Pre-Game: @ New York Red Bulls

by Brendan Wyatt 

All eyes are on today’s match-up between the Colorado Rapids and the New York Red Bulls, well for those of you who have UniMas in their TV package.  The Rapids travel to New Jersey for the first away game of the season.  Last season the Rapids hosted NYRB in what The Voice of C38 crew calls Snow Classico II which also saw the debut of Jermaine Jones in burgundy. It was also the last we heard of Sean St ledger (his epic tweet of Dom Badji’s eggplant in the snow). 

Depending on your source the Red Bulls are atop of the power rankings. After just one game played it’s easier to put the team with a higher payroll, and big name strikers higher up than they may deserve.  Should the burgundy boys stick to their game plan, there will be movement in the power rankings again with Colorado moving up from 5^th. 

Today’s game is the home opener for NYRB, which may bring more energy and noise to Red Bull Arena.  NYRB also has 75 wins at home since opening the new stadium in 2010, the most of any other team currently.  Although the Rapids are riding a 19 game home unbeaten streak (regular season), it will take a while to get to 75 or more wins at DSGP. 

There are two key players that the Rapids will need to focus on today in order to keep a clean sheet which will earn a point or three.  First and foremost is Bradley Wright Phillips, BWP is the league’s leading scorer over the last three years with 68 goals.  He has averaged 15 goals or more a season, winning the golden boot twice since coming to MLS.  Axel Sjoberg and Jared Watts will have their work cut out for them.  Good thing is BWP can get taken out of the game mentally, as long as he isn’t getting touches on the ball. 

Next on the list of who to shut down is Sacha Kljestan. This cat has never really impressed me, but he does things on and off the ball tactically that make him relevant.  He is one of those numbers don’t lie kind of guy, with 20 assists last year he became the second guy in league history to bag 20 or more helpers.  Which means Uncle Sam (Cronin) and Magic Mike (Azira) will have to keep Kljestan’s passes from connecting, as well as interrupting his first touch. 

   

If task’s A and B are executed by the Rapids, than the likeliness of a tough road point will be good.  If they can implement task C which would be to utilize Dom Badji and Marlon Hairston out wide, then Dillon Powers and Kevin Doyle should have  some good looks at goal. Finishing has always been a concern since C+C music factory (Casey & Cummings) but now that Casey is on staff could that mean change is coming?

Finally, it has been put out there by other media outlets that both Tim Howard and Shkelzen Gashi could play today.  Should that be the case, then Timmy would start, and we should expect to see a 25-30 minute appearance from Gashi.

 

As I mentioned at the top of the article, the game is on UniMas today with a 2pm kickoff. If you don’t have it at home then hit up the Recess Beer Garden in the Highlands neighborhood as The Voice of C38 crew will be there as well as beer specials and giveaways.

Predicted starting XI: Zac MacMath, Eric Miller, Jared Watts, Axel Sjoberg, Marc Burch, Sam Cronin, Michael Azira, Marlon Hairston, Dillon Powers, Dom Badji, Kevin Doyle.