We’re getting to the point of the season where the Red Bulls will begin to make up their games in hand on the other contenders for the Eastern Conference title. That’s a good thing, right?
Technically, yes, but coach Jesse Marsch doesn’t want fans to get the wrong idea.
“I hate games in hand because everybody thinks they mean points, but they don’t necessarily mean points,” he said. “Now we have a really tough week ahead of us and our focus is on the first game in New England. We know that if we slip – right now any slips hurt you – but I’m not so focused on the results even this time of year. I want to make sure that we continue all the momentum we have, that we go on the field and we understand how we want to play in a big game, and then if we do all the little things right, then we’ll come out with a result.”
And if the Red Bulls (13-7-6) get that result they will have accomplished the first item of their agenda for the 2015 season: clinch a playoff berth. All the Red Bulls need to do is win tonight against the Revolution.
Fittingly, they will play in the perfect venue to do that – Gillette Stadium – which has been a house of horrors for the Red Bulls since the league began. Until the Red Bulls won there midway through last season, they were winless in the past 19 games in league and cup play on that unforgiving artificial surface dating to 2002.
Does that streak of futility weigh on players’ minds year after year?
“I’ve never had a conversation with a player where we said, “Ah, we never win there’ or ‘We don’t win in this ground,’ striker Bradley Wright-Phillips said. “It doesn’t happen like that. We’re going to go out there like it’s a normal match. We’re going to try and beat them. We think we’re a better team and we’re going to try and beat them.
“It’s a tough place to go. They’ve got some good players. We played them here and we whooped them (4-1 on July 11). It’s going to make it so much harder. They’re going to be obviously angry about it. I would.”
In that 4-1 victory, the Red Bulls scored a Major League Soccer-record three goals in the first 12 minutes, with Wright-Phillips collecting two goals and an assist. Since then, the Revolution (12-9-7) is 6-0-1 and sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the first-place Red Bulls, who are hot as well, going 9-2-1 in the past 12 games.
“They’re in a great run of form lately,” said midfielder Sacha Kljestan, who has collected four goals and nine assists in the past 11 games. “They have a very good team. We knew all along, even when they had their dip of form, they were going to be a playoff team. To go there, it’s going to be a tough game. It’s going to be a physical battle, but we’ll be ready for it.”
Wright-Phillips believes the Red Bulls always seem to get every team’s best game, but now that they’re in first place, the target just gets bigger.
“It was good to see after the last game where we went top of the table,” Wright-Phillips said. “It’s hard being up there. You see D.C. They were up there for ages. When everyone’s chasing you it’s difficult. I tend not to look at it. You just try and pick up points and see where you are at the end of the season.
“Teams come and they want to knock you off. I feel like we’ve had that. I feel like teams when they come to play us, I don’t know if it’s the New York thing or what, or the players we’ve had, it’s always a tough thing. When I watched them on TV it doesn’t look the same as when they play us. There’s a bit more bite to it. I expect every game to be tough.”
This one will be made a bit easier due to the suspension of Revolution midfielder Jermaine Jones for yellow card accumulation.
“It doesn’t change too much,” Marsch said. “It changes the complexion of their team because he’s an import guy as shown by their record with and without him, but we know we’re going to get the same version of the team whether he’s in or not.
“He’s a good player. You want to play against good players. When he got the yellow I was actually a little bit disappointed. At this time of year you want to be tested. When you play good team you want them to have all their weapons, but I know they’re good even without him.”
Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty was looking forward to the matchup with Jones. He’s also disappointed the U.S. international won’t play.
“I would love to have him out there,” McCarty said. “I would love to play against him. If we do well and win the game it gives them an excuse, but at the same time he’s a big part of their team. He’s been a big part of their success the past two seasons so it’s definitely frustrating we don’t get them at full strength.
“As a player and a competitor you always want to test yourself against the best players in the league. He’s earned the right to be called one of those. They have depth and they’ll have another guy step up and be ready to go.”
Marsch feels the same way.
“Now we’re the hunted,” he said about being on top of the conference. “It does change. I haven’t talked to (the team) about it yet, and I don’t know that I will. The reality is it does change things a little bit. The one thing for us is we have to maintain that chip on our shoulder.
“Who knows at the end of the year where we end up, but it doesn’t matter because come playoff time basically everybody starts from scratch. You have to fight your way through another series of games so it doesn’t matter if we end up with the Supporters’ Shield or we end up in sixth place in the division, it’s still going to be a dogfight at the end of the year and we need to continue to build momentum in the way we play and who were are so that when it comes time for those games that we’re ready to go.”
