Red Bulls Begin A ‘Make or Break’ Four Game Home Stand

By: Dave Martinez | May 4th, 2009

Eight games into the season, the Red Bulls have found themselves at the bottom of the MLS standings, beating out only FC Dallas for the leagues worst record. With only one regular season win to hang their hats on, and a simmering fan base calling for their coaches head, it wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility to view this coming four game home stand as the teams first official “must win” series of games.

Think about it. Even if the Red Bulls split the home series, that will leave their record at an unenviable and meager 3-7-2. Three wins? 4-6-2, which at that point, would be a record the fan base would understand and could digest. And if the Bulls win all four games, they would still have more losses than wins. If that doesn’t illustrate the hole this team has dug itself in, nothing will.

This early into the season, the idea that a season could hang in the balance before a third of it has completed would be ludicrous. But if you look at the Red Bulls overall schedule, you will find that it isn’t such a wild concept. The system is split into clusters. After this four game stand, the Bulls will be back on the road for 6 out of their next 8 games heading into the All Star break. To illustrate this further, if the Red Bulls road woes continue, and lets say they win all their home games and lose their road games, they would still emerge with only a 7-11-2 record. Yes, that is an extreme view, but it is being done with the purpose of illustrating the difficulties this schedule provides, and the importance there in of home games for the Bulls.

The Bulls will be facing (in order) the Earthquakes, Dynamo, Fire and Rapids the entire month of May. At this point, no team can be considered easy pickings, as teams are more than likely feeling that way about the Red Bulls (even on the road). The Bulls will need to put in a solid, winning performance for the month of May in order to salvage their season. The only question will be if they are up to the task.