The retooling Red Bulls have to go on the road Saturday to face fast-improving, MLS Cup dark horse Columbus Crew SC (7:30 p.m, MSG), and they have to do it with a makeshift, cobbled-together defense as new coach Jesse Marsch starts his third different back line in as many games.
The Red Bulls (1-0-1) won last Sunday’s home opener over DC United despite having to replace injured centerback Ronald Zubar and left back Roy Miller with Matt Miazga and Kemar Lawrence, respectively. Zubar is still out and Lawrence has been called up to the Jamaican National Team, leaving the left back position even more of problematic than it was before.
The Red Bulls will ink trialist Anthony Wallace, and could thrust the 26-year-old into the lineup. Or they may dust off little-used Connor Lade. Whatever they decide, they don’t intend to back down from their high-pressure defense and aggressive style.
“We want to be very aggressive on the road,’’ Marsch said. “That’s something we talked about from the beginning. It’s something that this group that’s been here felt they haven’t achieved the past few years. …We’re going on the road and going to be aggressive, and we’re going to try and put the game on [our] terms.’’
So will the Crew, who also play high-pressure defense. But when Columbus has the ball, the differences are apparent. Marsch’s team adopts a direct Route 1 counterattack, while Gregg Berhalter’s Crew are a possession-heavy passing side. They are centered around Argentine Federico Higuain and send in an MLS-high 33 crosses per game, most to imposing 6-foot-3 target striker Kei Kamara.
“[Berhalter] is focusing a lot on what they do with the ball. We’re focusing a little more on what we do without it, but then leading to what we do with it,’’ Marsch said. “They want to spread the field. We want to shrink it. We want to compress the ball and make sure that we have numbers around the ball.
“When they’re spread out, then when we win it, we might have advantages to play it forward and catch them quickly. They’re going to have to figure out how much they want to spread the field and how balanced they want to be, knowing what we want to do. We’ll see if they change what they do, or if we change what we do. We’ll find out on Saturday.’’
The Crew proved vulnerable to another pressuring, counter-attacking side in last year’s Eastern Conference semis, hammered by New England, 7-3, on aggregate. But they seem improved – the top Eastern Conference team in MLSsoccer.com’s latest poll – and can punish the Red Bulls’ high line if they can hold possession.
“They’re a team that tries to keep the ball, build possession, play out of the back. They don’t play many longballs, and they’re a very good team,’’ said captain Dax McCarty, who will team with Felipe in central midfield trying to harass Higuain. “We’ve played two very good teams and Columbus is even a step above.’’