'WE ABSOLUTELY CAN'T LOSE' Van den Bergh on playing at K.C.
Dave van den Bergh: "Within conference play, against a direct rival, we need the three points. They’re huge. We’ve got Kansas City now and we absolutely can’t lose." Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
After last Friday's 4-0 thrashing by the Colorado Rapids, no one has to remind Red Bulls midfielder Dave van den Bergh how important Thursday night's game at the Kansas City Wizards is.
After all, it is an Eastern Conference game in which the Red Bulls can accrue points and make sure its division rival doesn't get any.
"Within conference play, against a direct rival, we need the three points," van den Bergh said Wednesday. "They’re huge. We’ve got Kansas City now and we absolutely can’t lose."
The Red Bulls visit the Kansas City Wizards Thursday (MSG, 8 p.m.).
"We got routed pretty bad, but the morale is still all right," van den Bergh said. "We have a quick turnaround, which is fortunate. We know we need to improve and the best way to do that is with a good result against Kansas City.
"If we turn things around tomorrow, we can move pretty high up the table."
A win would boost sixth-place Red Bulls (5-5-5, 20 points) into third place in the Eastern Conference. A loss would put the Wizards (4-5-5, 17) into a sixth-place tie with the Red Bulls, with K.C. enjoying a game in hand. A draw would lift the Red Bulls into a fourth-place deadlock with the Chicago Fire (6-5-3, 21) and Toronto FC (6-5-3, 21). The latter two teams each would have two games in hand.
That's how tight the conference race is.
Against the Wizards, the Red Bulls will end a stretch in which they will have played seven of eight games away from home and five consecutive road matches within 16 days.
"It’s been tough, especially to play so many games in a short period of time," van den Bergh said. "It took a toll on the guys. But we can come out in a reasonably good position if we can get points in Kansas City. I’m not too worried. It was a tough stretch, but we got some good results on the road, tying New England and Chivas away.
"As weird as it sounds, we’ve been playing reasonably well."
Van den bergh might get some arguments from the Red Bulls supporters on that last sentence. But one thing is certain: van den Bergh has been playing quite well. He leads the team with four goals and has acquitted himself well while playing several positions, including left and central midfield and left fullback.
"I like it," he said. "I like being versatile, playing different positions because if you play the same position week in and week out you become predictable.
"It’s been a positive for me. My experience, in this case, helps me out a whole lot."
