The New York Red Bulls road woes were slightly put at ease with their lucky 1-1 draw at Livestrong Park against Sporting Kansas City. Now the Red Bulls (13-7-6, 4-7-3 on the road) head into RFK to take on a struggling DC United side to right a 4-1 thrashing NY took back in April. NY has not won on the road since a 2-1 victory over Montreal back in May while DC United’s only loss at home came to Sporting KC on Opening Kick weekend. Both New York and DC are 2-2-1 in their last five regular season matches.
The Red Bulls in their 1-1- draw with SKC had 0 shots on goal, as they were without their captain and greatest offensive weapon, Thierry Henry. Henry has not scored a goal since mid July but his mere presence on the field allows the team to implement a different game plan then when he misses a match. New York could also see the services of newly acquired Englishmen Lloyd Sam on the right flank be utilized for the first time. This gives Hans Backe the unique option of choosing between Kenny Cooper and Sebastian Le Toux to partner up top with Henry. While Le Toux has mainly been utilized as a right-sided midfielder since coming over from Vancouver, he has had little time to work up top with Henry. That role has gone to Kenny Cooper and the majority of Cooper’s goals have come from playing alongside Henry. Hans Backe has had a habit recently, however, of sitting his leading goal scorer in favor of Le Toux. It’s a good problem to have for Hans Backe as his team now starts to all get to full fitness. With the return of Brandon Barklage and inclusion of Sam, Backe has only a couple of games left to start to finally build consistency in the lineup. A healthy Tainio and the return of Marquez mid September could also throw a wrench in his plans. The issue does give New York considerable depth, which is something this franchise has struggled with, especially the last two seasons under Backe.
Whatever line up New York goes with will have its hands full with a DC rival, who while beating them 4-1 early in this season, was beat back at Red Bull Arena in June. Both teams are battling for a position in the playoffs among the Eastern Conference as DC has played the least amount of games amongst the top five. With a win, DC is propelled into third, even on games played with all except New York. On the flip side, New York could vault SKC into first with a win. DC is coming off a horrendous 3-0 loss to the on fire Montreal Impact, in which they rested Dwayne De Rosarrio and Chris Pontius. DC could not pressure the Impact anywhere on the field, whether it was in the midfield or even their own defensive end. If Andy Najar once again plays as a right back, the Red Bulls may have a field day down that flank, just as Montreal did. Najar almost looked like a Red Bulls defender, putting no pressure on the ball just outside his box on countless occasions.
Tonight’s matchup is not only a rivalry one, but also one that has major implications towards the Eastern Conference playoff positions. Coming down to the stretch run, three points on the road for New York would be monumental to the players mental state about playing away from Red Bull Arena. It could also be the loss that sees DC stay at the bottom of the playoff picture. After this match, NY only has seven games remaining, five of which are at Red Bull Arena.
Image courtesy of MLSSoccer.com
