There are Red Bulls fans who were puzzled when Dax McCarty was handed the captain’s armband this year following the retirement of Thierry Henry. If they watched Saturday night’s 2-1 loss to the Crew in Columbus, Ohio, perhaps now they know why.
McCarty had played 90 minutes in seven straight games in a span of 32 days, so he was left home to rest. Without McCarty in the lineup, Crew forward Kei Kamara, Major League Soccer’s leading scorer with 12 goals, dropped into the midfield and had far too much space to distribute the ball. His two assists, both on goals by Ethan Finlay, were the difference in the game.
“Our team is very dependent on Dax,” Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said in a conference call on Tuesday. “He’s a leader on the field, a very smart player. He always respects teams, he’s always sizing things up in the middle of the field with the way we play and the way we press. He’s able to cut out a lot of the other team’s plays and he gets to a lot of balls. And he’s a great passer. From a soccer perspective, and from a mentality perspective and a leadership perspective, yeah, we need him back. He’s an important guy.”
Marsch said he was surprised the way the Crew played.
“In a lot of ways, we went into a tough place and Columbus totally changed the way they played because of the way we played,” he said. “It’s a compliment to the way we play. They were able to make more plays than we were. We didn’t have our best day. We didn’t make adjustments in the game well enough to deal with the fact they changed their game plan. That being said, we still had a game where we could have easily come away with a draw.”
Though the Red Bulls have a full week to prepare for the next match, Saturday night against the Revolution at Red Bull Arena, the back line is as thin as can be. Injuries and international call-ups have Marsch contemplating using players from other positions to fill in, such as defensive midfielder Sean Davis.
“It’s a difficult moment for us and we knew we would be missing some players,” Marsch said. “(Andrew Jean-) Bapiste moved into the (Gold Cup) picture with Haiti. We weren’t able to anticipate that. Then, obviously, we waived him. Right now we are thin in the back but we still feel like we have some guys that can fill in in a good way there.
“They’ll be the opportunity for other guys to potentially full in some of those spots. Some of our midfielders we may look at at outside back. We may have a little bit of flexibility on our team. We looked into a few different things in trades and transfers. (Sporting Director) Ali (Curtis) is looking into some things on that, but we don’t want to do anything as far as the next two to three days. We want to look at how it’s going to affect our team moving forward. It’s a little bit of an issue for us right now, but we’ll get through it in a good way.”
Marsch said center back Ronald Zubar is continuing to get treatment from a specialist in France for his calf injury and will be there at least another 10 days. Right back Chris Duvall underwent surgery for a broken leg suffered July 1 in an Open Cup match against the Cosmos and is likely out for the year. Marsch said he is already home. Kemar Lawrence (Jamaica), Karl Ouimette (Canada) and Roy Miller (Costa Rica) are at the Gold Cup the next few weeks.
“From the beginning we’ve known that the summer’s transfer window was going to be important for us to continue to build this team in a way that’s going to honor the identity that we were building,” Marsch said. “It’s less about trying to solve any riddles or questions right now because we like our team and we like our group, and any decisions we make will be done not just for the short term but the long term, that’s for sure. Ali is working very hard to work on the different situations and to add to our roster the right way.”
Though D.C. United has opened up an 11-point lead in the Eastern Conference, the Revolution (24 points) and the Red Bulls (23) are in a tight pack with the Crew, Orlando City SC and Toronto FC.
“The Eastern Conference is very tight,” Marsch said. “D.C. has now established themselves at the team that’s done well in the first half of the season, that’s for sure. It’s always been hard when there’s games in hand, but that’s the way the league works. We’re at the halfway point. We’re at 17 games. We learned a lot about ourselves.
“The team should feel strong about the way we play. Now it’s just a matter of converting more plays, and that’s on both sides of the ball. I continue to have a very positive outlook on who we are as a team and how we’re doing things, how we’ve committed ourselves in how we play and the identity of what we’re becoming. It’s just now a matter of coming together a little bit stronger and in a better way and it moves us up the table.”
