There are very few teams in Major League Soccer that can match the Red Bulls in midfield quality. When they have a numerical advantage, as they did in the last round of the playoffs against D.C. United, it is no contest, and when the numbers are even, their pace, fitness and skill level grinds teams down.
The Columbus Crew, however, is one of the few teams that can hold their own in the midfield against the Red Bulls, and that is where the Eastern Conference Finals series is expected to be decided when they play the first leg today in Columbus, Ohio.
The combination of Sacha Kljestan in the middle, Lloyd Sam and Mike Grella on the wings and Dax McCarty and Felipe at defensive midfield have produced 31 goals and 41 assists while helping the Red Bulls lead the Eastern Conference in fewest goals allowed with 43.
When you add in the quality of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Gonzalo Veron, typically the first two players off the bench, you have arguably the best unit in the league.
But the Crew runs the same 4-5-1 formation, and their midfield of Federico Higuain in the center, Ethan Finlay and Justin Meram on the wings, along with Tony Tchani and Wil Trapp at defensive midfield is right there in terms of quality and attacking ability.
“Finlay’s had a great year. He’s an all-star for a reason,” McCarty said. “… But they have six or seven guys on the field that are very important and key players for them. We have to make sure we’re aware of them at all times. They have a great midfield. It’s going to be a great battle there in the middle of the field.
“That’s going to be a key to the series. Whoever can get the advantage in there is going to come out on top. (Forward Kei) Kamara and Finlay, they’ve had a great connection throughout the year. You add in a Higuain and Meram, who’s an underrated player who’s having a great season, and their front four is just as dangerous as our front four. That’s how I look at it, and we know how good our front four is.”
Finlay, with 12 goals and 13 assists, has been one of the top scorers and playmakers in the league this year. In the only game of the three the Crew won from the Red Bulls this season, Kamara turned playmaker with two assists and fed Finlay for both goals in a 2-1 win.
“They’ve got some great attacking pieces,” Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles said. “We know that there’s some areas that we’re going to try and take advantage, but from our standpoint, or our perspective at least, defensively, we have to take care of those guys. We have to know where they’re at. They float. They’re not necessarily just rigid in the way they set up.
“We have to be constantly surveying the field, having an understanding of where they’re at because at any moment Higuain can float to the side and unlock the defense with the ball. Ethan Finlay does a great job of getting into the channel and getting towards goal.”
Kamara, who scored 22 goals in the regular season and two more in the Eastern Conference semifinal victory over the Montreal Impact, did not score a goal against the Red Bulls this season. But Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch doesn’t put any stock in that.
“It’s a little bit of a coincidence because they’ve still managed to score goals against us,” Marsch said. “(Kamara) and Finlay are a handful, and when you have Higuain operating underneath there it’s just very difficult.
“We have good center backs to match up against Kamara, although I think they’re still going to have their hands full with him, and his movement and his athleticism and the way he can finish plays, but it’ll be a good game. We know that offensively they can throw a lot at us.”
That’s where Meram comes in. He’s one of those underrated players you don’t notice until he has a great game against you, and then you realize that’s what he does every game. The same with Tchani, who was drafted with the No. 2 overall pick by the Red Bulls in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft, and Trapp, who has been one of the top U.S. youth internationals, and who earned his first senior cap earlier this year.
Still, Robles believes the Red Bulls just have to stick to their game plan.
“Justin Meram loves to take guys on, strike the ball from outside and inside the 18,” Robles said. “Then, of course, the season Kei Kamara has had is incredible. He challenged for the Golden Boot, he’s got 22 goals and he’s a huge part of what they do. But with that being said, we respect our opponent from every aspect. But there’s also a certain point where you just say ‘You know what, this is our game,’ and our confidence within that locker room, within that management, is the fact that when we play our game, we do well.
“If I were a betting man I absolutely would put it on us, because at the end of the day when we go out there and we’re able to implement the way we want to play, when we’re able to take the game to them, we’ve fared pretty well. Regardless of all the stuff that’s being said, and the respect towards one another, at the end of the day it’s going to be a battle. We understand that, and it’s going to be some good football and it’s going to be who wants it more.”
McCarty said the Red Bulls will have the same mindset they did in the first leg of the D.C. series.
“Our mindset will be that it’s going to be just as physical but a little bit more soccer is going to be played,” he said. “We don’t anticipate it being a direct game. We know Columbus likes to play and we like to play as well, so the ball’s going to be on the ground a lot more. Hopefully it will be a little bit more pleasing to the eye for the viewers. The D.C. series was just a battle, an outright battle, so we have to keep that mentality, but also shift our focus to make sure that we’re ready to deal with all their dangerous players going forward, all the combination play that they have.
“In the playoffs, it’s all about the next game, and obviously with these aggregate series, with away goals meaning so much, every single goal and every single game is the most important situation that you’ll be in that moment, so it’s definitely a mentality shift, but mentally we’re really prepared.
“The coaching staff does a good job making sure that we know what it’s going to take to advance in the next round and we know it’s going to have to take some of our best games of the season if we want to advance.”
Marsch agreed. The Red Bulls have achieved so much this season it makes no sense to not continue to play the way they have all year.
“We talked tactically how we want to deal with things,” he said. “We’ll be ready to try and make it as hard as we can on their good, attacking players. We know that we’ll see a lot of crosses. We still want to put the game on our terms. As much as we’re going to have trouble dealing with them, they’re going to have trouble dealing with us.”
