It’s one of the sure things in sports that opponents will figure out a system sooner or later, that winners have to adjust to the adjustments. That’s exactly what the Red Bulls are doing.
After foes cracked their old system, the Red Bulls are breaking out of their season-long funk with a new one. Wednesday’s 5-1 rout of San Jose was not only their most comprehensive win of the season, but vaulted them over .500 for the first time since May 6 — and into the playoff picture.
“We’ve stuck to it. We’ve had to grind through moments. We’ve had to feel the sense of failure for a large portion of the season. But we’ve all stuck together and make sure that we know that this is what this is about,’’ said coach Jesse Marsch. “We knew we’d come out on the other end. But you have to stay after it.”
Once foes got used to their 4-2-3-1 formation, they came out of it by switching to a 3-6-1, one that defends like there are five defenders. It lets the wingbacks get out wide to shut down crosses, it gives Sacha Kljestan more help in the midfield, and it let their captain break a season-long malaise with a goal and two assists.
“I definitely did not have a good start to the season. But I’m hitting my stride, and as I do that the team is hitting their stride, too. Those two things have gone hand in hand together the last 2 ½ years, so our potential is great as long as I can continue to get better,’’ said Kljestan, whose 42 career assists tie Thierry Henry’s club record.
“Teams saw a lot of us and they started to learn how to break us down or how to defend us. Now we’ve thrown a wrinkle into teams’ plans. I don’t think they’ve figured out how to beat us yet. It’s been good.”
The Red Bulls (9-8-2, 29 points) vaulted from seventh in the Eastern Conference into fifth on a tiebreaker.
In the 38th minute, Kljestan played the ball wide to an overlapping Connor Lade, and the tiny wingback sent in a low cross that Sean Davis buried. Lade, coming off just before halftime with a muscle spasm in his right leg, was about the only negative of the night.
Substitute Gonzalo Veron raced down the wing, kept a ball in and played it to Kljestan for a goal in the 73rd, and a minute later Kljestan found Felipe for a near-post goal.
San Jose’s Valeri Kazaishvili took advantage of a cramping Tyler Adams to pull a goal back, but midfielder Daniel Royer put a sharp-angle shot past keeper David Bingham in the 90th minute and bent in a nasty far-post shot a minute into extra time.
“We have really good wingbacks. They’re really important in this system,’’ said Royer. “It’s important to control the game, to have quick-play moments. … Now we should just go with the flow.”
With wingbacks Kemar Lawrence and Amir Murillo eventually returning from Gold Cup duty — Lawrence’s Jamaica faces Canada Thursday and Murillo’s Panama were eliminated 1-0 by Costa Rica on Wednesday — that strength will only get stronger, as will the defense when Aurelien Collin (leg) returns Saturday in Minnesota.