Union head to Columbus even more shorthanded, with José Andrés Martínez suspended

The big-picture issue with the Union’s ugly loss at lowly Chicago on Wednesday wasn’t the loss, per se.

It’s that the team’s three worst results this year have come against bad teams: losses at Chicago (25th in the overall league standings) and Toronto (24th), and a scoreless tie at home against Inter Miami (18th).

Union manager Jim Curtin knows that just about crosses the line of playing down to the level of his team’s opponents. But at least right now it’s fair for him to note how shorthanded his team’s attack is.

Any of the major absentees — Sergio Santos, Quinn Sullivan, Jack McGlynn, and Paxten Aaronson — would have been a big help at Soldier Field, where the Union were outshot 14-8 and played the last 18 minutes without José Andrés Martínez.

“It doesn’t matter where you are in the table, if you’re not prepared on any given night, you can get beat,” Curtin said Friday as he prepared for Sunday’s visit to Columbus (7:30 p.m., PHL17). “I think we’ve seen that time and time again this year. No team is out of it yet.”

But he also made it clear he’s still annoyed by the loss.

“We know which performances have been good for us, where we’ve looked like ourselves; we know which performances needed a little bit more and maybe we weren’t ourselves,” Curtin said. “I think this game was a letdown for sure, one we talked about guarding against, but talking about it and then taking it on to the field are two different things. … We didn’t deserve a point with the performance that we put in. From the coaching staff to the players, we can all be better.”

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Not only will the Union have to be better on Sunday, but Martínez’s absence will force them to be different. Curtin sent out the same starting lineup for the New York City FC and Chicago games, which raised a few eyebrows because they came in quick succession. What changes will he make against a Crew team on a four-game unbeaten run?

Curtin didn’t want to answer that, because Columbus manager Caleb Porter is one of those against whom Curtin clams up. (New England’s Bruce Arena is the most famous member of that group.) But he hinted at a formation change, perhaps to a lone-striker system.

We might also see Jesús Bueno come off the bench for his first Union appearance of the year. The 23-year-old Venezuelan midfielder has been battling a calf injury and Curtin said Bueno trained in full on Friday for the first time since the injury happened.

“He’ll be part of the group that will go to Columbus for sure,” Curtin said. “I think we’re still short two field players, but it helps us to fill out the game day sheet and [he] can help us at the end of the game to help close it out for sure.”

And what about Olivier Mbaizo, who subbed in for Nathan Harriel at halftime Wednesday?

Curtin said Harriel might have needed “a little bit of a mental break as much as anything” after jumping into the starting lineup as a rookie this year. And Mbaizo, for whom Curtin had harsh words in March, earned a little praise for his first appearance since mid-May.

“Olivier stepped in and did an OK job for us,” Curtin said. “[He] can still be a little more aggressive and brave going forward, but I think for his first game back in a while, he erred on the side of caution, which is OK.”

Mbaizo seems to have raised his stock enough to the point that Curtin is ready to pick his starter based on matchups.

“It’s a good competition over on that side of the field,” he said. “Both are MLS starters, and that’s a good luxury for a coach to have.”

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