The New York Red Bulls lost yet again over the weekend, their sixth loss of a seven-week-old season. But understanding why last season's Supporters' Shield winners are struggling has the team at a loss, midfielder Dax McCarty told Alexi Lalas and John Strong on FS1 Sunday.
"A little bit of anger, a little bit of confusion," McCarty said when asked about the mood of the team. "All of the above is kind of what's happening right now.
"It's been a tough start to the year, no question about it ... everyone can see it. We're still kind of searching for answers," he added. "The mood in the team is positive -- we're certainly not giving up on the season, it's not in our nature. But at the same, we have to be realistic: we're not a very good team right now and the results show that."
With just three points in seven games off their lone win of the season, the Red Bulls sit last in the Eastern Conference. By this time last year, the Red Bulls had 13 points.
"We have to take a hard look in the mirror and realize it's not acceptable for the level we've set for ourselves and the goals we've set for ourselves in the beginning of the season," McCarty said. "We have to correct it. We have to make it better. You can say it's a long season, but we're seven games in already."
Their next chance to turn things around comes on Sunday, when they face an Orlando City SC team feeling hard done by a contentious call over the weekend (Sunday, 7:30 pm ET, FS1). Orlando sit third in the Eastern Conference on nine points.
McCarty said Orlando were unfortunate to miss out on the playoffs in their 2015 inaugural season and expects a tough test at Red Bull Arena this weekend, with RBNY's status as reigning Shield holders putting "a target on their backs" in the eyes of opponents.
“Last year they gave us a nice friendly wake-up call/butt-kicking right before the end of the season at home. So we certainly respect the ability and talent at their disposal," he said. "They have a lot of dangerous players, so our mentally just has to be, take it one game at a time.
“We have full belief in the players that we have and the system that we play,” he added. “We think the results are going to start turning soon so it's got to start with Orlando this weekend.”
