A team takes its personality from the top, takes its cues from its coach. The MLS-leading Red Bulls took their hard-working grinder persona from Mike Petke, and it just might win them the first silverware in their long, tortuous title-less existence.
The Long Island native has been with them almost from the beginning, before they even were the Red Bulls. He was a young defender in 1999 when a German soccer magazine labeled them the worst team in the world, an aging defender 10 years later when they were one of the worst in MLS history. That’s likely what makes all this so sweet.
The Red Sox had their Curse of the Bambino, and the Red Bulls have their Curse of Caricola. But Petke is a win on Sunday against Chicago from breaking that 17-year dry spell, a win from winning the Supporters Shield and putting the first meaningful hardware in the franchise’s dusty trophy case.
“I learned through the years what’s missing on this team. Talk about identity or character; I believe in that. I never felt and never saw it,’’ Petke, the first-year head coach, told The Post. “A lot had to do with the turnover. How can you forge identity with people who don’t have history with the club? It was a stopover for [some] coaches. I wanted to put my foot down, make sure they knew this is my life; this isn’t a stopover for me.’’
The Red Bulls have had more turnover than Eli Manning. From the day they lost their inaugural match on Nicola Caricola’s own goal, they’ve had a league-record 14 coaches. But Petke’s the only one who claims if they fire him he’d sit with the South Ward fans cheering. The players see that love, and responded.
But it wasn’t always easy, from the practice fight with Thierry Henry to the 0-2-2 start to having to dump the 4-3-3 formation he wanted. But after switching to a 4-4-2 that fit his workmanlike persona — inherited from his father, Ed, who took just three sick days in 30 years with the LIRR — they’ve gone 16-7-6, and embraced playing for the badge. That’s what makes Petke the proudest.
“The spirit’s fantastic. We’re never beaten and that’s a reflection of the way Mike is,’’ said general manager Andy Roxburgh. “I gather his spirit [as a player] was fantastic; that’s reflected in this group. Even when things are going badly or going wrong, they’re never out of it. They just keep going. … Style takes longer, but spirit is worth its weight in gold.’’
Or in the case of the Shield, silver. And while Petke hasn’t taken a shot this year or attempted a tackle — other than perhaps his altercation with Henry — he’s in the club’s DNA. Cut him and Red Bull would probably pour out.
He, his wife, Kim, and sons, Dylan and Mason, still live in the Red Bank, N.J., house they bought during his first MetroStar stint, 1 ½ years after he turned down a move to Germany’s FC Kaiserslautern … and six months before they traded him away.
“There were many reasons I didn’t [go], but the biggest is I wanted to be in New York,’’ said Petke, entrusted with the top job in January. “If I knew I’d have become a rich superstar, played every game in the Bundesliga, made tons of money, I’d 100 percent not go back and change because of where I am now. This is a dream come true.’’
The hardest adjustment was coaching players who didn’t share that same dream.
“Toughest thing for me was how much I loved club, you can’t just bring a player in and have him just kiss the crest. It’s so obvious, but it was tough for me to handle,’’ said Petke, whose team can clinch the Shield with a tie if Sporting KC loses or ties Saturday. But win, lose or draw, Petke has ethereal goals as well.
“If I could do any part of putting a team that our fan base that’s been with us 17 years and lived this drama could be proud of — God’s honest truth — where the results almost become secondary, where they say this team has an identity, they play for us, that’s a big success,’’ said Petke. “That’s what I wanted.’’