conference have shown in recent weeks, some appear to have capitulated altogether.
So the Union aren’t alone in uneven performances. But it says something that the Union are still getting results. The club’s past is littered with games where they played better than the final result indicates. This season, they’re drawing games that they maybe should lose and winning games they should draw. And since the standings don’t count style points, that’s all that matters.
The counterpoint provided by Bedoya and others is not getting too high on what those standings say and a sense that scraping out results is neither ideal nor sustainable. The Union are still scuffling to get into the upper echelon in the Eastern Conference, and 2020 presents an opportunity. All those results are worth being happy about.
It’s especially true on the attacking end. The Union have allowed four goals in eight games and have posted six shutouts in all competitions this year. Andre Blake’s save on Joe Gyau Wednesday, which sealed the point, is evidence of how often the defense has bailed the team out when the reverse was more often true last year.
But the Union haven’t scored an 11-v-11 goal in three games now, and the attacking misfiring Wednesday resulted in just the seventh game in franchise history without a shot on target.
“We played too many balls that were just floated into the box, too many balls that were too direct and floated in the air,” Jim Curtin said. “We had talked about the way to beat them was to play balls on the ground, make them have to deal with two things, make them have to deal with a second run and movement off the ball. We had little instances of that (Wednesday), but for whatever reason, we weren’t sharp enough. Sometimes the pass would be behind the guy. Sometimes it would be a bouncing ball that took them an extra touch to handle.”
There’s a fine line for the Union to navigate. They’re getting the job done consistently, if not consistently well.
“There is a balance,” Bedoya said. “You are upset, (and) I think that’s part of our competitive nature. … We didn’t win, but at the same time, we didn’t lose, and that’s a solid point on the road.”