When the Red Bulls began the season unbeaten in their first seven games even the biggest optimist knew the good times wouldn’t last forever. No team could keep that pace up all year. Eventually the team would struggle and questions would be asked.
With one win in the past seven games, that time appears to be now.
“If we were playing in games where we were outmatched, where we were outplayed, then there would be more cause for concern about where we’re at with different things,” Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said. “I’ve tried to say from the beginning that this is a process, me coming here and changing a lot of things doesn’t mean that all of a sudden overnight there was going to be success. The early success meant that we all felt strong about what we were doing and how we were doing it, and now we’re in a moment where we’re struggling for results, but I don’t think it’s changed any of the belief of how we’re doing things, who we are, how we talk, how we train, how we play.
“I understand why people have questions about different things because that’s what happens when you don’t get the results that you need and that you should be getting, but I feel strongly about our group and I feel strongly about our performances. Now it’s just a matter of turning those into victories.”
Following two straight losses that dropped the Red Bulls to third place in the Eastern Conference with a 4-3-5 record, they will get that chance Friday night against the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium. Houston (4-5-5) is eighth in the Western Conference, but has always played better in the second half of the season.
“We have to go there and get three points. We’re on the back of two losses,” forward Bradley Wright-Phillips said. “Teams are looking at us now to see what we’re going to do, how we’ll bounce back, and this is a good team to show it against. Nothing’s changed. We take a lot of positives from the games we lost, the games we’ve drawn, the games we win, and we always see positives, things we can improve on. It’s no different. Everyone feels fresh, feels good.
“Our whole team’s got to have that mindset, being clinical. When we get our chances we’re going have to put them away. I feel that’s been a major thing in our losses. We’re not getting the goals when we should, even on top in the games, and it’s something we have to look at.”
Fans have begun to wonder just what happened to the Red Bulls’ team that started the season so well. The team, however, doesn’t appear worried. They feel they are playing well and the results just haven’t been there.
“I’m a big believer in sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in, and sometimes you can’t look too much at it,” midfielder Mike Grella said. “We’ve created some decent chances and we do look quite dangerous. It makes it difficult. A lot of teams come and don’t want to play and sit back against us and it makes it difficult. In terms of goals drying up, my view on it is it’s a long season and I just know they’ll come.”
While Marsch is concerned, he doesn’t seem worried. He sees the team playing hard and creating chances. The ball just isn’t going into the net. Eventually, that will change.
“The mindset’s actually strong,” Marsch said. “We know our backs are against the wall a little bit because the results haven’t come our way, but we’re confident that they will. In these moments, you look hard at different things, but the harder we look at things the more confident we are in the group that we have and how we’ve played. It’s nice to add points in there somewhere. We need to do a better job at managing games and managing attacking moments in the two boxes so it can help us get more wins.
“It is frustrating. We described this last game as gut-wrenching a little bit because we played pretty well. It was actually one of our better performances but we weren’t able to walk away with anything. In these moments you still have to stay strong and maintain belief and that’s where we’re at.”
At moments like this, fans call not only for roster changes, but lineup changes and formation changes as well. Despite the team’s scoring slump – just six goals in the past seven games – no changes other than for injury and international call-ups are planned.
“I don’t think we need to make a (formation) change now,” midfielder Lloyd Sam said. “Judging from the last game, I thought we’ve done well against one of the best teams in the league at their place. So no, I don’t think we need to make a change at the moment. … Until we get absolutely played off the park then we’ll start talking about it.”
Wright-Phillips believes the team is just a bit off and can regain its early-season form with a convincing victory.
“It’s probably a little bit of sharpness. I can’t really put my finger on it,” he said. “Maybe just a bit unfortunate. There’s ball’s just flashing across the box, we just got to be a bit more committed to the cause. Somebody else isn’t going to do it, you’ve got to do it yourself. That’s definitely the mindset I’m taking for this game.
“I’ve played up front and I’ve played with partners. I enjoyed both. The system has done well for us. Just because we lost two games in a row I don’t think we should be thinking about changing formations. We work well in this system, we’ve gotten some good results and I think we’ll carry on.”
