October 30th, 2014 (Harrison, NJ) – New York Red Bulls open their 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs against a familiar opponent. Just last Sunday, the Red Bulls closed their season playing Sporting Kansas City to a 2-0 win. Manager Mike Petke wasn’t resting on his laurels, “We can’t look at the last game’s result. We are not looking ahead. It’s irrelavent. Sporting Kansas City are champions for a reason.”
RBNY Need to Know: New York Red Bulls v Sporting Kansas City
The Red Bulls finished their regular season on a high note, and had one hiccup at home down the stretch, losing to the third seeded Columbus Crew. New York scratched and clawed back into the playoff race in the last two months of the season, after starting their schedule rather inconsistently. Since the beginning of September, the Red Bulls have been mostly indomitable at home, which what made Sunday’s result so important. Now, in front of their home fans, they can display just how laser focused they really are.
Through all the distractions and questions that have surrounded this club throughout 2014, no question mark remains bigger than the future of the legendary Thierry Henry. Henry sat out the last match of the season, not traveling to Kansas City, and receiving treatment for inflammation in both Achilles. Henry returned to training Tuesday and seemed comfortable enough to play. He, too, isn’t letting his guard down, even after Sunday’s result, “You can never underestimate a champion. For me, they are still the team to beat. I know they have had a little struggle recently, like we had, like every team had since the beginning of the season. Right now, they have done it here, since I’ve been here they’ve won here. We know what happened here against Columbus. Great result, don’t get me wrong, the other day, amazing result, you don’t go there and win like that often. But it’s another game tomorrow. As far as I’m concerned, they have more experience than us in these types of games.”
The Red Bulls have struggled in the playoffs, and have gone many years since earning a home playoff victory. It’s something that never has happened in Henry’s tenure with the club. But, to New York’s benefit, SKC’s struggles have been plentiful this season. Watching Matt Besler plod through Sunday’s match totally spent was about as painful a sight to see as anything. However, whether the Red Bulls can overcome the albatross of playoff irrelevance has yet to be seen. According to Petke, it all comes down to mentality and setting the tone early, in the end. Tim Cahill, who briefly produced some of that distraction prior to the last international break, echoed that sentiment, “The tone is set with us being here, straight away. The intent for us to go there and beat them the way we did… now we’re at home. Obviously it’s great to play in our stadium, but the same intensity has to be in this game, and obviously the intent to want to win. We want to win. There’s no shadow of a doubt in our minds, if we put 100% behind it, and let no complacency come in, then we’ll be pretty good tomorrow.”
Whereas the Red Bulls came out and stifled them with their sturdy play, they also were able to take advantage of a series of injuries and a pair of centerbacks in Besler and Aurelian Collin that are uncharacteristically out of form. Add to that the subtraction of Benny Feilhaber, who has been a stabilizer for manager Peter Vermes’ squad in the midfield, and you have a group of players that are weary and hurting. That said, no one in the Red Bulls camp is using that as an excuse to let their foot off the proverbial gas. Henry said it best, “When you play the amount of games that they played, you’re going to be tired along the way. But tomorrow is a playoff game. It’s do or die. I have a lot of respect for Kansas City as a team. They are a team that knows what it takes to win. They showed it last year. We haven’t done that yet, so you have to give them their respect, but know also that you can beat them.”
Tim Cahill echoed that respect, “Peter Vermes is a very technical manager, also very smart and someone that I respect a lot. He’s definitely going to come with a different game plan. At the same time, for us, we’ve got to be ready to adapt to what they throw at us. Overall, I feel that we’re well equipped, with the players we have and the squad that we have, and also it’s basically a one-off game. For me, you can’t really sit back and let the game come to you. You have to attack the game and go with the same intent that we were away from home.”
Now, the Red Bulls have no pressure. No one expects them to go very far in these playoffs. For now it all comes down to one do or die match, at home, on MLS’ biggest stage. Of course, even though the club had it’s struggles in the regular season, maybe New York can exceed expectations by peaking at the right time, rather than falling short again, and failing to win yet another home playoff match. Let the games begin.
Photo Credit: Rob Tringali/New York Red Bulls
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