On a brisk early afternoon day at Red Bull Arena, the New York Red Bulls came home to try and stop their early funk to start the season, and they did so by defeating the Chicago Fire by a final score of two goals to nil. The Red Bulls started to turn it on as the second half whistle blew. Goals from Cristian Casserers Jr & Caden Clark spring the Red Bulls into the lead and the win to break the skid.

The early goal in the second half came from the Venezuelan International Cristian Cassererrs Jr. as he smashed the ball past three Chicago defenders. A lovely ball to Fabio as he past a defender and then held it, to asses a play along the near side. He fed a beautiful ball back into the area where Casserers Jr. was trailing the play and then smashed it home for his second of the season in the 47th minute.

The Red Bulls would double their lead as the wonder kid Caden Clark continues to show his magical scoring touch as he smashed his second of the season and the second for the Red Bulls in the 64th minute. Sean Davis stole the ball away from the Chicago defender and crossed it to Fabio. But Fabio decided to chest it towards Clark, with a hop and a right foot, he beats Bobby Shuttleowrth to make it two goals to nil.

Head Coach Gerhard Struber was smiling and satisfied with the performance on the day and in his third regular season match, he finally earns his first win at MLS.

“It’s a good feeling right now for my whole coaching staff, my whole team, for every single player today” said Struber, “I think the last few games were very close in the end, and we pick up not the right results, and today the first win gives everyone a very big belief in our way, and especially the performance shows one more time that we are on the right way.

“Today is different in that from the first whistle to the last whistle we have many, many things in our control and I can feel a big focus, a big concentration in every action and I think today this was the next important step in our way. “

Once again the Red Bulls played a good 1st half at home with solid defense and attacking down the north side of the Arena. Two big chances for the club as Fabio nailed the back post by shooting it through four Chicago Defenders and then Tom Barlow who had a great chance in front of goal pulled it wide past the far post. While the goals are being converted, the club can finally breathe a sigh of relief to finally get the full three points and earn a win. But this is still a young team that still needs time to gel and making sure they understand what the tactics are and how they will translate all of it into a possible winning streak.

Struber is very proud of the club’s performance and he is hopeing that he will get more in the next home match in the following week.

“Yeah, very proud. Very proud of every single player. We have young players, we have players with more experience, yeah of course, I expected from our players today that we make the next step. For me it’s not always a topic between young or old players.” said Struber, “We are ready for professional jobs or we are not ready. Today my boys show me a big professional performance, and also the boys they have not so much experience in MLS or in professional football but right now I can see that we made the next step and I am happy about that.”

Now the Red Bulls need to add on and continue to win games to add to their confidence. Until PAtryk Klimala gets his visa and ITC settled, everything should be fine, but for now enjoy the celebrations for the clubs first three points of the season. Time for them to get ready for Toronto FC.

It maybe the second game of the 2021 season, but as of right now the New York Red Bulls are not looking like themselves. Sure they may have dominated many statistical categories in this one, but we all know the most important stat is the scoreboard and in this one the New York Red Bulls fell to the Los Angeles Galaxy by a final of three goals to two and have no points in two matches.

Javier Hernandez who we all know goes by the name “Chicharito” had a horrible 2020 season in Major League Soccer, well in 2021 he is making up for lost time, as he has torched the net five times in three matches. He earned his first Hat Trick of the season as the Red Bulls defense looked poor and sloppy at times whenever he was close to the end. He opened the scoring in the ninth minute by catching up to a deflected ball, that looked like it was going out over the end line, but Hernandez caught up to the ball and poked it in. The original shot was deflected off a Red Bull defender and keeper Carlos Coronel tried to make a diving save, but was nowhere near the ball, but Chicharito knew and tucked it home.

He scored his second goal in the 41st minute off a great cross from Victor Vazquez as he whipped the ball into the Red Bu8lls Area. remained onside and nutmegged Coronel for his second goal of the match. While the far side assistant did raise his flag for offside, VAR was called in and on the replay it clearly showed that Hernandez was onside when the ball was played. The third and final goal for Chicharito was another sloppy defensive effort in the 60th minute when the cross came along the near side, Another deflection off the Red Bulls defender, and a side smash inside the far post. for the Hat Trick.

“First of all, I’m very, very disappointed about the result. I think we win every race within the statistics, and in the end we have a game with many chances, and especially in the second half, the game is absolutely in our hand, but one, two moments we are not ready and they can use their chances.” said Red Bulls Head Coach Gerhard Struber “Especially Chicharito today was in outstanding form and show us the determination that we need. He was the changer in the game.

“In the end, for me, it’s not a surprise, especially for me that our way, in this time, is not so easy from the results. We make steps further in our principles and this is a good feeling but otherwise, we are a professional team, we need the right results and right now we can not realize the results that we want. This is what makes me a little bit frustrated, and also my boys, this is my opinion about the game.  

The Red Bulls did have some moments to level the match and pull back a goal in this one as their pressing tactics did frustrate the Galaxy. Andrew Gutman did level the score in the 26th minute as he smashed home a ball where he retrieved it along the far side and got inside the area. Gave the ball to Brian White, who gave it back and he took his shot low. Got it inside the back post for his first MLS goal.

“It was a special moment for me. We won the ball back in a good area and [Brian] Whitey made a nice run on the outside and kind of directed two people with him. “said Gutman, “We got a little fortunate with the bounce and then he was able to just kind of lay it out for me. In that moment, I was just very calm, I saw the back post and I just hit it like I would hit a shot in the training ground and luckily it went in. It was a special moment for me and my family and I’m really happy about it.”

