New York Red Bulls Win Supporters Shield

The New York Red Bulls made a huge stride to erase their long history of disappointing results and difficult seasons for their fans by winning the Supporters Shield last night for the first time. The trophy came to New York by virtue of the Red Bulls 5-2 victory over the Chicago Fire in front of a sold out crowd at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey (www.mlssoccer.com).

 

The Red Bulls were impressive in their dominance of the Chicago Fire, especially if you consider that Chicago needed to win the game to gain the last spot in the Eastern Conference for the MLS Playoffs (www.nbcsports.com).

 

Significant Victory

 

The victory for the Red Bulls was significant for two reasons:

 

  • The team did not melt down in a big spot where they had to win to get the best record which is what prior editions of this team have done in the past
  • The Supporters Shield now gives New York the home-field advantage throughout the MLS Playoffs, including for the first time this year the home field for the MLS Cup championship game should they advance to that point

 

 

The Red Bulls are a very good home team so the ability for them to play most of their playoff games in Red Bull Arena is an excellent advantage for them. This statement should be qualified though, with the fact that the Supporters Shield does not guarantee a championship.

In fact, only six times in MLS history has the winner of the Supporters Shield gone on to win the MLS Cup championship (www.nbcsports.com). However, in my opinion, not many of those teams enjoyed the type of home field advantage that the Red Bulls have this season. I think the home field aspect is crucial for this team to have a chance to advance to the MLS Cup.

 

Forgetting the past

 

The challenge for Head Coach Mike Petke and the Red Bulls now that they will turn the page and enter the playoffs, is to forget the past. They need to forget the struggles that this team has had historically in the playoffs. They even need to forget about the success they had in the regular season because all that is not going to mean anything if they lose in the playoffs.

 

Instead, they need to move forward and focus on winning each round of the playoffs until they reach the MLS Cup game. This team is talented enough and has the right blend of stars (Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill) and role players (Peguy Leyindula, Fabian Espindola, and Dax McCarty).

 

New York also has the right coach in Mike Petke, who has done a masterful job this season, and the right goalkeeper in Luis Robles, who played outstanding at points this season. That combination of head coach and goalkeeper becomes critical to separate the elite teams in MLS.

 

The Red Bulls have a very loyal fan base who will support them along this difficult journey through the playoffs. The energy of the fans seems to really boost the level of play for this 2013 team. That will continue to be a factor in the final weeks of the season.

 

Playoff structure

 

Courtesy of NBC Sports and the MLS website I will provide the format and the list of teams which made the playoffs. The MLS has 10 playoff teams (5 from each conference) ranked in order of their finishing record from 1-5 in each conference.

 

The teams that finish 4th and 5th place in each conference play a one game “knockout game” to advance to the next round. The winners of those games will face the first place team in each conference in the semi-final round.

 

The 2nd and 3rd place teams play each other in the semi-final round, which MLS plays two games and takes the aggregate number of goals from each game to determine the winner.

 

The winners of the semi-final rounds will play in the Conference championship round, which is also a two game aggregate series. The winner of each conference plays one another for the MLS Cup, which is a one game winner take all scenario.

 

The playoff teams and rankings in 2013 are (courtesy of www.nbcsports.com):

Eastern Conference

  1. New York Red Bulls
  2. Sporting Kansas City
  3. New England Revolution
  4. Houston Dynamo
  5. Montreal Impact

 

Western Conference

  1. Portland Timbers
  2. Real Salt Lake
  3. L.A. Galaxy
  4. Seattle Sounders
  5. Colorado Rapids

 

In the format explained above, the Houston Dynamo will host the Montreal Impact in the first round “knockout game” in the East. The Red Bulls will play the winner of that game in a 2 game series with the first game on the road for New York and the second game at Red Bull Arena.

 

The MLS and NBC announced earlier today that the Red Bulls will play on national television on NBC for their first playoff game on Sunday, November 3rd at 3:30 PM Eastern time (www.newyorkredbulls.com).

 

Outlook

 

The Red Bulls match up well against either Houston or Montreal, and they played well in a victory in Houston a couple of weeks ago. I saw them manhandle the Montreal Impact in a game at Red Bull Arena this summer. So I like their chances in the 2 game series against either team.

 

The team to watch is Sporting Kansas City, they are a very talented team that is flying below the radar right now, and nobody in the media is talking about them. The MLS media focus is on New York, the drop Seattle took in the standings, whether the Galaxy can win three titles in a row, and the dominance of Portland down the stretch. Sporting Kansas City is going to be a threat in the East.

 

The MLS playoffs are upon us, and I will continue to follow the Red Bulls as they look to further erase the bad history of the franchise by competing well in the playoffs and contending for a championship. They have the advantage of playing at home, it will be interesting to see how this team will respond to the expectations placed upon them by the media and the fan base.