Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune, via Associated Press

The Red Bulls look like a team waiting around for something, anything, to happen.

The club’s streak without a win is at five games after Saturday’s night’s 3-0 debacle at Real Salt Lake. And for all their ineptitude, the Red Bulls still failed to lose much ground in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer because two teams — Philadelphia and Kansas City — squandered late-game leads. But those teams have games in hand on the Red Bulls, who have to be looking over their shoulders at Houston and D.C. United in the playoff race.

Over all, the Red Bulls (6-6-12) played one of their weakest games of the season after spending last weekend in England, returning home, then traveling to Utah.

“We had a very weak performance today, I must say,” Coach Hans Backe said after the game. “I don’t think I’ve seen us that weak before in one-and-a-half years. No energy, a number of unforced errors. Conceding goals … once again, a goal from a set play. It’s sloppy, it’s very very sloppy. We just need to change things if we’re going to reach the playoffs.”

If? Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Some random thoughts and observations:



¶ Real Salt Lake scored its first goal from a corner kick, the 14th goal in league play the Red Bulls have allowed this season on a set play.

¶ The ineffective Dax McCarty was lifted at halftime and replaced by defender Stephen Keel, who brought nothing to the toothless offensive attack. As McCarty rode the bench for the last 45 minutes, in Washington Dwayne De Rosario, whom the Red Bulls traded for McCarty, was scoring a hat trick; he has scored D.C. United’s last six goals. In essence, the Red Bulls traded three players — Tony Tchani, Danleigh Borman and De Rosario — for McCarty.

¶ Thierry Henry looked like a man marooned on a desert island. He dropped deep into the midfield in vain attempts to kick-start some offense. He had a couple of good combinations with Juan Agudelo, but the age and experience gulf between the two players is stark. Henry, the former French international, also engaged in a heated conversation with Backe on the sideline during the first half. There have been whispers of tensions in the locker room between Henry and Backe as the team continues to struggle.

Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune, via Associated Press

¶ Both goalkeeper Frank Rost and defender/midfielder Jan Gunnar Solli sustained strained quad injuries against R.S.L. and are questionable for next Saturday’s game against visiting Chicago. If Rost cannot play and Bouna Coundoul is unable to return from a friendly match in Africa the goalkeeping duties would fall to the third-stringer Alex Horwath.

¶ The team will this week be missing Tim Ream, Juan Agudelo, Rafa Marquez and Bouna Coundoul, all of whom are on national team duty for midweek games. Ream, Agudelo and Marquez will, at least, be playing in the same time zone when the United States faces Mexico in Washington Philadelphia on Wednesday. Senegal hosts Morocco, also on Wednesday.

¶ Two of the club’s key acquisitions this season — Teemu Tainio and Luke Rodgers — have missed significant time recently with injuries or illnesses. Tainio, who was only now coming back from a leg injury, was a late scratch Saturday night with what was described as flu-like symptoms. Rodgers, who appeared to be the perfect foil for Henry up front, is out for at least another three weeks and could be headed for foot surgery, which might cost the plucky Englishman the rest of the season.

¶ Backe used all three of his substitutes in a league game for the first time since late May, two by necessity (Rost and Solli).

¶ What’s with Rafa? The captain of Mexico’s national team looked to be going through the motions Saturday night. His push of Fabian Espindola in the early going was somehow not whistled for a penalty kick. And what would a game be without Rafa showing his studs at least once or twice?

¶ The Red Bulls remain the highest-scoring team in M.L.S. with 37 goals, but are 13th in goals against with 33 for an average of 1.38 allowed a game. Few teams with such a porous defense go on to win a title.

¶ The Red Bulls, as an organization, seem to have devalued the importance of all competitions except league play (unless you count the Emirates Cup in London, which the team won for its first piece of silverware). Backe’s decision not to travel to Chicago for a United States Open Cup match and send along a reserve squad raised some questions about the club’s commitment, not to mention its depth. From the first day of training camp, Backe said the club’s goal was to win the Supporters Shield as the overall No. 1 club during the regular season. That would have given the Red Bulls entree into next season’s Concacaf Champions League. Now, that looks to be out of sight. So the only route into the regional club championship (and a possible trip to the 2012 Club World Cup) would be to win MLS Cup ’11 or at least play in the final. By contrast, at least two M.L.S. teams — Seattle and Los Angeles — are currently engaged in all three competitions, which is not necessarily a good thing considering how thin most team rosters are.

¶ With little or no money left in their salary budget, the Red Bulls (and their fans) are resigned to playing the rest of the season with the hand they have dealt themselves. It could get uglier.

¶ Props to Mark Lisi, a former player for the team, who brought some refreshing observations to the broadcast booth, working with Steven Cangialosi in the absence of the regular analyst, Shep Messing. Messing was part of the Cosmos contingent at the Paul Scholes testimonial match at Manchester United on Friday.

¶ Finally, R.S.L. looks like it has a keeper in the 17-year-old midfielder Luis Gil, who grew up in California. Gil scored a goal and was dangerous throughout. Wonder how long it will be before he gets a call from the national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann?