Bizarre 2 Days Highlights Change in the New York Red Bulls

Major League Soccer is usually full of surprises, but developments in Harrison, New Jersey, this week have taken the MLS mantra of "expect the unexpected" to a new level.

It's just another week in the crazy season of the New York Red Bulls.

Perhaps we should have seen it coming, since the fact that the Red Bulls even had two matches in the span of two days was a bizarre enough turn of events. With New York's schedule looking congested due to the team's participation in the International Champions Cup, and the Philadelphia Union unwilling to renegotiate a time for the teams' U.S. Open Cup matchup, the Red Bulls' week began on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Despite the strange starting time, things began brightly enough for the home side at Red Bull Arena, with New York more or less dominating proceedings from the opening kickoff. In the 40th minute, things went from good to great for the Red Bulls. Union striker Conor Casey received a red card for a serious foul against New York's Connor Lade, and in 90-degree heat, the Red Bulls were set to play up a man for 50 more minutes.

New York's domination continued until a rare Philadelphia counter attack ended with Vincent Nogueira crossing the ball to an unmarked Eric Ayuk, who had only to slam the ball into the back of the net. 

The Union led 1-0 with 35 minutes to play, and Philadelphia's game plan was predictable—get all 10 men behind the ball and defend. To adopt any other strategy would have been insane, and full credit to the Union for executing that plan relatively successfully. But the Red Bulls did not make it particularly difficult on Philadelphia.

For the next 35 minutes, New York did everything it could to find an equalizer, but it just did not create a ton of danger in front of John McCarthy. The team's struggles against Philadelphia are indicative of a bigger problem that has been present for the entire season.

The Red Bulls have an impressive amount of talent at every position on the pitch and have played a solid, and at times even tremendous, team game this season. But when opposing teams bunker into a defensive shell, the team's preferred high-pressing style of play becomes a non-factor and it struggles to create chances.

That was the story for almost the entirety of the second half in Harrison Tuesday afternoon. New York attack after New York attack got 20 yards from goal, then flamed out. It was a match calling out for a Red Bulls' superstar to propel his team to success.

Thierry Henry?

Tim Cahill?

Rafa Marquez?

Juan Pablo Angel? Youri Djorkaeff? Anybody at all?

For New York right now, there is no one to answer that call. 

This is not to take anything away from New York's top attackers, players like Bradley Wright-Phillips, Mike Grella and Lloyd Sam. All three are an important part of what this team has done this season and could very well yet push the Red Bulls to a highly successful year. But none of them can provide the singular moment of magic that players like Henry, Cahill and Angel could. 

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Just when it appeared that all hope was lost for the Red Bulls, Sam found the back of the net on a goal-mouth scramble with only a minute left to play. Sam deserves credit for willing the ball across the line, as does Grella for heading the ball into the danger area for the Englishman to convert, but it was hardly a beautiful goal.

This is not to say that beautiful goals are required to win soccer games—obviously this is not the case. But often when teams play as defensively as Philadelphia did on Tuesday, that kind of beautiful individual effort is required to win.

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Though the Red Bulls managed to extend the match with an ugly goal, they could not find another one in the added 30 minutes. When the penalty shootout arrived, it was arguably New York's top two attacking threats, Wright-Phillips and Sam, who missed penalties, costing their club a chance at victory and a spot in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup. 

Again, this is not to belittle the contributions that those two players have put forward in Harrison this season. The English pair has combined for 13 goals and 10 assists in MLS play this season, powering the Red Bulls to the second-best points per game in the Eastern Conference. 

But as the team has for so long been powered by star players, the absence of such a player was exceedingly obvious as the team struggled against Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Red Bull supporters would have been forgiven for writing the entire week off as a failure after Tuesday's loss, as the team's only remaining match was against Chelsea the following night. With the team's top players all featuring against the Union, the Red Bulls were forced to field a side almost exclusively made up of players who have spent the season with New York's USL side.

With Chelsea starting players like Thibaut Courtois, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, Cesc Fabregas and Oscar, the Red Bulls second-stringers looked to be in trouble.

New York was outclassed in the first half but performed admirably against a superior side and ended the first 45 minutes down only 1-0. The second half brought something entirely unexpected.

In the 51st minute, New York's Franklin Castellanos latched onto a poor back pass from Chelsea's John Terry and managed to squeeze it past Asmir Begovic to tie the match at one. 

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Perhaps feeling that something special could be happening, the Red Bulls' youngsters continued to work hard and found a go-ahead goal through 16-year-old Tyler Adams in the 70th minute, after which madness ensued.

Sean Davis scored to put the Red Bulls up 3-1 in the 73rd minute, Eden Hazard scored to make it 3-2 in the 75th minute and Davis restored the two-goal lead just two minutes later, leaving the scoreline at 4-2.

Chelsea turned the pressure up but could not find another goal, and the defending English Premier League winners lost to a team with 15 players who have never appeared in an MLS match.

Chelsea, of course, is only in the midst of preseason, but frankly that should not matter given the gap between the two sides one might have suspected before the match began. The victory is a gigantic achievement for the Red Bulls' talent scouting and development teams. 

Both of New York's matches this week would have been noteworthy at any time of year, but that they occurred on back-to-back nights highlights just how different this year's Red Bulls are from any previous version of the club. 

On the one hand, New York currently lacks the star power it has had for most of its existence. The team is talented and certainly has a chance to make a deep playoff run, but it is going to continue to struggle in matches like Tuesday's unless new talent is brought in. This is new, uncharted and scary territory for the Red Bulls and their fans.

However, equally new and uncharted is the club's interest in its young players. The addition of New York's own USL team has aided immensely in the development of young and inexperienced players in the Red Bulls organization, as has the focus put on development by head coach Jesse Marsch and sporting director Ali Curtis.

After years of the first team ignoring the widespread success of New York's academy teams, the change of pace is massively refreshing. 

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Of course, Red Bull fans will be quick to point out that the focus on development and the team's willingness to spend big on star players do not have to be mutually exclusive. They are right to say so, and if New York is serious about making a deep run this year, the team's Austrian bosses may have to open their checkbooks before the transfer window ends in the coming weeks.

In reality, that may not happen. Red Bull Corporate very well may not be willing to spend any more money on its New York team, and that is a reality that fans have to come to accept.

But the good news for them is that players like Anatole Abang, Anthony Wallace and Manolo Sanchez have already proved that the Red Bulls' USL side is helping develop and prepare players for the MLS incredibly well. As long as New York can continue to pump out and keep the top talent of its academy programs, it should have a pipeline of talented players for years to come.

The prospect of a promising and stable future is one that has never been enjoyed by the New York Red Bulls, but they are closer to that now than ever before, even if management elects to stay away from acquiring any more star players.