HANOVER, N.J. — Bradley Wright-Phillips is the fastest player to 100 goals in Major League Soccer history and the first to score 20 or more goals in three different seasons.
His job description for the New York Red Bulls is obvious, but that doesn’t mean it’s the soon-to-be 34-year-old’s burden to shoulder exclusively.
“Brad has been great for us over the years we're so lucky to have him, but we all have to take responsibility, especially in big moments in big competitions,” midfielder Sean Davis said. “That’s a team effort, it never falls on just one guy.”
Yet, it seems unless Wright-Phillips scores, the Red Bulls falter in a knockout competition. A year ago, he started the season on fire, scoring a brace in a historic win over Club Tijuana in the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals after also finding the back of the net in a Round of 16 victory over Olimpia.
But Matias Almeyda’s Guadalajara kept BWP, and the Red Bulls as a whole, off the scoresheet, and advanced to the final where they beat Toronto FC on penalty kicks to lift the trophy.
Wright-Phillips was held scoreless in the 2018 postseason as the Supporters’ Shield-winning Red Bulls fell short of the ultimate goal, losing to Atlanta United in the Eastern Conference Championship.
The two-time MLS Golden Boot winner had three glorious chances in the first leg of the CCL quarterfinals against Santos Laguna last week — two saved by Santos goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco and one headed wide.
“It's important that Brad can score and we rely on him,” Red Bulls coach Chris Armas said. “But he can also help us create from some of his movements and final passes and other guys being in and around the goal to take opportunities.”
Indeed, BWP wasn’t the only one to miss chances in the 2-0 CCL opening leg loss at Red Bull Arena.
There was a point-blank shot by Danny Royer and a Kaku attempt on frame in the first half, while Derrick Etienne and Connor Lade had Grade A opportunities later in the game.
“In three Champions League games we've had, I think it's 75 crosses. That’s a lot of crosses,” Armas said. “It takes us a long time to amass that many. This last game I think it was 23, so there's some big chances in there.
"There's details of timing, of quality of pass, the runs, running hard, running intelligently. That's one of the talking points on some of the channels we've created, but the good news is that we are creating chances.”
Knowing his team needs another multi-goal performance in Mexico for a chance to advance to the semifinals again, Armas isn’t ruling out lineup changes. Andreas Ivan scored in back-to-back games before last week's loss to Santos, a clinching win over Atletico Pantoja in the Round of 16 and in a 1-1 MLS Week 1 draw against Columbus Crew SC.
“We’ll consider Andi from the start because he's in good form, with a lot of confidence and even when he came in the other days, he’s one of the guys that can break down the opponent 1-v-1 and he likes to run,” Armas said. “He has a lot of confidence right now and it's always important so, depending on how we go at this game, yeah, we have to think hard about our attacking group and what gives us the best chance, but we like the way he's playing right now.”
And then there’s the case of Mathias Jorgensen, the 18-year-old Dane who arrived in a transfer from OB in Denmark. The young forward has his P-1 visa and has been training with the club. He’s impressed Armas in training enough to be part of the travel roster who made the trip on a charter flight to Torreon on Sunday and could be thrown right into the mix at Estadio Corona Tuesday night (9 pm ET | YahooSports.com, UDN).
“He’ll be considered for sure,” Armas said.
“He has an ability, he does bring something different in terms of another guy, close to Brad always up the field, always looking to get behind,” Armas said of Jorgensen. “He enjoys scoring and running and that's what we've seen. We’ve seen a player that plays free. He's 18 years old and he has a fearless nature. He fights and runs for the team, defends and understands how we play and just in general understands the game. He becomes an immediate option for us.”
