Union takeaways: Mikael Uhre knows he and the team aren’t playing well enough

Here are our day-after takeaways from the Union’s scoreless tie against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night at Subaru Park.

Jack Elliott. The Union’s lack of attacking spark until well into the second half was a concern. But giving up five goals over the previous two games was really a concern, and Elliott was in the wrong kind of spotlight too much. He got on the right side of things this time: 68 touches, 42-of-54 passing, seven recoveries, six clearances, two blocks, six duels won out of nine contested, and just one foul committed.

» READ MORE: Union’s attack goes dry again in scoreless tie with Sporting Kansas City

8: The number of passes completed by Leon Flach, out of 14 attempts, in 62 minutes on the field. Flach has greatly improved the attacking side of his game over the last year, but a night like this brings back questions of whether the Union would be better off overall with Jack McGlynn starting instead. McGlynn isn’t as good defensively, but the net benefit to the attack might outweigh that.

Honorary mention goes to Quinn Sullivan’s three chances created in just 22 minutes on the field as a second-half substitute — including a spell as a right winger in a 4-2-3-1 late in the game. That formation looked pretty good, and let’s see if we see it more often in the future.

25: The Union’s total number of clearances. After Orlando registered 36 against the Union in the previous game, it was said here that the Union don’t often get topped by their opponent in this stat. Against Kansas City, things were back to normal, as Sporting had 16.

“Last year, everything clicked, everything went into goal. We just needed to hit the ball and then the ball went in. And right now it feels like those good situations we have, [we] just miss that last little piece of magic that we had most of last season. It’s about keeping the head down and getting to work.”

— Union striker Mikael Uhre

“We’re not creeping up on anybody anymore. And I feel like everybody wants to beat Philly now. We’ve kind of earned that respect over the years. I said it to guys in the preseason that it’s going to be harder. The better you become, teams are going to come after you, and you’re going to have to work even harder. Because it’s hard to get there, but it’s even harder to stay there.”

— Union goalkeeper Andre Blake

“This wasn’t some high-level possession soccer game with all these different counter-moves from a tactical perspective. It was just straight up, you had to defend the boxes, and everybody was trying to find something to ricochet off somebody or drop for somebody and hopefully steal the goal.”

— Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes

» READ MORE: The Union-Kansas City game matched MLS’s longest-tenured managers, Jim Curtin and Peter Vermes

Seattle Sounders 2, Los Angeles Galaxy 1. Fueled by Jordan Morris’ eighth goal in six games, Seattle pocketed its fourth win of the season. The Sounders are one of the last teams you’d expect to play with a chip on their shoulder, but they’ve definitely got one after winning the Concacaf Champions League but missing the playoffs last year.

There’s a lesson in that for the Union, and you can be sure the Union know it. Though Seattle was slammed by injuries last year, the shock of finishing 11th in the Western Conference was felt far beyond the Pacific Northwest. The Union have the depth to avoid such a fate, and a league where eight teams make the playoffs is almost too forgiving. But the April and May schedules could be brutal, starting with a Saturday-to-Tuesday turnaround to face Atlas in the Champions League.

After hosting Atlas on Tuesday night (8 p.m., FS1, TUDN), the Union go to FC Cincinnati next Saturday for the latest chapter in a growing rivalry (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled). Then it’s off to Mexico to visit Atlas on April 12, and from there the Union will go straight to Chicago to face the Fire on the 15th.

» READ MORE: How to watch Union games in the Apple MLS Season Pass streaming package