HARRISON, N.J. — The New York Red Bulls executed a tactical masterclass against Atlanta United on Sunday, guiding them to a comprehensive 2-0 victory even without key stars Bradley Wright-Phillips and Tyler Adams.
The Red Bulls pressed higher and harder than they typically have under head coach Chris Armas, dictating play deep in Atlanta’s half nearly the entire game. It left ATL’s league-best attack with scant opportunities to exploit space as they usually do, as the Five Stripes struggled to break the first wave of pressure more often than not.
“We overwhelm teams,” Red Bulls defender Tim Parker, who marked his 100th career MLS start with his second career goal, told MLSsoccer.com postgame. “From the first whistle, I think Atlanta felt like they were a step behind us the whole game. We frustrated them, we put the game on our terms, and that’s what we’ve got to do, especially at home.”
Atlanta’s Tata Martino opted to set his side up in a 3-4-2-1, with Miguel Almiron much closer to attackers Josef Martinez and Tito Villalba than midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Eric Remedi. Service never quite reached that tantalizing front three, however.
“We wanted to get the ball behind the first line of their midfielders and then be able to find the space behind their center backs because they like to play a high line,” Martino said.
As Martino instructed, Atlanta attempted to play through the Red Bulls’ press to little joy, despite the vast spaces RBNY were prepared to leave for a few players in defense to deal with. Parker and his center-back partner Aaron Long were liable to be left exposed 1v1 with Martinez and Villalba, only to handle that duty flawlessly whenever called into action.
“It's a big demand,” Armas said. “The physical output was always going to be a big demand against a team as good as they are, with attackers as good as they are, built in transition. That challenges the back line. We were able to put pressure on their backs and up the field to minimize the amount of times we got caught the other way.”
ATLUTD routinely carve up defenders when given space, which explains why most opponents attempt to bunker deep against the Five Stripes. The Red Bulls went in the complete opposite direction, thanks in no small part to the defenders’ comfort with defending in space.
“With Tim and Aaron, you can see why they will be regulars on the [U.S.] national team,” Armas said. “They can run, they fight, they have courage, they're good in the air, they can step in front, they can win foot races.”
Down the Red Bulls’ left flank, the battle between Kemar Lawrence and Julian Gressel was not one for the faint of heart. Providing a 90-minute microcosm of the modern fullback position, Gressel and Lawrence were all-action, endlessly motoring from endline to endline. Indicative of the Red Bulls’ performance as a whole, Lawrence got the better of Gressel on balance.
“I think you saw with Atlanta today, they had some tough moments building out and they really stuck to that, because that’s their identity,” RBNY midfielder Sean Davis said. “When you look at our identity, it’s all about our press and working for each other.”
Brad Guzan pinned the loss less on any tactical decisions and more on his side simply being outworked.
“It was their intensity, their being up for the game, hungriness,” said Atlanta’s goalkeeper. “It wasn’t tactical, it wasn’t the high press, it wasn’t anything like that. It was plain and simple: we didn’t show up.”
