Red Bull New York II have been in a rough patch in the MLS Next Pro season, especially following a 4-0 loss to Chattanooga last weekend. The young club has not had many games like that this season, usually showing their competitive spirit both at home and on the road. However, the World Cup break has forced tough roster decisions and new faces have been pushed into the professional limelight.
“The last stretch was a special one for us because first team players were off, we had a lot of academy or youth national who were not available,” said head coach Dominik Wohlert. “There were just a lot of things going on and we were missing a lot of players. That was definitely also one of the reasons why so many players had a chance to get their first minutes with the second team.”
The issue with a lack of player selection should be corrected this coming week as the first team returns to training following their two-week World Cup break. While expectations shouldn’t be that we see major names getting minutes for Red Bull II, it isn’t out of the realm of possibilities that players like Dennis Gjengaar and perhaps Cameron Harper will see minutes in the next few fixtures as they push their way back into head coach Michael Bradley’s first team.
Sunday’s opposition will be another road battle against New England Revolution II. Sitting just one spot below them in the standings, but level on points, New England will look to take advantage of the situation. The reserve Revs have not lost in five games, garnering four wins over that span. Only a draw against Crown Legacy sits as a slight blemish on their schedule of late.
“We definitely just need to bring the energy right from the first minute of the game,” said defender Connor Faello. “Training has been really good with energy but we need to bring that energy to the game, not just in training. It needs to be from minute one to the end of the game.”
A win for Red Bull II could see them hop from ninth to fifth place in the standings should results go their way in other games. A loss would see New England hop over them and start to put real pressure on the reigning champions’ playoff hopes before the summer months truly heat up.
photo from Red Bull New York II