New York Red Bulls Foiled Again

By Sylvana Budesheim // @WhiteZinWench

Saturday, March 30: 1-0 loss

NOTE: This one is kind of a deep dive. If you’re an actual Barenaked Ladies fan, you’ll know this one.

The New York Red Bulls faced the Chicago Fire at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Trying to bounce back from a loss at home, they were looking at the second team in a row who were desperate for a win. In their benevolence, RBNY accommodated the Fire.

How in every visible way you shine: Following the International Break, the Red Bulls were back to full strength. Center back Aaron Long worked some kind of mullet magic, in that the US Men’s National Team won the friendly he played in, but tied the one in which he didn’t. Defender Kemar Lawrence went ninety minutes for the Reggae Boyz while he had still been ruled out in league play. And Alejandro “Kakú” Romero Gamarra returned from his duty with Paraguay and a suspension for what is being called ‘a club matter.’

Almost impossible to malign: I have been reluctant to discuss Kakú. As the season was starting up, there was a potential issue where Gamarra was itching to make a move to Club America in Liga MX. It would be easier for his family to visit him in Mexico than it is now. He and his agent said they were not fully compensated for the peripherals that went into a transfer deal. And then there were a bunch of tweets and Instagram posts that seemed to indicate that Kakú was downright frustrated and unhappy. This belied posts from the team, showing him smiling and joking, as well as putting in serious work.

Some fans said his agent was crying over sour grapes trying to get more money out of the Red Bull Global coffers. It has put a bad taste in everyone’s mouth– and I don’t mean the Yellow Edition energy drink… blech. This time last year, Gamarra was nuestro hijo más precioso. He has to make a real effort to remind fans why that was the case.

But just below where you shine you burn: It usually is much easier to pick apart a win, because there’s so much great stuff going on. Picking apart a loss, while not very enjoyable, can at least be satisfying. At least then there are a number of mistakes and issues that are easy to identify and hopefully easy to correct when the team returns to training. Not so here. Captain Luis Robles was credited with four saves. RBNY dominated possession nearly 2 to 1. And while both teams won an even number of duels, it did nothing for the scoreline.

You’ll never rust but I’ll never know: Instead of a former Red Bull edging out the team in the scoreline, it was a current one. During a tussle in the box, defender Tim Parker accidentally chested and cleared a shot on the wrong side of the line. Parker was a bit off-kilter the entire match, quite honestly. Prior to the Orlando match, there were rumblings that he had been hurt the week before to the point of possibly being on the injury report. Maybe he was indeed powering through something.

You can shine like silver all you want: The team used their full silver kit for the first time in Bridgeview. But they didn’t have the shining performance they were capable of. While Bradley Wright-Phillips had some better moments than in previous matches, he has only found the back of the net once this season. Andreas Ivan and Mathias Jørgensen saw more minutes on the field, but could not make anything happen. Overall, they were just aluminum.

The New York Red Bulls return to Harrison and welcome DETHLOON… I mean, Minnesota United.