Their second goal was converted three minutes later after Chicharito’s Hat trick. On a free-kick, the ball floated towards Amro Tarek who tried to flick it back with his right foot and in a crowd, Cristian Casserers Jr. heads it in to pull one back. Daniel Royer who entered the match as a substitute tried a long-distance shot to level the match was stopped by Jonathan Bond Captain Sean Davis had his thoughts on the game.

“Without much time to reflect on the performance, my initial thoughts are that it’s a performance where we feel like we’re in control for 85-90% of the game, but in this league that’s not enough with the way that we play, that’s not enough. We have to be on high alert at all times and I think that we’re disappointed that we conceded three goals that, in my opinion, were preventable, and you’re not going to win on the road, you’re not going to pick up points on the road when you concede three goals. ” Said Davis,” That’s not just on our backline, that’s on the entire team, that’s how we play, we defend as a group, and everyone has to be completely locked in. If we want to get a shutout on the road, what’s the point of running and pressing as much as we do if we’re going to concede soft goals. It’s not good enough and we recognize that and it’s just the truth and we have to face the music. We have to get back to training and be better. “

Right now the Red Bulls are off to an 0-2 start to their new season and at the moment it looks like small mistakes are becoming big problems for them with their defending. This is not a finished product by any means, but if they want to start winning, they must find a way to correct these problems or else they could miss the playoffs for the very first time in a very long time and that is not doable as of right now.

The rumors were hot and heavy as the reporters were being shot out of a cannon that the Red Bulls were going after Celtic’s young hot prospect, as they tried to make this move. So after the many days and months of negotiations, the Red Bulls finally got their player.

They transferred young Polish International Striker Patryk Klimala from Glasgow Celtic of the Scottish Premier League and they will sign him as a Young Designated Player on a four-year MLS contract with a club option for a fifth year. Of course, they are waiting for his P-1 visa and ITC to come in so they can officially have him begin as soon as possible.

“We’re delighted to complete this deal and welcome Patryk to our club,” said Head of Sport Kevin Thelwell. “Patryk is a talented true center forward who has proven that he can score goals and create in a variety of ways. We believe he has the ability to impact games in MLS now, and the potential to continue to grow and succeed in years to come. We look forward to welcoming him to New York and getting him acclimated to our club.”

The 22-year-old who signed with Celtic on January 22, 2020, made his first appearance in the Scottish Premier League played in 28 matches, converted three goals, and an assist in 681 minutes in all competitions. He has also played internationally for Poland, as a member of their U-21 squad, and during the UEFA U-21 qualifying tournament, scoring two goals and an assist in 278 minutes played.

“I’m very happy with Patryk’s decision to join us,” said Head Coach Gerhard Struber. “At both the club and youth international level he has shown that he has high potential. He demonstrates a strong work ethic against the ball, which is very important to our style of play, and has very good instincts around the goal. His movement and ability in the final third give the team another weapon.”

The Red Bulls have scouted Europe and across the globe to find talented players to come and perform in Harrison, some have said that the homegrown talent is running dry, but for now, it looks like the Red Bulls are answering those critics by bringing in these young and exciting players.

The one thing that needs to happen is for the chemistry to come together and bloom like a flower, there is plenty of time to do that as the season has just gotten started.

The New York Red bulls began their brand new season with a 15% capacity with their fans at Red Bull Arena,It might not be the fully packed crowd that we are use to seeing, but with this pandemic still lurking around we have to endure this type of situation and hope somewhere down the line we can get an increase by the office of New JErsey Governer Phil Murphy as the season continues down the road.

But this is the start of the Gerhard Struber era, and we saw a squad that looked ready to go. They looked strong in the defense, worked the ball well as they brought it up the field, and showed some poise with a solid opening half to the season. While they didn’t score in the first 45 minutes, they would be able to carry over their pressing style into the second half.

Caden Clark would finally get his first goal at Red Bull Arena as the club would take the lead in the 48th minute. The ball went down the near side of the field, a nice long cross by Kyle Duncan that was headed away from the defense, but Clark with a mid-air smack that beats the keeper to open the scoring,. An amazing right leg swing while ousing his left leg as balance to hit that ball one time.

But with a few new faces for the Red Bulls, they hit the level of distraction and complacency as they conceded two goals in a manner of two- minutes. Defender Andrew Gutman who was defending the ball inside his area had his right arm in an unnatural position as he blocked the cross with his right hand. Referee blows his whistle and pointed to the spot. The penalty was converted by Gadi Kinda to level it at one, then in the 60th minute, the Red Bulls were very loose and allowed a second goalDaniel SaSAlloi slammed home it home.

While the Red Bulls did get back to their pressing ways, they couldn’t find a way to break through that Sporting Kansas City defense. Once they get the lead, it’s hard to break through that Peter Vermes defense that he has been known to do as a former player and a member of the US Men’s national Team.

While the result didn’t go their way, you can see what the Red Bulls are trying to do. While the 4-2-3-1 is gone, the 4-4-2 has returned, especially the midfield in a diamond formation. With a few new fresh faces trying to mesh with the current roster, this result was a tough pill to swallow, but if they can keep their head screwed on right, they could improve and make a nice jump. But for now it’s one game, and they wll need several more to make sure their chemistry needs to be just right to become a threat to the league.