⚽️ Bedoya Deserves Better

_{LAST MATCH: Union 0 - Nashville SC 0}

_{NEXT MATCH: vs. New England Revolution, Saturday, Oct. 21, 6 p.m. | Apple TV - MLS Season Pass}

Good morning. It’s a Union game week again with a Decision Day trip to New England slated for Saturday. The Union don’t have a ton to play for: with Nashville’s win on Saturday they would need to lose by six goals to not finish in the top 4. The motivation will be to win another road game and go into the playoffs on a high note.

In the email today:

With the Union off for the weekend much of the discussion around the fanbase was the report that Alejandro Bedoya will not be returning next season.

That the veteran captain won’t be part of the team in 2024 isn’t the surprising part. Had the 36-year-old come out and said he was planning to retire that decision would’ve been embraced. But the report that he was told in a 20-second conversation by Sporting Director Ernst Tanner definitely isn’t that.

Jakob Glesnes took to social media to share his thoughts on the matter and summarized how many fans feel.

Our take: Bedoya is a shoe-in to become the second inductee to the team’s Ring of Honor next to Sebastien Le Toux. For all that he’s done to lead the team on and off the field he deserves to go out on his own terms.

2) 📈 How the Union Stacks: Expected Goals

Expected goals or xG is a stat that shows the number of goals that can be expected to be scored based on where and how a shot was taken.

Heading into the last week of the season the Union are 13th in the league in xG with 1.46 expected goals per game. Their 56 goals put them over the number expected, which is 49.6.

The Union are also 13th in the league on expected goals against at 1.34. Believe it or not the had a much higher xGA last year at 1.58, which was 14th in the league.

Last year, the Union were third in the league with a 1.74 xG. Their expected goals were 59.2 but they scored 72.

Our take: You don’t need to see the stats to know that the Union aren’t the dominant team they were last year. A drop-off was always going to be expected - especially with so many additional games - but there’s still one way they can beat what they did in 2022.

3) 🤔 Meme of the Day: Ernst Tanner

4) 💧 Water Cooler: Union Forward of the Year

[DO NOT INCLUDE RESULTS— SAVE THEM FOR THE FOLLOWING DAY]

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

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Results from our last poll Union Midfielder of the Year:

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• 🏆 Army and Navy played to a 1-1 draw in the 12th Army-Navy Cup played at Subaru Park on Friday night.

• 🇺🇸 Christian Pulisic scored a beauty of a goal but the USMNT lost 3-1 to Germany in a friendly in Hartford. Germany heads to Philadelphia next to take on Mexico at The Linc tomorrow night.

• 🇯🇲 Andre Blake and Damion Lowe started for the Reggae Boyz in their 3-2 win over Haiti in Concacaf Nations League. Former Union player Fafa Picault started for Haiti in the match.

The newsletter today was written by: Matt Ralph @MattRalph_

Thanks for reading!