The above scatterplot maps the quality of teams’ chances against their number of shots taken per game. Ideally, a team would want to be in upper right corner of the top right quadrant, taking good quality shots and lots of them. The Revolution and NYCFC are the best in MLS in terms of their shots’ quality and quantity, averaging 1.68 and 1.66 xG/game, respectively. The upper left and bottom right quadrants are still good places for teams to be and exemplify the different shooting philosophies mentioned earlier. Chicago, Portland, and RSL all have different amounts of shot qualities and quantities but are all averaging about 1.5 xG/game, which is better than the league average of 1.38. On the other end of the spectrum, Montreal is both taking bad quality and a low amount of shots, leaving them with the league worst .99 xG/game.

The problem with the Union’s above average shot quality but below average shot quantity is that their 1.29xG/game is below the league average, meaning that either their shots aren't good enough to amend for their low volume or that they need to take more shots. So, what has changed from last year's Union, whose attack was creating the 4th best xG in MLS?

To start off, the Union are taking slightly worse shots and 1.5 shots fewer per game compared to last season’s .123xG/shot and 12.5 shots/game. Furthermore, CJ Sapong, the Union's biggest producer of goal scoring chances with 11.5 xG+xA, is forced to play differently this year. In Sapong’s first two seasons with the Union, 6.7% of his shots were unassisted, largely due to the role of the Union’s #10s. In the 2015 and 2016 seasons, the #10s, Cristian Maidana and Tranquillo Barnetta, served Sapong 10 and nine key passes, respectively. However, this season, a surprising 28.2% of Sapong’s shots have been unassisted, meaning that he is now relying a lot more on himself for creating his scoring chances. This season’s primary #10s, Roland Alberg and Ilsinho, have combined for only two key passes to Sapong, excluding a chance created by an Ilsinho shot that CJ redirected.