The New York Red Bulls have had the mixed blessing of short preparation time for their 2017 MLS season-opener. The team has not yet been home after the disappointing CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps. Instead, it headed straight to Georgia to get ready to be the first side ever to play Atlanta United in a competitive game.
It is a clean-slate match, as the players well know.
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) March 5, 2017
Win, and the sins of CCL will be largely forgiven and forgotten: it will be difficult to sustain the suspicion that the team is struggling to find its rhythm in a formation (Red Bull Global Socccer's preferred tactic, the 4-2-2-2) that it struggled with last season.