New York Red Bulls: Three hopes, one fear

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Oct 23, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips (99) in action during the first half against the Philadelphia Union at Talen Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

Hope #1: That Bradley Wright-Phillips can continue on his scoring tear.

To say that Bradley Wright-Phillips has been good for the Red Bulls would be a bit of an understatement. The man from Lewisham has been quite simply extraordinary, scoring 24 goals for the Red Bulls in 34 matches. In particular down the stretch no player in all of MLS was as important to their side as Wright-Phillips. Considering that there was one game in the Red Bulls in his final ten goals that should say something as to how important of a player he is to this side.

What’s interesting is that the book on Wright-Phillips was always that he was really on effective straight at goal. But this season has been different for him as he has shown an ability to create his own shot and to score from a variety of angles. Credit to Sacha Kjlestan and the addition of Daniel Royer for working with Wright-Phillips to create a more multilayered attack.

Now the question is can he score against the Montreal Impact? The lone goalless game for Wright-Phillips was against the Impact. In that match, which the Red Bulls still won 1-0, the Impact created a high line in front of the center of their eighteen yard box forcing New York to go wide. Although Wright-Phillips has changed his attacking approach he still is very much a prototypical center-forward. He needs to find space in order to give the Red Bulls a chance to get goals.

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