About all you needed to know about the Union’s latest uninspired performance, a 1-0 loss at San Jose late Sunday night, won’t make the highlight reels, even for the Earthquakes. As the game went into stoppage time, San Jose sub Steven Lenhart ragged the ball to the corner flag to waste time. He proceeded to earn a corner kick, a second corner, a foul by Brian Carroll, another foul on Carroll, then a throw-in. About two minutes of the Union’s comeback effort was wasted 115 yards from its goal.

That image perfectly encapsulates the Union’s night. Even when they went up a man thanks to Rafael Baca’s red card in the 57th minute (the 11th shown to a Union opponent this season), they showed little fight and even less purpose until later. The problems, in list form:

- The Union have one goal in the last 374 minutes. They haven’t scored in 220 minutes. John Hackworth can play his cards close to the vest all he wants on his attack, but there are problems. Big ones.

- The Union are creating chances, though. The issue is the lack of quality finishing. They forced four saves from John Busch, only Carroll’s late drive forcing him to a tough action. Sebastien Le Toux scuffed a shot and made an open chance into an easy roller on goal. Jack McInerney, his confidence no longer in the same time zone as he, missed a couple of chances. And Sheanon Williams and Keon Daniel hit posts. In the effort department, it was too little, too late. Read more »

There are two ways to diagnose Raymon Gaddis' performances in a Union kit:

For one, he's a rookie who Saturday was making only his third career start. But, on the other hand, he's playing on a backline that had a reputation for stout, stingy, goal-preventing play.

Something had to give against San Jose, and it was the latter.

The Earthquakes prevailed, 2-1, against the Union. It wasn't exclusively because of Gaddis' play, but rather a confluence of related events, that led to the Union suffering their first loss since March 24.

Consider...
The Union are strapped on the backline because of left back Gabriel Farfan's three-game suspension (one down, two to go -- by the way). And because offseason get Porfirio Lopez clearly has fallen out of favor with the Union technical staff (Saturday, Lopez was a healthy scratch who didn't make the gameday 18), that left Chris Albright as the only other defender available.

So what took place against the Earthquakes was a number of players lining up out of position. Sheanon Williams, a rock at right back, shifted to the left to cover up the absence of Farfan, and Gaddis played the right. But Williams, who is not naturally left-footed, did as much as he could to hold down that spot. That often left the Earthquakes picking correctly which side to attack, leaving Gaddis to mark guys like Steven Lenhart (who had two goals) and MLS leading scorer Chris Wondolowski.

Whoops.

“I think (Farfan's suspension) changes us a lot due to the fact that, No. 1, Sheanon goes out on the left, where he's not as comfortable," said Union centerback and captain Danny Califf. "So you take him off the right, where he's not only comfortable but he also is a huge part of our offense, and you put him in a spot where he's not as comfortable and that takes away our left-sided attack out of the back.


Califf continued: “Nothing against Sheanon, but he's not left-footed and he's not used to playing there. He's athletic, but he's not going to give you anything (there). It's hard, right? He just can't do what Gabe does on the left. He gives us that on the right, but it's just not there on the left. It's kind of a dynamic of our game that's completely lost. Not only do we not have the left, but now we don't have as much on the right."

Califf, playing the role of a good captain and one unwilling to throw a rookie under the bus, said there's plenty the Union can do to help Gaddis adjust. Here's Califf's strategy:

“I think Ray does a great job, but he's still a kid and he's still got a lot of inexperience and he shows flashes of being a brilliant player, but he needs more games," Califf said. "When we lose Sheanon on the right and an attacking guy on the left, it hamstrings us when we're trying to play out of the back. … A lot of times we have to be there for him a little bit more – try and talk to him a little more than we necessarily talk to Sheanon and organize him more. It's not fault of his own, but it's something we now need to address as a group a bit more. I think that will help him if we can establish somebody who can play in front of him on a more regular basis, so that he can develop a relationship with the guy in front of him. That will be huge."

Looks like the Union have a tiny issue on their hands. They hadn't given up a goal in 408 minutes and, Saturday, they relinquished two in a span of 17 minutes.

If they can't find the right grouping to play in front of goalkeeper Zac MacMath, they might have trouble ... beginning this weekend in Seattle.

(Photo: Philadelphia Union/Greg Carroccio)

Without trying to do so, San Jose coach Frank Yallop diagnosed the Union's problems quite accurately Saturday night.

"Sometimes," Yallop said, "football is cruel."

Indeed it is. The Union (2-4-1) learned that the hard way, in falling to the Earthquakes (6-1-1), 2-1, behind a 93rd-minute goal from Steven Lenhart.

An argument can be made that the Union showed reluctance to push offensively until Lenhart, who had a brace, scored the first of his goals in the 76th minute.

“If you look at the amount we possessed the ball in comparison to San Jose tonight, it's not good enough,” said Danny Califf, the Union's captain who returned to the pitch after sitting the last two games. “When you defend for 75 to 80 percent of the game, you get tired and when you get tired, mistakes happen.

“There's no way around that. If we're going to get out of this up-and-down thing and be successful over the long haul of the season, we're going to have to establish better possession.”

"We were a little more reserved. We were dropped a little far off," said Union assistant coach John Hackworth. "We made adjustments in the locker room and came out and put them under a little pressure in the second half and changed the game."

And when two forwards were on in the later minutes?

"I liked our chances at that point," Hackworth said.

In summation, here are the opportunities the Union had prior to Lenhart's goal:

• 34th minute: Freddy Adu takes a corner. Nothing.
• 37th minute: Adu takes a restart. Nothing.
• 55th minute: Kai Herdling heads Adu's corner. Wide right.
• 72nd minute: Lionard Pajoy makes a good run. No shot.

"In the first half, really, I think we made life easier for them," said forward Danny Mwanga, who wasn't utilized until being subbed on for Pajoy in the 75th minute.

Aside from Gabriel Gomez's goal in the 83rd minute (pictured), the Union had nothing going.

Really, there was nothing there for the Union, which is a cause for concern for a team that harbors six strikers on its roster. How much longer can the Union allow their offensive woes, which include scoring only five goals in seven matches, be allowed to persist?

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Fun fact: Kai Herdling doesn't speak English. Well, at least that's what he told reporters afterward. Here's how he described his performance: "Give me one, two weeks. I'll be OK." (If you can't write a story around that quote, you're just not trying hard enough.)

(Photo: Philadelphia Union/Greg Carroccio)