New York Red Bulls: Admirable culture or wasting success?

The New York Red Bulls are relentlessly successful while always being one player away. Is this an admirable culture or are they wasting success?

If there is a team that knows how to win in the regular season, it is the New York Red Bulls. There are few clubs in MLS that relentlessly win like the Red Bulls do. Even when they do not deserve to, New York manages to find a way.

Take this weekend’s 1-0 victory over Orlando City as a prime example. Brian White scored a customary poacher’s goal, running off the back of the Orlando defence as they fell to sleep, sliding Kaku’s through pass into the goal, and then the Red Bulls proceeded to scrap and scrape their way to a clean sheet and three points.

Luis Robles made four saves. Orlando hit the woodwork three points. The final 25 minutes were utter domination for the Lions who were not only unlucky not to draw level but actually can feel aggrieved that they did not snatch all three points.

The Red Bulls again outperformed their expected goals, and they actually have a negative goal difference according to their expected goals scored and conceded, and were extremely fortunate to run back to New Jersey with a victory in hand to move into third place in the East. But then, this is what the New York Red Bulls do. It is what they always have done.

It is an admirable quality. While there is obviously a focus on the underlying processes of the team, processes that tend to lead to results over an extended sample size, Chris Armas’ side should be heralded for their ability to win football matches when they do not deserve to. It is what champions do, even if the Red Bulls so often fail to win when it matters most.

And this brings me to the great conundrum of the New York Red Bulls. While their dogged determination and resolute, pugnacious mentality is admirable, you cannot help that they are yet again wasting what is a decent squad that requires that final missing piece.

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The best teams in MLS this season have goal scorers and creators in attacking positions that produce those magical moments from nothing. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Carlos Vela in L.A., Brian Fernandez and Diego Valeri in Portland, Wayne Rooney in D.C., and even the likes of Nani, Alejandro Pozuelo, Nicolas Lodeiro and Maxi Moralez are all capable of ingenious moments. Do the Red Bulls have a player of that ilk?

You could make an argument that Kaku is built in that mould. He certainly is unpredictable. But just imagine this suffocating, high-pressing, defensively well-structured team allied with a goalscoring winger who can beat defenders, whip crosses into the box, and crucially make the net ripple. That would take the Red Bulls from a solid team that is horrendous to play against and relentless in their pursuit of victory to genuinely great.

So yes, the resilience of the New York Red Bulls is remarkable, and there are plenty of others throughout MLS who should take a leaf out of their stubborn-laced book. But they are also wasting their success, and that should not go completely unrecognised.