Sunday was the worst game I have seen this young New York Red Bulls squad play in the 2021 season. That small amount of time to watch the backline cough up those goals like it was nothing that showed them starting the match lost and helpless was really tough to see.
All it took was two chances by Luka Stojanovic to stand in a position with no one defending him and put in two goals. The Soldier Field crowd was celebrating all early evening long.
The Red Bulls backline looked lost and a major mistake on the second goal as Cristian Casseres Jr. who was near Stojanovic, gave him two free chances to smack the ball into the back of the net. There was one man who didn't enjoy what he saw and that was head coach Gerhart Struber.
While there were a majority of positives, he has seen his team doing well and making solid decisions on the pitch, this one was not one. Injuries have plagued the Red Bulls, with a number of center backs going down like Aaron Long, Andres Reyes, and Sean Nealis. They were forced to convert fullback Tom Edwards to center back. Sunday seemed to be the first time that no one on that backline had any communication amongst themselves, or looked ready to compete when the opening whistle was blown.
"I feel like the only thing that is sad about the situation that happened is we were caught off guard, we were not ready when we should have been," said Edwards. "We had the laptop before the game, obviously in the week, we just let ourselves fall asleep and teams like Chicago, they are in a poor position in the table and we know what they can do in their productive day against us."
Struber sent a message to his club by subbing out Casseres Jr. who has had a solid season, was allowed to perform for the Venezuelan National Team in the Copa America, then came back to score a big goal against Orlando City.
An offensive weapon was removed so defensive fullback Andrew Gutman could join the backline, and move John Tolkin into Casserers. The move showed the roster that Struber will not tolerate a poor start.
Sean Davis is the captain of the club and we all know he is the one that leads by example, but in all honesty, the man who should be acting like a veteran and keep his young backline in focus has to be Amro Tarek. The youngster has shown to be a solid center back since coming over, but sadly didn't show much against Chicago.
While there is understanding that this is still a young team and they are going thru their bumps and bruises, you can't start a match switched off before and after the opening whistle blows, that is very unacceptable. It's going to be a long week in training to get ready for their next road match at Montreal.
There is still plenty of time for this team to fix the situation and there is plenty of time to have them understand what they did wrong. It's not about this season, it's about the future. We saw them in past games where they looked strong and stable, their current form at the moment has been tough to watch, but there is still good talent on this squad.
Red Bulls Mentality Needs to Be Fixed
The only thing that needs to be fixed is their mentality, and until that gets sorted out, there could be more bumps and bruises as this side will continue this 2021 season. Until there is a change, and players return to the roster from injury, this nightmare will continue. This current Red Bulls situation has to stop right away.
- Red Bulls Reunite Nealis Brothers - December 16, 2021
- John Wolyniec steps down as Red Bulls 2 head coach - December 10, 2021
- Red Bulls transfered and signed Carlos Coronel to three-year deal - December 6, 2021
