As the Red Bulls prepare for their final four games they are well aware that the Eastern Conference title and the Supporters’ Shield are within their grasp. Last Saturday’s victory over the Columbus Crew made sure of that.
Win out and both will be accomplished. And with games in hand, even a slipup may not prove fatal.
If that sounds familiar, it should. In 2013, when the Red Bulls won the Supporters’ Shield for the first time in their history, they got hot down the stretch, going 6-0-2 in the final eight games.
This season, the Red Bulls (15-9-6, 51 points) are 6-3-0 in their past nine games and have a three-point lead over D.C. United in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand. For the Shield, the Red Bulls are tied with the Los Angeles Galaxy in points with two games in hand, and have one point more than FC Dallas in an equal amount of games.
“I don’t think it’s too different,” Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty said. “At the end of 2013 we were playing really well. We hit a good patch of form and we were really confident, and this year is no different. In 2013, we were in probably a better run of results than we are now. This year we’re experiencing a little bit more adversity. Obviously the Orlando game (a 5-2 loss Sept. 25), that was a punch to the gut. That was tough on everyone.
“That was a really tough result to take. With this group, the mentality is strong enough to where we can stay confident. We’re a good team. We know that we’re going to play the way that we play and more often than not it’s going to be good enough to win. So I think there are a lot of similarities, but there are plenty of differences. This team doesn’t seem to let anything faze it, and that’s going to be a good quality going into the playoffs.”
With two pieces of hardware so close, and with the recent Supporters’ Shield victory so fresh in the minds of the players as well as the fans, you might think the players would be feeling pressure. Goalkeeper Luis Robles disagrees.
“I don’t think the pressure exists from that previous run,” he said. “The reason I say that is because there are only a few guys here from that run, so it’s not like we can look at that precedent or even reflect on these emotions because a lot of those guys weren’t here. What we are doing now is something new, but that being said, we understand that the target is on our back. We’re in the driver’s seat, but Jesse’s done a good job keeping our minds focused on what we need to accomplish and what we need to be focused on.
“As long as we continue to focus on our game and executing the game plan that we continue to preach since Week 1, there’s no reason for us to even be thinking that we can’t accomplish what we set out to do.”
And the next step will be tonight when the Red Bulls host the Montreal Impact at 7:30 at Red Bull Arena. The Impact (12-12-6) is in the sixth and final playoff position in the East, one point ahead of Orlando City SC, who they lost to, 2-1, on Saturday night. Montreal, however, has two games in hand on Orlando.
“Both finishing top of the East and the Supporters’ Shield, it gives us something to play for,” coach Jesse Marsch said. “It not like we’re just in the playoffs and on cruise control. We need to continue to every game understand what the mentality of real games is like, because there are teams that we’re playing that are desperate for points to make sure they get themselves in the playoffs.
“All in all, the fact that we have things to play for means that we can’t take the foot off the pedal. That’s been an emphasis of ours regardless of where we’ve been on the table, but there’s something tangible out there to continue to strive for. The way we get there is by understanding what the daily process is and to go through it game by game.”
Although McCarty believes there are similarities to 2013, he says there are just as many differences.
“The main thing that you have to talk about if you want to compare the two years is that there are a lot of differences,” he said. “There are not very many similarities. Maybe four or five players are still here from that winning season, but there are a lot of changes that have been made in the organization. That team in 2013, we got hot late and that was the story of the season. We got hot late and we took the Shield because of it.
“This year, we’ve been really consistent and we’ve been one of the best teams in the league all season. This team is a little more consistent. We have a lot of different ways to beat teams, not just one way. I don’t think we’re thinking about 2013 too much. This year is different from any other year that the New York Red Bulls have been in existence going back to the MetroStars days.”
The reason for that is simply the roster. In the season-ending 5-2 victory over the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena that clinched the Supporters’ Shield in 2013, Robles, McCarty and Lloyd Sam were the only players from this season in the starting lineup. And on the bench, it was only Bradley Wright-Phillips and Matt Miazga.
“There’s a little bit of a paradigm shift in terms of how things are done here. I’m not kidding when I say this. We haven’t even talked once about the 2013 season once as a team,” McCarty said. “We haven’t thought about it. It hasn’t been in our heads. This is a completely new team, new coaching staff.
“The goal is the still the same. The goal is obviously win as much silverware as possible. We’re not going to look towards 2013 for any pointers or cautionary tales or anything like that. We’re just trying to take it one game at a time and win the next game in front of us.”
Robles also has that short-term focus, but he remembers the plan Marsch laid out in preseason.
“We know that from the very beginning, we (planned) out that we wanted to finish one or two in the conference,” he said. “We wanted to avoid that play-in game. So as long as we continue to do the things that we’ve done well with the idea that there’s still some things we can improve on, and if we can improve those, we’re in a good position.”
