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Red Bulls Nearly Win At San Jose—Then Roy Miller Happened
By
Dan Dickinson
Published Mar 11, 2013
Modified Mar 12, 2013
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photo: New York Red Bulls
By
Dan Dickinson
Published Mar 11, 2013
Modified Mar 12, 2013
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The New York Red Bulls fans who chose to stay up for a 10 p.m. kickoff (the day of Daylight Saving, no less!) were likely heartened by what they saw from the team as they took on San Jose. An early goal from Eric Alexander and some well worked attacking saw NY control most of the game. But the wheels fell off the bus and the Quakes found two goals late thanks to one very oblivious defender.
FULL HIGHLIGHTS
THE GOOD
The first half. A pretty comprehensive performance again in the first half, from front to back. New York not only created a number of chances and controlled the midfield, but prevented San Jose from getting a single shot on goal. After almost constantly giving up goals in the opening minutes last season, it was a solid performance.
Eric Alexander. Right place at the right time for the RBNY newcomer. After a Thierry Henry cross was deflected by the Quakes, Alexander calmly one-timed the ball to the far post for the opening goal of the game.
The opening half hour of the second half. Unlike last week's collapse against Portland, the Red Bulls did not merely choose to sit back and let San Jose pound them with attacks. They continued to press and chase after the ball, showing a good understanding of how they let the game slip away from them last week.
THE BAD
Luis Robles wanting to take an extra touch. Despite a lot of dominance throughout the game, the Red Bulls nearly gave up goals twice entirely through their own miscommunication. Both incidents came from Luis Robles wanting an extra touch of the ball after a backpass, something seen last year as well. One ball was knocked away from him, but San Jose failed to stop the deflection before it rolled away. Later, on a throw-in from Brandon Barklage, Mike Fucito again poked it away from him just in front of the goal—luckily, Robles was able to leap onto it before he could get a second touch to it. While Robles made a handful of good plays, his shakiness is leaving many Red Bulls fans waiting for Ryan Meara's recovery.
More travel troubles. Just like last week, the Red Bulls ran into transportation problems, having their flight out to California scuttled on Friday due to snow. Perhaps it would have just been easier to stay out west for the week?
THE UGLY
Roy Miller. RBNY's longest tenured player had, for better or worse, inherited the role of "Most Disliked Player By Team Fans" after Rafa Marquez's departure in December. The Costa Rican left back had a hand in the team collapse in three straight years of playoffs, most recently scoring an own goal against DC and then famously skying a free kick over the bar at the end of the game. While Miller was fine for most of the game, he completed what we'll call a "hat trick of stupidity" in under ten minutes, turning a W into an L. Let's take a look:
The first crack appeared on San Jose's equalizer with ten minutes to go. Miller seemed disinterested with the play, stopped covering his man, and gave Adam Jahn a free shot into the roof of the net. While Robles should have done better on the play as well, Miller's giving up on the ball was an early warning sign.
Next, with stoppage time approaching, Miller attempted to fly. At least, that's what it looked like—his jumping and arm flapping took him directly into the path of a Adam Jahn ball. No doubt he would've been able to take off had the ball not clipped his arm. The beleaguered defender was sent back to Earth, and San Jose was awarded a penalty kick.
Finally—and perhaps most frustratingly of all—Luis Robles' save on a Chris Wondoloski penalty kick was scratched thanks to Miller encroaching the box. Most encroachment is questionable, with players running into the box just as the ball is about to be struck. But Miller ran in so early—like he wanted to take the PK himself—Salazar's call was not debatable by any stretch.
Wondo would not miss the second PK, giving San Jose the win. It's a shame Roy Miller didn't learn anything from the last time NY dealt with a penalty kick—the one that they encroached on, missed the retake, and proceeded to fall out of the playoffs.
LOOKING AHEAD
With just one point out of their first six—which is admittedly better than how they started 2012—the Red Bulls will finally get to play at home next week. Their opening opponent will be DC United, last seen in Harrison sending NY out of the playoffs last November. NY has win all three of their previous home openers since Red Bull Arena opened in 2010; whether that streak will survive depends on how the team bounces back from a demoralizing result. (And whether or not Roy Miller somehow earns another start.)
POST-MATCH REACTIONS
Coach Mike Petke on giving up late goals: "It seems that we've taken the lead two weeks in a row on the road, and given up two goals late. Last year our major problem was early goals, we've corrected that, and now our problem is late goals."
Petke on what he would say to Roy Miller: "I'm not going to tell him a word tonight. Like I said, I'm going to calm myself down a little bit, re-watch the video on the plane, and then address all the issues."
Midfielder Dax McCarty trying to put things in perspective: "You look back, and you look at the flow of the games, and you're thinking why didn't we leave these two road games with at least four points, maybe even six if we're a little better in Portland. Yeah, it's pretty mind blowing. But we can't panic. It's two games into the season, we haven't even played a home game yet. I think we can take some positives out of this performance for sure. Last ten minutes, it's just got to be better mentally."
Eric Alexander on playing with New York: "It's a different playing style with our firepower up front. It takes pressure off other guys because the focus is on our marquee names. I just like to create my chances by sneaking in through the back post."
McCarty on encroachment: "It happened in the playoffs last year. The refs I guess are calling it a little bit tighter. If you want me to be completely honest, I think every single time a penalty kick happens, if you want to go by the letter of the law, there's a guy that's stepping into the box every single time before a penalty kick is taken. I think it's however the ref's feeling on the day. I haven't seen the replay, I don't know how far in he was or what the situation was. At the end of the day, I think the refs have to be a judge of what they think is aggressive encroachment. At the end of the day, I think if they're going to call it, then they need to call it every time. I don't care if a guy has his big toe in his box, if they're going to call it by the letter of the law, they better have some consistency. That's all we hope. We can't make excuses—if he was in the box, he was in the box, and the ref decided to call it. But at the end of the day, you just want to see consistency and have it called on every single penalty kick that's taken"
Striker Thierry Henry, summing up the game in one snarky response: "Overall we lost, what else should I say about it?"
Next Match: Saturday March 16, 12:30 PM, vs. DC United (TV: NBC)
Tagged
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red bulls
roy miller
san jose earthquakes
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Dan Dickinson
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