The Union are in that sweet spot where they've been both mediocre to poor and also very unlucky.

And they've achieved this with a relatively soft schedule too.

Fun times. #DOOP

It seems like depth is less important than usual, though I don't know how to quantify it. No reason to manage minutes nearly as much with a 2 month break coming up (and then who knows what your roster will look like by your next game). That'll be different in the 2nd half.

I still think fans are too tough on Martinelli, who's been pretty productive even if he rarely wins his 1 v. 1s.

But after today, it's much tougher to defend him or advocate for him to be back next year. He was brought on to provide more help for Mosquera than Madueke could give. And he failed.

Most of the lineup has been flat-out bad.

But the pitchers have been cursed. Luzardo most of all, but darn near the whole staff.

Just a relentless stream of infield singles, swinging bunts, and bloopers.

That's two weeks in a row where Havertz missing a wide-open header proved the difference between a loss and a draw. Oh well.

I guess Calafiori and Timber will just never be healthy again. And we don't even know what's (always) wrong with them.

But Odegaard's back. Let's appreciate the good news. I hope it's enough. It needs to be. #COYG

Odie, if you only have 80-90 healthy minutes left in you this season, spend them all today. Let's do this!

All I saw from him was one slick pass to Vassilev on the wing. Otherwise... invisible. It's still a small sample, but if this is all he's showing by the WC break, it'll be hard to hold out much optimism for him.

This was enough to get Damiani that one shot that got saved. I think that was about it for our forwards. #DOOP

Adolis Garcia batting cleanup is deeply unserious. An organizational failure.

A team that claims it's contending for the playoffs does not bat Adolis Garcia cleanup. It's simply unserious. Humiliating, even. #Phillies

Just wait until the Union finally sign their second DP. He will be a literal clone of Bruno Damiani.

This would be an excellent week to fire Ernst Tanner. #DOOP

DCU were wretched. Union were mediocre. So it looked like domination. Except on the scoreboard.

Neither team knew how to complete a pass.

And the Union forward situation is absolutely dire.

We only have one DP and he's basically useless.

#DOOP

Damiani and Alladoh just seem like redundant (and not very impactful) players. I don't think they should be on the field together.

And, yes, that was a gorgeous pass from Cavan.

The biggest edge you can often get in MLS is production from your designated players.

When you only have one DP and he hasn't made a measurable impact on any game so far, it's gonna be tough sledding.

I guess your other option is to hope for production from your kids. #DOOP

Wagner played a pretty decent role in Birmingham drawing Hull on the road today.

Well, Alladoh made one really nifty pass to Vassilev on the wing.

And Bruno had that one shot saved.

Otherwise, our forwards have been mostly ornamental.

Danley on for Alladoh, with Iloski moving up top? #DOOP

Carnell has the boys playing maximum Carnell-ball tonight, but we're still missing the linkup from midfield to forward, which is another way of saying we really miss Kai Wagner. #DOOP

Frankie Westfield with an assertive clearance to save the day! #DOOP

Alas... bsky.app/profile/awfu...

C'mon, Draft Kings, don't be cowards. Give me a line on "A Union forward will have a shot on target" tonight. I say yes! #DOOP

But when Jesus Bueno has been your top attacking threat...

Heck, I've been looking for a West team to adopt as my second favorite and after today, I'm thinking it's probably the Rapids. Aside from one dreadful stumble at the end of the first half, they played well and with a lot of fire.

Spot on. And they have about a 3/10 booker in charge of it all.

Yeah. I want to see what Ndinga can do. But Harriel's playing his best ball and he deserves to start. And we probably don't want him starting at CB too often.

Nah, Iloski is back at mid. Which is sub-optimal. But also probably better than starting Bender. I'm going to assume they just know that Danley isn't ready to play 90 yet.

Surely this is the night it finally happens - Alladoh gets his first shot on goal. Let's go! #DOOP

This isn't quite what I was hoping for. But if Danley isn't ready to start yet, OK. I still want Iloski up top even if he didn't do much last week. Is Ndinga just not a starter? Harriel's playing well, so I understand, but it's still odd. Time for Alladoh to do... something. #DOOP

Easily the funniest moment of the day.