The New York Red Bulls hoped that by maintaining continuity from their 2013 Supporters’ Shield winning team, they would remain a key contender for the MLS title in 2014.

That strategy has not quite panned out as expected. Instead of building upon their success, the team has lost much of the character that made them a contender to begin with.

When similar situations happen in football around the world, players on floundering sides heading into a transfer window fall under the scalpel of the technical staff. Rumors of acquisitions begin to bubble. In MLS, possible trades are whispered behind closed doors.

Some chatter holds weight. Other times, it’s just the team’s brain trust looking to light a fire beneath under-performing players.

Right now, that is not a motivational tactic Red Bulls’ boss Mike Petke is leaning towards — whether realistically speaking or not.

“Well, I’m not a threatening-type guy — especially not at this point,” he said. “In my short stint as a head coach, a little over a year now, I haven’t been put in a situation that things are so dire that I just start threatening people, so I certainly have not made any threats yet and don’t plan on [it].

“Hopefully we aren’t in a situation where we have to do that.”

If he were to start looking, it would be understandable considering New York’s current form. While they started the season off slowly last year as well, the Red Bulls managed a critical turning point against the Chicago Fire in early April to become key contenders. Now in late May, New York have not had a similar wake-up call this season. The team is an unsightly 3-4-6, accumulating 15 of a possible 39 points. Their once vaunted counter attack has become a thing of the past. Their offseason acquisitions have fallen flat. The team’s fullbacks are in a constant state of flux. Stalwart midfielders Tim Cahill and Dax McCarty have failed to find their form due to injury concerns. Worse still, the centerback tandem has not been as strong with the absence of Markus Holgersson.

In order to match last year’s memorable record, the club would have to go 14-4-2 in their final 20 games. That seems unlikely.

The right Designated Player would help reignite the team, but neither Petke nor Sporting Director Andy Roxburgh have let on any plans for a summer acquisition.

That leaves New York to look for solutions elsewhere. With consideration for his players, Petke is not talking about what his target acquisitions would be.

“Yeah, we always want to improve at almost every position,” he said, adding, “[but] I’m not going to sit here just under halfway through the season and start talking about specific positions so that player who started there is reading this and freaking out.

“We’re always looking to improve almost every position. From defense on up to forward.”

He did, however, let on a clue to some safe areas where the team could use some bolstering. “Obviously, right now, we’re limited at the forward position we have just one back-up in Andre Akpan so obviously it’s not a problem to say there we need a little more depth. As far as from last year, we’re always looking to improve positions and that means we’re talking to other teams [and] other teams call us constantly about players but it has to be right for us financially and if they’re the right fit personality-wise and if we think he’s the right fit to help the team.”

How active will New York be this summer? The answer is unclear. If history is any indication, they will likely take the same “slow and steady” approach of last season, where they managed to acquire both Bradley Wright-Phillips and Ibrahim Sekagya.

But of course, nothing is set in stone.

“As far as during the transfer window, you know, we have people looking at certain places in the world,” Petke said. “When we get reports back and we get a situation that we think a player could help the team, I’m very confident that we would act on it.”