Barclays New York Challenge Give’s Red Bulls Chance To Regroup

By: Dave Martinez | July 19th, 2010

barclays The World Cup certainly did the Red Bulls no favors. The New York side waltzed into the break riding a 4-1 record through their previous five games, and have emerged 1-2-2 in all competitions since. Had it not been for the thorough drubbing of the Wizards, the Red Bulls would have been outscored 4-1 in post tournament play. The least the Cup could have done was find a way to highlight and market Thierry Henry on the worlds biggest stage, but that is yet another thing former French National team coach Raymond Domenach managed to screw up!

Thankfully, the team will now enter a two week break from regular season competition. But this break will be like none other. There will be no sandy beaches, late night clubbing or bar hopping for these boys. Instead, they will find themselves in a place where a vibrant atmosphere will serve as the stage for the debut of the leagues biggest star athlete, ever.

The Barclays New York Challenge will pitch your Red Bulls against some of the World’s best clubs, including Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspurs and Sporting Lisbon. As each of these teams prepares for their own seasons, getting players up to game speed, it will be the fans who come out winners, being treated to some of the biggest names in soccer today. Emmanuel Adebayor, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Luka Modric and a host of others have already been confirmed for what will be a friendly tournament of historic proportions. Add Thierry Henry’s debut to the mix, and you have an event everyone can be excited for.

But away from the fan fare, what will this tournament mean to the Red Bulls? A chance at silverware? Maybe. The ability to test their mettle against some of the World’s greatest athletes? Of course. More importantly, it will be a great chance for Backe to gauge the ability of nearly all his team pieces ahead of the last half of the season.

That’s right; this may be the last hurrah for the Baby Bulls and their magical 2010 season. This could be the final spotlight for players like Conor Chinn, Irving Garcia, Austin da Luz, Tony Tchani and a host of others to prove to their coach that they have something to contribute to this team. As I stated in the Columbus post game write up, neither Backe nor Soler seem all that convinced with the ability of the draft class to compete at a higher level. This could be their chance to turn some heads and change some minds.

Moreover, Backe will be able to tweak the lineup, as he has been forced to do recently, in order to find solutions in positions that have been question marks all season, suffering little ramification for doing so. Want to start Roy Miller at right mid? Sure! Go right ahead. Think Carl Robinson would like to try his legs against Adebayor? Go for it! Maybe some Irving Garcia love at central attacking mid? You bet!

Though I am being a bit facetious, the truth rings clear; this is the teams opportunity to formulate and experiment without worry of consequence. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. The Red Bulls are facing a difficult stretch of games in the next few weeks, including two tough road games against the Dynamo and Chicago Fire following these friendly’s. Looking further down the line, two games against Real Salt Lake over the next two months will be a test for the midfield and defense, and a meeting with the LA Galaxy won’t be any picnic either.

That is what will make this tournament all the more important; they need time against the best opponents possible to see where they stand as a team. And what better way to do it than this? The achievements up to this point have been, without question, impressive, but they would all be for nothing if this team doesn’t answer the glaring questions in it’s midfield and attack. Their second place standing masks the fact that the team has been out scored this season 18-19, and that their midfield has only been able to manage 5 assists in the run of play (three of which are owned by Joel Lindpere). Those are stats that will not hold up as the gears of the season grind to the playoffs.

It’s time to regroup. And this is the best opportunity to do so.

What are your thoughts on the tournament? The team? And what are your solutions for this midfield conundrum? Share your thoughts after the jump.