Should New York Red Bulls supporters brace for change?

With supporters growing more and more restless, it might be time for New York Red Bulls to make some changes.

Rather embarrassingly, the New York Red Bulls had to release a statement last week explaining why their recent home games had been played with a foul stench in the nostrils. The club put the smell down to the nearby Keegan Landfill, backing a temporary closure of the waste facility. The landfill isn’t the only thing stinking out Red Bull Arena right now, though.

The Red Bulls have won just one of their last four MLS games played in front of their own fans, with home defeats to the Columbus Crew and the Colorado Rapids particularly damaging. It was during that latter loss that angry chants calling for the firing of Chris Armas as head coach were heard.

Members of the South Ward supporters section chanted “Fire Armas” and “Armas Out” as their side slumped to another disappointing result, illustrating the level of disgruntlement that currently festers in the stands. Indeed, the Red Bulls, one of the most consistent regular season teams in MLS in recent years, appear to be regressing.

Armas has his faults. Far too frequently, he lets opposition teams off the hook, allowing teams back into games when the Red Bulls possess the quality to kill them off by continuing to press high and score more. His starting lineup choices have also been scrutinised, with visiting teams now viewing Red Bull Arena as a happy hunting ground – RBNY have never suffered five home losses at Red Bull Arena in a single MLS season until this year.

And yet it’s impossible to shake the feeling that Armas is being treated harshly. After all, it was only last season that the New York Red Bulls set a regular seasons points record with Armas taking over in difficult circumstances after the exit of Jesse Marsch. Since then, things have gone against the Red Bulls boss.

Tyler Adams was sold to RB Leipzig without a replacement signed. On top of this, there has been transfer sagas concerning Kaku and more recently Aaron Long to contend with, while drastic dips in form from Bradley Wright-Phillips and Kaku have also affected the Harrison team’s potency in front of goal.

What’s more, Armas finds himself head coach at a transitional time for the Red Bulls. Once a marquee franchise of the North American top flight, they are now underdogs with the New York Red Bulls’ payroll presently the second lowest in the whole league. Currently sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, their position is, if anything, higher than their wage bill warrants.

It’s possible that New York fans, those who joined in chants for Armas to go last weekend, have been spoiled by the success of recent years. This is a franchise that in the last four years has won the Supporters’ Shield twice and the Eastern Conference three times while also making it to the US Open Cup final and the semi finals of the CONCACAF Champions League. The water mark has never been higher.

Of course, it’s only natural that New York Red Bulls fans should demand more of their team, but in calling for Armas dismissal it’s possible that they are misdirecting their frustration. He is not a cause of the club’s current situation, but a symptom. There may have been instances in which Armas might have done better, might have made a better decision, but this alone doesn’t explain the malaise around the Red Bulls right now.

Marsch did a lot to establish RBNY as the predominant regular season force in the Eastern Conference, picking up the silverware to prove it. Following him was always going to be tough. If Armas is guilty of anything, it’s of overseeing a return to the mean, of not being a miracle worker. Of not being Marsch.