Schwartz: Red Bulls' Davis Up To Challenge Of Filling In For McCarty

By Peter Schwartz
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It was not the way that Sean Davis wanted to get on the field.

The Red Bulls were on the road against the Chicago Fire on July 31 when disaster struck. In the 37th minute, midfielder Dax McCarty was tackled by Fire midfielder Khlay Thiam and had to leave the game with a right leg injury. Off the bench came Holmdel, New Jersey's Davis, a Red Bulls homegrown player, to replace the captain.

"I saw the tackle and I knew right away it wasn't good because of the way that the Chicago midfielder came in," Davis recently told WFAN.com. "I thought it was pretty dirty. To see your captain go down ... it definitely hurts. (McCarty) is our leader. He's a big presence in there for us and we know how important he is to the team."

The following day, McCarty tweeted the bad news that he suffered a small tibial plateau fracture and would miss four to six weeks. The good news was there was no ligament damage and surgery wasn't required, but the bad news was that the Red Bulls suddenly found themselves with a huge void in their lineup.

After watching McCarty go down, the 23-year-old Davis had just a couple of minutes to warm up before stepping onto the pitch. He said after enduring the initial shock of seeing McCarty get hurt, he had to be mentally prepared to enter the match.

"My mindset quickly shifted to the importance of coming in and trying to maintain the level of the team, because he is such an important piece to our puzzle," said Davis, a former star at Duke.  "Unfortunately, they scored pretty early after I came, but I settled into the game well."

The Red Bulls played the Fire to a 2-2 draw that night as they began life without McCarty. The job is now in the capable hands and feet of Davis, but there is a bittersweet feeling to his accelerated promotion to starting midfielder. While a young player always wants to try and break into the lineup, this is not how you draw it up when you embark on a playing career.

In a perfect world, the playing time shouldn't come at the expense of someone else's misfortune.

"There aren't many good ways for my situation to come about, really, just because we have such great midfielders right now," Davis said. "You would hate for any of them to be playing poorly enough or like what happened with Dax if one of them were to get injured. I guess that's just the nature of the business."

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With McCarty sidelined, Davis got the start on Sunday against the Los Angeles Galaxy in Carson, California, and made an immediate impact. He scored his first Major League Soccer goal as the Red Bulls played to a 2-2 draw. Davis had scored in a Red Bulls uniform during friendlies, the U.S. Open Cup and for NYRB II in the USL, but he was relieved to finally find the back of the net in an MLS match.

"It was really special to score in such a big game for us against L.A., a team with players that I grew up idolizing," Davis said. "To know that my family was back home watching was really special."

Davis has now appeared in 14 MLS games, including making five starts for the Red Bulls this season. His workload has certainly increased because of the McCarty injury and he now has a golden opportunity to show the entire organization what kind of player he is.

What remains to be seen is how Davis will be viewed by the team in the future. Is he now a starting 11 player for the Red Bulls or is he just holding the fort until McCarty returns?

"I don't put a label on it or anything like that," Davis said. "I just try to take it from game to game and do the best that I can and whatever happens after that is outside of my control."

Davis, who stands 6-foot and weighs 165 pounds, was signed by the Red Bulls in 2014, the same year he helped RBNY's U-23 team capture the NPSL Championship. Last season, in addition to his duties with the Red Bulls, Davis played five games on loan for NYRB II in the USL.

With some teams, young players might not get too many opportunities to play, even with injuries.  But since the regime of sporting director Ali Curtis and head coach Jesse Marsch began prior to the 2015 season, younger guys in the Red Bulls system have not only had the chance to play, they have often been called upon to perform in big situations.

Davis is a perfect example.

"I'm grateful for everything about my situation with the club," Davis said. "I feel like I have a staff that really supports me and I feel like I have teammates that really support me. The whole outlook of the club to believe in their young players is something that I'm really grateful for. I think every young player at the club feels that way. Things did change when Jesse and Ali took over."

The Red Bulls currently reside in third place in the Eastern Conference with 33 points, just three back of second-place Toronto FC and a mere four behind NYCFC. On Saturday, Davis and the Red Bulls face the fourth-place Montreal Impact at Red Bull Arena. Montreal is tied with the Red Bulls with 33 points, but has one less win, and New York has a plus-two goal differential advantage.

"It's another important game against an Eastern Conference rival," Davis said. "They're definitely in the playoff picture, so we know how important this game will be for them. We know that this is no easy task."

After winning the Supporters Shield last year as MLS regular season champions, the 2016 season has been a roller coaster ride for the Red Bulls. They've shown signs of brilliance, but have also let some valuable points slip away. Case in point, the game against the Galaxy in which they blew a two-goal, second-half lead.

Now they have to get used to life without McCarty for an extended period of time and entrust one of their young players with filling that valuable piece of real estate on the pitch.

Davis believes that the Red Bulls have enough time to take things to another level.

"We've been through a lot this season," he said. "We still have a decent stretch until the playoffs, but we've been through a lot of ups and downs and a lot of adversity. But I think looking back on those challenges I'm really proud of how the team has responded. I think it will all make us stronger come playoff time."

Davis has worked hard to get to where he is. He's a rising star in MLS and now has a great opportunity in front of him. Although it has come because of the unfortunate injury to McCarty, Davis has seized a starting role with the Red Bulls as they continue their quest for an MLS Cup title.

Don't forget to follow Pete on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan. You can also follow Sean Davis @seanakiradavis and the @NewYorkRedBulls