Even the Red Bulls fans are frustrated, very, very frustrated. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
The words of the day for the Red Bulls after their latest setback?
Frustration and frustrated after they suffered a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union at Red Bull on Saturday night.
Frustration and frustrated, indeed.
Once again, the Red Bulls could not score a goal as they dropped to 1-4-6 in one of the most dismal starts in the team’s 28-year history. They are in last and 15th place in the MLS Eastern Conference.
“The frustration is right now on an outstanding high level. 10 for 10, I would say,” head coach Gerhard Struber said. “Not only for me but also my boys. Again, we can see, we missed a lot in this game. Not ready in the moments when we get the chance, and one time very, very unlucky with a penalty. We had a special time, tough time. Yeah, it’s very, very difficult at the moment.”
Struber wasn’t the only one who was exasperated by the defeat.
“It’s frustrating,” captain and defender Sean Nealis said. “It’s a tough result a tough pill to swallow. A lot of low heads because we gave a lot and that end result wasn’t there. I believe in the guys here. We’re gonna keep fighting, keep going strong, keep sticking together and I think we got a good group here.”
But good enough to find a way to secure a home point.
The Red Bulls have taken only six of a possible 15 points in Harrison, N.J. en route to an abysmal 1-1-3 home record. That is not good enough to reach the playoffs and it is not good enough to get out of the cellar. They trail the 14thh-place Chicago Fire (2-3-5, 11) by two points.
“We cannot say that we make everything right in the end,” Struber said. “The table never lies, and the reality is that we are in the last place in the table. We make not everything right, especially the results at the moment are very, very bad. And also in the games, when we see, also, today how we handled — and against Philly, we know that this is a team on a very high level. You get not so many chances, but when you come in moments like that, you must be more in balance. You must be more ready for situations like that.”
The Red Bulls haven’t scored a first-half goal at home this season. If you don’t score first, you are chasing the game.
Rule No. 1 in soccer:
If you don’t score goals, you can’t win.
“I think it’s tough,” midfielder Dru Yearwood said. “I think, from my perspective we got going once we were a goal down. That’s not the mindset we need, we need to go at teams from the first whistle. We went down and then we started looking good after that because we were chasing the game and it’s frustrating.”
One of the words of the day.
