MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif -- How badly is Bradley Wright-Phillips going to miss former New York Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty? Bad enough that even Lionel Messi couldn't fill the void.
McCarty was involved in a blockbuster trade from the New York Red Bulls to the Chicago Fire earlier this week, and the move means Jesse Marsch's side will head into the 2017 season without one of its midfield stalwarts and captain. As far as Wright-Phillips is concerned, that is a huge loss.
āHeās one of those guys, I donāt care if you brought in Messi, you miss,ā said Wright-Phillips, āHeās a lot more than a good football player to our team. Thereās times in our season where itās hard, itās getting tough, and Dax gets us out of those situations.
āGreat player, great man. Heās a born captain. There arenāt many players that are supposed to be captains, but Dax is one of them. Heāll be hard to replace.ā
Everyone is still digesting this news, including McCarty, but preseason camp is around the corner and the Red Bulls will need to replace his presence both in the midfield and in the locker room. Wright-Phillips is pretty sure 23-year-old Homegrown Player Sean Davis can fill one if not both of those roles.
āSean Davis is one of the best youngsters Iāve been around,ā said Wright-Phillips. āHeās got an old head on his shoulders, and heās a very good player at that. Itās obviously going to take him a while to reach those heights, but I do think he has the mentality and the ability.
āHe canāt do what Dax has done, theyāre different people, but he definitely has the mentality and the ability to be a Red Bulls captain. I said this last season, that heās captain material.ā
Thereās another Homegrown midfielder that Wright-Phillips thinks is ready to make a contribution down the line, and that is 17-year-old Tyler Adams. Although Adams might be further off than Davis from being able to contribute every week, Wright-Phillips is convinced that the teenager can help fill the McCarty's void in the short and long term.
āTyler, heās a beast,ā said Wright-Phillips. āYou wouldnāt believe his age when you see him walking around the training ground. Heās in the zone, heās not phased by anything.
āHe gets the job done. If Red Bull can keep Sean Davis and Tyler, theyāve got a bright future ahead of them. Those two in the midfield can be very good.ā
Replacing McCartyās presence on the field is going to be crucial this year for the Red Bulls, especially if they want to finally get over the hump and reach MLS Cup. The Red Bulls have come close to reaching the championship game in recent years, but have fallen short every time.
āWe need to be a bit more mature,ā said Wright-Phillips. āWhen weāre playing in a playoff [series], this is two games, we can relax a bit. I think we just go all guns blazing and it costs us, with the away goals, sometimes conceding a goal when we donāt have to.
āLast season in the playoffs we were not clinical in front of goal, me and a few other players, we could have done a lot more attacking. But we need to find a way not to concede goals. Weāve got to know how important it is just to stay in the game. Once we get over that, I think we can win MLS Cup.ā