Red Bulls Get Scoring From Everywhere... But is That a Good Thing?

A nice little story in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, which serves as both a mid-season report and a breakdown of the Bulls' scoring attack, which has been picked up by defenders as Thierry Henry works back from injury and Kenny Cooper's gone cold.

Players listed as defenders have scored four of the Red Bulls' last five goals. Heath Pearce notched his first for New York against Vancouver, Brandon Barklage scored the first two of his career against D.C. United, and Jan Gunnar Solli, who has been playing on the left side of midfield lately, picked up two goals in two games.

This prompted Noah Davis over at Pro Soccer Talk to call the Red Bulls "the most fun team in Major League Soccer" and while we're blushing (and taking credit for our favorite team's accomplishments) you have to wonder if the scoring imbalance is a good thing.

Let's ignore some fundamental issues in the Journal's story, that Barklage and Solli started as midfielders and that it's no doubt a good thing that the team has scoring depth. But...

Cooper's gone so cold he's practically frigid (hasn't scored since late May, as per the WSJ). And Henry (who hasn't scored in two months, also WSJ), while he came out flying, hasn't quite finished the way he did since he got hurt. To add to things, Joel Lindpere only has two goals this season. When the most lethal scoring tandem in the league isn't putting the ball in the back of the net (plus the guy you just resigned for $370k), the Red Bulls should just be happy the team, has found scoring, just like they should be thrilled the found Barklage, Connor Lade, Ryan Meara and Stephen Keel.

This entire season has been a bit odds defying, and the rest of the team, especially players normally used on the back line, have picked up that slack continues the trend.