By MATT STYPULKOSKI
For the third time in the first seven weeks of this season, the New York Red Bulls have been named the SBI MLS Team of the Week.
The Red Bulls earned the honor with a 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday night. The result kept the Red Bulls unbeaten and in a three-way tie atop the Eastern Conference standings, despite having played just five matches to D.C. United’s six and the New England Revolution’s seven.
So far this season, the Red Bulls have displayed an aptitude for scoring depth. The club has produced nine goals this season, but five different players have found the back of the net and Bradley Wright-Phillips tops the list with just three goals.
Friday night’s victory was another display of that multi-faceted attack, as Sacha Kljestan opened his account in the 29th minute and Mike Grella notched his second goal of the season just six minutes later.
The Red Bulls beat out the the Columbus Crew, Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders for this week’s award.
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What did you think of the Red Bulls’ performance? Which team stood out to you in MLS Week 3?
Share your thoughts below.
Petke who?
As stated above, their pressing is quite impressive. Their midfield has Sacha Kljestan and Dad McCarty in it, and even if those two aren’t good enough for Juergen Klinsmann, they’re a pair of some of the fittest, hardest working midfielders in the pool. The style suits them and I’m glad to see them playing so well. Maybe they’ll get a call one of these days.
Marsch wants the Bulls to empty the tank each game… That is the way it should be and all this business of it taking a toll may be correct but I haven’t seen it yet. A good indication will be the next few games where they will play 3 games in a week. Any word on Lloyd Sam’s hammy?
I never imagined teams would have this much difficulty with this PRESS PRESS PRESS thing they’re doing.
Somebody has to knock in some smart counterattacks on these guys, right?
Or is there a side that’s really clean on the ball who can pass and keep possession against a 10 man press?
Dunno
That’s the thing, so few teams in MLS are equipped to combat this press. It’s not hard to figure out how to beat it, and the best teams may be able to do it, but against the vast majority of the league, this approach is made for racking up easy points. San Jose knew what was coming and looked totally lost.
East coast bias haha
I am surprised at the results, so far I am impressed with March- ,who would have expected the
contributions he getting from Grella, Miaza, Lawrence, Richards, Wallace .Plus he has some good looking rookies in Davis, Abang Stolz
I have to wonder how his all out attacking approach will hold up throughout the long season . They expend a lot takes a lot of energy each game, “time will tell.”
+1. When all are healthy, they arguably have the best midfield in the league. But all that running takes a toll.
I am not going to lie. I thought the Red Bulls prospects after Petke got whacked were going to be slim-to-none for 2015. Huge surprise. They are getting great results, while having a flow and swagger to their play. Shocking and enjoyable to watch.