Harrison, NJ (March 22, 2015) – The New York Red Bulls opened up their home account this season with a 2-nil victory over D.C. United. Bradley Wright-Phillips earned a goal and assist in the victory, and Lloyd Sam scored his second of the season to insure the three points. RBNY earned their first victory and now have a record of 1-0-1 after week three.
New York Red Bulls Blank Rivals D.C. United in Home Opener
“It was a good performance. It’s great to get our first win at home here. One of our goals is to be very strong at home, and I thought that most of the game was dictated by our guys and at our tempo,” Marsch said after the match.
Ben Olsen, amidst some post victory profanity, didn’t disagree, “I give them a lot of credit, they’re a good team and the way they press I thought was very good and we had trouble dealing with them and with our hold up play and once we did clear pressure we had trouble getting a hold of the game. That what good teams that pressure you in the right way can do.”
At the end of the day, it was Bradley Wright-Phillips who made his presence known on the field. After being held without a single shot versus Sporting Kansas City, the 2014 Golden Boot winner opened the scoring in the 25′, when he brought down a beautiful high forward pass from captain Dax McCarty, turned, split the D.C. centerbacks, isolating Bobby Boswell and rocketing a volley past Boswell and Bill Hamid. With talk about Wright-Phillips scoring without Thierry Henry to pull defenders away, Bradley found pockets of space and was able to display his ability to get a pass in stride and embarrass opposition defenses, as well as his hold-up play, which even Henry himself mentioned last season.
When asked about the goal, McCarty quipped, “I wouldn’t give him that much room. He’s a deadly finisher, he’s going to get chances. Bradley didn’t get many opportunities against Kansas City, we didn’t find him enough, and he didn’t complain. He tried to work with some guys, we have some new players here who are good players in their own right. He lost some pretty good service last year so we have to find ways to get him the ball in the box, and if you give him a sniff, he’s going to score goals so we have to keep doing that .”
Wright-Phillips mentioned getting some help from his new coach, “(Coach Marsch) has given me a lot of ideas on how I can make runs, and little things on how I can improve my game. It seems to be working.”
McCarty continued, “(BWP’s) runs are usually very, very good. We were talking a few days ago about how when he checks for the ball, I would like to try and find his feet, but [D.C.’s] center backs are really aggressive, they like to step in and win a lot of those balls, so if he checks to me and I have some time to get my head up, I’ll try to find him over the top, and that’s what happened. I just had to put the ball in a decent spot, and he had a great first touch-it was a great goal, that’s all him.”
As the match begun, the South Ward displayed a tifo with the message “Legends Define Our History” and paid homage to Metro/Red Bulls legends such as (former manager and defender) Mike Petke, Henry, and Juan Pablo Angel. Once the tifo came down it was replaced by one single sign – “Legends Deserve Better”
The message displayed was in reference to and in protest of the dismissal of Mike Petke in January of this year. Ptke coached the team to the two most successful campaigns in club history, earning the 2013 Supporters Shield, and navigating the MLS Playoffs to come within a single goal of the MLS Cup finals. Many fans saw this as a corporate entity exerting it’s nonsensical will upon the club. When asked about it after the victory over the Red Bulls’ biggest rivals, Marsch said, “Yeah, I mean, for me, the bigger picture was if our team is ready to put together a good performance and continue to progress and move us forward. I know that if we get this team right then everyone will follow. I hope that, again, the fans, whether in the stands or at home, are getting a sense for what this team [will] be and that despite all the talk about this team ‘having a down year’ and ‘having a rebuilding year’ and everything else that this is a pretty good team. I think [the team] wants to prove it to themselves and prove it to everybody every night.”
Midfielder Sacha Kljestan echoed that emotion: “We’re in this thing together. We want to make sure that Red Bull Arena is one of the toughest places to play in MLS and (the fans) play a part in that.”
Goalkeeper Luis Robles was a bit more cerebral when asked about the situation, and the tumultuous off season, “I think (restoring faith) is going to take a long time because there’s some deeper issues there. We just wanted to remind everyone that this is still about soccer. There are a lot of things to be a distraction. As soon as we cross that line (onto the field), it’s about playing for each other. We understand that, at the end of the day, we are going to be judged by our results.”
Certainly, victories will garner the attention of the masses, but Marsch made his goals clear, and that is putting a winning team on the field every match. “I’m not trying to win a popularity contest,” he stated when asked if he felt he needs to win the fans over personally, “I’m trying to coach a football team to be the best in the league. That is my sole mission.”
With the eloquence and the soccer intelligence shown on the field today, that mission might seem to some to be a little bit more attainable than it did yesterday.
Marsch’s Red Bulls go back on the road, this time to play the Columbus Crew. The Crew will be a bit short handed in the match, as Justin Meram and Will Trapp will be unavailable.
Featured Photo: Bill Twomey/Bill Twomey Photography
