The Union attack needs to get sharper, and having Mikael Uhre healthy would help

“I don’t think we got into enough dangerous spots," manager Jim Curtin said after a scoreless tie at home with D.C. United. "In this building, the chances should be more constant.”

The Union's Julián Carranza (left) and Andrés Perea were frustrated as they left the field after Friday's scoreless tie at home with D.C. United.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published May 19, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

Like any other sport, in soccer a box score tells a lot of the story, but not all of it.

In Wednesday’s scoreless draw with D.C. United, it was right there in black and white that the Union took 16 shots. And it was just as stark that just two of those shots were on target.

The official count of shots on target counts only shots that go into the net, are saved, or hit the posts or crossbar. If you miss by only a few inches, as Matt Real did early in the second half and Andrés Perea did in stoppage time, you get no credit.

But a lot of those 16 official shots didn’t really resemble shots. They were attempts to catch D.C. goalkeeper Tyler Miller on the many times he strayed far from the net to help his team start attacks from higher up the field.

On a few occasions, most notably Jack Elliott’s free kick at the start of the second half, the Union nearly caught him. Most of the time, they didn’t. By the end of the night, it had gotten frustrating.

Even if those attempts had been better-aimed, there were still a lot of them. And there were not enough of the kind of shots that really make a difference.

Some of the shortcoming was to D.C.’s credit. They did a fine job of jamming Dániel Gazdag, limiting him to 27 touches and one shot. Joaquín Torres had the ball a lot more and did disappointingly little with it: two shots (plus one offside goal early on) and a meager eight passes completed from 14 attempts.

Mikael Uhre was much better when he subbed in for Torres, harassing United’s defense to force turnovers and chances for himself and his teammates.

There’s an understandable worry, though, that there might be a deeper problem. This wasn’t the first time that the Union produced a too-low total of shots on target with a group of attackers who’ve proven they can do better.

“Not enough high-quality chances,” manager Jim Curtin said after the game. “I don’t think we got into enough dangerous spots. ... In this building, the chances should be more constant.”

Uhre agreed that it’s “something we need to work on, and we’re working on it every day. It’s just about getting into the right rhythm again.”

Finding that rhythm will be easier if Uhre is healthy enough to start Saturday at home against second-place New England (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled). It will be as good a measuring-stick game as the Union have had in this regular season.

“He’s had fluid consistently drained out of that knee now for several days at different moments,” Curtin said. “So it’s kind of a pain tolerance thing.”

When Uhre was asked Wednesday (while wearing a wrap on a knee) if he thinks he’ll be healthy enough Saturday to start, he answered: “I mean, hopefully. We’ll see how the knee reacts tomorrow and then we’ll kind of take it from there. It’s a day-by-day process.”

He admitted that the situation has “been frustrating for me — obviously, I want to play. But sometimes, that’s how it is. Sometimes it’s out of your control.”