Tim Cahill Makes the New York Red Bulls MLS Favorites
Nicholas Spiller
The New York Red Bulls have already experienced a wonderful season featuring the goal-scoring prowess of both Kenny Cooper and Thierry Henry. More importantly, the MLS club is currently second in the Eastern Conference standings and is well poised to make a run at the MLS Cup tournament at the end of the season. With the signing of Australian and Everton playmaker, Tim Cahill, the Red Bulls are now the heavy favorites to win it all.
Cahill will bring a necessary sparkplug to the New York midfield and help support the successful strikers at the club. He is an excellent playmaker that adds high energy to any team. The opportunity to team up in the midfield with former UNC star Dax McCarty will make the midfield a very fast paced and creative bunch.
Thierry Henry has found good amounts of success since joining the club in 2010, but hasn't had a team capable of dominating the league until now. Although this new look midfield isn't quite at the level of the Barcelona group that he left, they should become one of the strongest in the MLS.
Tim Cahill became known at Everton for instinctive awareness, a confidence to attack defenders, and for brilliant runs into the penalty box that has earned him fame as a solid goal scorer as well. Having the opportunity to link up with Thierry Henry must have been a strong factor in swaying his decision to move to the United States as playing with the French star is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The timing of the move is excellent as well since Cahill will have a solid three months to become acquainted with his new side before the MLS Cup tournament begins in November.
Thierry Henry may not be the unstoppable player that he once was for Arsenal, but he still has the world class ability to score incredible goals, as shown with this wonderful strike against the Chicago Fire last month:
With a veteran international star like Tim Cahill supplying him opportunities, Thierry Henry will find himself more goal scoring chances and more success at this club. Cahill is no youngster at age 32 but surely will have a few solid years of success ahead of him. Also, he brings experience and knowledge from the world famous English Premier League to this club which is immensely valuable.
Only last year's champions, the LA Galaxy, can compete with the international star power of the Red Bulls now as they feature David Beckham, Robbie Keane, as well as American star Landon Donovan. But they are having a less stellar season this year and reside in the middle of the Western Conference standings.
A few other teams that look to be contenders at this point in the season are the San Jose Earthquakes led by Chris Wondolowski, and the Houston Dynamo who lost the 2011 MLS Cup final. The Dynamo look to be serious contenders with a young, exciting striker in Will Bruin, and the veteran leadership of Brad Davis and Brian Ching. They countered the New York's Tim Cahill signing by bringing back Ricardo Clark, a valuable defensive midfielder who has played regularly for the American national team.
New York faced the Houston Dynamo on Friday and lost 2-0, which knocked them off of the top spot in the conference. The two teams will play in New York midweek with the standings lead again on the line. Houston looks to be peaking right now and present a tough challenge for the Red Bulls this season. However, Tim Cahill is the real deal. Once he gets comfortable with his new team, New York will be tough to beat.
The stars literally look to be aligning for the New York Red Bulls this season. Under the leadership of Thierry Henry, Kenny Cooper, and now Tim Cahill, I expect that they will have play a big part in the discussion at the end of the season during the MLS Cup tournament. They should rightly be declared the frontrunners for the championship this season with such a prized acquisition.
Tim Cahill signs for Melbourne City
© Nicholas Spiller & Soccerphile.com
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