The Red Bulls might be in trouble.
Between the injury bug and the World Cup call-ups, coach Mike Petke has his work cut out for him in the coming weeks as the depth of his bench is going to be tested. As of right now, defender Roy Miller and midfielders Tim Cahill and Jonny Steele have all been called up by their respective national teams, leaving Petke in a bind to put together a functional and strong line-up in their absence.
Red Bulls Depth
Roy Miller has been incredibly important to the Red Bulls attack this season. The four game undefeated streak featured Miller making incredible overlapping runs that wowed both fan and player alike. Instead of laying back and playing it safe, the Red Bulls became an aggressive, attacking team, and the result was refreshing.
Cahill’s absence cannot be understated. He has become the emotional and galvanizing backbone of this club in the short time he’s been here. Whereas Thierry Henry may be the face of the club, Cahill is the soul. After spending time in the sick bay, Petke made the choice to keep him out of games longer than he probably would have normally. With the upcoming World Cup, not to mention a multi-competition slate that the Red Bulls will be enduring in upcoming months, it seemed that Petke and Cahill made the decision to be safer rather than be sorry.
And then there is Peguy Luyindula.
Much to the joy of South Ward, Luyindula has found a home as a creative midfielder. He even has two goals during the run of play, something he had none of last season. He also has been instrumental in the Red Bulls success, what little of it they’ve had, this season.
Think about this for a moment – Petke pulls the trigger and gets Luyindula on the field during the match against Chicago. If you remember, and I’m sure you do dear reader, that match spiraled out of control until the moment Luyindula took over in the mid field. He was instrumental in the near comeback staged by Petke’s squad. Even though he didn’t directly contribute to either goal, he gave the Fire defenders something else to worry about, using his slick ball handling to draw Chicago players to him like a moth to flame, and creating space for Henry and Bradley Wright-Philips.
So, when it was reported that Luyindula would miss the match vs Toronto FC, there wasn’t much left to work with. Instead of putting in a largely untested Ruben Bover, Petke chose to move Eric Alexander to a central role, where he has struggled in the past. This time was no different, as Alexander slipped back into his bad habits of too much ball handling at the top of the 18 yard box instead of looking to goal. It seems that leaving Alexander at the flank, and putting the ball at the feet of Bover might have been the better option, in hindsight.
Unfortunately, not all the blame can sit with the patchwork midfield. The back four, which safely generated loads of offense, while being responsible enough to stop most stupidity going on in front of Robles, now seems a little lackluster without Roy Miller. Kosuke Kimura wasn’t impressive in Toronto. Ibrahim Sekagaya is a walking yellow card or worse. Armando seems like he is daring himself to be credited with an own goal. Richard Eckersley is scary. Jamison Olave, however, is a beast. Rookie Chris Duvall, aside from the gaffe that led to the second, garbage time goal, had a strong debut. However, Duvall doesn’t bring the aggressive skill that Miller provided on his side of the field. Maybe it’s time to put Conner Lade on the field.
Whatever needs to happen to right the ship will obviously need to happen in the coming weeks, as the Red Bulls face a surprisingly bad Portland Timbers side this weekend, and then face Sporting Kansas City in a midweek tilt on the national stage. If the Red Bulls continue to bleed points due to lack of depth, Miller, Cahill, and Steele may return home to a club with a hole that no one will be able to help dig them out of.
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