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Red Bulls entering final two months of season thinking of making serious run

Felipe New York Red Bulls 74

photo by Danny Wild/USA Today Sports

By FRANCO PANIZO

The New York Red Bulls might not want to talk much publicly about the Supporters’ Shield or MLS Cup, but make no mistake they know they are in prime position to make a run this year.

There are two months left in the MLS regular season, and the Red Bulls are already among the clubs in the conversation to finish with the best record and capture the Supporters’ Shield. New York currently sits at 12-7-6, which is worth 42 points and currently good enough for second place in the Eastern Conference.

Only two points separate the club from conference leader D.C. United, but a much wider six-point gap stands between the Red Bulls and current league leaders the Vancouver Whitecaps. Still, New York has three games in hand, and knows that making the most of them can put it in the driver’s seat for the league’s regular season crown and provide plenty of momentum going into the playoffs.

“Now’s the time to keep the foot on the gas and to go after it,” Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve worked hard to put ourselves in a situation where we have a chance. We have a chance to make a run, and so we want to honor that.

“One of the first days we met this week, we said, ‘Wherever this fits in your life – I’m not saying that for each guy it’s the No. 1 thing in their lives because everybody has a lot going on with family and everything else – it’s got to be cranked up right now.’ It’s got to go up a notch and we all owe it to ourselves to give ourselves the best chance to really go after it.”

Marsch and his players have been pretty reluctant to this point in the year to talk about what lies ahead. The focus has always been on the task at hand, with the club taking things on a game-by-game basis.

With the season winding down, however, things are coming into focus. A second Supporters’ Shield trophy and high playoff seed are now realistically within reach, but the Red Bulls know they have to keep playing at a high level to remain in a good spot.

That starts with Friday night’s home game against the lowly Chicago Fire, who handed the Red Bulls a bitter 3-2 road defeat on Aug. 26.

“They have guys that make 1-on-1 plays and are every individualistic who like to take guys 1-on-1,” said midfielder Sacha Kljestan. “We have this thing we call ‘Rest Defense’ that when we’re attacking that we also know where their attacking players are and we are ready for any ball that turns over.

“Rest defense has to be very good and I think we’ll take care of business.”

The Red Bulls are coming off a bye while Chicago suffered a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Impact over the weekend before traveling to the New York area. Marsch’s side might be better-rested, but knows from experience that it cannot rest easy against the Fire.

Not if New York wants to come out on top on Friday and continue to make a run towards something special.

“I think it’s important that we play better against them than we did last time we played against them. It was a really frustrating performance” said Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty. “I thought we recovered well and put in a really good performance (in the ensuing 3-0 win vs. D.C. United), and we need to take that momentum into the Chicago game.”

Comments

  1. Any comments on how mls is about to get hammered with ncaa football,NFL sunday and mlb playoffs.
    I think its really bad for mls and us the fans.
    Something has to be done.
    If mls cup would be held in may, it would be perfect.
    No ncaaa,no nfl, just boring mlb and pointless NBA games and nba.

    Reply
    • Under your plan, MLS would conflict MORE with NCAA football and the NFL than it does not, now less. The seasons would overlap completely.

      Reply
  2. Mr slow I love the way you get bud hurt when they say something negative about red bull soda.
    You hate nyc, cosmos and I guess your childhood.
    So who is your nasl team, NFL team,NBA team,mlb team and nhl.
    Do you follow other soccer leagues?
    Did you even play soccer in high school and college?
    Are you married? Engage? In love? Virgin? Gay?
    I know you have said, you have traveled all over the world, did you at least bang some ladies and drink manly beer.
    By the way I’m a cosmos fan and in my region where I live they are still not forgotten. If I wear a cosmos jersey, everybody wants it and knows who they are. It’s like wearing a jersey of some european team.

    Reply
  3. Yes,if they’re talking about east conference yes, but not MLS cup.
    The west is a massacre and galaxy look too good, whitecaps look hot, fc Dallas looks dangerous and Seattle will put everything on the table, and don’t forget about skc.
    The east, is weak and crew look dangerous. Toronto will try to win for their fans and revolution know what to do.
    What helps red bull, is that their players are standing up for the company and want to represent red bull soda and be better than NYC.
    Red bull looks similar to last season.
    MLS cup will be galaxy vs red bull or galaxy vs crew.

    Reply
    • If a team gets to the Final, that same team can win it. If the Red Bulls play the Galaxy & Robbie Keane has hellacious diaherrea that day & Gerrard plays poorly, The Red Bulls win. Any team can beat any other team on a given day except Philly & NYCFC. They are just terrible on every level.

      Reply
    • Against the Western Conference teams currently above the red line, RBNY have three draws (SKC, LA, Dallas) and two losses (Seattle, Vancouver), with one game still to play (Portland). A win in the MLS Cup is not out of the question, especially since they only have to beat one of those Western teams, and there’s still a chance that it could be a home game for them.

      Reply
    • Even being a Galaxy fan, I don’t see them as being a lock at all for the championship. They’ve put together a very talented, deep, well balanced team for sure but….

      That awesome full roster has very few games together. Although they’ve had some nice play, we still haven’t seen them totally in synch. with each other/firing on all cylinders, a complete game. I’d guess that should happen before playoffs but who knows?

      Losing Penedo was a big hit. Rickets can be shaky. Poor goalkeeping can turn a game- sour an otherwise great one quickly.

      They are a much tougher team at home than they are away and…. due to another slow start, if they make it that far- they very well may well have to win on the road.

      There’s a brief window of opportunity for a few teams before this bus gets going where Galaxy is not invisible by any means. But… iIf they can keep all these pieces healthy together, tinker with/fix a few areas, get everyone on the same page- could be a juggernaut next year.

      Reply

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