MLS
Can the New York Red Bulls end long wait for MLS Cup?
After knocking out the champions in Round One, Sandro Schwartz' side could finally end the 29-year wait for a championship in New Jersey.
“I’m proud. I think a lot of people should apologize to us now,” grinned New York Red Bulls captain Emil Forsberg in the post-game press conference. “I was confident all the time. But some weren’t.”
Who could blame him? Basking in the glow of a 2-0 triumph over New York City FC, the Red Bulls had pulled off a famous derby victory and booked a place in the Eastern Conference final this weekend, where they will face Orlando City.
But anyone who doubted the Red Bulls did so with good reason. Despite some notable highs Sandro Schwartz' side have not found consistency in 2024.
Early in the season they smashed runaway leaders Inter Miami 4-0 but later suffered a drab loss to wooden spoon winners Chicago Fire. The Red Bulls ended the regular season with one win in their last nine games, before promptly dispatching reigning champions Columbus Crew in Round One of the playoffs. They either ride the wave of their high-intensity style of play or simply capsize, there’s little in-between.
Ahead of Saturday’s Eastern Conference final it’s difficult to know what to expect from this team, even as they prepare for their 40th game of the season. But with the Red Bulls there’s another, more historical factor to consider too.
Despite being one of the league’s founding teams and having topped the Eastern Conference no fewer than six times, the Red Bulls have never won MLS Cup.
From the origins of the ‘Curse of Caricola’ to the modern day, a sense of burgeoning promise but eventual disappointment has unpinned the team’s identity throughout. That sense was only exacerbated in 2021 when rivals NYCFC became the city’s first team to lift the MLS Cup, doing so in just their seventh season in the league.
Having brushed aside their neighbours in the last round, the Red Bulls must now see this season as their best chance in a decade to finally win a championship. But as the team sets its sights on a place in a history books, let’s take a look at some previous near misses...
2008 - Beaten MLS Cup finalists
The 2008 New York Red Bulls season was the closest that they have came to ending their wait for a championship ring. Juan Carlos Osorio’s side blended a workmanlike defensive unit with a smattering of attacking talents, led by former Premier League stars Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna.
Despite a only managing a fifth-placed finish in the seven-team Eastern Conference the Red Bulls snuck into the postseason and nearly pulled off one of the all-time MLS playoff shocks. The lowest-ranked team in the competition saw off Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake to set up an MLS Cup final clash with Columbus Crew.
Both Columbus and the Red Bulls were founding members of the league and both were still waiting for their first MLS Cup triumph. The Crew came out on top, running out 3-1 winners to give legendary head coach Sigi Schmid his second title. As it stands, that 2008 MLS Cup final is the first and only time that the New York Red Bulls have made it to a championship game.
2014 - Suspension rules cost Red Bulls
The 2013 Red Bulls clinched the club’s first Supporters' Shield but it was the 2014 team, which finished a lowly 8th in the standings, that made it back to the Conference final for the first time since 2008.
That team boasted MLS Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Philips in attack, alongside Arsenal and Barcelona legend Thierry Henry. They overcame Sporting Kansas City and DC United in the early rounds, with BWP bagging four goals in the first four postseason games. But disaster struck in the first leg of the Conference final against the New England Revolution.
Wright-Phillips, who had already scored on the night, was booked for encroaching on a free kick, ensuring that he would be suspended for the all-important second leg. With the talisman sidelined the Red Bulls fell to a narrow aggregate defeat, ending their MLS Cup journey for another year.
2018 - Conference final loss to Atlanta United
The most recent and the most shocking of these near misses came in 2018, when the Red Bulls blitzed the regular season with a record-setting points tally. It was the third time in six years that NYRB had clinched the Supporters' Shield but they fell short in the postseason once again.
The Red Bulls were unbeaten against MLS newbies Atlanta United heading into the Eastern Conference final but found themselves outgunned by a surprisingly direct Atlanta side. Tata Martino’s side raced to a 3-0 first leg advantage in Georgia and held the Red Bulls to a single goal in the return fixture, knocking out the pre-tournament favourites.
“I think we are who we are,” explained Red Bulls head coach Chris Armas, when asked whether the team’s high-intensity style of play was suitable for the postseason. “I think it’s actually perfect for the playoffs. I just think that it’s difficult. Every play is magnified. Every mistake you make – and it’s such a fine line.”
Six years on the Red Bulls have not shifted from that front-foot identity but they have become more nuanced under Schwartz. The additions of Emil Forsberg and Felipe Carballo have added some of the guile that previous iterations may have lacked. Goalkeeper Carlos Coronel has been in inspired form in the postseason, while Andrés Reyes put in a totemic defensive performance in the Conference semi-final victory.
This may not be the best Red Bulls team that has challenged for an MLS Cup, but it may just be the most complete. In the postseason, that might make the difference.
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