Breakdown: Red Bulls embrace their roots to cope with the challenges ahead
The soccer club based in Harrison naturally grapples with some complications about identity with a corporate logo splashed across its chest and crest. The line between brand and ethos for the New York Red Bulls blurs beyond recognition.
It is not a problem easily reconciled or solved. The priorities of Red Bulls brass in Austria diverge at times with the figures on the ground in Harrison. Their efforts on the field -- from the dogged play through the red-and-black armband adorning Thierry Henry -- continue to shift away from the glitz and the glamor often associated with Red Bull when the energy drink company first arrived to take over the old Metrostars back in 2006.
The strides made over the past year or so reflect the desire to bring more organic ties to the surface. The choice of Mike Petke as coach, the reliance on workmanlike players to stitch everything together and the success garnered by allying skill with substance all fit more neatly within how these Metrostars emerged and how this Red Bulls team plans to function after misfiring in the past.
Saturday offered a chance to celebrate the revival before, during and after the game. The outcome and the performance in the 4-1 victory over Seattle deserves praise given the stakes at hand (and the restored balance in central midfield), but the focus on cultivating and embracing those bonds matters more in the long run. There is a battle looming to make the postseason yet again, but the tussle for New York remains important, too.
A handful of New York City F.C. fixtures watched as the Red Bulls unveiled their advantage in the fight. Instead of turning away from their past, they finally embraced it and fused it with their presence. They are Red Bulls now, but they were and are still Metros. The reflection of those beliefs -- embodied by the South Ward in every match and manifested on this particular night by banners and tifos to join the two concepts -- makes the club whole and provides a frame of reference and a history NYCFC cannot match.
There is a core here for Petke to build upon over the next few weeks and the next few years even with changeon the horizon. Henry must sort out his future with retirement looming sooner or later. Other players will inevitably come and go as the roster churn – slowed this offseason, but rendered inevitable with expansion ahead – inevitably takes its toll. There are questions ahead about how the Red Bulls will cope with the threat posed by NYCFC and whether the club will rein in its spending after declining to invest in a USL PRO side for next season.
The underlying ethos and fabric will carry the Red Bulls through the complex challenges ahead even if the long-awaited MLS Cup does not arrive this year. The evidence at hand justifies the belief that this rejuvenated club is strong enough now to see the Red Bulls through as the tribulations continue.
Bradley Wright-Phillips opted to place the focus on his teammates after his hat trick on Saturday night, but his pursuit of the MLS single-season scoring record continues.
Five Points – Week 29
1. Bradley Wright-Phillips continues his chase for history: The former Charlton Athletic and Plymouth striker now sits on 24 goals after his third hat trick of the season fired the Red Bulls to a deserved victory over Sounders FC. He needs to score three more times to equal the single-season record established by Roy Lassiter in 1996 and tied by Chris Wondolowski in 2012. Wright-Phillips isn’t the most clinical of finishers, but the Red Bulls will create enough chances to provide him with a genuine opportunity to etch his name into the record books with
2. Portland relies on its midfield trio to vault Vancouver: Diego Chara and Will Johnson have failed to meet the lofty standards set last year for much of this season, but their performance against the Whitecaps exploited the fissures created by Gershon Koffie’s continued absence and provided a platform for the Timbers. Diego Valeri -- scorer of yet another excellent goal to open the scoring -- did the rest to propel Portland into the playoff places with a 3-0 victory at Providence Park.
3. Chicago and Houston start to see the red line creep into the distance: Both teams simply haven’t done enough over the course this year to merit a place in the postseason. The latest setbacks -- Chicago’s 3-3 draw with D.C. United on the cow pasture in Bridgeview and Houston’s failure to register a shot on goal in the 0-0 draw at Philadelphia -- left the two sides stranded on the periphery of the postseason picture as the battle rages above them.
4. FC Dallas shows why a place in the postseason beckons despite defeat: FCD coach Oscar Pareja stitched together a starting XI featuring a blend of starters and reserves and a central defensive partnership comprised by Zach Loyd and Je-Vaughn Watson. The group managed to give the Galaxy all it could handle before succumbing to a 2-1 defeat in Carson. That sort of gumption and selflessness – plus the always imposing presence of Blas Perez up front – highlights why FCD will return to the postseason in Pareja’s first season in charge.
5. Spare a thought for Chivas USA: Toronto FC claimed a 3-0 victory at BMO Field on Sunday to send the Red-and-White spiraling toward a sixth defeat in a row and a tenth loss in 11 matches. It is a humbling streak largely down to causes outside of their control. This group isn’t the root of the uncertainty swirling around the club right now and it isn’t responsible for the crippling loss of defensive linchpin Carlos Bocanegra (concussion). It is simply left to pick up the pieces and try to make the best of an awful situation before others decide what to do in the weeks ahead.
