New York Red Bulls captain Emil Forsberg returned to the pitch during Saturday’s 5-1 loss to NYCFC but it was his first appearance for the club since June 29th. The nearly three-month absence was initially marked by mystery but then punctuated by anticipation as his return was delayed on numerous occasions. Now that he is back before the MLS Cup Playoffs, the Swedish star has shared some of his issues with the recover process.
“It was a long process, a frustrating one,” said Forsberg. “It’s the first time I ever had this kind of injury before. It was an injury where you had to be very careful to take care of yourself in a special way. I understand that it raised some concerns but all I did was to try to be careful and come back as soon as possible and in the best possible shape for the team.”
The injury was sustained while Forsberg was a way for the international break with Sweden. While he didn’t feature in any games during that run, the word is that he picked up the foot knock in training, keeping him out of competition for some time, including being seen for weeks at training with a protective boot. From there, it was a slow burn of rehab and solitary training before finally returning to the team this past week.
While he was gone, the Red Bulls only garnered a record of (1 win – 3 losses – 7 draws) over that stretch. While the club has been able to keep losses to a minimum, they have dropped key opportunities to challenge higher up the table and now find themselves in a fight to have home field advantage for the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs.
This is something that hasn’t been lost on Forsberg who hopes that his experience can rub of on some of the younger players. In particular he has shared his knowledge having come from a team in Leipzig that won big in Germany with two DFB Pokals in recent years.
“The most important part is to come together as a team,” said Forsberg. “We’ve forgotten about that in the recent couple of games. The confidence with the team, with the ball, without the ball, defending with your life… I think that’s the most important, to be there for each other. The qualify of the football we can play, we know about it but sometimes you have to be a little bit dirty. You have to be rough, you have to make that extra tackle. That’s the stuff we have to improve on and do better now.”
Red Bulls have three games left in the regular season, knowing that the playoffs are the ultimate proving ground. Forsberg was specifically selected to help the team reach their ultimate goal of an MLS Cup and his return signifies a restart in that process now that the initial qualification has been completed.
That work starts on Wednesday against Toronto where they hope to improve their standing in the table and bring at least two games to Red Bull Arena for the opening round. If not, they may find themselves as the road team looking to win from underneath which isn’t impossible but can be difficult for younger sides in MLS.
photo by Jordan Bank