You Can't Accept an 0-2 Start

Right now it seems that the Red Bulls are in excuse mode: Marquez is out, Conde is out, Real Salt Lake are "the best team in the league". I don't buy it.

Start up top: Henry alone up top with McCarty behind him was an intriguing decision from Hans Backe for a fan like myself. In my opinion McCarty has played better than Marquez on almost every occasion for New York. But really the defensive midfield position is where McCarty shines the brightest, he couldn't seem to keep pace with the attacks and was bullied off the ball by Real too frequently.

The next problem up top was midfielders failure to recognize Henry's runs quick enough to get the ball past the Real defense. Putting Cooper in the second half was the right decision by Hans Backe but unfortunately the chemistry between Cooper, Henry, and the midfield was not as good as it was against Dallas in the second half.

Next is the midfield. Again, I think McCarty does better when he's not so far forward. The wingers did alright against Real but too often were found almost running into Solli or Miller trying to get forward. Also the midfield in general needs to be much much quicker on the ball. On each Red Bulls attack the midfielders were holding the ball up way too much, allowing Real to fully recover back to defense (also something the Red Bulls did poorly).

Then there's the defense. Most of Real's chances and their second goal in my opinion could be traced back to one man, Markus Holgersson (I hate you Bolton Wanderers). No one got me more angry and frustrated during this match than Holgersson. It's hard to see why at first but looking into Real's chances more deeply one can recognize Holgersson's mistakes. Way too often, Holgersson got sucked in to the Real player with the ball leaving another Real attacker wide open near the goal. This didn't just happen once but on almost every one of Real's attacks. If the Red Bulls defense is going to improve, Holgersson needs to improve, and by that I mean change almost his entire style of play. He must stay with who he is marking and not get sucked in, two rudimentary aspects of being a central defender. Also, seriously Roy Miller? Against Pumas in the pre-season I actually thought he was the best player for the Red Bulls in that game. But now his silly back passes and give-aways have made him a bigger threat to his own team than the opposition.

And finally, one more observation, corner kick efficiency: 8 corner kicks and not single one was even touched by a Red Bulls player. I don't know what they're doing with the whole crowding the goalie strategy but it's not working.