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Three Takeaways: DC United
A confidence-booster against DC leads to things being thought and conclusions being concluded
Inspired Rotation
In light of the short rest and the looming threat of a physically demanding matchup, Schwarz made four changes from the weekend match against New England, bringing in Cameron Harper, Elias Manoel, Andres Reyes, and Kyle Duncan for the respective starters. The quartet’s hunger was evident as they played like they had something to prove, with Harper and Manoel in particular threatening the shaky right-midfield and striker selection.
Harper was lively throughout the night, and looked like a much more natural fit for the wide role in the 4-2-2-2 (which might have been more of a 4-2-3-1 on the night, but I digress). He’s a very touch-and-run type of forward, quick down the byline and able to put good crosses in but also get shots off, and as evidenced by his goal he’s able to provide crucial width and two-footedness that Wiki Carmona, who’s started in the role for most of the season, has struggled with. Manoel’s pace and trickery showed in a lot of his play besides the goal, and had more of an impact on the game than Dante Vanzeir’s had throughout his last string of starts. It might be time for another changing of the guard up top, and you can’t say Manoel hasn’t earned it.
And while Reyes and Duncan are unlikely to take over the starting roles just yet, their standout performances speak to their value as able-bodied deputies (most of the time) on this Red Bulls roster. The former was a perfect solution to the Benteke problem, minimizing the Belgian’s physicality and allowing the Red Bulls to focus on attack. Duncan, for as much as I personally hate on him, was solid and disciplined in defense, and sharp in possession. All in all it’s positive signs for a Red Bulls roster that undoubtedly has depth problems, because at least the players that are there can do a job when asked.
Gritty but consistent… attack?
The consistent understanding surrounding New York over the last couple of years has been one of a defense that ranges from very good to elite, coupled with an offense that is just enough. But now a respectable 13 games into the season, it might be time to start reevaluating how we see the Red Bulls after they posted four goals for the third time this season (their eighth multi-goal night already), something that only happened three times in the entirety of last campaign. What’s interesting is that DC wasn’t exactly a blowout, but something the Red Bulls had to work and grind for before eventually coming out on top. And having only been shut out three times this year, scoring seems more like an eventuality week after week.
There’s hardly been any goals against the flow of the game this season, but rather the Red Bulls are building up momentum and professionally taking care of business on the attacking front. Think of when you watch a Manchester City game, if that’s your thing. City don’t always score in the first fifteen minutes, they may indeed face some adversity and get frustrated against teams feeling particularly motivated, but because of their clear attacking ideas one feels that they inevitably will score, which they always do. While I’m not saying that the Red Bulls are as good as Manchester City, it’s nice to have a similar feeling in Harrison. Schwarz has done incredible work to revitalize the way the Red Bulls operate in possession, and the days of rushed long balls and frantic long shots seem to be firmly in the rear-view mirror. Patience, composure, and urgency when the time is right has been the name of the game, and the luxury of having Emil Forsberg and Lewis Morgan’s creative minds at his disposal has been welcome for the German manager. There’s an actual plan behind scoring for New York, and it’s getting increasingly hard to bet on an opponent clean sheet.
Atlantic Cup falls flat
MLS has a rivalry dilemma. Sporting animosity is some of the most engaging and beautiful parts of the game, and having been built from scratch, Major League Soccer has the interesting job of creating its own rivalries rather than letting them emerge from decades of history that the league simply doesn’t have. Some have really struck a chord with fanbases, El Trafico and the Cascadia Cup are some of the marquee events of the year, and the Hudson River Derby is increasing in relevance even if it’s not quite there yet, but the Atlantic Cup is in a category of its own. It may have been because of the meagre midweek crowd at Audi Field, but between the lack of real atmosphere, and the lack of bite in the match itself, it hardly looked like the teams hated each other. With Apple TV commentators trying their best to hype up the moment it, quite frankly, looked artificial.
While DC-Red Bulls games have been exciting and chaotic in the last couple of years, the increasing gap between the two clubs (New York are now unbeaten in their last 8 games against DC in all competitions) and the baffling geographic distance make it hard to consider it much of a rivalry at all. And with NYCFC and arguably the Philadelphia Union growing into more important and passionate games for fans and players alike, maybe it’s time to retire the Atlantic Cup, and travel down I-95 in peace.
But hey, feel free to yell at me on Twitter or in the comments.
The real takeaway is the team's new love of backheels after Morgan's great assist the prior game.
In a spot of bother?
Backheel.
Did you look to see where your teammate was? No?
Backheel.