Fans of the New York Red Bulls were already upset when their 2014 season came to a disappointing end, falling just short of an MLS Cup appearance with a 4-3 aggregate loss in the Conference Finals to New England.
It didn’t take much for the club to spark a fire that will continue to hang over them right up to the start of the new season. The Red Bulls stirred the pot with the firing of Mike Petke as head coach as they replaced him with Jesse Marsch.
The soccer fans in New York have revolted and there is now a sign on the main access road to Red Bull Arena that rips in to the team’s ownership and management for the path they have taken throughout a challenging offseason. It won’t help that there’s another MLS coming to the city this year thanks to league expansion.
There is no doubt that some of the marquee players the team has signed have not lived up to expectations, and while they had some playoff success last season, Petke’s overall record of 30-19-19 did not impress. With such a major change so late in the offseason, there is a strong chance that things could get worse before they get better.
Moving On Without Petke
The decision to fire Petke in January blindsided both he and his players and the fact that the move wasn’t made until just weeks before preseason training didn’t make it look any better. It had been a relatively quiet offseason for the Red Bulls before they decided to bring in Marsch but the result was met with heavy skepticism that reached beyond billboards to requests for season ticket refunds. What makes it more perplexing is that the Red Bulls made it to the conference finals last season.
At any rate, the circumstances under which Marsch comes aboard will make a difficult transition that much rougher. Whether or not he is able to weather the storm and have his team playing at peak level from the outset of the season is something that fans will be waiting anxiously to see. It won’t take long for the fans to turn on this team and Marsch could very well be in a situation where he can’t win unless the team wins early and often.
Signing Sacha A Smart Move
The Red Bulls didn’t do much to quell tensions between the club and its fans with the addition of Sacha Kljestan but it would be hard to find anyone that disagreed with the notion that it was a smart move for the club. The U.S. men’s national team midfielder will play a huge role in settling down the center of the New York attack as a quality player that will be able to show off his creativity and touch from the middle. The 29-year-old is somebody that Marsch knows he will be able to lean on to help bring to the field exactly what he wants but this move alone wasn’t enough to silence the angry fans.
Outlook
For the first time in years, the Red Bulls could be at risk of beginning the season without a marquee name as Thierry Henry has retired. On top of that, there is a chance that Tim Cahill doesn’t return for the final year of his contract. The team’s payroll will be a lot smaller than it was a year ago and it will be interesting to see if they are able to pull off any more acquisitions leading up the season in order to upgrade their overall talent level. There was some talk about a bid for Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore but that’s unlikely to happen at this point, which leaves Kljestan as the only major addition.
After such a strong finish to last season, New York is now a franchise that is in transition. They have not endeared themselves to their fans and they don’t appear to have improved much in the offseason. Don’t be surprised if things get much worse before they get any better.
