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SBI MLS Team of the Week: New York Red Bulls

Jamison Olave

 

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

In need of a vital win against a bitter rival, the New York Red Bulls put Thierry Henry back into the starting lineup for the first time since their last matchup with D.C. United, and it paid dividends.

Henry scored the game-winning goal in the 29th minute and was part of the buildup in the second goal scored, as the Red Bulls left RFK Stadium on Saturday with a 2-0 win over D.C. United, earning them this week’s honor of SBI MLS Team of the Week.

Roy Miller also returned to the starting lineup at left back for the Red Bulls, as the defensive unit that was torn apart in Chicago stayed strong all afternoon, frustrating the D.C. United attackers. Jamison Olave and Markus Holgersson played perhaps their best 90 minutes alongside one another this season, recording a clean sheet for only the second time, the first coming in a 0-0 draw with D.C. United in week three.

The win was the Red Bulls first road win of the season, and couldn’t have come at a better time for first-year manager Mike Petke.

The Red Bulls beat out the Houston Dynamo and Portland Timbers for this week’s Team of the Week honors.

What did you think of New York’s performance against D.C. United? Which MLS team impressed you the most in MLS Week Seven?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Any team that plays a dire DC United team will be the Team of the Week. DC’s attack is so terrible. Probably one of the worst in a long time. A good college squad could shut them out.

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  2. I like the look of the team but you can’t really judge the worth of a team when it’s contrasted against something so laughable.

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  3. @Matt DCU: Thanks for posting, you cheered me up. I don’t think NYRB or DCU are getting any silverware this season, but you reminded me that there are worse things than being middle-of-the-pack.

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  4. They still need width, speed and youth, not necessarily in that order. They also need Cahill to play like something remotely resembling the actual Tim Cahill, not the undersized Aussie that can’t head the ball properly or accurately. Other than that, they’re great!

    Seriously, though, they’re controlling the ball pretty well and getting their fair share of scoring chances. Dax is great, Henry is the best player in the league, period. There’s no one else in MLS who can come close to his skill level. Their back 5 has a chance to be pretty darn good. Not sure if I trust Robles in a big spot, and I’d love to be able to limit the minutes of Juninho and Henry a bit more to keep them fresh.

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  5. New York won, yes. I was not impressed by their game though. You could make the argument that they deserved to win against DC, but I wouldn’t. Our offense is absolutely awful and there is no cohesion or creativity in the final third. Heck, McDonald was more dangerous going forward than Pajoy, Kitchen dribbled far from his spot, much better than half the team and almost created a chance for us, and Daniel Woolard had more crosses that found the general area of the goalmouth than CP13 or Sanchez. With such a toothless team, of course New York won. It was a matter of “If we don’t concede…” rather than a “We will score X goals and …”. None of the goals were skill: the first was a mistake in Korb and Hamid’s decisions, and the second was a case of being in the right place at the right time.

    De Rosario is no longer the X factor. Pontius can’t find any rhythm or form whatsoever, Sanchex and Porter don’t do much, Nick (who didn’t do much either) is injured, Pajoy is f#*&ing terrible at every aspect of everything, Rafael is inconsistent, Ruiz is unproven and doesn’t get a look…all of this proves it. We have a horrible front office and a still rather inexperienced coach. We go out and sign the Sanchezes, Porters, Pajoys of the world and New York gets Henry, Cahill, Juninho. We get the Castillos, the Gallardos, the Gomez 2.0s and Houston gets Garcia and LA gets Robbie Keane. Heck, we signed Salihi, a poacher, a striker, and he didn’t play because he couldn’t defend as well as Pajoy, but scored 6 goals to Pajoy’s 3. For a team that can’t score, it would be real nice to have a striker that we don’t pay to leave us. I’m not pretending that our defense is perfect either, I’m just choosing to focus on the surging gusher than a smaller leak.

