The Red Bulls have energy on the wings

Just after his appointment – and before a now infamous town hall meeting revealed to him the depth of fan animosity unleashed by the sacking of his predecessor Mike Petke – Jesse Marsch made a statement about how he wanted his team to play, using the example of an “energy drink”.

To those fans protesting the ownership of Red Bull that comment was like, well, a red rag to a bull. But perhaps some early results of Marsch’s transformation of the team might make them regard his statement in a more favorable light.

The Red Bulls have started the season with an ethic of collective responsibility built around a pressing game, and it’s brought them results. Indeed after RSL slipped up to a late Whitecaps goal on Saturday night, New York now hold an unlikely distinction as the only unbeaten team in MLS after beating San Jose 2-0 on Friday night.

They didn’t play particularly well in doing so, but they out-hustled opponents who have historically tended to have the better of physical encounters with them. And the difference between the two was that when the Red Bulls did force interceptions they had the quality on the wings to quickly spread play and turn those chances into goals.

Sacha Kljestan is still settling into a role further forward in the midfield than he’s used to playing, but got his first goal for the club in the first half, while Mike Grella added a second moments later. And while San Jose came out stronger in the second half, particularly when they subbed in Chris Wondolowski and Tommy Thompson, the Red Bulls’ game management was enough to see them over the line with something to spare, as Marsch replaced his wide men Grella and Lloyd Sam with Sal Zizzo and Dane Richards to stretch the game back into the San Jose half. Had Bradley Wright-Phillips been sharper the hosts could have scored again in injury time.

In the locker room, the Red Bulls have made a virtue of those who doubted how they’d cope with the loss of Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill. After the game Kljestan pointedly reminded journalists that many had said they’d fail to make the playoffs, while also hastily adding that the team wouldn’t be “drinking the Kool-Aid” in the wake of praise they’re now receiving.

Kljestan promised the team would play with a chip on their shoulder for the rest of the season, though they can expect to encounter sterner opposition to their game plan. The Red Bulls were fortunate to get out of DC with a draw last week after their second game of the season against their rivals was a much more physical affair than the first. And San Jose too, looked ready to greet the Red Bulls press with their own forceful play, given a chance.

For now the Red Bulls energy is proving enough, however, and they top the East. Let’s see how they do as a target. GP

NYC FC end their toughest week running out of bodies

Towards the end of the first half of New York City’s game against Portland Timbers on Sunday night, the cameras cut to a grimacing Jason Kreis. Kreis is hardly known for a happy-go-lucky demeanor on the sidelines at the best of times, but at that moment his mood was perfectly understandable. Forward Tony Taylor had just gone down clutching his knee and was about to be stretchered out of the game.

With David Villa having left Thursday’s game against Philadelphia at half-time, starting center-back Jason Hernandez and full-back Josh Williams out, and Mix Diskerud returning from international duty only to turn an ankle in training on Saturday, Kreis has found himself testing the depth of his roster earlier than he could have expected in the team’s expansion season.

The injuries couldn’t have come at a worse time. Typical of expansion sides, New York had already been struggling to cohere, and clear as Kreis’s methodologies and expectations of his players are (roughly put, “value the ball, support each other”), he could do without trying to replace this many parts before the machine has operated at maximum efficiency.

It also suggests an underlying concern about the team’s performances so far. New York have tended to start games slowly, lift themselves early in the second half, then fall prey to tiredness and lapses of concentration late on. Twice this week already they’d dropped points to late goals by a hardworking but limited Philadelphia side, and while Portland have not been in scintillating form themselves of late, and were missing the creativity of Diego Valeri, they cannot have been overly intimidated looking at the NYC team sheet.

In the event the replacement players did well enough, though fell short of making the difference, with Patrick Mullins and the promising Khiry Shelton both missing decent chances on the night.

For a time it looked like there might be a silver lining, with Portland’s attack looking to be as blunt as New York’s. Nagbe was often woefully anonymous for a player of his talents and Adi’s leaden touches ended more than one promising attack – especially in the second half, when in an inversion of the recent pattern of New York games it was the visitors who were in the ascendancy for much of the half.

