Crooks: Stunning Opening Goal In Leg 1 Still Has Red Bulls Reeling
By Glenn Crooks
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While our soccer comrades in other countries are baffled by the American playoff system, the New York Red Bulls are trying to figure out how to elude entry into an alarming Supporters Shield statistic.
In 19 previous seasons, less than one third of the regular season champions have gone on to win the MLS Cup.
Through 34 matches and eight months of training, film, rehab, matches and recovery, the Red Bulls earned the title of "Best Team in MLS."
However, on Sunday at Red Bull Arena, the Red Bulls host Columbus Crew SC trailing in the two-match, aggregate Eastern Conference playoff series, 2-0. And with an away goal rule to break deadlocks, RBNY is in a predicament – they need at least two goals to force overtime but if they concede just a single goal, will require four scores to advance to the MLS Cup.
"It's important for us to have some urgency," Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said after training on Tuesday. "We have to be aggressive but not reckless – we'll get that balance right."
Assertive play to kick-off the first leg at MAPFRE Stadium has placed Columbus in this favorable position. The Crew scored their opening goal just nine seconds into the match.
"We prepared fine, but we weren't ready, simple as that," admitted Red Bulls center back Matt Miazga, who was just back after earning his first U.S. Men's National Team cap. "We knew at times they were going to do that kind of play. We didn't see it coming and we got punished."
The Crew used a play that has been seen frequently on their kick-offs. Wil Trapp launched a long service straight down the pitch where Kei Kamara, Ethan Findlay and Justin Meram went on to combine on the fastest goal to begin a match in MLS playoff history.
Kamara, who later scored a vital second goal in the 85th minute, flicked a header toward Finlay who collected the ball and squared to Meram. The Iraqi national fired a first-time shot past MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Luis Robles.
"It rattled us a bit," said Marsch, the MLS Coach of the Year. "We'll find out now how good of a coach I am."
"It was embarrassing defending, schoolyard stuff," added RBNY captain Dax McCarty, who was part of a 2-1 defeat in the regular season at Columbus, where the tactics were similar. "They played direct and they played off Kamara and he just flicked it on and they had runners off of it. They do it five, 10 seconds into the game and for some reason we are surprised."
"We didn't execute well on a lot of our tactics," Marsch lamented.
And the Red Bulls failed to tally a goal for just the second time all season. It was the first clean sheet against them since a 2-0 home loss to Philadelphia in May -- 25 matches ago and the first of four consecutive defeats. RBNY lost only five of 20 matches the remainder of the regular season and hoisted the Supporters Shield on #DecisionDay at Toyota Park against the Chicago Fire.
In Europe, winning the league title is cause for massive celebration. Watch Chelsea and their supporters rejoice after clinching the Premier League title last season.
A few days later, the Blues were feted with a victory parade in West London.
Upon winning the title in Major League Soccer, the celebration is muffled with more matches on the calendar -- otherwise known as the playoffs.
Among the 19 Supporters Shield holders, only six have been able to claim a second trophy.
As a testament to my heritage, I like the playoffs -- and the top two teams during the regular season in MLS are scrambling (FC Dallas trails Portland, 3-1 in the West) as they approach the Conference Final Decision Day on Sunday.
The likely result will be an electrifying 90 minutes or more to determine the MLS Cup combatants.
Throw-Ins
-- Red Bulls midfielder Mike Grella holds the record for fastest goal in MLS history. He scored seven seconds into the match at Philadelphia on Oct. 20.
-- The Red Bulls won their only other Shield in 2013, losing to the Houston Dynamo in the Conference semifinals.
-- With the second-best home regular season record in MLS since 2012, the Red Bulls have a 3-3 home playoff mark during that same time period.
-- After the defeat in the first leg, the Red Bulls are now 0-4 against Columbus in the playoffs, including a 3-1 loss in the MLS Cup in 2008. In that match, then-league MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto assisted on all three goals.
-- Schelotto, according to reports, was a leading candidate to fill Chicago's vacant head coach position. Newly appointed general manager Nelson Rodriguez instead selected a relative unknown to the U.S. soccer community, Veljko Paunovic, who led Serbia to the most recent U-20 World Cup Championship. Paunovic also played for one season in MLS, helping the Philadelphia Union to their lone playoff appearance in 2011.
-- Jason Kreis, the former New York City FC coach who also interviewed for the Chicago position, will provide analysis on MLSSoccer.com's pre-match coverage of the Conference Finals on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
-- Will Kreis be back to manage an MLS team in 2016? At the moment, there are no positions available. However, three coaches have received the often fatal "votes of confidence" from ownership in recent weeks: Greg Vanney of Toronto FC, Philadelphia's Jim Curtin, and Pablo Maestroni of the Colorado Rapids. In addition, the Kansas City Star has reported that Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes is being courted by two Premier League clubs and a European national team.
Follow Glenn on Twitter at @GlennCrooks
