Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls

It’s matchday eve once again, as Orlando City will try to make it three wins in a row after coming back from the World Cup break. Standing between the Lions and three victories on the bounce are the New York Red Bulls, as OCSC will hit the road up to New Jersey on Saturday to try to exact vengeance for an opening day loss.

A match with the Red Bulls means I caught up with Mark Fishkin, who hosts the Seeing Red Podcast — an independent outlet that always provides excellent coverage of New York. As usual, he was kind enough to bring us up to speed on how things have been going for the Red Bulls since the season opener.

With five goals conceded in two post-World Cup games, the defense seems to be a sticky spot for the Red Bulls at the moment. What are you seeing back there that has contributed to the back line’s difficulties?

Mark Fishkin: There’s so much that’s gone into New York’s ineptitude in the back…young, young players still figuring things out on the back line (ages 17, 20, 22) plus a challenge in net with Ethan Horvath. Horvath is usually good for one or two spectacular saves every match, plus a massive howler. Every. Time. Out.

After torturing Orlando in the season opener, Julian Hall has kept on cooking and leads the team with 12 goal contributions. What has made him so effective this season?

MF: Hall is a fantastic finisher who has benefitted from exemplary service, mostly from Cade Cowell (six assists)  on the right but also from Jorge Ruvalcaba (who is out for Saturday on yellow card accumulation), and Emil Forsberg. In the season opener, Hall’s performance opened eyes across the league, and the teenager hasn’t stopped. He’s been a bright spot for the team this season.

Based on what you’ve seen so far, what should the minimum expectation be for Red Bulls fans this year? What needs to happen for those expectations to be exceeded?

MF: Before the season, Red Bulls’ fans would have been happy with returning to the playoffs after the team’s first postseason miss since 2009 last year. However, a quick start, and then a great run before the World Cup Break (10 points over four matches) raised expectations in a big way. Since the break, however, the performances have been terrible. New York allowed three goals at one-win Philadelphia, then conceded twice to Charlotte in the first 12 minutes last week and lost 2-0. It’s been a rollercoaster of emotion for fans, and the car is heading down, down, down.

Will any players be unavailable due to injuries, suspensions, call-ups, etc.? What is your projected starting XI and score prediction?

MF: Key suspensions for the Red Bulls include Adri Mehmeti (red card last week) and the aforementioned Ruvalcaba.  The Red Bulls are close to injury free.
Starting XI (4-3-3) could be: Ethan Horvath; Matthew Dos Santos, Julian Bazan, Justin Che, Dylan Nealis; Emil Forsberg, Gustav Berggren, Ronald Donkor; Mohammed Sofo, Julian Hall, Cade Cowell.

*score prediction not provided

Thank you to Mark for the great update on the Red Bulls. Vamos Orlando!