It wasn’t long ago that Red Bull New York was one of the most entertaining teams in Major League Soccer.
After Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to FC Dallas, which doomed the Red Bulls to five winless league matches, it’s fair to say that at this very moment, they’re one of the most frustrating MLS sides.
At times, the Red Bulls have been humiliated in one-sided defeats to CF Montréal and Charlotte FC. They’ve gotten into wild, seesaw thrillers like the 4-4 draw with D.C. United and there was the high point of a scrappy, spirited 2-2 away draw against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
A Flat Response Against FC Dallas
On Saturday, the Red Bulls were flat, especially after joint league-leading goalscorer Petar Musa tallied the match’s opening goal in the 54th minute.
“The first half is tight,” head coach Michael Bradley explained after the defeat. “Dallas are a team that are organized, athletic, and competitive, so it’s not a game that is going to be wide open. By and large, in the first half, we played pretty well.
“The second half starts a little bit choppy, with fouls and neither team really getting a grip on things. Then obviously we concede the first goal. At that point, it’s the most obvious thing in the world to say, but goals change games, especially in tight games. From there, the response — our ability to really push the game, to be relentless, to play forward, to make chances and push back into it — that part wasn’t what it needed to be today.”
The Red Bulls Have Talent but Lack Consistency
A minus-11 goal differential tells everything you need to know about this club. The Red Bulls aren’t consistent or convincing. The one consistent thing is that Bradley has repeatedly described the Red Bulls as a long-term project.
The growing pains have been clear. Now, it’s up to Bradley, his staff and the players to dig deeper and find solutions before the season snowballs in the wrong direction.
“We’ll look closely at ways we can continue to be harder to play against,” Bradley said. “In a lot of moments, the way we step up and press puts things on our terms. But any team that wants to be aggressive and go after the opponent has to deal with situations behind them. That’s part of it, and it’s something we’ve got to continue to improve.
“Our fans are incredible, and if you want passionate fans, you understand their frustration when things don’t go well. It’s on us to keep working, to keep improving every game. It’s one game at a time — we’re not writing anything off or labeling the season. We’re focused on the next game, getting better, and continuing to push forward. I’m positive that if we do that, we’ll have a lot of good days and good nights.”
Patience Required as Red Bull New York Evolves
There is talent on this roster. No one is questioning that. There’s promising youth spread throughout the first-team and reserve side.
Bradley is a talented young coach who has plenty of good ideas, but this team and its head coach aren’t close to a finished product.
The 38-year-old has a ton of knowledge gained from a well-traveled club career and 151 United States national team appearances. He has the bloodlines and has been groomed for a successful management career — but the one thing he doesn’t have is a bag full of coaching experiences.
He’s going to learn things from victories, failures, frustrations and from being tested against more experienced MLS head coaches.
It’s going to take time for Bradley’s players to develop and mature, and it’s going to take time for Bradley to evolve from a promising young coach into one of the league’s best.
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