CHESTER, Pa. ā For Bradley Wright Phillips, winning the MLS Golden Boot trophy was nice.
But the New York Red Bulls striker has a lot left on his to-do-list before 2016 comes to an end.
āLike I was telling the team before, it isnāt everything because Iāve won it before and the team didnāt win the MLS Cup ā and at the end of it all, all I had was the Golden Boot,ā Wright-Phillips said. āThe goals donāt mean anything unless you win the MLS Cup.ā
The Red Bulls will certainly enter the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs as a title contender, thanks in large part to Wright-Phillips, who scored his 24th goal of the season to edge New York City FC's David Villa for the Golden Boot crown and lift his team to a 2-0 Decision-Day triumph over the Philadelphia Union.
The result marked the Red Bullsā fourth straight win and 16th game without a loss ā a streak they believe will give them momentum heading into their playoff opener next Sunday in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
āThatās what we wanted and that was the plan,ā said Wright-Phillips, who also won the Golden Boot in 2014. āWe wanted to be a strong team and come into the playoffs strong. But more importantly, we wanted a clean sheet. I know there has been a lot of talk about how we give up goals this season but we wanted to correct those wrongs.ā
Although Wright-Phillips may have downplayed his own accomplishments, his teammates did not with Felipe calling him an āamazing playerā that āmore than deserves to win the Golden Boot.ā
Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch also expressed pride in the accomplishment, in part because of how much the star Englishman wanted to share it with his teammates.
āObviously we are really excited for Bradley,ā March said. āItās a huge individual accomplishment, no doubt. He was quick to thank the group in the locker room after because he knows it takes a group effort. Certainly Bradley has been huge for us this year and comes up with big goals at all moments.
āHe is in a really good way right now and I think our whole group is in a really good way right now.ā
Marsch hopes that will continue against whoever they play next ā which he knows can be a rematch against the rival Union if they upset Toronto FC in the Knockout Round (Wednesday, 7:30 pm ET, ESPN2, UniMĆ”s, TSN2).
āI think itās good for us to make a statement at the end of the year,ā the Red Bulls coach said. āBut if that is our matchup when itās all set and done, then we will be in for a tough game and series.ā