The Union have serious striker depth again, and Jim Curtin is actually using it

It was a useful coincidence that Tai Baribo scored for the Union on Saturday while one of the River End supporters’ clubs was more interested in showing itself off to other fans.

For most of the night, it was easy to be distracted by the in-person part of a one-upmanship contest among the groups that give Subaru Park its atmosphere.

But Baribo didn’t need to care about that, nor should he have. He had work to do, and his seventh goal of the year helped decide the 1-0 win over Charlotte FC in the teams’ Leagues Cup group stage opener.

Whatever one thinks of the Leagues Cup — and a half-full-at-best Subaru Park didn’t think much of it — thankfully the night ended with something useful to talk about from the game itself.

» READ MORE: Tai Baribo’s goal gives the Union a 1-0 win over Charlotte in their Leagues Cup opener

Mikael Uhre’s omission from the starting lineup was surprising when it was announced, but it had been quietly planned by Union manager Jim Curtin. He wanted to give new striker Sam Adeniran a start to see how he’d pair with Baribo, and it felt like the right moment to do that.

“It was an opportunity to take a look at him,” Curtin said. “I explained that to Mikael as well — be ready to come into the game late when it maybe slows down a bit, and guys are tired, to try to change it.”

Was any part of that opportunity the fact that this game mattered less than a regular-season contest? Curtin wasn’t quite asked, and probably wouldn’t have answered, but we’ll say it for him.

Actually, we’ll go back to something Curtin said Friday. In discussing his view of the Leagues Cup’s importance, he said it’s a “great opportunity” to not just keep winning, but “maybe see a new idea or player in our group.”

Sadly for the marketers at MLS and Apple, Cavan Sullivan was not that idea or player. Curtin hinted on Friday that the 14-year-old phenomenon would spend the weekend with the reserve squad instead of the first team, and that seems to be what happened.

» READ MORE: Jim Curtin wants the Union to win the Leagues Cup, but some fans are protesting it

So how did Adeniran do? He certainly put in a shift, including a key role in Baribo’s goal.

“Overall I thought Sam did some good things,” Curtin said. “You can still see he’s not totally perfect with his teammates, and his teammates also have to get on the same page with him, and that’s natural. … Sometimes he’d be running in deep and a pass would be played short, and vice versa.”

Adeniran didn’t show enough quality to send him over Uhre on the depth chart, but he didn’t have to. Curtin’s willingness to try something different was news enough after that depth chart for so long had a big drop-off past Uhre and Julián Carranza.

Now there’s no sign of Chris Donovan or Markus Anderson, and Quinn Sullivan has gone back to playing the midfield role for which he’s best suited.

“Look, we lost our best goal scorer that our club’s probably... ” Curtin said, referring to Carranza, but then he stopped himself. “I mean, Danny [Gazdag] has more goals, I get that, but Julián is the best striker that we’ve had here at the club, so that hurts. You’re not going to improve when you lose that.”

Indeed. But that doesn’t mean the drop-off should have been so deep once Baribo arrived last summer, half a season after Cory Burke’s departure. Nor should it have taken so long for Baribo to earn Curtin’s trust, and the playing time that comes with it.

» READ MORE: Subaru Park will host Wednesday's D.C. United-Santos Laguna Leagues Cup game in a last-minute change

Had things gone right for Baribo sooner, would Curtin have spent so much time playing Donovan and Quinn Sullivan as forwards?

“I only look forward, and now that’s all we can do,” Curtin said, “He’s done a great job. This is the striker that we saw [abroad], and why we brought him here.”

Consider what the Union have in their striker corps now: a big presence in Adeniran, a speedy runner in Uhre, and an all-around pest in Baribo. They check a lot of boxes, and if Adeniran can start scoring soon, they’ll check even more.

“There’s different guys and different ways we can play now, in different games based on the opponent,” Curtin said.

And whatever happens in the Leagues Cup, their skill sets should still be there when the games get back to mattering more.