Union takeaways: Alejandro Bedoya knows his team’s fourth straight tie wasn’t good enough

Here are our takeaways on the Union’s 1-1 draw with FC Dallas on Wednesday at Subaru Park, the team’s fourth straight tie. It moved the Union (14-8-8, 50 points) up to third place in the Eastern Conference, but cost two points in what was the team’s game in hand over other teams in the conference.

Alejandro Bedoya. This pick might surprise you if you watched Kai Wagner deliver another great passing game and Quinn Sullivan become the attacking spark Jim Curtin hoped he’d be in starting him. But the Union’s captain took six shots — his highest total in a game since the 2019 playoffs — to go with two tackles and seven duels won from 13 contested.

» READ MORE: Union miss big opportunity to improve playoff seeding, tie FC Dallas, 1-1

100: The number of minutes played by Sullivan, counting all the stoppage time. It was his first full-game run for the Union’s first team since last year’s U.S. Open Cup, and just his second ever. Hopefully it will earn him more playing time over the Union’s upcoming three games in eight days, especially while Julián Carranza is still in concussion protocols.

9: The number of recoveries by Jack McGlynn, who continues to improve the defensive side of his game. He also had another big-time passing night, which he’s better known for: 58 completions from 72 attempts.

“I’ve always said that I’m a versatile player, and obviously you guys know that I’ve played a wide variety of positions here. I’ve said this before, and I’ve talked to Jim about it as well, and he’s said it in his interviews. I think I’m a midfielder, and I think that this season, I’ve played striker quite a bit. I’m happy to play striker because minutes are the most important thing to me. And getting out on the field and getting to play both positions tonight felt good.”

— Sullivan on the continuing quandary of where to play him in the Union’s tactical setup.

“Objectively, we’re not in a bad spot, but, at the same time, I think we expect more from ourselves, especially at home. I think it’s a good thing to have this type of mentality, too. We know we can do a little bit better, we know we can do better at finishing. And to be honest, I haven’t been pleased with the way we’ve been letting in goals. Last year, look how much we prided ourselves on keeping clean sheets, shutouts, and we just haven’t been able to do that at the same rate as last season.”

— Bedoya laying down some truths about where the Union are at the moment.

» READ MORE: It’s good that the Union are rotating their centerbacks, even if it’s for a bad reason

“Trying to find solutions in terms of his working in training. [He’s] not always happy, as he should be — you shouldn’t be happy when you don’t play. That’s part of things. But it’s a two-way street.”

— Curtin on Joaquín Torres, who continues to be nailed to the bench during games. This was as close as Curtin has come to directly calling out Torres for not working hard enough in practice.

Houston Dynamo 2, Inter Miami 1. The U.S. Open Cup final lost some of its luster because Lionel Messi was out injured, but it still was the 108th final of this country’s oldest soccer tournament. On the road in Florida, Houston jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half and rarely looked back, while Miami looked even flatter than it has in recent games when Messi didn’t play.

The Dynamo’s second Open Cup title (the first was over the Union in 2018) is a feather in the cap of manager Ben Olsen, a native of Middletown, Pa. He won the Open Cup as a player and as a manager with D.C. United. His bench in Houston includes former Union reserve team coach Brendan Burke and goalkeeper coach Tim Hanley.

Houston’s ownership group, which also owns the NWSL’s Dash, includes disgruntled 76ers guard James Harden. He was in a field-side suite Wednesday night and seemed to be enjoying himself.

» READ MORE: Ernst Tanner admits Kai Wagner could leave the Union this winter

Saturday brings one of the Union’s biggest games this season, a visit to the Columbus Crew (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled). The Union will take the field there one point ahead of the Crew in the standings. Had they beaten Dallas, the Union would have moved up to second place.

1. FC Cincinnati, 62 points (18-4-8)

2. Orlando City, 51 (14-7-9)

3. Union, 50 (14-8-8)

4. Columbus Crew, 49 (14-9-7)

5. Atlanta United, 49 (13-8-10, +14 goal difference)

6. New England Revolution, 49 (13-6-10, +13)

7. Nashville SC, 44 (12-9-8)