The Red Bulls knew they would be depleted for their tilt Sunday at New England. It’s looking closer and closer to decimated.
Midfielder Dax McCarty has been ruled out with a knee injury that may sideline him for weeks. They already were missing Tim Cahill and Roy Miller to World Cup duty, and captain Thierry Henry is expected to be unavailable for the game at Gillette Stadium, as he is for almost all matches on artificial turf.
That’s four starters missing for a struggling team mired in a four-game winless skid, though the only unexpected one was McCarty getting hurt during the 1-1 draw at Sporting KC on May 27.
“In the first half, Dax took pretty bad knock to his knee. He somehow finished, made it through the game. An MRI on his knee and the situation looks like a couple of weeks,’’ coach Mike Petke said.
Petke said McCarty’s nagging back woes are past, and he didn’t know the specifics of the knee injury, only that it will sideline McCarty against the Revolution.
The Red Bulls play their US Open Cup opener June 14 against the Cosmos on Long Island, but their far more immediate concern is getting a victory at Gillette, a place where they simply never win. To make matters worse, they almost certainly will have to do it without Henry.
“History does tell us, history does show he does not play on a surface like New England. Anything can happen, but as of now we haven’t made any final decisions,’’ Petke said, trying to leave himself some wiggle room.
Other than Portland, which has a quality surface, Henry eschews playing on artificial turf.
Asked how frustrating missing the turf games must be for the highly competitive French star, Petke replied: “You’ll have to talk to Thierry. I can’t speak about what’s in his mind. But listen, he’s a guy who’s played for 20-some years professionally. Coming to MLS, it takes him weeks and weeks to recover any time [he plays on turf], and you know he has an ailing Achilles. You weigh the game against the season and what’s more important.’’
Petke did acknowledge “it’ll be a different situation ’’ if the Red Bulls had to play on artificial turf in a road playoff game.
The 35-year-old Henry – who has three goals and five assists in a dozen games this year, after never failing to reach double-figure tallies in a full MLS campaign – has some other decisions to make, namely about retirement.
With the World Cup approaching, and the summer transfer window, Red Bulls sporting director Andy Roxburgh will look to acquire talent. He’s said conversations about Henry’s future likely would happen over the summer as the club plots potential Designated Player signings. According to Petke, if any discussions have taken place, they haven’t included him.
“The only answer I can give you there is that I have nothing to do with contract talks. But I’ve had no talks with Thierry,’’ Petke said. “We’ve talked many times about the future. It’s early enough in the season, he hasn’t given me any indication. He’s feeling good, he’s playing well. As far as I’m concerned, anything can happen.’’
Petke said whatever the Red Bulls decide to do in terms of player acquisition, it won’t be a reaction to expansion club New York City FC signing Spanish World Cup star David Villa on Monday.
“You’d have to talk to Andy Roxburgh about that. He’s my boss, he’s the one who signs deals with players,’’ Petke said. “We’re always looking sign if someone’s available. But having another team sign a star [doesn’t make us get one].”