Teams can’t win games in the opening minutes, but they can go a long way toward throwing them away. The Red Bulls’ penchant for coughing up early goals has come back to haunt them, and they know doing it again tomorrow vs. first-place Sporting KC could cost them first place in the Eastern Conference (7 pm, MSG+).
“It is kind of true we can put a statement out there. But we still have to play Chicago at home, and against Kansas City. It will be more a type of being-in-their-head thing, or them in our head if we don’t win. It’s just a game we need to win,’’ said captain Thierry Henry, who said his club’s five-game unbeaten streak hardly obscures their habit of falling behind early.
“We don’t want to go into the game every time conceding. I think we conceded four goals in the first eight minutes of the game, and I don’t want to see (that again)….You cannot start against Kansas City like that. They do not concede a lot, and I don’t know if you have a lot of teams this year that scored two or three against Kansas City; that won’t happen often.’’
What’s happened all too often is the Red Bulls digging themselves into early holes. They’ve allowed goals within the first eight minutes an MLS-worst eight times accordingto Elias, four in the six games. Coming into tomorrow third in the East – two points behind Sporting KC, and one behind idle Chicago – they can ill afford to cough up an early goal tonight.
“We looked into it a couple weeks ago, and it’s been a number of times and also against the top teams,” said coach Hans Backe. “We look in the four teams that are close to us, I think we’ve went down against every of those teams in the first 10 minutes, and some of these teams the first five minutes. It’s a long way in this league when you go down 1-0.
“Everyone is aware of it; everyone is sharp and ready for the game. I can’t say that anyone is nervous or anything to start a game, but we look a little bit passive in the defending game, the pressing game, the 50-50s. You probably need to invest a little bit more the first 15-20 minutes.”
Backe was correct in his team displaying that frailty most against MLS’ top teams, allowing the most early goals in the games they can least afford to.
The Red Bulls allowed a 2nd-minute goal in an Aug. 3 defeat at Houston, their last loss. They’d surrendered an 8th-minute tally against Portland on Aug. 19, falling behind 2-0 before having to score three unanswered to pull out a home win. After coughing up a 4th-minute goal at Livestrong Sporting Park on Aug. 26, they managed to salvage a draw only with the help of an own goal by this same Sporting KC side.
Seeing their third-minute goal Saturday against Columbus, and the pattern is as clear as it is damning.
Rafa Marquez – who made his first start in two months on Saturday, notching an assist in a 3-1 win over Columbus – added “The mistakes are just a lack of focus, and we need to come out sharper at the start of games. Everyone’s at fault for that. We’re a team: We win together, we lose together.”
Tomorrow they’ll face a physically-imposing Sporting KC team that tries to dominate in the air. But the Red Bulls – who have four of their remaining six games at home, including another Sporting KC clash on Oct. – say they’re up to the challenge.
“We want to be physical,’’ said midfielder Tim Cahill, who earned his reputation as a gritty player with Everton in the EPL. “The tag of being a bit soft has definitely been shaken off, because if we have to we’ll mix it with the best of them.’’