Schwartz: Red Bulls Are On An Unexpected Quest For The Cup

By Peter Schwartz
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One of the great things about sports is that sometimes you have to expect the unexpected.  Let's be honest: Who really thought during the start of Spring Training back in February that the Mets would be in the World Series?

The same holds true for the New York Red Bulls, who went through a tumultuous offseason but won the Supporters' Shield after compiling the best regular-season record in Major League Soccer.

This Sunday at 3 p.m., the road to the MLS Cup begins when the Red Bulls open up their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against D.C. United at RFK Stadium.  Leg two of the series will be at Red Bull Arena on Sunday, November 8.  In last year's playoffs, the Red Bulls beat D.C. in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Winning the regular-season title means a lot, but the Red Bulls have a bigger goal in mind.

"We're just getting started," said Red Bulls forward Mike Grella. "These five games are what we prepared for and what we played for.  The MLS Cup is the objective and we have to do everything moving forward to win that."

The Red Bulls stunned their followers and many members of the media by compiling a record of 18-10-6 for 60 points, which was the best regular season in team history.  A big reason for the Red Bulls' success was the guidance of new head coach Jesse Marsch.

After capturing the Supporters' Shield, Marsch is focused on what lies ahead.

"Now the key is to know that moving forward the next month, we all start from scratch," said Marsch.  "And actually what it may mean is, we have an even bigger target on our backs."

Marsch's arrival back in January caused a firestorm among the fans, and many members of the media.  It wasn't anything personal towards him, but it was really about who he replaced.

On December 23 of last year, the Red Bulls named league executive Ali Curtis as their new sporting director.  It didn't take Curtis long to shake things up, as he fired head coach Mike Petke and replaced him with Marsch.

Petke was one of the most popular players in MetroStars/Red Bulls history, and then as head coach he guided the Red Bulls to the Supporters' Shield in 2013 and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2014.

Curtis and Marsch also retooled the roster.

Thierry Henry retired in December, and then in February the team announced that Tim Cahill left the club by mutual consent.  The team was going to follow a new plan and go in a different direction, and that brought about negative feelings from the fans as well as a gloom-and-doom outlook from the media.

So after directing the Red Bulls to the regular-season championship, Marsch was able to fire back at the naysayers.

"The more times I see Mike Petke's name in the press, the more I see Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill. Keep writing it guys, because our team still has a chip on their shoulders," said Marsch.

The Red Bulls are all smiles as they head into the playoffs, but there was certainly a lot of tension in the air after Petke's dismissal during the offseason. The reaction was so bad that the team scheduled a "Town Hall" meeting in January to clear the air with season-ticket holders.

While this get-together was taking place at Red Bull Arena, Grella, not even on the roster yet, was following along as the meeting was streamed on the Internet. The Long Island native was getting ready to go to training camp with the Red Bulls as a trialist and wanted to check out what was happening.

"I remember watching that town hall meeting," said the former Glen Cove High School star. "I texted Ali and said I promise that once I sign I'll give everything to make sure that these fans get it right, and that they realize that you're doing the right thing and the best thing for the club."

As it turns out, Grella would become a big part of the Red Bulls' success.  Drafted by Toronto FC in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, the Duke University standout decided to play soccer in Europe.   Six-and-a-half years later, he finally joined Major League Soccer -- with a hometown team.

Grella scored nine goals this past season, including the fastest goal in MLS history when he tallied just seven seconds into the Red Bulls' 4-1 win over Philadelphia on October 18.

A week later, Grella and the Red Bulls clinched the Supporters' Shield with a 2-1 win at Chicago in the regular-season finale.

"I think it meant so much to the team; just a benchmark as to where we were amongst the other teams and how effective our hard work was," said Grella.

Over the course of the first 19 seasons in franchise history, there hasn't been much for the fans to cheer about. But this year, there is a real hope and expectation that Red Bull Arena will host the MLS Cup on December 6.  That, of course, would mean that the Red Bulls will have successfully made their way through the Eastern Conference playoffs.

And if this unexpected but highly successful season comes to a fairy tale ending, then Dax McCarty will get to hoist another piece of hardware.  According to the captain, it's time for all fans to come together.

"To the fans that stuck by us when a lot of people wrote us off, thank you. (The Supporters' Shield) is for you," said McCarty.  "You guys deserve it.  To the fans that maybe wrote us off in the beginning but now are back on the bandwagon, we welcome you back with open arms."

For many Red Bulls fans, expectations couldn't have been any lower heading into this season.  There were a lot of supporters that were more concerned about putting up anti-ownership billboards than giving the team's new regime a chance.

A little over a month from now, all Red Bulls fans -- from the South Ward to the upper reaches of Red Bull Arena, to those fans who didn't believe -- just might get something that they only dreamed about.

An MLS Cup championship.

For Red Bulls playoff ticket information, click here.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan.  You can also follow @NewYorkRedBulls and Major League Soccer @MLS.