Earning just one win in their first four games, the Union are fighting a serious bout of frustration. Which is why when they face the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park on Saturday, Union manager John Hackworth will be preaching patience above anything else.
“This is a funny old game sometimes,” he said. “We’re No. 1 in the league right now in final-third entries. That means we’re getting into good scoring positions. We’re No. 4 in the league in penalty-area entries. We’re in the top five in all the shooting metrics. When you do that consistently, you like to think that a lot of those are going to start to fall, it’s just a matter of time. I believe over the long haul, we’ll be alright.”
What makes their start so frustrating is that the Union have played industrious and composed soccer, they just haven’t seen the results. Over the last four games, the Union created 19 shots on frame to the opposition’s nine but have scored only four goals -- the same they have allowed.
“We just haven’t executed more in front of goal,” Hackworth said. “We’ve put the number of shots on goal that, you would think we would have more goals. Maybe that’s unlucky; maybe that’s a goalie making a save. And then it comes down to the word execution. When you get those opportunities, you have to execute them.”
The knee-jerk reaction to offensive struggles is to change things, whether it be the formation, strategy or personnel.
And Friday, the Union did just that by trading Jack McInerney to the Montreal Impact in exchange for striker Andrew Wenger, the former No. 1 overall selection of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft (see story).
McInerney, a Union original, had one goal and five shots on net through the season's first four games. Overall, he scored 25 goals in 53 career games with the Union.
Wenger, a native of Lancaster, Pa., has six goals in 20 career MLS games.
"Andrew is a Pennsylvania native that we are familiar with from his time as a youth and Reading United player," Hackworth said. "He will be a great addition to our team as both a person and a player going forward.”
The Union players have faith that their luck will change if they continue to push.
“Going on the road, especially now where we feel like we should have at least four more points but have just been really unlucky and unfortunate in some circumstances,” Union defender Aaron Wheeler said. “We just need to go there and continue to play like we’ve been playing.
"We’ve been creating tons of opportunities -- you just got to believe and keep having faith that as soon as one drops, there’s going to be a lot to follow. We just have to continue to stay together as a unit defensively and just hope the goal will open for us."
On the other side of the ball, the Union have had no luck at all. They have allowed three goals on their last four shots against and given up the tying goal twice in the 80th minute or later. Yet, whether it comes from an extra goal or air-tight defense, Hackworth just wants his club to finish games.
“You close it out sometimes by making sure you continue not to give up those chances,” he said. “You also close it out by putting more in the back of the net than what we have previously, and we have to find that balance right now.”
Trying to keep the Union from finding that balance will be the Fire, who are entering the contest still searching for their first win. Frank Yallop’s club is 0-1-3.
“They might not have won a game but they’re coming off a string of good results,” Hackworth said. “They know they have a good team. It’s still early days in the season and I think in every one of these games, teams are going to be very anxious and highly motivated to go out and get better results. We certainly understand that.”
Not unlike the Union, the Fire are struggling to put things together. On defense, Bakary Soumare’s group has allowed seven goals in its four games, while leading scorer Quincy Amarikwa and the always-dangerous Mike Magee have yet to fulfill the potential of their attack.
Magee, who missed the first two games of the season because of a hamstring injury, scored 15 goals last season but is still looking for his first of 2014.
“They’ve added a lot of life and a lot of mobility to that team that makes it difficult to try to prepare for them,” Hackworth said. “And you bring a guy like Magee back into the fold who is probably not playing his best yet, but you know he’s ready to break out. You’re looking at a team that has a lot of dangerous attacking pieces, so we’re going to have to do a really good job this weekend to try to contain that.”