MATT KREMKAU - EMPIRE OF SOCCER

by GLENN CROOKS

As eight teams prepare for the knock-out stage of the Major League Soccer playoffs, the New York Red Bulls went through a light training session on a cold Tuesday morning at their practice facility in Whippany, New Jersey.

Although the Red Bulls fell short of their second straight Supporters Shield, the Jersey side managed to capture their second consecutive Eastern Conference championship despite losing six of their first seven matches to begin the 34-game regular season schedule.

“It felt to me that a lot of people were happy how we started – maybe that’s me being a bit paranoid – but from what I saw in the outside world,” said RBNY striker, Bradley Wright Phillips. “They thought last season was a fluke. So, to come back and show that we have a system and we work for each other – it’s a good feeling. We’re building something real here.”

BWP has been prominent in the current 16 game unbeaten stretch for the Red Bulls – 20 without a loss in all competitions. With 24 goals and the MLS Golden Boot, the England international is a strong candidate for the Most Valuable Player Award in MLS.

“There was a time I questioned myself early this season – I thought I was letting down the fans and the team,” said BWP, who did not score a goal in his first seven matches this season. “I think very deeply – when I go to games I see children with the shirts on with my name on their back – I feel bad, almost leaving games thinking I really am not doing my job.

“My teammates and coaching staff – they were there to get me through the tougher times.”

Wright-Phillips, with a wool hat and hoodie pulled over his head in the chilly conditions, suggested that his annual sluggish starts mimic specific aspects of his normal 24-hour day.

“I feel like that’s just me – even my personality at home,” said the man who has scored 68 goals in the last three years – more than any player in MLS. “I feel like I start the day a bit slower. I’m quite moody in the morning and get nicer as the day goes along – so maybe that’s how I go to work.”

After clinching the Golden Boot, his chief competitor for the honor, New York City FC striker, David Villa, tweeted his congratulations.

“I expect nothing less from him – its almost embarrassing for me to even be mentioned with his name – it’s David Villa,” said Wright-Phillips, who never appeared for his national team while Villa is the all-time goal scorer for Spain with 59 tallies. “I hope he hasn’t thought about it (the Golden Boot) as much as me. Because me, after awhile it gets in my head and I hate being like that. I read it everywhere.

“I would like to thank him for reaching out – he’s an amazing player.”

The seeding in the East is set up for a BWP-Villa match-up in the Conference Finals – perhaps an MLS pipedream when the season began. Looking ahead, Wright-Phillips declared that watching Red Bulls II win the USL Championship on Sunday, was an inspiring visual for the first team players.

“Its hard to envision something when you haven’t won it,” said Wright-Phillips.

“That was an inspiring moment for our club – and I think important for our first team and our players to see that, to feel that,” chimed in RBNY head coach, Jesse Marsch. “We are very close to that team and to feel the joy of the club being able to raise that trophy, it creates even more hunger and inspires us to want it even more.”