Punchless Union ponder slump-busting changes

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The suddenly punchless Union are officially searching for answers to their four-game winless streak.

And while the club has tried to shrug off panic with six games left in the season, Sunday’s messy shutout loss to the San Jose Earthquakes may have coach John Hackworth sounding the alarm.

“There’s more positions open this week than there has been all season,” Hackworth said. “We wanted to emphasize that it’s unacceptable on many levels what happened on Sunday night. That bodes well for guys working hard in training who smell it a little bit. They know there’s opportunity there, and if the coaching staff isn’t happy with the performance, the logical thing is you interject a new face in there or change something tactically.

“There’s more opportunities to be in that starting 11 this week than there’s ever been to this point in the year.”

As Hackworth pointed out during his weekly press conference at PPL Park on Wednesday, there are approximately six spots under contention heading into Saturday’s home match against the Houston Dynamo. And with just one goal in their last four games, the majority of those changes are almost certainly on the attack.

“I think the pressure is now on our front five, our two strikers and three attacking-minded midfielders,” Hackworth said. “Whether it’s Keon Daniel, Conor Casey, [Jack] McInerney, Sebastien [Le Toux], [Danny] Cruz or Michael Farfan, whoever we put in there, someone on our team has to start making the big plays that all teams need. Now we’re in position where we need to have a guy step up and make a play -- make a big play for this team.”

When things were going well for the Union, it was young striker McInerney who provided the big finish when the team needed it. Though McInerney still leads the team with 10 goals, he hasn’t scored in 11 games and the frustration is mounting.

“We all see him in training and he’s been really good there, but every time a ball doesn’t go his way or a shot doesn’t fall or a play doesn’t come off, it adds on it for him personally.” Hackworth said. “Because he’s so important to us being a productive goal-scoring team, it’s something we have to manage right now.”

While the Union’s fortune may rest on McInerney’s scoring ability down the stretch, “managing” his slump may put his starting spot up for grabs. Possible replacements would be Antoine Hoppenot or Aaron Wheeler.

“To his credit, Jack shows up every day and tries to do everything he can to improve and put himself in a good position,” Hackworth said. “We all appreciate that. But there are other guys who see that as an opportunity to get their shot.”

With McInerney taking heat for the Union’s offensive struggles, Casey is quietly on his own four-game scoreless streak -- a problem for a team with limited scoring options.

“It’s a concern, obviously,” he said. “It’s frustrating not to score. We’ve had chances to score and we haven’t put them away. That’s the name of the game. At the end of the day, this game comes down to a few chances. And if you don’t score, you’re not going to win. We’re aware of that and we’ll have a big opportunity this weekend to make that right.”

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