Follow the Post’s soccer coverage on Twitter!
Richie Williams has stressed defending as a team, stepping up to pressure as one, and so far the results are showing. They snapped a 13-game league winless skid in his debut _ despite playing a man down for the last half-hour _ and Sunday they beat Columbus 1-0.
“Danleigh (Borman) had a tough matchup; (Emmanuel) Ekpo is a good player, but he did well. He battles hard and he gave it his all. And then Andrew (Boyens), I thought did great also,” Williams said. “Columbus tends to play very direct and play the ball down to their offensive line to work hard to get the ball in their offensive half and take it from there.
“It’s very important that you have two centerbacks that’re strong in the air, and Mike (Petke) and Andrew did a great job. Balls were flying in there all game long, and they kept their composure and defended well as a group. Carlos Johnson also did a great job, along with Seth (Stammler).”
It marked only their third clean sheet of the year. It was also their first shutout since 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake back on April 18. Their other shutout came the game before that, a 0-0 draw at Houston.
“It’s a team effort. It’s not only the goalie, but from the fans, from guys on the bench, to the coaches, to the guys on the field,” said keeper Bouna Coundoul, who took over for Danny Cepero. “Everybody works hard and winning with a shutout makes everyone feel good and makes everyone feel apart of it.”
*** Somehow, the Red Bulls ran their improbable home unbeaten string against Columbus to 11 games, at 8-0-3. They haven’t lost to the Crew in Giants Stadium since April 12, 2003.
Of course, there was that pesky loss to Columbus in last year’s MLS Cup final, but that’s a whole different story.
*** Sunday’s win helped the Red Bulls avoid some dubious history they had been threatening. The 2001 Tampa Bay Mutiny had set records for futility by going 4-21-2 for 14 points, all-time MLS lows in wins and points. The Red Bulls tied that victory total and surpassed that point total _ as well as the all-time club low of 15 points, from the 7-25 team back in 1999.
“I didn’t want my name to go down on the team with the worst record in the league,” said goalscorer Dane Richards. “The most important thing is for the fans. The fans haven’t had a lot to cheer about all season so we are trying to give them something to come out for each week.”
Richards has three goals, scoring in back-to-back games. He’s playing with added confidence now, and has also benefitted from Williams playing a more direct style. He’s seemed to benefit the most from the change of atmosphere around the team.
*** OK, so by now we all know that France National Team midfielder Patrick Vieira has said he plans to leave Inter Milan at the end of this Serie A season, and said he’s been convinced to try MLS in 2010. It begs the natural question of could he be coming to Red Bull?
Well, I can tell you the club does indeed have a wish list put together of potential Designated Players, and an industry source confirmed that Vieira is definitely on that short list. But the source also cautioned that Red Bull hasn’t had any talks _ advanced or otherwise _ with the Frenchman.
