The Red Bulls open their postseason tonight in the same place they started to salvage their regular season: at FC Dallas.
But when they kick off their wild-card game at Pizza Hut Park, they’ll do it without their most pivotal player, striker Luke Rodgers, who is out with a left knee injury.
The Red Bulls were 9-4-7 for 34 points when Rodgers started, outscoring their foes 32-18. But they went 1-4-9 for 10 points without him and were outscored 18-26. They went on a two-month skid when he had plantar fasciitis, but he returned and scored in a 1-0 slump-busting win at Dallas six weeks ago, one that turned their season around.
“It’s unbelievable,” said coach Hans Backe, who felt the striker could be fit by Friday. “He’s an important player with his character and his work rate. They’re frightening stats without him.”
After mustering just five points in that eight-game summer skid, earning a road victory at FC Dallas — and doing it without Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, Jan Gunnar Solli and Roy Miller — buoyed their confidence and spurred them to take 13 points in their final seven games.
“We played way better in the last games. We have nothing to lose,” said Henry. “We’re going at their place, where it’s a rough place to win, even though they were on a poor run at the end.
“It’s still one of the best teams in the league, so we’re going to have to do something amazing to go and win three [points] . . . but it is doable.”
Dax McCarty, liable to start at right midfield if Dane Richards gets the nod up front, said the team’s last Dallas trip was pivotal. The Red Bulls are 4-2-1 since, while FC Dallas is 2-8-2 in its last 12, worn out by play in the CONCACAF Champions League.
“That was the turning point in our season. We had an eight-game winless streak; that’s devastating,” said McCarty. “We really came together as a team . . . That was very key for us. After that game we started to get on a little roll. You can definitely look at that game as a turning point in our season and what spurred us on to make the playoffs.”