Team Focus: Can New York Red Bulls Break their MLS Cup Duck?
It has been said that the New York Red Bulls are the Arsenal of Major League Soccer. However, it’s not because they have Thierry Henry as their number 14. It’s because for all the fluster and hype the Red Bulls remain an unsuccessful club, having failed to register a single MLS championship.
But is this the year the New York Red Bulls finally break their MLS Cup duck?
With two thirds of the regular season played the Harrison-based team are firmly in the race for the Supporters Shield and something feels different. Under coach Mike Petke and sporting director Andy Roxburgh the Red Bulls have changed.
Comeback wins against fancied teams like Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City have demonstrated the Red Bulls’ steel with Petke at the helm.
The 37-year-old coach has given his side a number of options in attack, no longer relying entirely on Henry to deliver the flair and goals up front. Of course Henry remains the Red Bulls’ most prolific player, scoring 7 times and laying on 5 assists in 19 starts this season. His shot per game average (3.1 per game) ranks among the highest in the league.
His all-round game is an accomplished one, making an average of 2 key passes per game while also completing 1.4 dribbles per appearance.
But by bringing in Fabian Espindola and Peguy Luyindula, Petke has spread the attacking burden across the frontline. The former has weighed in with seven goals this season, making him New York’s joint top scorer with Henry. The Argentine also ranks second in the Red Bulls’ key passes per game column and third, behind Henry and Cahill, in the shots per game register.
The Red Bulls still retain a reputation, along with the Los Angeles Galaxy, as the league’s most glamorous, and wasteful, franchise. By importing expensive foreign talent on the basis of former glories rather than their true value (for reference, see Rafael Marquez) New York had become MLS’ white elephant.
But now Petke, and to a certain extent Hans Backe before him, has established a young core of American talent at the club, with Conor Lade, Brandon Barklage, Dax McCarty and Eric Alexander all regular starters.
But perhaps the biggest surprise for the Red Bulls this season has been Jonny Steele. The Northern Ireland born midfielder has given Petke an extra dimension of creativity across the supporting midfield line, providing four assists (the team’s second highest tally) and scoring three goals himself, including a jinking, dribbled goal in the 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake.
In midfield Tim Cahill started sluggishly for his new team in the second half of last year but the Australian has become integral to the Red Bulls’ system. His position in the space between midfield and attack means Cahill’s average number of passes per game (46.4) is only bettered by midfield partner McCarty.
For an attacking midfielder Cahill’s pass success rate of 80.8% is impressive, considering his innately frantic style of play, taking risks in order to create opportunities.
McCarty provides the perfect foil for Cahill in the centre, offering an energetic, yet assertive presence alongside the Australian. The 26 year old makes an average of 2.5 tackles per game, putting him top of that column for the Red Bulls midfield. The same goes for interceptions per game, making an average of 1.7 per outing. If Cahill’s job is to use possession to create, McCarty’s job is to recycle the ball.
While at the back the acquisition of Jamison Olave from Real Salt Lake has erased painful memories of Marquez in the centre back position. His interception and tackle averages are among the Red Bulls’ best (4.5 and 1.7 per game respectively) with his Who Scored match rating ranking as the team’s third highest.
The Red Bulls’ status as New York franchise means they’re unlikely to shake their tag as one of the league’s glamorous, marquee teams but finally they appear to have embraced the premise of MLS. They’re reaping the rewards for that new approach and the reward could just be an MLS Cup.
