HANOVER, N.J. – For the New York Red Bulls, Sunday’s match at Atlanta United (7 pm ET | FS1, TSN2 - Full TV and streaming info) is another big match in a season already filled with major moments and tests.
After several strong performances in February and March en route to the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions League, as well as this month’s 4-0 NY Derby win over rivals New York City FC, the Red Bulls are a tested team. Now, with a visit to league-leading Atlanta, they might just face their biggest challenge to date.
ATLUTD’s attacking trio of Miguel Almiron, Ezequiel Barco and Josef Martinez have started to click in recent weeks. It poses quite the task for a Red Bulls backline that has itself been coming into form over the past few games but hasn’t faced an attack quite like this.
“I think they’ve established themselves as the top team in the league this year. We watched a bunch of their games. There are a lot of things that they do well that we’ll have to account for,” Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch told MLSsoccer.com after training on Wednesday.
“A lot of it is individual matchups. Almiron is clearly the key to the team and then how that fits with his movement and ideas of combining with Barco and Martinez. And how they get their wingbacks to join in makes them dangerous. We’ve already developed a little bit of a game plan. I’ve watched them enough to have an idea of what that game will look like. Certainly on the day, we’ll have to have a very good performance.”
Marsch anticipates a fast game, noting that both teams like to play with tempo and energy. Tweaks to the Red Bulls’ usual approach might be afoot, but not a drastic overhaul. The issue will be how they counter the home side’s ability on the ball, as Atlanta is arguably as gifted as any team in the history of MLS when it comes to their movement and passing.
Given that their calling card is the high press, the Red Bulls have been susceptible in the past to teams that can pass quickly and into space. Once the ball is worked quickly over or through the first two lines of their press, the RBNY backline could potentially come under enormous pressure.
This traditionally manifests itself in the defense getting stretched and space being exposed between and behind the center backs. Given that Atlanta’s attacking pieces can play one-touch and that they have the likes of Darlington Nagbe to drop deep and carry the ball forward, it makes for a matchup nightmare for Marsch.
If the Red Bulls press too high, they leave their backline exposed to some of the league’s most exciting and daring attacking pieces. Marsch is aware of the dangers posed by the Five Stripes, but he isn’t going to rewrite the plan for what makes his team successful.
“Listen, I think that we will go there and have a game plan that puts it on our terms, still. We’re going to go after them, we’re not going to be passive,” Marsch said. “How high we go, when we go, what our pressing schemes are … that will I think be important on the day and our ability to execute the game plan will be important. We’re going there to be aggressive, that’s for sure.”
