The New York Red Bulls (1-3-2) travel for the fifth time in their first seven matches to face rival DC United (1-3-1) down in RFK in a battle of struggling teams. The Red Bulls sit seventh in the Eastern conference while rival DC United sit ninth, with both teams coming off crushing defeats from last week. DC lost 1-0 on a late goal in Sporting KC while the Red Bulls had another second half melt down, losing 3-1 against the then winless Chicago Fire.
The Red Bulls and DCU will be playing their second of three matches this season. The first match came in week three when the game finished in a scoreless draw. New York took 24 shots to DC’s four. Thierry Henry himself had ten shots that were either saved, hit the post, or just went wide of the net. Bill Hamid backstopped his team to a draw and himself to player of the week nods after standing on his head to continuously keep the ball out of the back of the net. It was the first game where Mike Petke’s team looked good and in form, pressuring DC very high up the field, defending in pairs, hunting down loose balls in packs, and the offense was flowing.
It is very much the same for New York heading down to DC. Like Chicago the week before, DC is struggling very much with goal production and its defense. DC has only scored two goals in five games while giving up five. They should have definitely had more goals conceded in NY but thanks to Bill Hamid, that didn’t happen. Dwayne De Rosario returns to DC’s lineup and will most likely start against NY. De Ro has missed a few matches due to suspension and injury, so he and the team have not had many chances to gel. In the match at Red Bull Arena, NY shut down De Ro and Pontius with their high pressure and DC’s offense never got going. New york will need to replicate that shut down defense, especially away from home where Ben Olsen should be looking to make a statement.
New York will be getting Fabian Espindola back and Thierry Henry should be 90 minutes match fit but they lose Peguy Luyindula after he suffered an injury against the Fire. Getting back Espindola is better for NY as Espindola has finished and the attack does not die at his feet a la Luyindula. The biggest boost for NY’s offense should come from Juninho. Red Bull fans have yet to really see why New York picked up the 38 year old Juninho. Juninho has lined up in a defensive midfield slot next to Dax McCarty every game. The problem is that Dax has gone forward more than Juninho, and when the counter attack breaks, Juninho can do little to stop it or slow it down. I realize Petke doesn’t want to play a flat 4-4-2 but maybe a diamond would work best for NY. Dax the obvious choice to be the holding midfielder and Juninho would sit under the strikers Henry and Cahill. As for who patrols the flanks, most likely it will be Steele and Alexander who tuck in more then Joel Lindpere ever did.
The last worry for NY, and really the only worry as the offense will get goals, is the defense. Much has been the case over the last few seasons in NY and every season they go out and get a “big” defender that will cement their backline. Jamison Olave was that answer this year and so far he has been okay. Great on the offensive end with two goals but he has been turned inside out by the likes of Diego Valeri and Maicon Santos. Olave’s position in the backline is the only one truly set it seems. Barklage and Kimura have both been okay at right back but the battle between Holgersson, Pearce, and Miller for the other centerback and left back roles rages on. Against Chicago, Holgersson was labeled the villain on two of the goals and you have to wonder what his mentality is after the preseason and terrible start to this season. Whoever Petke decides to slot alongside Olave, they need to do one thing: stay with your man. While DC has an advantage with Hamid, NY seems to having more and more of a disadvantage with Luis Robles. Robles has faced the same number of shots Hamid has, in one fewer game for Hamid, and let in twice as many goals, 10 to Hamid’s five.
New York truly needs to escape the confines of RFK with points, especially against an eastern conference foe. They need to replicate the high pressure they can produce at Red Bull Arena t shut down the midfield passing lanes. Juninho needs to stay pushed up the pitch to try to stop counter attacks in DC’s defensive third, leaving the younger Dax McCarty to worry about the defensive portion of midfield and Thierry Henry needs to find his scoring boots. Seems like a simple enough plan for NY to capture maximum points from DC.
