ONLY IN AMNEWYORK
Cameron Harper and his New York Red Bulls teammates understandably have a sour taste lingering in their mouths upon the utterance of NYCFC. Their geographical rival took both regular-season matchups in the Hudson River Derby this year, including a 5-1 drubbing at Red Bull Arena on Sept. 28.
Saturday, however, brings an opportunity to wipe the slate clean as the battle of New York is played out in the MLS playoffs for the first time ever, with the Red Bulls traveling to Citi Field to meet NYCFC in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“We have a wrong to right,” Harper told amNewYork. “That last game, when they came into our stadium and beat us, that was unacceptable… They’re going to think that they have our number. They’re going to think after the last game that they’re in our heads, but this is a one-and-done.”
Both the Red Bulls and NYCFC upset their first-round postseason opponents to get here. No. 6 seed NYCFC needed all three games of the best-of-three series to bounce No. 3 seed FC Cincinnati while the No. 7 Red Bulls swept the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew in two games.
It was a significant turnaround from a Red Bulls team that had struggled mightily during the second half of the season, falling from fourth in the East to seventh after winning just three of their final 18 matches.
Rather than mail it in against a heavily-favored Columbus, the Red Bulls adopted more of a lasseiz faire attitude, spearheaded by their captain, Emil Forsberg, who reasoned with amNewYork prior to the first-round matchup.
“F—k it, we can win. Why can’t we?” the 32-year-old Swedish international, who has played at World Cups and in the Champions League, asked.
It is no coincidence that the Red Bulls authored their first playoff win in six years when Forsberg returned from a lower-leg injury that held him out for more than two months.
“When he says something like that, when you see that someone like that who has a belief that your team is going to win, it’s felt throughout the whole squad,” Harper said. “That was a great way of saying it because a lot of people completely wrote us off. There was a time when going into May, we were toward the top of the East, and then we went through a period where we weren’t as great.
“Then, for some reason, it was, ‘Let’s completely write off the Red Bulls.’ We were angered by that, and it was hard to get that steam back late in the season, but when Emil says that and you see that he’s back… and he’s working his ass off, he’s running up and down, and you look at that, and you’re like, ‘F—k, if Emil’s doing that, let’s all do that.’ We know his quality, and we always try to work hard for him. Seeing him say that, I think it made it like, ‘Oh if Emil believes it, why not? Come on, let’s go.'”
While Forsberg has been the catalyst, talents like Harper have proven invaluable thanks to his versatility. The former Celtic product, who turned 23 on Tuesday, is a natural attacking midfielder who is most comfortable playing in the No. 10 role.
This season, however, head coach Sandro Schwarz has played him at central midfield, left midfield, right midfield, left back, and right back. He then lined Harper up at wingback during the first round against Columbus.
“You go through spells where I have conflicting feelings about it… but it’s also an added bonus that Sandro trusts me to play in other positions,” Harper said. “The fact that he trusts me to do that, that gives me a bunch of confidence. It’s a lot different than playing the 10. It’s different than playing fullback. It’s a completely different position that people don’t realize.
“It takes skill to play in those positions and to be able to work my way around the field. It’s not something I take for granted.”
He is not taking the Red Bulls’ current standing for granted, either. This is a franchise that had crashed out of the first round of the playoffs in five straight years — Harper being on hand for four of them.
They exercised one demon in getting past the first round. Another stands ahead of them in the form of NYCFC, who not only has home-field for this semifinal and a regular-season sweep of the Red Bulls, but they also have an MLS Cup to their name.
“Both teams know what’s on the line and this is a chance for a lot of the guys on this team to play in their first conference semifinal, an opportunity that hopefully we win,” Harper said. “Then it’s a conference final. We’re three games away from [a championship]. This is a big one. It’s a big hurdle that we have to get past.
“This is a rivalry we want to win and it happens to be a playoff game as well. That’s just added motivation. That’s added exitement for everyone.”
For more on the Red Bulls and Cameron Harper, visit AMNY.com
