“I don’t think we are good enough [to win the MLS Cup] to be honest.”- New York Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe

The New York Red Bulls have cemented their position in the Eastern Conference standings, sitting in 2^nd, four points behind Columbus and ten ahead of Toronto (who have a game in hand). Hans Backe, who has done an excellent job of turning last year’s horrendous team into a respectable, and more important, watchable soccer team, often downplays his success.  He has stated that he doesn’t think New York is capable of catching Columbus, and said outright that he doesn’t believe his team has what it takes to win a championship this season.  The fact that anyone around New York can even consider talking about the MLS Cup is amazing given their dismal record last season, but it seems to be happening more and more.

The New York Red Bulls are 11-7-4 with a +4 goal differential with 8 games left in the season.  They are safe at 2^nd in the East and seem like a lock for the playoffs, but they have been in this position for most of the season.  In fact, they missed out on their chance to go top of the conference when they dropped both meetings with first place Columbus.  So why does Backe have to answer questions about lifting trophies after matches and come up with quotes like these:

“I don’t think we are good enough [to win the MLS Cup] to be honest … I think teams who can win championships have to be able to kill games, as we didn’t. We have to be more solid to have a chance to compete and win a championship.  Its good, we’re improving, but it’s still not enough.”

Not stressing too much on the motivational techniques of a man who spent nearly his entire career under the coaching wing of possibly-human Sven Goran Eriksson, why is Backe even being asked about Red Bulls chances in November?  The short answer is hype.  The slightly longer answer is Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez.  These superstars joined a team that was already good and have showed early flashes of having the ability to make it great.  Metro’s play in its past two games (4-1 win at Toronto and 2-0 win against San Jose) have everybody and their Momma thinking about adding to New York’s illustrious trophy case.*

So, is this hype warranted?  New York has added two world class players, and although their first forays into MLS have been a bit inconsistent, they will only improve with time (unlike raw meat and David Hasselhof’s singing career).  It’s other players are gelling and picking up their play, but two straight wins is a bit early to start betting on one of the league’s most inconsistent teams.  Yes, Backe has greatly improved this, but it’s easy to forget that these players are only a year removed from the tinkering hand of Juan Carlos Osorio, and those scars don’t heal fast.

The fact of the matter is the key to winning the MLS Cup is getting hot (and slightly lucky) at the right time.  Even Osorio knows this.  If this is what Metro looks like while firing all cylinders, the 12 games between now and a championship win are a lot to maintain such fine form for.  This is amplified by the difficulty of Red Bulls upcoming schedule.  Away matches at Salt Lake, Dallas and Los Angeles, as well as another meeting with Salt Lake in Harrison mark a rough end to the season.  It is in these matches that we will find out if Hans Backe is a liar, or his team will flare out of the playoffs early like so many in this franchise’s young history.

*This is a joke; Metro’s trophy case is actually embarrassingly bare.

Images by DailyHarrison.com | You're free to use,
copy, distribute, display, and make derivative works
from these images under the following conditions.

Share this