All Injuries, All the Time

Olman Vargas and Aaron Schoenfeld picked up injuries on Saturday; adding to the insult of the Vancouver loss. Both look to be out for several weeks according to GM Mark McCullers. The dual injury blow seemingly couldn't come at a worse time with the offense averaging a paltry .86 goals per game. Vargas and Schoenfeld's injuries extend the injury report to 10, including expected starters, William Hesmer, Dilly Duka, and Julius James.

This will force lineup changes and perhaps a change of tactics. The Crew doesn't have a healthy target forward. Emilio Renteria is strong, but he's better running the channels. The same could be said for Ethan Finlay. Both saw action up top against Vancouver, though neither especially impressed. The Crew's style of play will have to change to get the most out of both of them.

Further down the depth chart, Justin Meram has bided his time after seeing action in 17 games, including 4 starts in 2011. Again, he's not a prototypical target man and has played more as winger over the past year.

The coaches can also look to Eddie Gaven, or more likely, Milovan Mirosevic to step up into the forward role. This would require a replacement and the team is also short at midfield. Dilly Duka is still slowly recovering and Bernardo Anor has been inconsistent.

The one option that the team wont have is home grown striker Aaron Horton. He was loaned to the Daton Dutch Lions until the beginning of June. He will arrive back in Columbus in time for the next reserve match.

The Plan A (or B) offense hasn't worked and now the Crew have less options. The offense was starting to make some progress. They had looked dangerous two straight weeks. Now it's back to square one, hoping the pieces fit quickly and someone gets hot. It's a tough position for a team that's struggling.