New York Red Bulls Vs Santos: What needs to change ahead of leg 2?

The New York Red Bulls fell to Santos 2-0 in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-finals. What needs to change if they want to come back?

The night started off so promisingly for the New York Red Bulls. Dominating possession, it was clear that head coach Chris Armas felt the importance of starting the fixture off on the right foot; his side came out of the gates pressuring Santos, as they struggled to establish any sort of possession in their attacking third.

The fans who made the trek in the cold weather to Red Bull Arena might have thought they would have something to cheer about early on, but the Red Bulls struggled to capitalize on the chances the created.

Bradley Wright-Phillips found himself with space in the box just three minutes into the game, but couldn’t quite get the proper angle on his shot which allowed Jonathan Orozco to parry it away. Daniel Royer had the team’s best chance of the night in the 38th minute when a scuffed left-footed shot from BWP found its way to the Austrian, who could only deflect it straight into Orozco from just outside of the six-yard box.

There had been some warning signs throughout through the first half for the Red Bulls, as Santos looked useful on the counter, but Sean Davis and co. did enough to prevent anything from growing into more than a half chance.

But as Santos grew into the game, the backline became stretched, something very atypical for the Red Bulls who are usually defined by their defensive structure. Diego Valdes found breathing room in the box after some terrific combination play to put the visitors ahead 1-0. Just after the break, Julio Furch was the quickest to react to a deflected loose ball in the box and tapped it past Luis Robles to give the Mexican side two away goals. And that is how it would finish.

The first leg loss leaves the New York Red Bulls and Chris Armas asking a very simple question: What needs to change prior to Tuesday night’s second leg to overturn the two-goal deficit?

As far as the attacking third goes, the answer for the Red Bulls is simple: Be more clinical. They had the chances. On multiple occasions, more than just the above mentions of BWP and Royer, RBNY had Santos on the backfoot. Wright-Phillips made quite a few intentional runs in behind and Kaku was able to pick him out. Kaku showed a good mix of flowing infield and taking players on from the outside to make Santos defenders face their own net. The moves were there. The finishing was not.

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Being down 2-0, and two road goals for Santos included with that, is the biggest issue for the Red Bulls right now. However, goalscoring is not the only thing that Armas should be worried about heading into the second leg, scheduled for this Tuesday.

If you rewind to the Eastern Conference Finals first leg against Atlanta, the Red Bulls gave up a third goal in the first leg, which seemed to take a heavy toll on the squad heading into the second leg. Giving up that third goal early on in the second leg would have the same effect as it did back in November.

On the first goal the Red Bulls conceded on Tuesday night, the Santos midfielders and forwards had a lot of space to operate in the midfield, another thing that is very uncharacteristic of what fans have come to expect from the Red Bulls. When the ball was played to Lozano, who found a pocket of space, Sean Davis had a good enough distance to cover to apply pressure to the ball. By the time the Red Bulls midfielder got there, however, Lozano had already turned and played the ball into the feet of Furch, who then found Valdes for the goal.

Head Coach Chris Armas told MLSSoccer.com after the game that he wants the center-backs and the players in the defensive midfield to be more aggressive in the second leg. The Red Bulls can use a more aggressive defensive strategy in their favor moving forward. As mentioned earlier in the article, the Red Bulls started off the game very strong, when Santos wasn’t able to gather a ton of possession.

Assuming Tim Parker and Aaron Long remain as the center-back pairing for leg two, they can combine with the defensive midfielders to tighten up the midfield, preventing the dangerous frontline of Santos from establishing a rhythm by not giving them any space to work in.

All three of those players listed above are dangerous passers with the ball. Anytime they win the ball in the midfield, they have the technical ability to play a pass through the lines to Kaku or spring Wright-Phillips over the top, which Santos struggled to defend in the first leg. If not for a strong performance by Orozco between the sticks, this could have been a very different tie heading into the second leg.

Despite the Red Bulls being down 2-0 on aggregate, there is still hope. Chances were created, the finishing can improve, and defensive stability is achievable. Now, all that is left to do is to execute, and mission improbable could become that little bit more possible.