As the regular season began to wind down, and in the time leading up to the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals against D.C. United last weekend, the Red Bulls have been practicing penalty kicks at the end of training.
You hope a playoff game never has to be decided on penalties, but if it comes to that you have to be ready. And the Red Bulls appear to be ready.
“We’ve been practicing for the sake of now making sure that in all ways they’re familiar with what their attempts will be,” Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said. “We’ve talked about the kinds of PKs that we think are successful. Within our core of starting players and players that usually come off the bench, we have probably seven or eight good shooters.
“I think I have a good idea of who, then it’s partly to have an idea ahead of time, and it’s partly to say who’s ready to step up when the pressure’s on when everybody comes together after 120 minutes. You have to look around a little bit and go, ‘All right, this is what we’re thinking, who’s ready?’ ”
When the Red Bulls take on D.C. United in the second leg today at Red Bull Arena, with a 1-0 aggregate lead after the first leg, the players believe they will be ready, and that will include those taking part in a penalty kick shootout if necessary.
“We’ve taken a lot of PKs (in training),” goalkeeper Luis Robles said. “Part of the reason is just to be familiar with the actual sequence, but more than anything it’s also to psych the kickers a little bit because they’ve gone against the same keeper so many times. Now they’re starting to think about it.
“Maybe some people feel that’s counter intuitive, but in some way you have to create the pressure that’s going to exist in that game, and I feel like the guys have handled it well. If it comes down to that, okay, but we’re hoping to take care of business way before then.”
Robles has also been taking penalty kicks. Hey, nobody expects another game like the Sporting Kansas City-Portland Timbers knockout round match on Oct. 29, where all 22 players took PKs – including both goalkeepers – before Portland won, 7-6, following a 2-2 tie in regulation, but you have to be ready just in case.
“My ratio’s not bad,” Robles said with a laugh. “If that’s the case, then so be it, but I’m also confident that if we come out the same way against D.C. (like the first leg), if we make the necessary adjustments, if we stay hungry and continue to have the necessary resolve we had all season, I’m really confident we’ll take care of business in the first 90.”
Bradley Wright-Phillips began the season as the Red Bulls’ designated penalty kick taker, but after he missed two in one game Sacha Kljestan took over, and he converted five of six the rest of the way. In recent practices, team captain Dax McCarty had not been consistent in his attempts, but he insists he’ll be ready when the time comes.
“If we go to penalty kicks, I will 100 percent be taking one … if I’m still on the field,” he said.
Actually, some of the better penalty kick takers on the Red Bulls appear to be defenders. A number of them have been consistently placing their kicks in the corners or side netting.
“Defenders sometimes don’t think as much,” Marsch said. “They just step up and take it, and that can be a good thing and that can be a bad thing, so we’ll see.
The Red Bulls won’t be thinking penalty kicks until it’s time, but they seem confident it won’t come to that even though D.C. United will have their captain, defender Bobby Boswell, back after serving a one-game suspension for a foul in the knockout round
“They don’t have any time to waste,” Robles said. “They know that, so we expect them to come flying out of the gate. They got their captain back. Boswell’s a huge part of what they’ve been doing the last couple of years, and to just have his leadership and also his motivational play on the field is going to be huge for them.
“With that being said, I’ve said it all season, when we focus on our ability to play, and when we focus on our tactics, having the respect and the awareness of our opponent, and to allow ourselves to play within our own game, we do well.”
McCarty also agreed that the Red Bulls will see a different D.C. United team than the one that showed up in the first leg
“They’ll make some tweaks for sure, we aren’t sure exactly what they will be because we have to step on the field and play some, but they’ll definitely make some little tactical switches,” he said. “The game in D.C. was a little bit of an anomaly. They didn’t have their best game and we realized that we’re going to get their best shot. Certainly they’re going to make some adjustments. Ben (Olsen’s) a good coach and he knows how to get their guys going. We’re going to get their best shot and we know they’ll be some changes.
“We want to try and match their physicality without going overboard, without going over the top and making sure that we keep all 11 guys on the field. We know that’s very important, to manage that physicality and aggression, and being smart and push the game in the right way
“There’s no secrets here. We played them four times already. We’re not going to change the way we play now. We’ll continue to take advantage of the things that we do well and hopefully get a good result at home.”
Marsch was very succinct in summing up the Red Bulls philosophy going into the game.
“We’re not looking to protect the lead,” he said. “We’re looking to expand on it.”
