The scrutiny, doubt, and negativity on the outside made for a more unified and determined group on the inside.

The New York Red Bulls crossed off winning the 2015 Supporters’ Shield from their to-do list on Sunday by defeating the Chicago Fire, 2-1. The victory not only put a bold exclamation point on what was an impressive regular season for New York, but also gave the club the satisfaction of having proven droves of critics and naysayers wrong.

Few believed the Red Bulls would be able to make the playoffs, much less compete for trophies when the year began. There was an abrupt and shocking coaching change with Jesse Marsch replacing the beloved Mike Petke, no real star power on the squad after the Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill exits, and some serious ill will from the fanbase, which expressed its hostility and frustration in a now-infamous town hall meeting back in January.

Starting the year with so much adversity may not have been an ideal way to start the season, but the club adopted and embraced the challenge of surpassing and smashing people’s low expectations of them. New York believed it was talented enough to really make a run and surprise people, and did so with each passing month en route to Sunday’s memorable moment.

“This team and the way things have gone in the last 12 months have been a unique story within our league, something that has been, I think, fun for people to talk about,” said Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch. “I haven’t referenced the story or the dialogue in the press, but I will say the more times that I see Mike Petke’s name in the press, the more that I see Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill, the more motivation it is for our team.

“Keep writing it, (media), because our team still has a chip on their shoulder and they want to continue to show that there’s been so much more here than people wanted to give credit to, that we felt really strong about our group and the way that things have come together from the start of preseason.”

That us-against-them mentality was something that Marsch thinks the Red Bulls players dictated throughout the year. They were not pleased with the lack of belief from supporters and in the media, and took that sign of disrespect and bottled it up into something to feed off of over the grueling MLS campaign.

Even after months passed, wins and points accumulated, and less and less detractors remained, the Red Bulls still felt there was plenty to show. That adopted chip on the shoulder drove them to continued success.

“In all ways once they realized that this was moving in the right direction, they felt they had a lot to prove,” said Marsch. “The more people used certain players and coaches and names as talking points, the more it motivated them.”

Success may breed positivity and individual attention, which is why Marsch is up for the MLS Coach of the Year award, but the Red Bulls do not plan on resting on their laurels. The main goal is to hoist the elusive MLS Cup on Dec. 6, but the club has to first navigate through the unpredictable and difficult road that is the playoffs.

The Red Bulls plan to do just that, and will continue to use that early-season criticism and skepticism as fuel for its fire.

“It’s helped us get to where we’re at,” said Marsch. “We’ve got to keep that mentality and keep pushing that way.”