Official MLS Team of Week 2: Felipe on the bench, again

For the second week in a row, the New York Red Bulls won in MLS and the official MLS Team of the Week found no room for any Red Bulls in its starting lineup.

But someone at MLS HQ has love for Felipe. For the second week running, the RBNY midfielder is on the bench of the league's official TotW.

The official selection also found room for former RBNY captain Dax McCarty, and MetroStars legend Tim Howard.

To date, Felipe is the only Red Bull to have caught the eye of the league's TotW selectors. His inclusion last week was perhaps surprising given that RBNY spent most of its time in Atlanta chasing shadows as the home team played the ball wide and long and successfully evaded the Red Bulls' press.

But this week, in its regular-season home-opener, RBNY was much more effective at imposing its game plan on its opponent. The Colorado Rapids could only record one shot on target, and the counter-attacks most opponents are able to generate against the Red Bulls were quickly snuffed out.

Felipe leads the team's midfield engine room, which has an important role to play in guiding the shape and effectiveness of RBNY's all-areas pressing game. Clearly, MLS HQ thinks Felipe is playing that role very well at the moment.