Drilling down on: NY Red Bulls 3, at Philadelphia 2

May 13, 2012, 2:57 PM EDT

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Man of the Match: New York goalkeeper Ryan Meara is moving up the list on my ballot for Rookie of the Year – perhaps already in the pole position. Once again Sunday he came through in the clutch with a big save at the end. It’s not just his shot-stopping, but it’s the overall management in the box, his sure hands and good choices on when to stand his ground or when to go get the ball. Other than one bobble in heavy traffic, Meara did everything right in this one.

Packaged for take-away:

The Red Bulls have four consecutive wins for the first time in nine years, and now sit atop the Eastern Conference after Sunday’s win at PPL Park.
I’m going to coin new term: The Marquez Conundrum ®. Because Rafa Marquez really is an asset on attack, but a complete defensive liability. Two Marquez passes led to goals for New York, including a sublime, perfectly weighted doozy into Kenny Cooper for the game-winner.
Cooper has nine goals, or one more than he had last year for Portland
Philadelphia defender Sheanon Williams is doing OK as fill-in at center back for Danny Califf, but he got crossed up on the game-winner, letting Cooper get into a dangerous gap. (Williams is usually Philly’s starting right back.)
Marquez was back in the lineup after four matches away. He took Dax McCarty’s holding midfield role; McCarty moved higher up the field, still stationed centrally but playing alongside Mehdi Ballouchy in the Red Bulls’ 4-1-4-1.
I’ve already had my say about Freddy Adu and his unwise choices.
As an addendum, no matter what you thought of Jorge Gonzalez’s choice to book Adu in that situation, here’s what the young Union attacker needs to do there: Just play! Don’t dive. Don’t fall. Don’t drag your foot and look for a call. Just try to score.
It really was a shame, too. Because Adu had been so dangerous in this one, probably playing his best match of 2012. Playing on the right but tucking inside as a playmaker, Adu was creating with his passes, off the dribble and through crisp set-piece delivery.
Union striker Lionard Pajoy has been a disappointment so far, if we’re being honest. But perhaps he’s the latest example that some players just need 10 or games to get things sorted out in MLS. Because he was quite bright in this one.
Whatever was missing from Joel Lindpere’s game (or in his personal life) earlier this year, the man has clearly found it.
At least twice, Philadelphia striker Danny Mwanga passed up opportunities to attack defenders. He hasn’t scored since last summer. Add it all up, the 2010 No. 1 draft pick just isn’t a confidence striker at the moment. Strikers who are feeling it and believing in themselves look for chances to take on defenders in 1-on-1 situations, sometimes even attacking guys along the back line when they probably should pass. Mwanga needs to call FedEx and order up a big shipment of “confidence.”
Meanwhile, Juan Agudelo’s 30-plus minutes off the bench for New York? Yep, not bad at all. He found good spots, kept possession well, worked well and used some athletic ability to point a couple of shots at target. All in all, that might be enough to convince Jurgen Klinsmann to bring Agudelo into the 29-man camp for a closer look-see, at least.

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footballer4ever - May 13, 2012 at 3:56 PM

Does the Union need any additional and horrific losses before they get rid of Novak? If not, they will be losing fans in a heartbeat ala TFC.

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tackledummy1505 - May 15, 2012 at 11:19 AM

Ok this write up has like 25% of anything right to it. Did you watch the entire game or the highlights?
My assessment:
Ryan Meara- had an ok game. He was caught out of position many times, but was lucky that the Union couldn’t capitalize on wide open shots. His positioning of defenders is absolutely horrible and needs major work. Once again the fact that the Union could not capitalize was a big reason for this outcome.

Freddy Adu- Had his best game ever as a Union player. With that he had his dumbest Union game ever as well. Though I will agree with some Union fans about the 2nd yellow and that the ref really was looking to card him again, Adu has to keep himself out of that trouble. He made a stupid, pointless scissor tackle from behind. Since Adu argued with the ref from the beginning, the ref was looking for a chance. Are either of them right? No, but Adu is the player and you can’t put yourself or your team into that position.

Cooper- The guy was the only thing actually worth watching on the attack. The guy not only can control the ball well, but he lures defenders away from other players. It’s a shame New York doesn’t have a defense because they would just dominate with Cooper and Henry.

Lionard Pajoy- the guy had 2 goals, great game right? I don’t think so, not even close. Pajoy had almost double digit chances to score a goal and only came away with 2. That’s not even the biggest problem that I had. The fact he had 3, yes 3 wide open nets and he missed the entire net is just sad. He was practically 5 yards away on the one and missed it by a few inches, but still you have to bury open netters. The fact this guy still doesn’t beat anyone to the ball and he can’t dribble worth a darn, still makes him a old half decent striker. Still in my eyes not worth a quarter of what Le Toux’s worth.

S. Williams- many are saying he’s filling in for Califf. Well he’s not, with the Union having Gaddis playing so well in Williams spot at right halfback, Califf is out. Williams will be the new Right Fullback. Problem with Williams is that he can’t mark and he has no strength. He also has bad running foot work. Just watch him, he’ll fall down for no reason at least twice a game. The only upside to Williams is that he has good speed, he can jump for headers ok, and he has a great throw in. Problem with that is Fullbacks aren’t usually involved with throw-ins.

Nowak is in the final stages of clearing out the old locker room, so that he might be able to salvage his reputation. Fact is that his choices have been constantly bad, his system has been constantly beat all year, and without a guy to run around like Le Toux did has shown that his offense is stagnant. The Union should’ve had at least 7 goals this past Sunday. That’s how bad the Red Bulls played. Just goes to show you how bad the Union really are this year.

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footballer4ever - May 16, 2012 at 8:57 AM

@ tackledummy1505- I watch the entire game after watching the Mancity Vs QPR.
The union played a better game than what they had played before, but in the end, where is the final result? When it seems they have the lead, they get tied on or outscored and in the end the final result is what matters. At this rate, the Union will be getting their stuff “together” allright just right by the end of the season. Just my humble opinion.

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