The New York Red Bulls quickly got their first win of the season when they took on the Chicago Fire last week, they were able to end their losing streak that started their season. The hope with this new squad of young players, they will now continue to play better, as well as string together a couple of more wins and climb the standings of the Eastern Conference.
But now the Red Bulls are getting ready to face a Toronto FC Side that have been eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions LEague. After a Quarterfinal elimination at the hands of Cruz Azul, we will see what Toronto FC will have in store for the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. One of those moments is the return of Chris Armas who surprisingly got a head coaching job during the offseason.
As a member of Jesse Marsch’s coaching staff, he was able to help the young players get involved with the tactics of the club, and he took over the head coaching duties when Marsch left for Red Bull Leipzig as the assistant coach, as well as the future head coach at Leipzig but a stop at Salzburg where he won two Austrian Bundesliga titles and an Austrian FA Cup. While Armas didn’t have a successful stint as head coach of the Red Bulls, he was liked and respected. Just like he helped Sean Davis with his game.
“Chris is a guy who has played at the highest level, and that includes my position. He had so many National Team caps and was very successful in MLS.” Said Davis, “So there was no better guy to learn from especially at a formidable age. I am super thankful for the time he taught me at training either after training or in the film room. He gave time to so many players and worked hard to get them ready to play.”
In these past three games, only the road loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy was a poor performances as they allowed three goals to Javier Hernandez. Two of them could have been prevented, but you can say they have played at least two strong games that were at Red Bull Arena. But the one player who has been strong so far within these first three matches is Caden Clark.
His technical ability to convert two goals and is tied with the lead in goals with Cristian Casserers Jr. with two has made head coach Gerhard Struber happy and excited to have a player like him who is gifted at the age of 17. “I see him every day at training, he is very hungry for his next step, he is coachable and he is learning the right way.” said Struber, “I can see his learning curve going the right way, it gives me a very good feeling about him. This is necessary for a talented player like him. He is not easing up after scoring a goal, or after a win or a loss, he will improve because of his demeanor and his hunger to get better in the next match.”
We all know Toronto FC has strong players like Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Jonathan Osorio. regardless of their start. what will be the Red Bulls worry with players of this high caliber. “I think they are a good team and they have shown that in the past couple of years. They are trying to find their new identity right now.” said Andrew Gutman, “They like to play direct, they like to pressure you or sit in, but there’s going to be a lot of adjusting of what we want to do. We have to adapt and we must be sharp with the ball, because they can punish you.”
While the season is still young, these games are very important for the Red Bulls to climb the ladder in the regular season and try to earn a playoff spot. They can’t bury themselves and at the same time the younger players can’t lose focus during the matches, or else they will get destroyed, just like the road loss at the Los Angeles Galaxy. It’s time for them to start a winning streak and it has to be done at Toronto’s expense.