MONTREAL – After a disappointing defeat to start the season, the New York Red Bulls were hoping a road trip would do the side some good. But in their second straight Canadian clash, a win was not in the cards.
Down two in the hole, the Red Bulls will be looking to bounce back their first Saturday night matchup at Red Bull Arena this season.
Here are my three main takeaways from New York’s lone trip to Montreal in 2016.
Piatti, Oduro Prove Their Worth
Without Didier Drogba in the lineup, the attention turned to both Ignacio Piatti and Dominic Oduro as two of the key threats for the Montreal Impact. Ahead of the match, head coach Jesse Marsch spoke to just how important it would be to limit their impact on the match.
“We know them pretty well,” he said earlier in the week. “Obviously, Oduro gives your backline trouble and makes the margin of error small. With his speed, if it’s close, he’ll usually win those footraces. Piatti is just clever and tricky; he’s not easy to deal with. We’ll know how to scout them and deal with them, but it’s not easy. In the end, it’s down to execution and making a couple of plays on our end.”
It proved to be a tall task for a makeshift backline on the night, as both would have their say over the course of the 90.
A defensive miscue at the back led to Montreal’s first goal, with Piatti jump-starting the counter. And while Gideon Baah did well to deal with the speedy Oduro up until that point, his countryman got the best of him in the 58th minute as he was able to elude coverage and fire past Luis Robles
Just over ten minutes later, it was Piatti who would continue to find his goal-scoring touch to start this season. After so nearly scoring on the other end, the Red Bulls turned it over and saw Montreal hit out on the break, this time with Piatti the beneficiary. The Argentine enjoyed another stellar night after recording two goals and an assist in their 3-2 win over Vancouver in their season opener.
“We didn’t do well enough to do well with their dangerous attacking players,” Marsch admitted after the match. “But congratulations to Montreal, they were dangerous.”
Back to the Classroom
It’s not quite back to the drawing board, but the team has readily admitted a need to identify the issues that have plagued them in the season’s first two matches.
There are still 32 games remaining, but the Red Bulls won’t want to wait much longer to correct their mistakes and move forward. It all starts with their second home match of the season, where the side will have another chance to improve.
“There are a lot of games left to play, but we need to get our act together,” Robles admitted. “When we go into training this week, it’s going to be about really concentrating on the task at hand, being able to understand how we want to play and be committed to it.”
The Red Bulls are due to arrive back in New York on Sunday afternoon, and they’ll have a full week of preparation to prepare for a Houston Dynamo side that is coming off of a convincing 5-0 derby win over FC Dallas.
“During this week, it’s about mentality; how strong can we be in those tough moments to get out?” Felipe inquired. “Jesse will manage this thing and I know we’ll get out soon.
“We have to know our roles better. For next week, whatever it takes, we need three points.”
The correction process starts in the video room, where players and coaches will get together to identify the problem areas and find solutions in order to get back to winning ways.
“We’ll take a look at the video when we get home,” Mike Grella told NewYorkRedBulls.com. “I know we’ll be fully committed and make sure these mistakes don’t happen again.”
Down, But Not Out
The start to the 2016 campaign has been less than ideal, but this Red Bulls team isn’t about to feel sorry for themselves.
With two games in the rearview, there was an understandable amount of frustration in the locker room after the loss, but there was no finger pointing amongst the squad. Instead, the players are using these trying moments as a rallying cry to improve over the coming weeks.
“We’re in this together,” Felipe said. “Everybody, myself included, has to do more. We have to give more to get out of this hole.”
For Grella, the slow start to the season may well prove to be a springboard from which the Red Bulls can jump-start their 2016 campaign.
“We’ll learn from these losses,” he said. “I have full belief in this group that we’ll get it going soon.”
During their Supporters’ Shield winning season just a year ago, the Red Bulls endured a five-game winless streak that included four consecutive losses. And while the team is looking to distance themselves from last year’s campaign, there are still lessons to be drawn upon.
“I do believe the same character from last year still exists,” Robles said after the match. “We’re being tested and we need to be able to show that sort of resolve.”
Added striker Bradley Wright-Phillips: “It’s the beginning of the season and we wanted to start off well. But it’s not that similar; it’s only two.”
Change is certainly necessary for the Red Bulls to notch their first win of 2016, but the collective unit remains confident that change is on the horizon, and it starts with the strong mental makeup of the team from top to bottom.
“I know we have the character within this locker room to bounce back, not only in the next game, but for the rest of the season,” Robles added. “Right now, we’re in a rough patch. But we have to be able to learn from the mistakes that we’ve made, and I have all the confidence in these guys to learn and get better. Sooner or later, we’ll start getting some bounces our way, but sometimes you have to manufacture it yourself.”
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