HANOVER, N.J. – One last west coast trip remains for the New York Red Bulls. That should give head coach Jesse Marsch plenty of time to make some considerable changes to his lineup.
It appeared that Marsch had found his preferred starting XI as of late, trotting out identical lineups in each of the team’s last three league matches, but changes will have to be made some Saturday night as the Red Bulls get set to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place.
With international fixtures on the docket, the Red Bulls will be forced to find replacements for midfielder Sacha Kljestan (USA) and left back Kemar Lawrence (Jamaica) as they get set to take part in CONCACAF World Cup qualification matches.
Lawrence has long been a part of the Jamaican national team setup, but Kljestan has been conspicuously absent from the USMNT. Making his senior team debut in 2007, Kljestan was a key member of the squad for years, but the midfielder had not received a call up for the Stars and Stripes since appearing in a 2-0 loss to Ukraine on March 5, 2014, in a match that was moved to Larnaca, Cyprus.
His absence will certainly create a hole as the league MVP candidate exits the side, but head coach Jesse Marsch is focusing on the positives.
“We’re extremely happy for him,” he said after training on Wednesday. “It’s a great opportunity and I hope he has a chance to play in both games to show what he’s all about.”
Come Saturday, however, the gaffer will have several decisions to make when it comes to filling out his team sheet. Luckily for Marsch, the Red Bulls boast an impressive amount of depth and versatility throughout the squad, giving him several attractive options to choose from.
“We have plenty of ways to fill that hole,” Marsch added. “If Dax [McCarty] is ready, we can certainly push Felipe or Sean Davis ahead. We can go with two strikers, which gives [Omer] Damari or [Gonzalo] Veron a chance to play. We can also slot Mike Grella into Sacha’s spot and play Danny Royer out on the left side.
On the backline, Lawrence has been the defacto choice on the left for most of his tenure in New York. And even when the Jamaican has been missing, defender Connor Lade has often been the one to step in. But with Lade out for the year with and ACL injury, it will be down to Sal Zizzo or Justin Bilyeu this Saturday.
“Those are our two options,” Marsch stated. “We can try Sal out there or give Justin another chance. Either way, I think we can fill that void easily. Looking at matchups, I think Sal will provide more defensively and Justin is very good going forward. We’re just trying to figure out how we want to approach the game from the start.”
Losing first choice players is never an ideal scenario, but Marsch has expressed the utmost confidence in his team’s “next man up” mentality.
“We’ll try to figure out exactly where different guys are at and figure out what’s the best game plan to start against Vancouver, but we have great options.”