Perhaps it was appropriate that when Portland got their winner it was through a wicked deflection from Dairon Asprilla’s shot that Josh Saunders could do little about. It was certainly typical of NYC’s current fortunes that in chasing the equalizer moments later, another deflection, this time off Portland defender Jorge Villafana, bounced just wide of the post with Adam Kwarasey beaten. City pressed afterwards, but looked as likely to concede again as level things.

The Red Bulls went top of the East in a week that saw NYC FC play three, score two and came out with one point. It’s been the young team’s toughest seven days – now Kreis must work out how to turn the corner with the bodies still available to him, and hope they can remember each others’ names. GP

LA Galaxy show importance of strength in depth

With the last four MLS Cups shared between these two sides, there was a temptation to ascribe deeper meaning to Saturday’s clash between the LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City. Both clubs find themselves in transition this season, following off-season squad shuffles, yet there is still something profound to be taken from a meeting of such diminished dynasties.

OK, so not too diminished in the Galaxy’s case. Bruce Arena’s team still holds the MLS Cup title - boasting one of the finest rosters in the league, even after the retirement of Landon Donovan. They currently sit just five points short of Western Conference leaders Vancouver, with a game in hand and the arrival of Steven Gerrard still to come, so reports of LA’s demise should be tempered – especially just seven games into the new season. Donovan’s departure has indeed hurt their goal return (1.14 per game this season, compared to a regular season average of two per game in 2014), but the Galaxy remain an accomplished outfit – as demonstrated by the 2-1 win over Sporting KC.

Arena made the most of LA’s depth to secure three points, with Robbie Keane sitting out his second successive game due to a groin injury, and Gyasi Zardes and Omar Gonzalez rested on the bench after the pair’s involvement with the US Men’s National Team in San Antonio last week. Gonzalez scored the game-winner as a second half substitute, but regardless this win provided a statement on just how deep the Galaxy really is.

Sporting KC’s starting line-up was also depleted, but unlike LA they didn’t have the depth to absorb such significant absences. Injuries to key players hindered the club’s MLS Cup defence last year, and unfortunately for Vermes the Sporting Park treatment room hasn’t been short of visitors this season either. Chance Myers, Seth Sinovic and Ike Opara – who both endured injury-plagued campaigns in 2014 – were desperately missed in Carson, with Matt Besler the only member of the 2013 MLS Cup-winning defensive backline to feature against the Galaxy. Vermes might have to finally abandon his 4-3-3 system to mitigate his side’s injuries with a more protective shape in future.

Although the Sporting KC coach should curb the urge to play Benny Feilhaber as a midfield anchor going on the basis of his performance against LA. By positioning him closer to the opposition area Vermes gave the 30-year-old a much-needed degree of attacking freedom, leading to an assist for Krisztian Nemeth’s equalising goal. While Graham Zusi continues his recovery from injury, Sporting KC should look to Feilhaber for a creative spark - and play him a position where he can provide it.

2015 isn’t just above proving there is life after Donovan for the Galaxy – it’s also about reiterating their place as North America’s predominant franchise in the new MLS 3.0 landscape. This season’s big-name signings have gone to the East coast, while Arena focusses on a more nuanced squad development (at least before Gerrard arrives this summer). For Sporting KC however, it might just be about making the playoffs. GR

Seattle remember how to score

There can be a certain brutishness to Obafemi Martins’ play at times. After all, the Nigerian’s physical strength is one of his best qualities, with most of his goals – of which there have been plenty in two years on the Pacific Northwest – thunderous in either their finish or execution. But the Seattle Sounders’ forward provided a moment of unusual deftness in his side’s 3-2 win over the Colorado Rapids.

Surrounded by two Rapids defenders and with his back to goal, Martins took an Andy Rose pass into his feet before flicking it beyond Bobby Burling with an improvised Cruyff turn, all in one poised movement. The piece of skill – which takes several viewings to truly appreciate – set Martins clean through on the Colorado goal, finishing past Chris Seitz with an assured right-footed finish. As winner of last year’s Goal of the Year award, Martins has a tendency for the magnificent, but this was “something different,” as he described it himself after the match.

