The Red Bulls have won consecutive games since coach Mike Petke’s practice-field altercation with superstar Thierry Henry, including a slump-busting 4-1 rout at Houston. Petke says it’s because the coaching staff has been clearer and more specific with the players – and admits it may well be a result of the dustup.
“Whatever that disagreement was about, from that you can draw any conclusions you want and they’re probably going to be right,’’ Petke said Wednesday. “From that there’s a clear understanding now, from that everybody’s 100 percent on the same page, from that everybody has a clear understanding of the tactics.
“Without a doubt, one could be related from each other. They could be a product of each product. We had a situation and now the players’ spirits are up.’’
On Aug. 29, Petke and Henry got in each other’s face during practice. They had to be separated by the staff and Henry left training.
“What came out in that disagreement, what came out in the aftermath — which was and in open candid conversation with everybody – really, really made us stronger as a team,’’ said Petke, whose Red Bulls (13-9-6, 45 points) are in a three-way tie atop the Eastern Conference going into Saturday’s tilt against shambolic Toronto FC.
“I’m not going to get specific exactly what was said. But I can assure you every single player can tell you what’s expected of them, and every player is on board 100 percent. Not that they weren’t before, but there’s no doubt now.’’
Two days later, Petke benched Henry against archrival DC United. But the French striker came in as a reserve to score in a 2-1 victory that snapped a three-game winless skid. On Sunday, they went on the road – where they had been 1-5-1 in their last seven – and crushed Houston.
After that laugher, goalkeeper Luis Robles said the Red Bulls are on the same page because Petke and the coaching staff have been more specific.
“Looking back at this training week, not just this one, but even the last one, there is an objective we want to accomplish,” Robles said. “The thing is, now that it is clear that the coach has spelled it out for us, we are only going to get stronger and better at it. There were times we didn’t make the right read, but at the end of the day, it was a full 180 from our past road performances.”
Petke has played more games (197) and MLS games (169) than anybody in team history, but is learning rapidly as a rookie coach. One of the things he’s quickly learning is the devil is in the details.
“I’m a new coach. Perhaps at certain times when I think things are going well, maybe deep down inside we weren’t being specific enough,’’ Petke admits. “I came to realization that perhaps — no, not perhaps — we weren’t being specific enough with certain things. The last two weeks we have been extremely specific.
“Does that mean we’re going to go 6-0 and win the MLS Cup? No, it doesn’t mean that at all. What it does mean is at the end of the day we can easily point things out and say this is what we went over and there are no excuses. The players like it a lot better and it makes my life easier.’’