When the New York Red Bulls acquired midfielders Felipe Martins and Sacha Kljestan the conventional thought was that the middle of the park had been solidified. Dax McCarty was provided his co-anchor in defensive midfield while RBNY had their attacking midfielder to play behind Bradley Wright-Phillips.

While the conventional wisdom was correct in that aspect, what we didn’t realize was that those assignments weren’t to be given to who we thought they would be.

Like many fans, I naturally assumed that Felipe would line up behind BWP while Kljestan would set up shop next to McCarty as both would operate in the positions they have for most of their careers.

RBNY head coach Jessie Marsch had other ideas.

As the Red Bulls have gotten off to their best start in eight years, both Felipe and Kljestan have yet to put their stamp on any of the matches leaving many (AKA me) to wonder why Marsch made the position switch in the first place.

Brian Lewis’ story in the New York Post may have given insight as to why Marsch is seemingly playing his two big midfield acquisitions out of position.

(Red Bulls coach to Kljestan: Attack these MLS scrubs)

As noted in Lewis’ column, Marsch is trying to get Kljestan to slow down. It’s not that Kljestan is playing too quickly and thus raggedly, rather he’s so accustomed to playing at a UEFA Champions League level of speed that he has yet to realize that the pace of MLS games give him more time to make decisions.

“He’s so used to seeing plays so quickly that he’s played a lot of one- and two-touch in moments where actually he could take more touches, and either be running at defenders or be running in a way so that it’s setting up a pass that can lead to something, lead towards goal,” Marsch said.

“When you play in high-level games in the Champions League, you have to think so quickly and play so quickly because there’s no time and space on the field. I think that’s led to him being very much ahead of plays, but sometimes I think he can slow down and actually take more time, because there’s more time available.’’

These comments were illuminating and made me think of one man: Thierry Henry.

Now here me out.

The best and most free flowing we saw the Red Bulls play during The King’s time in Harrison was when he played a more influential role on the left wing. While Henry is perhaps his generations’ greatest striker, the talent disparities of MLS rosters limited his opportunities to face the opposing defense.

Henry was at his physical best in 2011 & 2012, but there was always a sense that his talents were being wasted due to his teammates’ inability to get him the ball near goal.

Once Henry and former coach Mike Petke made the decision in mid-2014 to drop him into a midfield role, Henry’s superior ability was better able to be exploited as the Frenchman had more time on the ball facing both his teammates and the goal. That positional shift made the legendary striker a more dangerous MLS playmaker.

And that brings us back to Kljestan.

Despite Marsch having played Felipe as an attacking mid in their Montreal days, I wonder if Marsch is using the Henry corollary with Kljestan and is focusing on getting his most talented player in the most advantageous offensive positions.

Playing in attack may be more natural to Felipe, but Kljestan is undoubtedly the more talented player. Marsch is betting on talent winning out at that position.

As for Felipe, since Marsch did coach him in Montreal back in 2012, the Red Bulls’ skipper must see the Brazilian as being able to replicate, or even improve, on the play of the man he’s replacing; Eric Alexander. Marsch is banking on Felipe’s technical ability to be the perfect release valve next to the bulldog tenacity of McCarty.

If Marsch’s bet proves to be a winner, the Red Bulls could finish the season even stronger than they have started.