HARRISON, NJ (September 19, 2014) The New York Red Bulls, currently on a four game unbeaten streak, look to extend their recent success this Saturday evening at Red Bull Arena, where they welcome the MLS leading Seattle Sounders. Kickoff is set for 7:31 and the match will be shown nationally on NBCSN.
Red Bulls vs Sounders: What You Need to Know
Even though the Red Bulls are coming off a midweek loss in CONCACAF Champions league, manager Mike Petke’s club can look at their recent success in league play as a foundation for continued success against clubs ahead of them in the standings. The fourth place Red Bulls are fighting for their playoff lives, riding a 2-0-1 stretch which has featured victories over Sporting Kansas City, and DC United. That said, Seattle comes into Harrison, also on short rest, riding a streak of their own. Seattle not only won the US Open Cup at midweek, but also come into the match on a 4-0-1 unbeaten streak in league play.
Despite having trouble creating the fortress Red Bull Arena was last season, Petke is still hopeful to recreate some home cooking. With stars Tim Cahill, captain Thierry Henry, and MLS Golden Boot leader Bradley Wright-Philips available and returning to the line up, Petke looks to restore some of the luster on the Red Bulls attack against a Seattle side that features a pair of attackers in Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey that are incredibly lethal. Petke acknowledged the duo at training on Friday, “The relationship between Dempsey and Martins is phenominal, and they have a strong back-line, so it’s going to be our toughest game this year and it’s going to be, perhaps, one of our most important games.”
Thierry Henry also had this to add about the challenge Seattle brings to New York, “The thing is the pace, the pace of Obafemi Martins and his strength and his awareness, and you kind of get scared. When you look at the goal against Philly, they went three on him, forgetting
that Dempsey was running and Martins is clever enough to pass that ball back and that’s the way it is. I think the difference with those two guys is that they are not greedy, whenever one is in a better position, the other one tries to feed him. When you have two guys like that, playing the way they’re playing, but also give credit, because like I always say, the strikers get a lot of the credit.”
Over recent weeks, Petke and assistant coach Robin Fraser have switched their tactics up to feature two CDMs to assist in moving the ball forward and bolster a defensive back 4 that has struggled to find stability and success. Tim Cahill, who has had struggles of his own finding his way this season, talked a bit about the new defensive set up, “The way it’s setup now it’s harder for us to attack but it’s more disciplined, as you’ve seen away at Philadelphia even the way we played at the back is a lot different where you’ve got Roy (Miller) and (Ambroise) Oyongo overlapping so it was very hard to even get a chance, but at home we can get our chances.”
The Red Bulls have marked this date on the calendar as an important game. In addition to the main event, the Red Bulls have urged fans to get to the Arena early for a presentation by Mike Petke and an unveiling of a special tifo designed and created by the three RBNY supporters groups, with the help of some players leading up to the match. The time of the presentation is 7:15pm sharp, and the doors open to the public at 6pm.
Featured Photo courtesy of Bill Twomey – @BillTNJ
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