Red Bulls Try to End the Negative Streak at Columbus

By Daniel Feuerstein | Columbus, OH | September 11th, 2026

Red Bull New York picked up a point out of six halfway through their four-match road trip. They have moved from the West Coast back to the East Coast as they are getting ready to face the Columbus Crew in the Capital of Ohio. Especially on this particular weekend, as we remember what happened at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania that struck the country 25 years ago. At the same time, the club needs to find a way to break this winless streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and, overall, since the World Cup break.

Remembering 9-11

Today is a somber day in the New York City Tri-State area, as that Tuesday Morning in 2001, two hijacked airplanes struck the World Trade Center towers and forced them to collapse, and many people lost their lives from those who tried to escape the fires. Firefighters and police officers who were trying to help evacuate were also caught inside the building and died that day. We will always remember what happened, and the families who lost loved ones and friends still hurt to this day.

“Before we get started, I’d just like to remember the 25th anniversary of September 11th. I’d like to honor the victims, their families, and all of the first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice. May we all honor and remember them,” said Michael Bradley

The threat of not making the playoffs

For 30 years, this club, formerly known as the MetroStars and now Red Bull New York, has never missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. They made the playoffs in 1996, but failed in 1997, made the playoffs in 1998, and failed horribly in 1999. Then they went into nine consecutive seasons from 2000 till the 2008 until a horrible season in 2009 where they said goodbye to Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands to officially move to Harrison, where they have been at Red Bull Arena/Sports Illustrated Stadium since the 2010 season. From that year till the end of 2025. For 15 straight seasons this club has made the playoffs till the final three matches remained when they were officially eliminated.

While they are currently in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and still have a chance at getting back over the line, this match is their biggest opportunity to start a winning streak. For that to happen, they must find ways to connect on that final, killer pass and take their shots to threaten the Crew’s goalkeeper, Patrick Schulte. The last time the Red Bulls faced the Crew was back at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Wednesday, May 13th, when Julian Hall took down the Crew all by himself with his first career hat trick. Michael Bradley hopes to get his young side ready to go.

“We’re all very determined and very ready to give everything that we can to take what we’re doing and make it better, to accelerate the improvement, to make the progress go that much faster. We’re competitive. We want to show that we’re picking things up. We want to show that we’re moving things forward. And so that’s the work for us right now. It’s been a period where… we have we’ve been pushed in a lot of different ways, and we’re we are still still there and still fighting to take the next step and to understand how we can really be a team that, as we move into the last part of the season, is finding momentum and really putting things together in a big way,” said Michael Bradley

It hasn’t been the same Crew

This club was dominant when they were managed by Wilfred Nancy, till he moved to Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, but sadly he didn’t last that long. Neither did Nancy’s replacement, Henrik Rydstrom, as he was sacked in the middle of the 2026 season, giving Nancy’s former assistant, Laurent Courtois, the interim head coaching role after 14 matches under Rydstrom’s short tenure. The Crew no longer have Daniel Gazdag, Diego Rossi, or the retired Darlington Nagbe. While they have Josef Martinez and former U.S. Youth National Team player Taha Harbroune, the Red Bulls need to make sure they can get a result at the home of the Crew.

“Yeah it’s a it’s a it’s a team with interesting football ideas. Obviously, they have changed the coach this season; they have gone back to a little bit more of some of the older Columbus Crew not older, but the Wilfred Nancy ideas. Obviously, Laurent Courtois worked with Wilfred, and so it would appear as if he shares some of those same ideas because you see a lot of that in the team at this point, and obviously there are still a good number of players who are still… here from that time, so it’s a team with interesting football ideas. It’s a team that has now made two really, really good signings in Bryce Mendez and in Santi Rodriguez. We expect a difficult game. It’s a great stadium here,” said Michael Bradley

The pressure to score and defend

For the Red Bulls, they have looked horrible in defending during the run of play, and they have been the worst this season on set-piece defending. But since the loss to the Philadelphia Union at home, they have had a players-only meeting, and for the last two matches, they have tightened up the ship. The opposition has scored no goals on set pieces, and the centerbacks stopped both Son Hueng-Min & Denis Bouanga. But is there frustration in the backline when the offense can’t put anything in the back of the net to take the lead or at least dent the scoreboard?

“I don’t really think it’s pressure. You know, it goes both ways, I think. When the defenders are on top of their game, it helps the attackers in both ways and vice versa. So, yeah, the message is the same. It’s the same. It’s been the whole year. You know, we’re going to stick to what we’re doing, stick to our football, our philosophies. You know, we trust from the back to the front. We trust the guys that it’ll get clicking soon,” said Dylan Nealis

Injury update

After seeing three players go down due to non-contact injuries at Los Angeles FC, some have feared the worst for Adri Mehmeti, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty and Justin Che. The report has both Mehmeti and Che listed as questionable for the match this Saturday. While many thought Mehmeti had some form of a muscle injury, he went down with an illness, so that’s positive news. For Che, what many thought was some form of a pitch monster with his left leg is an ankle injury. But for Marshall-Rutty, he is out with a left Hamstring issue, and we don’t know how long he could be away.

For the Red Bulls, they need a stronger performance in the offensive department if they are going to get a win and start moving in the right direction.

Red Bull New York is heading to Columbus, Ohio, to face the Columbus Crew in their third match of a four-match road trip

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