If the Red Bulls have any hope of accomplishing their goals – and that’s a first-ever MLS Cup – they know they’ll have to overcome their road woes. And coach Mike Petke points the finger squarely in the mirror, saying he and the coaches must find a way to get the players to have the right mentality away from home.
“Yeah, absolutely (I’ve thought about it); and that answer lies with myself and the coaching staff,’’ acknowledged Petke, as he tries to get his shorthanded Red Bulls ready for Sunday’s 5 p.m. tilt at Houston sans any alibis and excuses. “We have to do a better job preparing them. It all comes down to accountability.
“As far as going to Houston, when we go to Seattle in a couple weeks we’re going out two days early. When we go to LA we’re going out two days early. Houston, even though it’s a trip it’s not the same type of trip to the West Coast, to Vancouver. We’re not worried about the travel or the heat; it all comes down to our gameplan, how we want to handle the game, manage the game, which is huge.’’
Huge is an understatement. The Red Bulls pulled out a ten-man 2-1 win over arch rival DC United last weekend to move into a first-place tie atop the Eastern Conference. But that was at home, where they’ve looked like contenders. Sunday they go on the road, where frankly they’ve looked incompetent.
Since June 12, when they traveled to Harvard and got eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup by New England, the Red Bulls are just 1-5-1 on the road. They’ve been shut out four times and outscored by an aggregate 16-7. Now, playing without Tim Cahill, Roy Miller and suspended Ibrahim Sekagya, they’ll try to find a way to manage Sunday’s game at always-tough Houston.
“We already started hitting on that. We’ll be really hitting on that all week,’’ Petke said of preparing the players for the gameplan. “And at the end of the day, it comes down to us preparing them, and it comes down to them showing up and not thinking too much into ‘Oh, we’re on the road and not many teams in this league are successful on the road.’ That’s (BS) to me, you know?’’
The Red Bulls haven’t played with the same confidence on the ball on the road, straying from their attempts to build from the back and relying on harried, hopeful longballs. Petke is trying to get them to have the same patience and poise on the road, because sooner or later they’re going to need it.
“You should treat (it) the same…as effort-wise and mentality-wise on the road as well as you do at home; so there’s no excuses,’’ said Petke. “We need to step up. We need to get a result here this weekend and we need to put a solid effort in.’’
After Sunday, the Red Bulls play four of their final six regular-season games at home, where they’ve excelled. But as far as the postseason, they’d be well-served to earn homefield advantage, and they’re still going to have to find a way to get results – if not wins, at least draws – away from Red Bull Arena.
“At the end of the day, if we make the playoffs, we’re for sure going to be on the road in the playoffs for at least a game,’’ said Petke. “So you can’t use that excuse now, you can’t use that excuse in the playoffs, and it all comes down to mentality to me.’’