RECAP: The Match Against Philadelphia Exposed Two More Key Flaws for Red Bull New York, 3-1
The Red Bulls’ game against the Philadelphia Union on August 29th exposed two more flaws in the team.
Beyond the team’s weak defense, two other flaws stand out: their defense in the final third and their midfield in transition.
Definition
In the game, the Red Bulls had plenty of key plays that, if converted, could have won them the game. In the first half, Julian Hall, Cade Cowell, and Jorge Ruvalcalba had many chances to put it away, but they couldn’t finish. On one of those plays, Hall, instead of passing the ball to the open middle, decided to take a difficult shot, and it didn’t go in.
Cowell and Ruvalcaba had plenty of them and also made the play more difficult than it needed to be. In the second half, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Cameron Harper came on and stabilized the attack a bit, but they still struggled to make the final touch, even though they scored a goal late in the game.
Transitions
The team struggled many times to win possession and didn’t know what to do with it. This has been a constant problem in the last couple of games, as Emil Forsberg and Adri Mehmeti do not play well together.
Whenever they play together, nothing changes about their style, so you have two players who play like one.
In the many games I have watched, there is usually a pair of a “five” who would be a stopper and an “eight,” a creative-minded player. However, both Mehmeti and Forsberg play like an eight, and the transition from defense to offense is not clean.
The transition is even more jarring when the team loses the ball, and a good team would not wait to punish the opponent, like how Charlotte scored six on the team, or when there have been multiple times that teams like Philly or Atlanta gain momentum and then, at the end, win the game.
Discover more from New York Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.