Red Bull New York is in desperate need of clinical finishing, and the $3.2 million salaried designated player who could offer a solution has barely seen the pitch.
The situation has Red Bull New York supporters asking where in the world is Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting?
Last season, Choupo-Moting scored 17 goals and provided five assists in 33 MLS matches. Though a knee injury sidelined the 37-year-old for a portion of the current campaign, the 6-foot-3 forward has been limited to one start and just 178 minutes of MLS play across 11 matches.
Over their past two defeats, it felt like Choupo-Moting could have made the difference for the Red Bulls as an impact sub. Yet, he saw just four minutes of action last Saturday’s 2-1 road defeat to cellar-dwelling Atlanta United and went completely unused in Wednesday’s 1-0 home loss to Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC.
Red Bull New York Are Creating Plenty of Chances but Not Finishing
Across both defeats, the Red Bulls generated enough chances to win both games but were wasteful in front of goal.
In Atlanta, the Red Bulls heavily outpossessed United and dominated the match territorially. The Red Bulls impressively outshot Nashville 13-10 but were handed a last-gasp defeat courtesy of Maxwell Woledzi’s 92nd-minute match winner that stunned fans inside Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Across their past two matches, Red Bull New York have recorded 22 shots but only managed to score a single goal.
Head coach Michael Bradley has experimented by pushing MLS All-Star forward Julian Hall to the left wing when rookie Mijahir Jiménez has been preferred centrally. More recently, Bradley has reverted to his trusted front three of Hall at center forward with Jorge Ruvalcaba on the left and Cade Cowell operating on the right wing.
“If I look at the season as a whole, we’re a good team,” Bradley said after Wednesday’s defeat. “We don’t score enough goals. We still create good chances, but we’re still a little bit short in the goal category.
“When you talk about thin margins and tight games, if we could reward ourselves, take advantage of some of the big chances that we have, go ahead in games, get the second goal, play from not just 1-0 ahead, but play from 2-0 ahead, those things would all go along with. So we’ll continue to work at that. But again, the good news is that we’re creating good chances and that part is the most important. The goals will come.”
Choupo-Moting Could Be the Answer
Perhaps Choupo-Moting could help in that department? It’s clear that Bradley and the entire Red Bull New York organization have placed their full trust in youth, but Choupo-Moting has bags of experience and goals left in his boots. He excels in hold-up and link-up play, he creates space for teammates, his size draws attention, and he creates chaos in the box in set-piece situations.
Back in May, Bradley suggested that Choupo-Moting would receive his fair share of starts and opportunities.
“I’m sure that Choupo will start more games this year,” Bradley said. “Obviously, the way that we play, Julian can play in different positions. But for right now, we still see Julian as a nine and Choupo as a nine.”
“So it’s not necessarily that easy to think about having them both on the field together for long periods of time. In this first part of the season, Julian has obviously gotten off to a really good start, has scored a lot of goals, has made a lot of important plays, gives the team a lot in terms of his work against the ball. But obviously, as we move through the season, absolutely, we’re going to continue to rely on Choupo and his experience and his quality and his ability to make really important plays for us.”
Bradley’s Choupo-Moting Decision Could Shape the Red Bulls’ Playoff Push
Though it’s clear that this will be Choupo-Moting’s final season in Harrison, Bradley would be wise to call on him at least as an impact sub as the Red Bulls chase a playoff berth.
Red Bull New York currently sit in eighth place with 25 points gained through 20 MLS matches played. The Red Bulls are a single point ahead of rivals DC United, who hold the final Wild Card seed. Chasing them are Orlando City SC and Toronto FC, who are each three points behind DC United.
Orlando’s playoff push could really kick into gear once star signing Antoine Griezmann is fully acclimated. The same could be said about Toronto should Josh Sargent reclaim his goalscoring touch.
Time will tell whether Bradley follows through on his plan to involve Choupo-Moting or if the highly paid forward will continue to be glued to the bench.
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