Some Kind of Chemistry

By Sylvana Budesheim // @WhiteZinWench

Saturday, March 24th: 3-0 Win

So I hobbled my way back to Red Bull Arena to watch the New York Red Bulls face sophomore club Minnesota United. The concern for the team coming off a loss is that the slide would continue. This combined with the absence of several starters can compound locker room trepidation and set a vicious cycle in motion. But thankfully, that was not the case. And the team earned pizza and beer for their efforts (well… at least the ones who are old enough to drink).

FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY: Kemar Lawrence (Jamaica), Fidel Escobar and Michael Amir Murillo (Panama), and Tyler Adams (USA) are away on International duty. They were missed, of course, but it allowed for appearances for Kyle Duncan, Florian Valot, and Alex Muyl in the Starting XI.

SCIENCE-Y TRASH TALK: Points for originality, I’ll give them that:

SHOW RACISM THE RED CARD: In the 11th minute, the members of the South Ward did something quite out of the ordinary– they stopped singing for 1 minute, holding up red cards as a public display against racism. It’s important for supporter groups to make this effort to create a culture that is welcoming and supportive for all.

WICKED GAME: Well… Hello, Alex Muyl. Look at you, with a goal (15′) and an assist (78′) on the night. Your vision, your determination on the ball. After all this time when I was being critical (and I wasn’t alone), you have yourself a game. It’s what everyone wants to talk about. Hopefully, you’re listening.

“So he’s an important guy here, and he has to remain patient at times because we’ve used different guys at different times and we’ll use him at different moments but he’s very important around here and really happy for him.” –Coach Jesse Marsch

And a Brace for BWP: It’s easy to look at Bradley Wright-Phillips‘ record and grow complacent. Two goals (42′, 78’) might be just another day at the office for him:

“He should be underrated. He should be the most underrated player in league history. That should be his moniker because he proves every night how good he is.” –Jesse Marsch

But don’t tell him that:

“It definitely comes down to teammates, the team you’re in and the system you play. But I’ve worked hard. I want to score goals and I want to be important for my team. When I came here I tried to do that and now it seems like it’s paying off like I said[…] Right now I’m enjoying my football and it’s good to be a part of Red Bull.”
— Bradley Wright-Phillips

Next week, RBNY heads to Florida to battle friend and former teammate Sacha Kljestan and Orlando City SC. Could be quite a clash, and that’s just the uniform colors!

Featured image courtesy: Sylvana Budesheim

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