by CHRISTIAN ARAOS



After an avalanche of mistakes and injuries left them bereft of confidence and trailing at halftime against the Houston Dynamo, the New York Red Bulls needed a reminder of what made them last year’s Supporters Shield winners.

“I tried to say to them at halftime that we’ve never been a team that plays scared,” head coach Jesse Marsch said. “The very first conversation I had with our team way back when was that the only thing there is no tolerance for around here is not playing with everything you have.”

The Red Bulls took the lead through Sacha Kljestan‘s goal in what had been an even match. Gonzalo Veron, making his first start of the season, had a hand in the goal but was forced off after aggravating his hamstring injury minutes later. Kemar Lawrence and Ronald Zubar‘s mistakes handed the Dynamo the lead. Gideon Baah became the second Red Bull forced off due to an injured hamstring shortly before halftime.

That is enough to shake any team’s confidence. Instead of curling into a ball, Marsch used the occasion as a learning moment.

“The message was, ‘If we’re going to go down, let’s go down swinging. Let’s actually not be scared to play, let’s play out of the back at all costs, let’s push the game, let’s just go out there and do something’,” Kljestan said. “It’s like we just laid over in the first half and kind of let them do whatever they wanted and we made stupid mistakes. I think we came out with a lot more confidence in the second half and it was great to see.”

Before the comeback came more calamity as Zubar became the third Red Bull to leave the game because of an injured hamstring. Marsch responded by moving Lawrence to centerback and introduced Connor Lade at left back. Lade fired up the team by challenging Dynamo winger Andrew Wenger right after coming on, Kljestan said.

Lade and Mike Grella, Veron’s replacement, combined well on the left wing with Lade overlapping Grella’s inside runs. Grella would level the score at two in the 63rd minute but the Red Bulls would fall behind again two minutes later.

With the Red Bulls out of substitutions, Marsch was a spectator.

“It might’ve been for the best,” he said.

As the Red Bulls fended for themselves, they turned to the players Marsch said have the most ‘grit and competitive edge’: Dax McCarty and Felipe. McCarty moved farther upfield and spread the ball around widening the Red Bulls’ attack. Felipe stole the night with his two fine goals.

And by the end of the encounter, the Red Bulls rediscovered their resiliency — and with that, a new hope for the season to come.

“I think that’s what we are all about,” Felipe said. “The fans and everybody need to know that we are a family and that every time we go to the field, we give everything we have. I think the guys were fantastic and we couldn’t be more proud.”