Both as a player and a coach, Mike Petke has been about hard work and all-out effort. That’s why it stung so much to see his Red Bulls didn’t show that their July 4 loss at Colorado, looking lethargic and dead tired – things they’re determined to correct when they host first-place Montreal tomorrow (7pm, MSG).
“Every game is an opportunity. In this sense it’s an opportunity to correct from last weekend,’’ said Petke. Asked what they needed to correct, he replied “Effort and energy level first and foremost. Our passing, our positioning to receive a pass….From the last game, we were a bit tired it looked like, we were lethargic, and it showed in our passing as well.’’
After playing for the Rapids himself, Petke knows better than most the impact of the mile-high altitude. But he wasn’t willing to use it as an alibi for a 2-0 loss that was worse than the scoreline indicated, made all the more galling by the fact that – having now lost three of their last four – they needed intensity, not indifference.
“We’re paid for results and paid to go out there and work for 90 minutes. That day from the coaching staff on down to the players it wasn’t present,’’ Petke admitted. “I promised these supporters and the organization the one thing we’d always do is work hard, and I took that very seriously, and I took it very hard after that game because it didn’t show. But I give my players respect for giving what they did.’’
They’ve had a long break to recharge and work on increasing their effort level; they’ll need it against an Impact team that sits three points above them and atop the Eastern Conference with 31 points. The teams split their earlier two games, each winning at home, a trend the Red Bulls want to continue.
“Definitely I think as a manager he definitely wants the most out of us, and I suppose for us we’re doing an injustice if we don’t (give our best),’’ said midfielder Tim Cahill. “We’ve got a good bunch of honest lads here who’ve trained hard this week.
“Obviously when you lose it hurts, especially the way we lost last week. It’s about trying to put it right this weekend, and as I said, these are the big games you want to play in. Montreal is obviously the top team at the moment, and a result against them at home would be pretty special.’’
Captain Thierry Henry, often known to be highly critical of the team even after convincing wins, has taken a different tack. He summed up the beating in Colorado as simply a one-off bad performance, something the third-place Red Bulls can put behind them tomorrow with a good outing against Montreal.
“Bad day at the office. We played a game like that at Houston last year. Sometimes it can happen,’’ said Henry. “You know I’m very critical, but sometime you have to understand it was a bad day at the office. Everybody had a bad game. Sometimes things happen. They were better than us at everything that day and sometime you have to accept it. It’s hard but you move on and prepare for the Montreal game.’’
Montreal has cooled off of late, coming in on a season-high three-game winless streak, allowing eight goals in that span. But venerable striker Marco Di Vaio is tied for the MLS scoring lead with 11goals, and will provide a constant threat.
“He can be ten times offside and the 11th one, when you think he’s going to be offside, that’s the one he’s going to bury in the net,’’ Henry said of the Impact star, whom he’s called the prototypical Italian striker. “He doesn’t need a lot of an opportunity to score and he did show that since he has arrived here.
“He’s been doing that his whole career; he’s just doing what he’s been doing since he started. He’s the type of guy that’s difficult to mark, because you kind of think sometimes that you’re having a great game against him and he’s just going to have one and score.’’
Asked for his scouting report on Di Vaio, who turns 38 later this month, Cahill replied “What do I know? I know he scores goals. He obviously has played at the highest level in his career; but the main thing is he’s a footballer. He thinks well without the ball, I think that is the key with him.
“When he doesn’t have the ball, the space he creates and obviously the goals that he’s finished are pretty exceptional. I know he’s such a good player but they have other pretty good players as well. We had a good result against them earlier in the season and hopefully we can do that again.’’