New York Red Bulls face its biggest challenges yet as the team travels to New England to take on the Revolution. Thanks to an excellent start to their MLS campaign, the Revolution have picked up 14 points from eight matches and lead the Eastern Conference.
Coverage of the match between New York Red Bulls and New England Revolution on Saturday, May 2 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., will begin at 7:30 p.m. EDT (TV: MSG; RADIO: RBNY English Internet Radio). There is no Spanish internet radio available this weekend against New England, but the Spanish broadcast will be available for the following match against New York City FC.
Tactical and Strategic Similarities to RBNY
Jay Heaps' system carries a striking resemblance to the Red Bulls, as the Revolution demonstrate the same high-intensity approach which has brought both teams early success.
Both play similar variants of a 4-2-3-1 system and the narrow formation is a key principle for both teams in attack and defense. One benefit, as seen below, is the Revolution's compact shape which creates an overload and resulted in regained possession.
There are a number of advantages from a compact attack, a focus of the Revolution. In the snapshot below, this is evident as a 5v4 overload is created from the inside movements of Teal Bunbury and Juan Agudelo. These overloads create a free man who is difficult for the opposition to mark while pressing, allowing the free man time to unlock the defense. These situations facilitate opportunities such as combinations, given the numerous players connected in the short space which can help disorganize the opposition.
One of the key profiteers from this narrow system is the left back, Chris Tierney. The defender constantly made runs, breaking free from deep positions as the Salt Lake defense was drawn centrally where the attack was focused. This allowed Tierney to make threatening crosses from positions close to the box to move forward into an optimal position and deliver cutbacks. Surprisingly, he also made lots of inside movements both in deep possession and attack, the latter of which resulted in a wonderful finish to open the scoring.
Pictured above is Tierney's central positioning in the build-up for the first goal as the opposing defense shifted to the opposite flank. Below shows a similar scene. From these positions, Tierney is able to make a cut-back.
Vertical Orientation
A key aspect of the Revolution’s style of play is their significant vertical orientation in possession. This means that their ball circulation is primarily vertical and has a deep influence. Most importantly, it has an impact on their positional structure as the team's shape is often organized to facilitate forward passes to break the opposition's lines.
This has had both positive and negative impacts on their game. It translates into a direct and fast-tempo possession game which demonstrated its attacking potential in New England’s 4-0 demolition of Real Salt Lake last week. In addition, it utilizes the qualities of the front four, most notably Lee Nguyen, whose impressive auxiliary play in combinations and linking is vital. Agudelo was also a constant threat with his pace and inside movement.
However, the negative result of the vertical orientation seems to cause issues in their development of possession from defense. Since the players' positioning is based around a vertical pass up-field, the center backs often lacked support and were forced into making passes which lacked a clear direction at times. Real Salt Lake looked to exploit this through pressing with two forwards against the two center backs, forcing a high number of takeaways in New England’s side of the field in the first half.
The above diagram displays how Salt Lake’s 4-1-3-2 shape pressed in order to close the passing lanes from the center backs via the two strikers. As a result, New England’s options were reduced significantly. However, Real Salt Lake could have isolated and pressed against the touchline, but they shifted poorly and their uncompact shape resulted in little pressure (see below).
As a result of the opposition's uncompact pressure, John Stertzer (the main presser) is poorly backed up without any supporting movements, thus leading to spaces open up for Tierney to take advantage.
There is an advantage of the Revolution's shape during moments of deep possession, however, with the attacking “three” all central. The numerical superiority means that they can counter-press (the action of pressing immediately following the loss of possession) effectively on long balls. Simply with more players in advanced positions, there are more players to initiate the immediate press to enforce an intense pressure on the interceptor.
New York Red Bulls
The Red Bulls maintained their unbeaten record for the months of March and April with another draw in the mid-week against Colorado Rapids.
In what is becoming typical Red Bulls style, they pressed high with a strong compact shape in which they constantly looked to keep access and attack the ball. A great example of this can be seen below: due to the compact shape, RBNY create a brilliant 7v4 overload which allows for multiple strong defensive connections while access to press the ball is available at all times during this scene.
RBNY pressing
Pressing could be vital in tonight's game, as Bradley Wright-Phillips and company will be looking to take advantage of the lack of positional support during the Revolution's early possession. Considering the differing pressing shapes between RBNY and Real Salt Lake, it is likely that the Red Bulls will capitalize when pressing. When Salt Lake regained possession, their shape made the transition into attack difficult. For New York, the front four are close in support, making for a more fluid counter.
With the front four supporting the pressing of the center backs, they are in great positions to exploit the opposition’s disorganization on the counter-attack.
A Compact Game
With two compact teams, the key to victory for either side could be the battle in the center of midfield. It is unlikely that either will look to alter their style of play, so we can expect to see a great contest for central control.
The two narrow five-man midfields could result in a densely populated midfield, meaning minimal time on the ball for either side. With the maintenance of a less-vertically oriented possession difficult against the pressure, it is possible that the main chances for breaking through the midfield may be from situations where one team lacks access to the ball due to an uncoordinated press. The likes of Lloyd Sam and Wright-Phillips for the Red Bulls and Agudelo and Nguyen for the Revolution means both teams are well equipped to capitalize when this situation arises.
Conclusion
A clash between of Major League Soccer’s hottest teams will be a fight of great intensity, especially since both sides utilize aggressive systems. The Red Bulls will be looking to make amends after a frustrating stalemate against Colorado, their second consecutive 1-1 draw. If RBNY are to be victorious, their execution of the press against the Revolution and winning the midfield battle will be pivotal.
Tom Payne is an analyst and writer for Spielverlagerung.com (@spielvercom) - a football tactics website focusing on match and team analysis. You can follow him on Twitter at @tompayneftbl.
