MLS Preview from The Sports Network
Saturday, April 28, 2012
(All times Eastern)
New England (2-4-0) at New York (3-3-1), 3:30 p.m.
Harrison, NJ (Sports Network) - Injuries and suspensions have hit Red Bull New
York hard in recent weeks, but the club will have to find a way to cope in time
for its home clash against its Eastern Conference rivals, New England
Revolution, on Saturday.
Teemu Tainio is still out of action, Wilman Conde has yet to return, Roy Miller
picked up a knock on his knee, and Rafa Marquez will have to sit out another
two matches for his three-game ban. And that was all before its last match.
The Red Bulls are coming off of a humiliating 4-1 loss to D.C. United, but
injuries to two key players added further insult to injury. Stephen Keel and
Jan Gunnar Solli were added to New York's growing list of injury-ridden
regulars.
"Keel is out for minimum three weeks," Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe told
reporters after Wednesday's practice. "It's a stress fracture in his back. That
has been going on for a while. A stress fracture is over a period of time. So
it was so, so stiff that he went for a scan and it?s a stress fracture.
"Solli has a scan today. His calf, he got a really bad hit against D.C.
Hopefully it's just a formality that it's nothing else."
New York's depleted squad means that Backe will almost certainly have to field
several inexperienced players in the back line, likely to be Tyler Ruthven,
Connor Lade and Jonathan Borrajo joining a struggling Markus Holgersson in
defense.
The Red Bulls' defensive frailties this season are no secret - they still have
yet to keep a clean sheet. With the Revolution showing intermittent signs of
promise on the offensive end this season, they could be poised to grab some
goals at Red Bull Arena on Saturday.
But first-year head coach Jay Heaps does not want to see an open match on the
road, stating that he hopes to bunker down and neutralize a potent New York
attack that features two of the league's top scorers in Kenny Cooper and
Thierry Henry.
"We want to be stronger defensively," Heaps told the club's website. "When we
play an open game, we want it to be an attacking, open game, but we don't want
to expose ourselves. When we play well, we push the game, but at the same time
we know that if we lose possession, we're not exposing ourselves to open up
that game.
"We don't want it to be an open game," Heaps continued. "We want it to be open
when we want it to be open and pretty tight when we need it to be. Those are
the challenges when good teams start playing well. They know how to open it up
and close it as quickly as they do open it."
04/27 17:16:15 ET
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