By acquiring first Teemu Tainio and then Dwayne De Rosario, the Red Bulls answered any questions about the heart of their midfield. After they dominated the center of the pitch in a 3-0 rout of San Jose, D.C. clogged the middle to shut down Tainio; the result was the Red Bulls using the flanks to drill United 4-0 at RFK.
After a nationwide audience watched Rafa Marquez assume the responsibility in initiating the play from the back last Thursday, and saw right back Jan Gunnar Solli and right midfielder Dane Richards combine for four assists _ a fifth was reviewed and taken away _ the only question left is which poison foes will pick.
“I don’t know. We didn’t play that well against D.C., but hey, 4-0 on the scoreboard. I let them figure it out how they’re going to stop us,” said Tainio, who acknowledged he was a marked man last Thursday.
“I think D.C. had something like that on the menu. There was always somebody close to me, so I didn’t really have the ball that much as I’d been having in games before. But it didn’t matter; there was always somebody open. I have to make sure with my movement if somebody is catching me that I’m (finding the open man)….That won’t be a problem. But that’s my game, I want to be with the ball as much as I can and play the forwards or De Ro or the guys playing wide. That’s my game.’’
And if opponents take Tainio’s game away from the Red Bulls, they apparently have some devastating flank play as backup, led by Solli.
“I think the way D.C. managed to close us down in the middle of the park, they did a very good job. Maybe it was a surprise to them that also the right back came (forward) so many times in that game,’’ said Solli. “When Rafa hits Dane and Dane uses a one-touch flick to me, there was a lot of space there. We managed to hurt them pretty bad in the back by using that kind of thing.’’
Solli took a one-touch pass from Richards and set up Thierry Henry’s first goal with a far-post cross that the Frenchman headed home. Then he took a sublime chip from Richards, stiff-armed a defender like he was posing for the Heisman, and sent a low cross that Henry rammed home.
That assist was later reviewed and taken away _ ostensibly he was passing to Luke Rodgers instead of Henry _ but then Solli crossed to Agudelo for the final tally.
“Especially now when people see we have some good crossing game against D.C., they will have to pay attention to that as well,’’ said Solli. “When Kansas City comes to the arena, they will have to try to close that down, both the middle of the park and our wingers.
“There has to be space somewhere on the pitch then, because the way we played in the last home game against San Jose, we were killing them, especially with our accuracy and the way we passed having possession of the game. I think D.C. saw that and tried to do everything to close it down. It was as tough game for us, and (yet) we won four-nil.’’
That passing has been nothing short of sublime, at an MLS-leading 82.1%, and a league-best 66% in the final third of the pitch, according to OptaJack.
“Most teams will try to close us down, but the way we play we will always get some options to get out with so many good players,’’ said assistant Jan Halvor Halvorsen. “D.C. played a good game, especially the first half. They were closing us down. But we always got some opening, and this time especially on the right side because they were tucking in. Jan Gunnar got a lot of space on the right side.
“With the style and way that we play, with so many good players, we will always get out after awhile; then we try to play out from the back. You saw Rafa, when Teemu was closed down, he dumped some very good passes especially the first goal. He saw Dane in between and one-touched it to Jan Gunnar for a goal. We hope many teams will attack us a lot because that will open us up behind them.’’