New York Red bulls: A few hiccups
The New York Red bulls (NYRB) needed just one win against Philadelphia in order to clinch an MLS eastern conference title and a home-field advantage throughout the play-offs, but they almost blew it! The 2-1 loss is going to raise a lot of eyebrows as this
was a team that was marked for glory this season. Having a rooster full of internationally acclaimed superstars and so many would-be stars of the future, Red bulls choked where it mattered the most. On paper NYRB are the most talented and entertaining franchise
in the conference with marquee signings such as Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez.
Since the arrival of Mehdi Balouchy, Coach Hans Backe has been persistent in playing him as a withdrawn forward. Balouchy has been a revelation since his arrival with his great touches and a wonderful range of passes. But playing him as a withdrawn forward
limits his creativity and the midfield seems lost without his ability to hold the ball.
After a shaky start to the match, the Red bulls seemed more at ease and dynamic when they inserted forward Salou Ibrahim alongside Juan Pablo Angel, dropping Ballouchy back into the midfield where he belongs. Salou Ibrahim did come close to scoring a goal
but his overall performances throughout the season haven’t been that convincing so there’s a high possibility that he might be traded by the end of this season. However, he has proven himself as an MLS player so any team would be more than happy to have this
powerful striker on their roster.
Angel angle
Last week the ex-Aston Villa striker made clear his intention of leaving the Red Bulls and further added that he won’t be around in 2011 for sure.
But on Saturday, his actions spoke differently. With his team 2-0, he made a different
on-field statement. Gathering his team moments before the 2nd half whistle, he galvanized and rallied the troops to charge. Whatever his words were, they seemed to have an effect on the team as Red bulls pulled a goal back 10 minutes into
the 2nd half after a dull 1st half performance. Whether the Colombian stays or not is totally up to him but one thing’s for sure, if he leaves, he wants to leave as a winner.
Yet again, the bulls were without their marquee summer signing from Barcelona, Thierry Henry. He was out after picking up a knee injury during practice. Henry has already missed several games and has scored only 2 goals since his arrival. Backe and Henry
insist that the striker will improve next season after getting a full pre-season under his belt but was putting Henry straight into the starting lineup a wise decision given his injury record for the past two seasons?
There is still a lot of indecisiveness around the NYRB camp. The formation deployed against Philadelphia didn’t work for the team’s benefit. In the 1st half neither Angel nor Ballouchy could show their game as the formation was totally misplaced
with Ballouchy playing as a withdrawn striker. Change of formation during the 2nd half (4-4-2) seemed to work as Angel had a striker (Ibrahim) to work with and Ballouchy got the chance to show what he’s capable of in the midfield. His creativity
gave the bulls to play more direct football which resulted in their first real opportunity when Ibrahim came close to scoring and then a goal.
With this result (2-1 loss), the Red bulls now hold a very tenuous one point lead on first place in the conference in the battle for home-field advantage throughout the play-offs and have only one game left in their regular season on Thursday against New
England. If they win, they clinch the eastern conference title for the first time since 2000.
If Backe changes his strategy and gets his formation right this time, there’s a high probability that NYRB might get their wish (all home-field play-offs and the title) The question is not if but when, will he leave all indecisiveness behind and deploy the
strategy that paid off in the second half against Philiadelphia?
Tags: