HARRISON, N.J. – While the New York Red Bulls demonstrated from kickoff on Saturday the type of energy and commitment that has been missing in many games this season, one question popped into the mind of several observers.
Where has this intensity been for much of the season?
In their 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City, New York were not the same team that seemed to have sleepwalked through the start of games in an up-and-down season, nor did they seem to lack motivation or heart.
This New York squad scratched, clawed and fought hard from the opening whistle. They defended with discipline and a renewed sense of purpose, appeared energetic on both sides of the ball, and looked like a club determined to come out with three points.
The contrast was stark but refreshing.
“Now it’s just a little bit more real when you start seeing how the table is and you start seeing how inconsistent we’ve been as a team,” said midfielder Dax McCarty after the win. “The urgency really starts to tell you, ‘Look it’s now or never.’ You can’t start saying, ‘Oh, well we have 15 games left. We have 20 games left.’ That’s not the case. We’re down to single digits in games and every game is huge and the urgency has to be higher.
“We just can’t be accepting of mediocre performances and there have just been way too many mediocre performances this year based on the number of draws we have. It’s been a frustrating season, but we have it in our hands and in our control to control our own destiny.”
A number of factors played into the improved performance and mentality from Mike Petke’s side. For starters, the club held several internal talks throughout the week of training to discuss how to fix the inconsistent ways that had them at a subpar 7-8-10 record going into Saturday’s showdown at Red Bull Arena.
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Then, there was a tactical adjustment that paid dividends.
With starters Tim Cahill and Ambroise Oyongo out on international duty, Petke deployed a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation. The shape changed depending on if the Red Bulls had the ball or not, but it mostly saw captain Thierry Henry stationed out on the left side of midfield, Peguy Luyindula in Henry’s customary advanced role and McCarty and Eric Alexander as defensive midfielders.
“Early in the week, the staff sat down and said who are our four best attacking players,” said Petke. “We pinpointed [Henry, Luyindula, forward Bradley Wright-Phillips and right midfielder Lloyd Sam] and we put them in positions we thought that they could hurt.
“That’s why Dax and Eric’s whole role tonight was to sit home and be the link offensively from one side to the other and defensively clog it up and do the dirty work. You add an overlapping fullback, and you have five guys going forward that are dangerous.”
Petke’s strategy paid off, as the Red Bulls jumped to a 2-0 lead and defended well before allowing Dom Dwyer to make things interesting. They held on for a 2-1 win, but the performance was as much of a confidence boost as three points gained.
Avoiding complacency is now the name of the game for the Red Bulls with East leading and archrival D.C. United coming to town Wednesday (8 pm ET, ESPN2).
“We have to be better at stepping on team’s throats,” said McCarty. “We have to be better at managing the game, and tonight we managed the game well. … The game against D.C., that’s a statement game because they’ve beaten us twice this year.”
Franco Panizo covers the New York Red Bulls for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached by email at Franco8813@gmail.com.
