With all the talk about Christmas and having fun on the pitch from Thierry Henry and Joel Lindpere, it would be understandable to mistake July for December for the Red Bulls. Well, at least for one night it was Christmas in July in Harrison.
With a 1-2-8 skid dating back to May – not to mention the recent 0-1-2 road trip – wearing on players and morale in the locker room dwindling, it was going to take a big effort last night against Toronto in Harrison to get the team back on track. A 5-0 romp should go a long way to ease those concerns ahead of the Atlantic Cup tilt Saturday against DC United. The flurry of highlight-reel goals came from Henry, newly returned Luke Rodgers, Lindpere and a double from impact sub Juan Agudelo. Further, New York regained first place in the Eastern conference with the win.
The goals were just one of many positive signs to take away from the match for the Red Bulls, who for the first time in more than a month were with a full-strength side (albeit missing center back Rafa Marquez, who was injured in the Gold Cup final and is expected to be out of action for another few weeks). My major takeaways from the game:
- Luke-ing good: Enough can’t be said about Luke Rodgers’ impact on the pitch last night. From the off, the Englishman was hustling, and he looked to be doing his best Juan Agudelo impersonation on his goal. For someone who hasn’t played in nearly a month and had only a handful of practices before the match, Rodgers looked more than up to the challenge. Rodgers’ presence also electrified the rest of the starting XI and Henry in particular. The reunion of the most potent scoring combination in MLS resulted in the first two New York goals, raising the total between Rodgers and Henry to 15, or almost half of the team’s league leading 33 goals.
- Midfield Maestros: In only their second game playing together, Dax McCarty and Teemu Tainio looked to be gelling very quickly into a strong central midfield partnership. They’re not Xavi and Iniesta, but Tainio and McCarty shared an excellent understanding and awareness in midfield. They were strong both in defense and in distribution, where they completed almost 90% of their passes. Both knew when to attack and when to defend, with the forward-thinking McCarty rarely leaving the team out of balance and Tainio content to sit back, make challenges and start the attack from a deeper position. For a team based on possession, the success of this partnership will go a long way to determining the final outcome of New York’s season.
- Joel on the Spot: Reigning MLS player of the week Joel Lindpere continued his torrid form Wednesday, scoring a goal and setting up two more. The goal was his fourth in three games and goes a long way to back up his talk of not enjoying playing anymore with all the draws. Lindpere has been at his best this season when playing on the left wing, overlapping with left back Roy Miller and interchanging with Henry and Rodgers, and that’s where he’s been operating recently.
- Lockdown D: For the first time in well over a month, the Red Bulls were able to keep a clean sheet. Although it was against a weakened TFC side, the back line look composed and snuffed out most threats – though tricky Ecuadorean Joao Plata did have a few chances – and ‘keeper Greg Sutton faced few dangerous chances against his old side. Sutton’s play was key, as it has been quite some time since a New York goalie – Bouna Coundoul being the other – has NOT made a mess of at least one routine play. Sutton’s steady hand may have cemented his claim to position, and along with an improving back line will be a key cog to keeping hold of first in the Eastern conference.
Yet Saturday’s matchup against DC will be a much different challenge. Unlike TFC, United actually have forwards and midfielders that can actually pose a threat. The Red Bulls’ defenders have a tendency to spread themselves thin at times (check out MLS’s new Opta Chalkboard for heat maps) and that could pose a problem, as DC has quick attackers who like to run at defenders – Charlie Davies and Andy Najar among them.
Further, New York will be without Tainio on Saturday due to yellow card accumulation. This could be in issue if McCarty picks the wrong time to link with the attack, as United could spring forward quickly on a counterattack. Hans Backe has a tough decision to make in deciding who will replace Tainio in midfield. New York has no other natural holding midfielders on the roster, though Mehdi Ballouchy has played there in the past. However, using Ballouchy would be a major gamble, as he is even more offensive minded than McCarty. A more likely option would be to leave McCarty alone at holding midfield, with Ballouchy farther up in a more natural creative midfield role. When New York played at RFK Stadium in April, when New York was not busy putting the ball in the back of the net the game was fought in the midfield. Ben Olson’s men were able to hold New York to much less possession than they are particularly used to, so making the right tactical decision will be essential.
However, Rodgers, Henry and co. will be attacking a very young United back line. Both center back Ethan White and right back Perry Kitchen are rookies, which could lead to many easy opportunities. DC is also prone to leaving the midfield vacant, playing into New York's game plan. Lastly, lets be honest: New York is simply a better team and should win, especially with the home support for such a key match.
After Wednesday night’s match, Jan Gunnar Solli said, “there’s a lot of happy faces. And that’s a good thing.” It might be good for New York, but the rest of the league is on warning: New York Red Bulls are back.
World Football Daily