    In short: we need people who give a crap to run DC United. This shouldn’t be just a paycheck. We need owners who focus on us, not on their NBA teams they own or what they do at their homes in SanFran or Indonesia. We need a lot of things: we need a stadium, we need consistency, we need new blood, we need to regain the pride that wearing the Black and Red gives you. Who know if we’ll address the questions I posed, but we need to find some answers. I have been and will always be a DC United fan who doesn’t throw bottles at my players because we have plastic cups, but still, I will love my team no matter what kind of trainwreck we look like right now. They can’t hold us back, we are United.

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    • You just said NYRB didn’t deserve to win then proceeded to say how dreadful DC was. That doesn’t make any sense. NYRB clearly deserved to win. YOu’re right, DC was awful… as usual. Olsen seems to have lost his team. They show no spark or any sign of life.

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      • Well, what is “deserved”? What is this concept? Can you define it? If I’m using what I think is the definition of “deserved”, I don’t think New York “deserved” to win and I don’t think DC United “deserved” to lose. The reality is that New York won and DC lost. According to MLS’s website, DC United had the same amount of shots and shots on goal. DC United had 31 crosses to NYRB’s 10. DC United won 51% of the duels (whatever that means) and completed 80% of 526 passes compared to 71% of 383 for New York. DC United also had 58.2% percent compared to New York’s 41.8%. Yes, New York scored two goals, but we all know that Barcelona (and I am not comparing DC to FCB, just using an example) can lose 1-0 but “deserve: to win. Does that mean that New York deserved to win more than DC United?

        If I can clarify any more, let me know.

      • Possession stat is interesting, thanks for the info. I didn’t think it was that stark. In watching the game, I would have given a slight edge to NYRB. That being said, though, you have to throw stats out the window once a team gets an early two goal lead. Much of that game, NYRB was laying back and protecting their margin. If I’m really trying to accurately judge a game, I’m looking for good scoring chances. I did not count the scoring chances on each side, but I’d have to give a clear edge to NYRB based on my memory. They should have had 3 goals but Cahill inexplicably headed a wide open, point blank chance right into Hamid’s chest. I really don’t remember a single really good scoring chance for DC, but definitely correct me if I’m misremembering.

      • You’re right. We had no offense, and I can’t remember anything that was almost a goal for us either. And the purpose of my stats were to prove the point: stats don’t really mean anything. Your shots or chances are a good determiner, but like I said, “deserved to win” is something I don’t like and I try to avoid talking like that. No disrespect to you or your opinion. But yes, New York had a better game by your standards.

        slowleftarm, we were having an intelligent conversation and you come in and base the whole of DC fans off of me. I was speaking for myself, and I would greatly appreciate it if you don’t assume things about other DC fans because I said something. We won’t talk about the first leg of the playoffs because that’s irrelevant.

      • Yeah, I would just say the better team deserved to win. For me, it comes across a bit like sour grapes if you say the opposing side doesn’t deserve to win unless your side completely dominates and just has a ton of bad luck. Hey, we we don’t beat DC that often. Give us our props when we do. Good debate though.

      • DC’s game plan was terrible. They played right to RBNY’s strengths by launching crosses into the box that were easily cleared by lurch and debo. Smart runs through the middle have undone the rbny CBs in previous games but I saw no good runs. Maybe as described above it has to do with DCs players. NY was the more dangerous team and deserved the W in my opinion, but making them TOTW is a joke. Like naming Everton TOTW for beating QPR.

      • Typical of the infantile pettiness that seems to mark DC supporters. Just like when they cried like babies about losing the “advantage” of playing the second leg at home last year as virtually no one in the NY/NJ had power, thousands had lost their homes, and there were blocks long gas lines here. RFK and that fanbase deserve each other.

      • Let’s not make generalizations about DC supporters. Not all of them (I would argue none) have disrespect for the Sandy tragedy that hit the New York & New Jersey area last year. I’m surprised your comment has not been removed.

  6. Same old. Like all RB teams, they will struggle to gel in the beginning of the season, have a summer swoon, struggle to make the playoffs and then an early exit.

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  7. I have a good feeling about this Red Bull team. They started the season with a lop-sided amount of away games and they’ve had injuries particularly to Henry. They have a few home games coming up so things are looking good.

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  8. Anything that prolongs the memory of losing 0-2 at home to the former Metrostars is a good post in my humble opinion.

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