Fabian Espindola was not a happy camper during his one season with the Red Bulls. He had been ‘the man’ for most of his six years with Real Salt Lake and much of the offensive game plan revolved around getting him the ball in front of the net.
Traded to the Red Bulls along with defender Jamison Olave prior to the 2013 season, Espindola was expected to complement Thierry Henry, and it appeared the move would work out after Espindola scored twice in the opening game, but that turned out to be the highlight of the season for him.
Espindola soon found out the offense ran through Henry and he never looked comfortable – or happy – the rest of the season playing out of his normal position to accommodate Henry. He finished with nine goals and two assists in 28 games and, with his contract about of expire, the Red Bulls let him go. A month later he was selected by D.C. United in Stage 2 of the Major League Soccer Re-Entry Draft and he went on to collect career highs in goals (11) and assists (9) last season.
We bring this up today, the day before the Red Bulls and D.C. United meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals, because Espindola, in a television interview following D.C. United’s playoff victory over the New England Revolution Wednesday night, said that he would like to play the Red Bulls next.
Be careful what you wish for.
“I know why he said that, he didn’t play against us at all this year. He missed all three games. He really wants to trade jerseys with me after the game,” Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty said with a smile. “I know that is the only reason why he said that. I don’t think there’s any other reason.”
When the two rivals clash on Sunday in the first leg in Washington, Espindola will be playing against his former team for the first time since his release. He missed the first two meetings early in the season as he served a six-game suspension for shoving an assistant referee following D.C. United’s playoff elimination by the Red Bulls in 2014. When the teams met again in August, Espindola was injured.
“He’s a big player for them and we haven’t played against him (this year),” Red Bulls midfielder Lloyd Sam said. “That’s going to be, obviously, a big factor. That’s going to be a change from the other games to this one. He’s someone we’ve got to be aware of and physical with. He’s a talented player and he makes a difference for them.”
Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch knows how dangerous Espindola can be, but he’s one of a number of players that have to be marked carefully.
“Espindola is a bit of an x-factor, that’s for sure,” Marsch said. “He can make plays happen out of nothing. He’s clever around they goal, he can finish, he’s got a crafty left foot, he’s got confidence. He’s a big player within their team and he helps their team gain confidence.
“It’s a different team with him in it and we’ll address that, we’ll be ready for it. Certainly we’ll have to focus in on him, but you have to be aware of guys like (Chris) Rolfe and (Chris) Pontius and a lot of other options they have.”
But no matter who is on the field for D.C. United, the Red Bulls have the same game plan. Attack early and often and put the other team on its heels. With that said, it helps that D.C. United defender Bobby Boswell is suspended for the first leg for endangering the safety of an opponent in an off-the-ball incident in the playoff game against the Revolution.
“We’re going to play like how we’ve been playing away from home most of the time, which is we try and still be on the front foot as much as we can and put the game on our terms,” Sam said. “We’re not going to change too much in that regard.”
Marsch knows that even though his team collected seven out of a possible nine points against D.C. United this season, it means nothing in the playoffs, especially when it’s a rivalry the size of this one.
“We know that when D.C. comes to town, or when we go down there, that it’s a big rivalry match, that it winds up being very physical, that the game doesn’t always settle down much,” Marsch said. “They obviously had such a great start and middle part of the season and then went through a rough patch, but no matter what, every game they’re dangerous because they’ve shown that they’ve gone down so many times this year and they just stick around and manage to claw back in and they have belief and grit in the way they play. That means they’re never out of it. It makes for a very difficult two-game series. It’s perilous in many ways because they can push hard at any moment and punish you.
“It’s a big challenge. I think it’s a great matchup for both clubs, and an exciting time for both clubs, but a really tough matchup for us.”
