Can we quibble with two little things here as New York Red Bulls midfielder Tim Cahill adds some bulletin board material to the chase for Eastern supremacy?
Here’s what Cahill said following yesterday’s 2-0 loss at home to Sporting Kansas City.
I don’t think there’s anything special to their team [Sporting Kansas City]. I think we didn’t perform tonight. That’s definitely not the team I know. We’ve got a lot more fight than that.”
He’s right about his own side. A poor start, lowlighted by jayvee marking on two restarts, and then some poor quality work inside the attacking third did in the home team. Bottom line: we’ve seen better around Red Bull Arena.
But …
First, if Cahill can’t see anything special about Sporting Kansas City, he might be the only one. No team in memory pressures with the collective commitment of Peter Vermes’ unit. Then there’s the obvious, that Sporting KC has more points (54) and a better goal difference (plus-12) than any Eastern Conference club. Which is why they are a couple of wins away from cinching off the conference crown.
Second, if you get shut out at home, is that really the best time to have a go at your worthy opponent?
Just sayin’.
Meanwhile, Thierry Henry saw things a little differently. And how.
Overall, they played better. Let’s not hide behind anything. They deserve to be first, and they are.
“We created chances, [but] we didn’t score. I said so many times that you’re not going to be able to come back sometimes in a game like that, and that happened. KC were better than us, way better. They attacked the game better than us, and we found ourselves down 2-0 after 20 minutes.’’
