New York Red Bulls star midfielder Emil Forsberg made his return to action during Saturday night’s 5-1 loss to NCYFC, logging 33 minutes during the second half in what was one of the team’s only positives of the blowout Hudson River Derby loss.
The veteran Swede had missed the last three months with a lower leg injury — an absence that coincided with the Red Bulls’ drastic downturn in play that has seen them pick up just 15 points from the last 15 matches.
“It was a long process, a frustrating one, a hard one,” Forsberg said. “It was the first time I ever had this injury before. It was an injury where I had to be extra careful and care for yourself in a special way. It raised some concerns, but the best thing to do was just be careful and come back as good as possible and be in the best possible shape for the team.
“That was the most important part, that I could go back and be 100% and not be 75-85%. But now I feel fully fit. I’m 100%. No one feels more bad than me that it took time but it was the best decision to help the team in the best possible way.”
Now with three matches remaining in the regular season, the main objective is to ramp him up to the point where he can play a full 90 minutes come playoff time. Head coach Sandro Schwarz is all but certain that will happen.
“I’m sure,” Schwarz said. “This is what we have to build up now, but it’s also important not to think now when it’s his first game in the starting lineup, ‘OK, Emil Forsberg will solve any situation.’ That’s too easy. It’s also not his own responsibility. That’s my responsibility and for the whole team on the field. But I’m sure that we can build him up with more training sessions that he will be able to play 90 minutes [by the playoffs].”
Saturday’s loss dropped the Red Bulls from fourth place in the Eastern Conference to sixth, though they backed into a playoff clincher after Chicago drew with Toronto. It is the 15th consecutive season New York has made the MLS playoffs, which is the longest active streak in North American pro sports.
A quick turnaround allows them to put the NYCFC result firmly in the rear-view mirror with a match on Wednesday in Toronto. It remains to be seen if Forsberg will start or come off the bench again.
“I’m sure that he can make a next step,” Schwarz said. “We will see how long that will be for the next game, but I’m sure he can handle it. But we also have to be careful because we have another game Saturday.”
Time is running out for the Red Bulls to find some kind of promising form, though. New York has not won a game since a 3-1 victory over FC Cincinnati on July 20. They’ve picked up six draws and six losses since then.
“We need the confidence, the dominant side of ourselves back on the pitch,” Forsberg said. “If we do that, the goals are going to come, and the team is going to create a kind of confidence and not think about the draws too much. That’s gone in our heads a little bit, and we need to get rid of that as soon as possible.”
