New York Red Bulls Vs New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls face New England Revolution at Red Bull Arena in the final match of the regular MLS season before the playoffs begin.
A tie by the Columbus Crew allowed the Bulls to keep their 1 point lead on top of the Eastern Conference despite a dreadful loss to Philadelphia Union. A win against New England Revolution will ensure the team’s only 2nd Eastern Conference crown
in its history and a home-field advantage throughout the play-offs.
All easier said than done! Lately, Red Bulls have not been performing as well as they did at the start of the season. The absence of marquee signing, Thierry Henry, couldn’t make things better for the New York based team as it left ex-Aston Villa striker
Juan Pablo Angel with no support upfront.
Playing mid-fielder Mehdi Ballouchy as a withdrawn striker just behind Angel was never the wisest of decisions as it took the creativity of the New York midfield away. This was evident in the match that they lost to Philadelphia Union.
Though Salou Ibrahim’s introduction in the 2nd half didn’t help the team as Ballouchy went back to his original position and Angel got a partner upfront, coach Hans Backe can’t rely much on Salou Ibrahim as he hasn’t been consistent enough throughout
the season and it is clear that the burly striker would be traded when the season finishes.
Juan Pablo Angel has already confirmed reports that he won’t be playing for New York next season for sure but his performance and leadership in the 2nd half clearly showed that he has no plans to leave without any silverware, which is a good omen
for Backe.
New England on the other hand have a lot of positives to take out as their midfield anchor Sharlie Joseph seems to be having the time of his life. He has again showed why he’s an MLS all-time great with his contribution to the team. He bosses around the
midfield and has abundance of vision and a bit of great skill and a lot of experience to use players around him for his own advantage.
The Revs didn’t do much wrong in the game against Kansas City this past weekend but if something needs to be singled out, it would be probably be discipline and physical play. Rough tackles did cause some escalation at Houston with Geoff Cameron seeing a
red for a jaw jarring elbow on Pat Pheelan.
For Thursday night, Red Bulls would once again be without the services of Thierry Henry and Backe might once again be forced to deploy a 4-5-1 formation with Juan Pablo Angel playing as a lone striker. Backe would prefer not starting with Salou Ibrahim just
like he did against Philadelphia so it would all come down to the midfield ability and creativity of Mehdi Ballouchy. The Moroccan has been a revolution since his arrival and has given the midfield some much needed tenacity and creativity, something that the
team lacked last season.
The Red Bulls’ record against the New England Revolution has been awful to say the least having not beaten them in the last 16 meetings between the teams or since the team was named the New England Metrostars back in 2005.
New England has dominated New York throughout the MLS history. New England needs to channel this psychological advantage against Red Bulls if they want to end this season on a winning note.
Prediction
New York Red Bulls will struggle and stutter throughout the match but will eventually get a goal through Juan Pablo Angel.
New England Revolution have a strong enough squad to cause the Bulls a lot of problems but there isn’t much in it for the Revs apart from attaining their first three-win streak this season. It seems to be a very dangerous call but on the basis of their head
to head dominance, the Revs might just be able to salvage a 1-1 draw against the Bulls to fortify their poor away record this season.
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