For five seasons, the Red Bulls relied on Thierry Henry — some would say far too much. They struggled, turned to him, and watched him bail them out. But now, with Henry retired and Tim Cahill departed, every player will have to be a contributor, not just a spectator — and the Red Bulls say that’s a good thing.
They are trying to replace stars with teamwork. Eventually they will miss that star quality, but in the early going, they’re second in the East with four points in two games.
“We come into every game believing we’re going to win,’’ Dax McCarty said. “Not saying that wasn’t believed in the past, but we know we have to rely on every single guy that steps on the field. This isn’t a situation anymore that we have a trump card.
“Thierry was a trump card. Even if we didn’t play well, we could give him the ball and count on him to make something special happen, and more times than not, he did. We don’t have that anymore. We have a bunch of guys that are really good players that are going to work hard, fight for each other and we’re going to all be pulling toward the same goal: That’s to win every single game.’’
They certainly won’t do that; and there will come a time when they will be exposed by coach Jesse Marsch’s high- pressure defense. But Sunday, in their home opener against a shorthanded D.C. United missing Eddie Johnson, Fabian Espindola and Luis Silva, they won 2-0 and saw the players thrust into leadership roles step up.
McCarty, the ultra-competitive son of a former Navy Top Gun instructor, inherited the captain’s arm band from Henry, and lived up to it. He’s third in Whoscored.com’s overall MLS rankings (7.97). He was buzzing around the midfield Sunday and playing a perfect long ball to set up Bradley Wright-Phillips’ goal.
Wright-Phillips, who many doubted would be able to excel without Henry’s service, had a goal and an assist, and was named MLS Player of the Week.
“What we try to do as the older players — and I’m 30 now — is just help the young players through,” Wright-Phillips said. “I try and give them advice, like Thierry would’ve gave me. It’s time to be mature now for me. … “It’s tough. I can’t be stupid anymore. I don’t have anyone older to tell me anything. I have to be the wise one, and I find that very difficult.’’
Wright-Phillips got ripped for not being aware he was in yellow-card peril and getting suspended for last year’s Eastern Conference final. After having eight of last year’s record 27 goals set up by Henry, he didn’t get a single shot in this year’s opener. But he answered some of his doubters in Sunday’s home-opening win.
“Bradley’s mentally tough. He was able to not have his best performance in [Kansas City and come back strong],’’ sporting director Ali Curtis said.
With starter Roy Miller (knee) and new backup Kemar Lawrence (international duty) both out, the Red Bulls will be thin at left back Saturday at Columbus. The options are Connor Lade, or signing trialist Anthony Wallace, 26.
“We’re trying to get something done with Anthony Wallace, and we’re hopeful to have something done this week. He’d be in consideration for that,’’ said Marsch, adding of Lade, “He has a lot of versatility to his game. He’s played a lot of left back in the past, and he’s done well there.’’