One of the most talked about topics in MLS all week has not been the tight playoff races. Playoff positioning for the different conference matchups’ where the difference between a win or a draw could see you above or below that red line. No, the topic most talked about this week has come from the clash of conference leaders in the New York Red Bulls (15-9-6) and Seattle Sounders (15-8-5). Most of the talk has not been about NY having its latest lead in the season for the Supporter’s Shield and possible first every trophy. Very little chatter has been discussed about how NY or Seattle could be the first team to clinch a playoff spot in the 2013 MLS Cup race depending on the other results. No the talk has focused solely on Mike Petke leaving Thierry Henry and Jamison Olave back in NY ahead of Sunday’s Matchup.
Everytime the Red Bulls play on the plastic pitch, the same question arises: Will Thierry play? We have seen Henry play before in Portland but not in New England, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, or on the turf at Century Link Field. Why? Monsieur Henry is in his mid 30’s with a chronic Achilles’ injury and team doctors advise him not to play on it is why. Jamison Olave is now 32 and after a couple of injury-plagued seasons after his 2009 Defender of the Year performance, has knee issues. Head Coach of New York, Mike Petke, has been told by team doctors not to play these two guys in Seattle in a regular season game where the result may or may not affect the Supporter Shield race. As someone who has bad knees and ankles and plays on great and poor turf on a weekly basis throughout the fields of NYC, I don’t blame either of them.
This issue has polarized the Red Bulls fan base so much so it is more difficult to tell if this is deeper of an issue or selling the team to an Energy Drink Company back in 06 was. Half the fan base believes the Supporter Shield is in the grasp of NY’s hand and is their’s for the taking but Seattle and Montreal both have games in hand over NY. NY could beat Seattle on Sunday night but the Sounders could win the remaining five games on their schedule and have more points than NY could gain because they have fewer games to play. Is Petke to risk his superstar forward and stalwart defender for the possibility of that or hold them out, win the conference and take a gamble with the crapshoot known as MLS Cup Playoffs? It’s Petke’s decision to make as head coach, rookie coaching season or not. In this instance, I agree with his decision not to play Henry and Olave against the Sounders. Besides the whole Seattle having two games in hand issue some NY suporters seem to be forgetting (and the simple math that goes along with it) there’s another simple reason I agree with Petke: Depth. MLS currently is about how deep your roster is and how you develop the talent that may not play every week. If missing just two players automatically means your team probably won’t win, no matter your tactics, then you are probably not in the playoff hunt. Yes, every team has a few key players that can change the landscape of a match just like that and few are as good as Henry and Olave in that regards. However, look to Saturday night’s results for RSL and DC United. Both teams play in the final of the US Open Cup on Tuesday night. RSL is fighting for Western Conference playoff positioning and DC United is playing for some form of pride (and possibly Ben Olsen’s job). Both coaches used a reserve side to give their best players a break as both teams were on the road. RSL beat a playoff contender in the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 while DC United lost to the second worst team in the league, Toronto FC 4-1. Petke was right when he basically said if two guys dictate the outcome of our game midweek, then they might as well not even get on the flight to Seattle.
New York can escape Seattle with the maximum of three points and stay atop the Shield race as well as clinch a spot in the 2013 MLs Cup Playoffs. Remember back to August 3rd when the Red Bulls were coming off that thrilling stoppage time winner against then league leading RSL 4-3 off a Dax stoppage time goal. NY had to go to KC where they rarely play well and SKC were the new league leaders. NY bunkered and countered SKC and then they smashed and grabbed three points behind goals from Steele, Espindola, and Sam. Tim Cahill was out for this match and Ibrahim Sekagaya made his MLS debut. Now fast-forward to the game in Seattle. Petke’s best option to bunker and counter is to play a 4-5-1 (4-2-3-1 really). Sekagaya replaces Olave on the backline making Holgersson the heart and leader of NY’s defensive unit. Dax and Alexander will play the holding role in the midfield with Steele and Sam on the flanks and Cahill right under Espindola. Barklage/Kimura could be used instead of Sam to start to play a little more defensively and fitness wise as Sam is just returning from an injury and he can provide speed off the bench in the second half if you weather the storm.
There are a few other tactical pieces of play Petke needs to be aware of. First and foremost is Seattle’s defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso. The Cuban is probably the best defensive midfielder in MLS and it will be Tim Cahill’s job to occupy him. The Red Bulls will not be able to run their offense through Cahill either way so it will be Cahill’s job to disrupt Alonso and just try to get o the end of loose balls and crosses into the box. Second, NY needs to avoid giving up set pieces. The Sounders are on of the more dominant teams in MLS when it comes to these and Eddie Johnson is killing both MLS and CONCACAF with his head. So much so, EJ ran the same pick Omar Gonzales used against Mexico on Omar against LA last weekend. That doesn’t only take guts but confidence and EJ with confidence is a dangerous thing.
Seattle will be missing Zach Scott on defense and Dempsey is not only doubtful to start but doubt to play at all against NY. If the Red Bulls hadn’t dropped five points in their first two games away to Portland and SJ, this conversation about Henry and Olave and is the Shield worth it would not be happening as it would most likely already belong the Red Bulls. Then again, most of the top teams this season in MLS have those “if only” moments and they cannot dwell on them for long. Come the end of that 90 minutes we can either see history being made for the Red Bulls or see a week long stream of tweets that end in “That’s so Metro”.
(image courtesy of newyorkredbulls.com)
