Someone call 9-1-1 for the Rapids! (NY v COL)

There isn’t a lot to say about the game this weekend. From start to finish, the Bulls dominated play and made Colorado, much like San Jose, look like lowly competition from a fringe league. Dane Richards and Joel Lindpere were phenomenal on the day. Richards had a few poor choices in the first half that wasted some great scoring chances, but he more than made up for them with his wonderfully patient goal in the second half. The spine of the team has become an unstoppable force when everything is clicking, and I can’t think of a single other team in the league that is playing more attractive soccer. Hans has repeatedly said that he doesn’t think this team is as good as RSL, LA, or FCD, but I’m not sure any of those teams are as good as RB right now.

I’d like to revisit the scoring plays and break down all of the wonderful things that are going on in those plays. Let’s start with Henry’s goal. Marquez receives the ball deep in the Bulls own half. He takes a couple of touches and looks downfield. Without much thought, he sends a beautifully weighted ball down to Henry who is able to make an awkward pass to Joel Lindpere to keep the play alive by side footing a backwards pass while running at full speed. I really like the split second decisions by Marquez in this game to play an effective long ball against a Colorado team that played a much higher line than they should have. The Bulls probably could have scored 3 more goals on the day but Henry missed two good chances, and Richards wasted a great run into the box by keeping the ball and firing straight at Pickens. In any event, the ball popped up and Lindpere runs onto it and gives the faint impression that he might try to strike the ball on the volley. The hesitation freezes Baudet, and it allows Henry to get back into position for the give go. When Thierry receives the ball he has the lightest touch back to Joel just as the defenders start to lunge for the ball. The pass is so quick, you don’t even see it coming until it is too late. Joel gets the ball back and the rest is a training ground exercise. Anthony Wallace was playing much too deep and kept Henry from being offsides, and Henry easily slotted the ball home to the back post. It is a classic Henry goal, and it is good to see him finding his form finally. Henry’s celebration was really touching and I hope Carl Robinson appreciated it.

The second goal mirrored the beauty of the first. It was obviously a play they have worked on in the past, and it caught Colorado completely off their guard. Tchani takes his starting position at the top of the box just under the arch. He makes a deep run to the back post, piggy backing a run by Joel Lindpere. No one picked up Tchani and Lindpere effectively screens Ballouchy out of the play and allows Tchani to reach his destination unmarked. Tchani plays the ball across wonderfully and on a volley. Degree of difficulty is high on this pass, but he manages to make it look effortless. The rest of the play is designed to meet one of three players on the front line across the goal mouth: Albright, Angel and Ream. Angel stands at about the same distance as Albright but a little higher on the six yard box in case the spin carries it away from the goal, and Albright and Ream are positioned as a kind of near post far post option. The ball happened to get through to Ream and caught the Rapids ball watching as he easily redirected it into the back of the net for his first professional goal.

The goal the Bulls gave up earned my applause too. Omar Cummings made a wonderful run before firing home an unstoppable shot from just under 30 yards out. Stunning! Someone should have stepped up on Omar, but the defense has been trained to give up space outside of the box to prevent a pass into the final third. That forces the offense to take shots from deeper positions which is a fine strategy, but occasionally you will get beat by a rocket. It happens infrequently, so I wouldn’t worry too much.

The final goal of the match showed some wonderful and new found patience from Dane Richards. After the throw, Miller poked the ball up field and it almost trickled over the line. Lindpere used his body to keep the only other defender out of the play so that Miller can continue the run up field. After saving the ball, he is wide open. Baudet, who had been closely marking Henry, is left with no choice but to try and pick up Miller. As soon as he started to slide over, Miller sent the ball into Henry. When Henry received the ball the Red Bulls were now on a 3 v 2 rush to goal. Henry made a great choice to send it across to Dane, but the ball was intercepted by Anthony Wallace as Jamie Smith comes running through. Smith is off balance because of the run and it allows Angel to get the slightest touch on the ball and it goes back to Richards who is running into the box. Richards of old would have tried to take the shot immediately and had it miss or get blocked by the defender. Instead, he cuts back and opens up the goal mouth while giving himself time to place the shot. He buries it and the Red Bulls cruise to victory.

I can’t remember a Red Bulls team that has played soccer at this level. Look for yourself. The best goals of the past 4 seasons are available on youtube. The offense is clicking, the tenacity of which has allowed the defense to simply shut down the occasional counter attack and it keeps their focus sharp for 90. Mistakes are still being made on the backline, but much fewer than had been seen early in the season. The best defense can definitely be a good offense.

Next up, RB travel to Frisco to take on still streaking FC Dallas. Marquez may not be available for selection thanks to a nasty tackle from Wells Thompson, and if he is not 100%, I hope they do not start him. This team is in excellent position to make the playoffs, and they do not need to focus on overtaking LA for the supporters shield. Dallas has looked very good lately, but not at all defensively. Hartman has been a beast for them and has made some incredible saves to keep them in games. If Metro can come out as strong as they have been, Dallas will be kissing that unbeaten streak goodbye. The Red Bulls are a strong enough team to do it, but they must force there will on the game to do it. Keep in mind, that this FCD team lost to a much less effective Bulls squad early in the season. Will we see a repeat Thursday? And of course…

LET’S GO RED BULLS!