The New York Red Bulls have a lot of work to do. That much is clear.
The Red Bulls remained winless and dropped to 0-2-2 on Saturday afternoon after being on the wrong end of a 1-0 result against the undefeated Montreal Impact at Olympic Stadium.
The result in itself was a frustrating one for a New York team that was without Thierry Henry (injury) and Tim Cahill (international duty), but the performance also raised some concerns. New York lacked chemistry going forward and were devoid of any real ideas from the run of play – though debutant Peguy Luyindula missed on a couple of open looks – and defensively the club didn’t fare much better.
OPTA Chalkboard: Red Bulls keep the ball, but Impact make most of their chances
“We fell asleep a couple of times, and one of those times they made us pay,” head coach Mike Petke said after the game. “We had four in the back versus one and [Marco Di Vaio] gets through. To me, that’s something I have to go back and look at and figure out.”
Di Vaio’s first-half goal came as a result of a blunder from center back Markus Holgersson, but that play wasn’t the only instance of defensively frailty from the Red Bulls. Di Vaio constantly exploited the back four with diagonal runs, but the Italian forward was caught offside six times and failed to put his plethora of chances away, keeping New York within striking distance.
The Red Bulls, however, failed to muster up a response despite dominating possession for large stretches, giving them one of the worst starts to a season in franchise history.
Still, New York insisted after the match that it ‘s not yet time to hit the panic button.
“If this is any other league in the world, it’s maybe a little worrisome,” said Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty. “But for us, we just stay positive and try to stay sharp in training because these last two games haven’t been terrible performances, just been kind of lacking a little bit of continuity in the final third.
“[We’ve got to] just keep going. It’s a long season, try to make the playoffs, 30 more games to make it right.”
Franco Panizo covers the New York Red Bulls for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached by email at Franco8813@gmail.com.
