Just a first match between two teams with a lot to win for, not a “BattleStar Galactica” (at least not yet).

Let’s all just try to focus on the game at hand, as opposed to acritical “rivalry” talk.

New York Red Bulls 2 – 1 New York City FC

May 8, 2015

Having went to university in Pittsburgh, I am a diehard Steelers fan when it comes to the “other, oval-shaped football”.  My brother spent his college years in Baltimore, and my dad lived for many years Oakland.  So, we also have in the family Raiders and Raven supporters.  This is what I would call “rivalry”.  Another more recent example? Have been living in the UK for the past decade, and being a Manchester-City supporter, I have been lucky enough to attend in person several derby games in Manchester (City-United).  I have also been to Chelsea-Arsenal and Everton-Liverpool.

So beyond me spending my family’s life-savings on good seats, you get the idea: A game between two sides that have years of history, personal stories, cliff-hanging moments, bad blood and even hatred – is the essence of the sport.  I still get excited now when recalling electrifying moments of watching a touchdown at Heinz Stadium against the Ravens, or celebrating Manchester City scoring a goal at Etihad (or better yet at Old-Trafford).

Key point being however, the foundation on which rivalries are built is history, and years of it.  Without history, these whole “rivalry” babble is nothing more than empty words.

Sure, it must all start somewhere, and it will evolve into something big for sure, as every derby usually does.  But for now, let’s just sit back, enjoy watching history in the making, and let nature take its course.

Instead of all the phony war chitchat that is cluttering the web and social media, those who are interested from both sides should look closely into the two teams, their status coming into this game, what are the strengths and weaknesses of both (being an NYCFC supporter, I’m afraid that our list of weaknesses is much longer nowadays…), and what are the teams playing for, beyond the obvious goal-scoring objectives.

If it is numbers you are after, so in the last 5 matches the RedBulls have won, drawn and lost 1, 3 and 1 games respectively; where NYCFC has drawn 1 game and lost 4. The RedBulls produced 119 shots, or which 42 on target; whereas NYCFC produced the same amount of shots on target (42), with 123 shots overall.  However, New York Red Bulls managed to convert 12 shots into goals, vs. New York City FC with half of that (6 goals).  The RedBulls conceded in these last 5 games 8 goals, and NYCFC 10.  And the interesting stats go on and on…

If you are looking for the staff stories, so New York RedBulls’ coach Jesse Marsch is trying to step into the shoes of his predecessor Mike Petke, who was dismissed by Manager Ali Curtis this winter despite being revered by fans and players.  Life on the Blue side isn’t easy nowadays either, with NYCFC’s Jason Kreis struggling to find the team’s lineup, to finally break the teams seven-game winless streak and humiliating loss to Seattle last week.

And we didn’t even mention the players and their stories, with Red Bull’s Bradley Wright-Phillips being in top form, NYC’s David Villa that is struggling with injuries and capitalizing on goal-scoring opportunities.  Villa’s teammate Mix Diskerud who is enforcing a dominant midfield for the blues, vs. the red’s Sacha Kljestan who seems to find fantastic positions behind the opposition’s back 4.

To sum up, I will be liar if I will tell you that I am not eagerly awaiting this game.  Moreover, along with the first-ever match against Orlando, this is probably the game I have been waiting for the most since the MLS published this season’s schedule.  And obviously because of the unique derby setting.

Still, I am planning to enjoy the game a watch the rivalry form before my eyes, not by try to enforce some plastic/digital war over social media.

I’ll still wear my Manchester Derby lucky shirt tonight though…