The New York Red Bulls hardly looked Shield or Cup contenders Wednesday night when they fell to Sporting KC at home. New York and KC were battling for playoff position, home field advantage, and the right to keep battling for the Supporter’s Shield but it seemed NY forgot that.
In my preview I had talked about how New York were giving opportunities off of set pieces but teams, like SKC, were not capitalizing. Talk about putting your foot in your mouth. As the Red Bulls would once again concede in the first 20 minutes, fans in my section and myself were all thinking, “here we go again”. After a questionable foul committed by Temmu Tainio at the top of the box, Graham Zusi’s free kick struck woodwork but fell in the box back to SKC and CJ Sapong was able to easily turn and slot it past Bill Gaudette. Most Red Bull players were caught ball watching to see where the ball would land and no one bothered to pick up any SKC players, let along Sapong, in the box after the ball stayed in play. Only a few minutes later, Graham Zusi sent in a corner that easily found Kei Kamara’s head and the back of the net. How Kei Kamara muscled Wilman Conde off the ball so easily and how Gaudette stayed on his line for a ball that was inside the six yard box is still baffling Red Bull fans.Sporting KC did not look as dangerous in the attack the rest of the game though. Anytime they had a breakaway, they pulled a Red Bulls by slowing down the play and moving the ball around, rarely creating chances.
What of New York? Their lineup was almost the same as the side who rolled over the Columbus Crew this past Saturday. Well Hans Backe and his roster tinkering is what happened. Backe once again played Dax McCarty out wide right, went with a cetral combination of Rafa Marquez and Teemu Tainio, and had Tim Cahill play a withdrawn striker under Henry. First off, you cannot keep possession, as New York showed against SKC, with three central defensive midfielders unless you are playing some type of 4-3-3 with the three midfielders all tucked inside. Dax McCarty has shown at times he can be okay out wide but not Wednesday. Dax was consistently caught in possession and easily stripped and rarely had the support of Connor Lade making overlapping runs. Against the Crew, Dax had Lade burning by him constantly to take away some pressure. However, against SKC Lade was the one pushed back by Sporting’s high pressure. The same could be said for Lindpere as New York seemed to line up in a 2-4-2-2 when in the attack. Lindpere and McCarty were tucked inside behind Cahill and Henry and that can work when the fullbacks are in the attack. In this case, Lade and Conde could barely make it past the midfield line. New York showed promise, if too late, when Lloyd Same, Cooper, and Le Toux were in the attack. In fact, New York’s best player I believe was Sam who showed he could take on Sporting’s defenders 1v1, pass them, and serve up a pinpoint cross into the box. Dane Richards may have had speed over Sam but Sam has everything else over Richards.
New York no longer has the edge of having gone unbeaten at home. They still have to play the Toronto, the Fire, and Sporting KC at home before the season concludes. On top of that, they have to go into Gillette and try to grind out a result in a stadium they haven’t won in over a decade. Red Bull fans just hope the poor attendance Wednesday night may have been the reason for New York’s mostly flat performance and not an issue with the players and their cohesion.
(image courtesy of newyorkredbulls.com)
