HARRISON, N.J. – Replacing Bradley Wright-Phillips and his goal-scoring prowess will not be easy, but the New York Red Bulls have a very capable weapon on the bench who could help fill the void.
Tim Cahill has been left out of the lineup during much of the Red Bulls’ postseason run but could earn his first start since Oct. 30 on Saturday given that Wright-Phillips is out due to yellow-card accumulation. New York are staring in the face of elimination after suffering a 2-1 home loss to the New England Revolution in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship of the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T, and will need someone to help pick up the slack left behind by their suspended leading scorer if they wish to overturn the deficit in the second leg Saturday at Gillette Stadium (3 pm ET; NBCSN, get tickets here) and advance to the championship game.
Cahill might not be a natural replacement for the speedy and clinical Wright-Phillips, but inserting the Designated Player seems like the most logical choice for head coach Mike Petke. The Australian has enjoyed a banner year on the international stage playing in a more advanced position up the field, and he showed he was capable of fitting there in 2013 when he helped New York claim the Supporters’ Shield.
“He’s a committed player. He will put his head where I won’t even put my foot in,” said Red Bulls captain Thierry Henry following their Friday practice. “Hopefully he’s going to do that tomorrow. His presence in and around the box can make anyone scared in any league in the world, so hopefully we can play well tomorrow. Not only him but us as a unit.
“If he can be the hero tomorrow, so be it.”
Petke – who is almost always tightlipped about lineup selections regardless of how obvious they may be – would not indicate Friday if it was Cahill who would take Wright-Phillips’ spot. If it is Cahill, however, Petke could look at his side’s playoff series from a year ago as a reason to be optimistic.
Though playing in a different formation from the one that is currently being used by the Red Bulls, Cahill was paired with Henry up top in the first leg of a conference semifinals series away to the Houston Dynamo. Cahill scored a goal off a Henry cross in that match, set up another tally, and put in an industrious 90 minutes on both sides of the ball.
“People know what they’re going to get from me,” said Cahill. “If I don’t score, someone around me will because I’m going to try and create as much havoc as possible. More importantly, we know the game plan. We’ve got to win by two goals, and that’s it. In a weird way, it suits us because we’re going away with nothing to lose with a very attacking team.”
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Making it even more likely that the 34-year-old Cahill starts is his abundance of big-game experience. Cahill has played in multiple World Cups, various types of qualifiers, and been involved in cup games at the club level.
How New York would adjust their successful 4-2-3-1 formation to better utilize his distinct skill set, if at all, is unknown. But regardless, it appears that Cahill will be counted on to help produce and attempt to turn the series around.
“With the way the team’s going to be set up, they’re going to have to worry about three or four players,” said Cahill, “not just two.”