Martins’ 73rd minute goal capped a 3-1 win for the Sounders, but the contest could have taken a rather different direction had Dillon Powers put the Rapids ahead after just four minutes, finding the far post when he should have found the net instead. As if the failure to score wasn’t consequence enough, the rebound led to a Seattle counter-attack – from which the opening goal was notched by Lamar Neagle, curling a shot beyond Clint Irwin for a 1-0 breakthrough. It was the kind of decisiveness the Sounders haven’t shown enough in 2015.

Until Saturday the Rapids’ defence had been decidedly stingy this season – conceding just twice from five games. Yet against Seattle they were uncharacteristically generous, particularly for Neagle’s second goal of the match, with James Riley deflecting an Irwin save into the path of the Sounders striker. And despite Martins’ brilliance, Pablo Mastroeni will be disappointed his defensive duo of Burling and Drew Moor weren’t able to snuff out the Nigerian’s run on goal.

But with Colorado’s miserly defence fractured, Seattle’s misfiring frontline found their groove. Just one goal from their previous three matches illustrated a side toiling for consistency in attack, yet there was little sign of that in Commerce City. Having endured a degree of cruel misfortune – striking the woodwork countless times – Neagle finally netted his first and second of the season Given his importance to Sigi Schmid’s system as a left-side link between midfield and attack, it’s perhaps no coincidence that Neagle’s return to the goalscoring fold prompted that of the Sounders as a team too. GR

FC Dallas right the ship

Less than two months of the new MLS season have been played, but this match-up had the potential to set a lasting tone for both teams. In a league with so little to differentiate between so many, momentum – something FC Dallas and Toronto FC have both struggled for of late – can be crucial.

Going on the final outcome, it was FC Dallas that corrected their problems - recording a first win since 21 February – although by staging a spirited second half fight-back from 3-0 down to 3-2, Toronto FC might have turned something of a corner too despite what was ultimately another inept defensive display.

Oscar Pareja needed this win. The 3-1 defeat to the Portland Timbers two weeks ago – in which the Colombian coach played the runny-nosed antagonist by offering Caleb Porter a used tissue rather than a handshake at full-time – could have been explained as nothing more than a mere blip, had FC Dallas not lost 4-0 at home to a struggling Colorado team the week after. It was about this time last year that the Texans snapped – losing four consecutive games having won five from seven before that. Had they done it again? Not on this basis.

FC Dallas wasted no time in making an impression on TFC – with Fabian Castillo scoring the fastest goal in franchise history after just 29 seconds. And the 22-year-old forward added a second just nine minutes later, as the Texans – who had netted just once in their last three fixtures – underlined just how potent they can be when things click in attack. However, it would be over five hours before FC Dallas eventually secured the points, with proceedings delayed 206 minutes due to an unholy lightning strike – the kind Tom Cruise dodges in War of the Worlds – just before half-time. This wasn’t the defensively resolute performance FC Dallas fans might have wished to see after heavy defeats to Portland and Colorado, but at least there was the return of an attacking spark which had been missing recently.

After an encouraging opening day win over the Vancouver Whitecaps, things have since gone a bit wrong for Toronto FC. Big off-season business hasn’t had its desired impact on results as Greg Vanney’s side suffered three straight defeats heading in Saturday’s match – where they made it four successive losses.

TFC must address their roster imbalance, and fast. Their midfield is one of the best in MLS, with Jozy Altidore – for all his troubles at Sunderland – a bullish and potent frontman. But at the back Toronto FC are a hot mess, with Justin Morrow and Nick Hagglund both playing in compromised positions, and Steven Caldwell, Mark Bloom and Eriq Zavaleta all held together with tape in the treatment room. Even with a frontline that boasts the quality of Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco, TFC are handicapped by their foundation.

The late fight-back, sparked by Giovinco’s double, gave Vanney some reason for optimism though, and if TFC can somehow capture that spirit and take it to Florida for next week’s clash against Orlando City their final eight minutes in Frisco could prove significant. “As extremely frustrating as the first-half was and the mistakes that have continued, which have to improve, I was extremely proud of the team,” explained a remarkably upbeat Vanney. “The guys came out and fought like real men out there in the second half.” GR