For the New York Red Bulls and their rookie head coach, the last month and a half of play has been better than it was in April. Manager Gerhard Struber lost his first two games in charge; a loss on the road to L.A. Galaxy 3-2-- or Javier Hernandez who singlehandedly defeated Red Bulls with a hat-trick. Since that 0-2 start, the Red Bulls have improved their record to 4 wins and 5 losses and are looking to start stringing wins together.
Since May 15, Red Bull have dropped two games against the New England Revolution and have been poor on defense, giving up three goals during each bout with the Revs.
This recent form leaves fans scratching their heads and asking, how good is the Red Bull defense? Yes, it is true that the Red Bulls best defender and U.S. Men's National Team star, Aaron Long is out for the remainder of the 2021 Major League Soccer (MLS) Season. However, Kyle Duncan has not played well defensively and doesn't compete hard enough while covering opponents. Rookie center-back Andres Reyes is getting adjusted, but he did play almost a full season in 2020, so we should expect that he can takeover Long's job without too many hiccups. Sean Nealis has played in every Red Bulls game this year and I hate to say it, he's been a liability defensively.
Defensive Woes
Here is a snap-shot of the last four Red Bulls games
- Loss vs. NE Revolution 1-3
- WIN vs. ORL 2-1
- WIN vs. NSH 2-0
- LOSS vs. NER 2-3
The Red Bulls have been playing mediocre soccer during the entire 2021 season. A lot of that has been due to their inability to take a game over and impose their 'Red Bulls' High-press style of play on teams and to keep possession. The most successful soccer teams in the world have great team chemistry in positioning and familiarity with each other so they know where to pass the ball to hold on to it.
It's not nice to single any one player out, but in the Red Bulls games in late May, Sean Nealis played horrible in both matches. At 6'4" he is tall and slow, which means he has trouble A) keeping up with faster opposing players and B) making quick turns and staying in front of players while covering.
During the Red Bulls game on May 22, Nealis was literally dusted by faster players or not defending well on all three goals. As much as we adhere to the cliche that a team sport means the team loses and wins as a team, this Red Bulls center-back was the reason the Red Bulls were beaten by such a wide margin in Foxborough on May 22.
Then on May 29, the Red Bulls defense surrendered a tally in the 83rd minute that could've been avoided. When Orlando City crossed into New York's 18-yard-box, no one intercepted it. Red Bull center-back Nealis was not in the correct position to defend on this play and that was a big reason why Orlando City's Silvester Van Der Water was able to receive a pass and score. In the May 22 game against New England, Andres Reyes scored a goal and then ruined it by fouling badly and getting a red card. Head coach Struber has been trying different formations and trying to put versatile defender/midfielder Tom Edwards in as the starting center defensive mid, instead of the team's captain Sean Davis.
He [Sean Davis] always brings good performances and is a player who keeps himself in tip-top shape," Struber mentioned. "Dru [Yearwood] looked good the other day in his first start, he defended well and looked good in certain spots on the field. - Gerhard Struber
Coach avoided committing to either Yearwood or Davis, as the player who willl start vs. Atlanta. What is clear is that, Coach is rotating Edwards, Yearwood and Davis through as starting CDM's to see who really excels there. Yearwood looked energetic and skillful when he made his first start of the season at central midfield on June 23 against the Revs. Will he get another chance? Based on his last game, Yes.
Previewing Red Bull's Next Game
Atlanta United are not a good team this year. In MLS this season, ATL have a 2-5-2 record and sit in 11th place in the standings. In regular season play between Red Bulls and Atlanta, the former have never lost and have a 6-0-2 record versus Atlanta United. The most famous and hardest loss that Red Bull suffered, was in the 2018 MLS CUP playoffs when Atlanta knocked Red Bull out of the Eastern Conference Finals, but Red Bull fans do not speak of this. This will be the fifth regular season meeting at Atlanta with New York owning a 3-0-1 advantage.
Red Bull's Offseason loan, Patryk Klimala was able to get the 'monkey off his back' and score his First MLS goal on June 23. It was a nice finish and an even better play involving a long ball from Caden Clark to target-man striker, Fabio. Oh, by the way, one of the Red Bulls best players, midfielder Clark will be out for Sunday's match because as the team revealed four days ago, Clark had to have his appendectomy.
Caden Clark is out as he is recovering from an appendectomy.
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) June 23, 2021
Right before that, Red Bulls cruised to their fourth win at home and Fabio scored a cracker one-time volley, and here's the video courtesy of a sports journalist's Twitter.
Pintura de Fábio, ex-Oeste, para o New York Red Bulls.
(📽 @NewYorkRedBulls)pic.twitter.com/iCnqsReud9
— Leonardo Bertozzi (@lbertozzi) June 19, 2021
Look, one thing is clear from the Red Bull fan perspective and that's that we are tired of taking one step forward and two steps back. Manager Gerhard Struber has find the right mix and get this team into shape to beat Atlanta United, who are many places beneath them in the MLS standings. Tune in to MSG Networks and Steve Cangialosi and Shep Messing will have you covered with the Pre-game show starting at 3:00 PM eastern time. GO RED BULL!
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