The New York Red Bulls opened the season under a shroud of uncertainty, with rookie coach Mike Petke and a new front office at the helm. But with one month remaining in Major League Soccer's regular season, the Red Bulls have shown change can be a good thing.
The team sits atop the MLS regular-season standings with 51 points (15-9-6). And Sunday, New York faces the league's second-place team, the Seattle Sounders (15-8-5, 50 points), in a match that could decide who claims the Supporters Shield, given to the team with the best regular-season record.
But the Red Bulls enter the match at Seattle's CenturyLink Field (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) nursing wounds. Team captain Thierry Henry is out with a chronic Achilles injury, and key defender Jamison Olave, who has a nagging knee injury, is questionable because of the field's artificial turf.
Petke said the team was siding with caution, even with the Supporters Shield on the line.
"If the doctors weren't telling me certain things, of course I would step in and have serious conversations with these players, saying, 'Listen, we need you this weekend,'" Petke said. "But that's not the reality. The reality is that it really is a health risk."
A victory Sunday matched with a loss or tie by the Philadelphia Union or a loss or tie by the Chicago Fire would put the Red Bulls in the playoffs. An early postseason berth would help validate Petke's rookie season, which started with the team winning five of its first 15 games before going on a tear in July and August.
The success has not brought smooth sailing for Petke or the team, however. On Aug. 29, the coach and Henry had a shouting match during practice, and Henry stormed off the field.
The day after the argument, Petke tried to defuse the situation, telling news reporters he and Henry were on the same page.
"What happened with me and Henry? Listen, Thierry Henry is one of the most passionate and fiery people I've ever been associated with. And unless you guys have been under a rock for the last 13 years, I'm pretty passionate and lose my head a lot, too," Petke said. "Very normal stuff; there's really nothing to report. It happens all over the world."
Henry did not comment on the fight, but he recorded two goals and one assist in the next three games.
Clinching a playoff berth Sunday could overshadow the shouting match, but nothing less than an MLS Cup victory this year will erase the team's long history of underachieving. One of MLS' original clubs, the Red Bulls — formerly called MetroStars — have never won an MLS Cup championship. In fact, of the nine original MLS teams, just the Red Bulls have never won one of the three major North American trophies: MLS Cup, Supporters Shield, U.S. Open Cup.
It hasn't been for a lack of trying. The Red Bulls regularly outspend their rivals, and this season they sit atop the payroll list with $9.98 million in total salaries. Over the years, the organization has fielded more World Cup winners than any other MLS organization, including Henry, Germany's Lothar Matthaus, Brazil's Branco and France's Youri Djorkaeff.
The Red Bulls face a short-handed Sounders team, with Seattle's designated player Clint Dempsey (pulled hamstring) unlikely to start. Despite Dempsey's absence, the Sounders come in as favorites — they have won eight of their last 10 games, and the 50,000-plus fans provide home-field advantage.
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