The next four matches will be a defining stretch for Red Bull New York as Michael Bradley and his players look to enter the World Cup break on a high.
New York comes into the weekend in 11th place in the tightly-packed Eastern Conference standings. If all goes well between now and the break, the Red Bulls could position themselves in the upper echelon of the conference table.
That turnaround will need to start in Chicago on Saturday where Red Bull New York hopes to end a five-game winless drought at Soldier Field.
Red Bull New York Seeking Response in Chicago
“It’s a really important four games, there’s no two ways about it,” Bradley stated during Thursday’s media availability. “Obviously, you look at the table in the Eastern Conference and things are very, very tight. The separation between a few places from the top and a few places from the bottom is very small.
“We understand that over these next four games, it’s a really important opportunity for us to continue to improve and continue to move ourselves along continue to take the points that we deserve and take the points that will set us up for a really good second half of the season when we come back from the World Cup.”
Bradley is eager to test himself against Chicago Fire FC head coach Gregg Berhalter. The Red Bulls head coach closed his international career during Berhalter’s first stint as head coach of the United States men’s national team.
Bradley Praises Berhalter And Chicago Fire FC Stars
“Gregg is a really good coach,” Bradley said. “He’s proven that everywhere that he’s been. He has really, really good experience as a player now, as a coach. Obviously, I know Gregg pretty well.
“He loves football, he’s a hard worker, and I think any team that he is involved in always has a real idea of the way that they want to play, and will always be ready when they step on the field to try to present problems for the opponent.”
The Fire currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference standings. It’s a position that the Red Bulls are striving toward reaching before the break.
“We’re excited for the match,” Bradley said. “Obviously, Chicago has gotten off to a good start this season and we understand that it’s a big game.
“Chicago is a good team. They have good players. A team coached by Gregg is always going to have ideas about how certain ideas about how they want to play with the ball and how they want to build the game. I think some of the signings that they’ve made, especially, have been really important.
“I was going to start with guys like (Philip) Zinckernagel and (Hugo) Cuypers and the quality that they’ve shown in the attack. But obviously, a guy like (Mbekezeli) Mbokazi, he has on the other end of the field been a very, very good signing. So they’ve done a good job in terms of how they’ve started to put the pieces together.”
Red Bull New York Staying True to Its Attacking Identity
Bradley expects the Red Bulls to be in for a difficult test at Soldier Field when the match kicks off at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
“We know it’s a game where our ability to make the game hard on them, our ability to make sure that we can find the right ways to step up and be aggressive and go after them and not just let them do the things that they’ve worked on in training all week,” he explained.
“Obviously, then when we have the ball, we have our ideas about how we want to put the game on our terms, how we want to play forward, how we want to create chances, how we want to get in the box.”
Bradley and his players are sticking to the plan and aren’t planning to deviate from their aggressive, high-pressing, front-footed brand of football.
“We’re not going to change who we are or our approach to the game,” goalkeeper Ethan Horvath said. “After the last game, Michael said we’re not going to change anything so we’re going to go out there and attack the game, still be ultra aggressive.”
The Red Bulls will look to crash the top of the table by staying true to their identity. All of their will and fight will be needed over this vital stretch of three matches across 15 days starting on Saturday.
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