What's wrong with the New York Red Bulls?

Despite having a star-studded roster, Hans Backe's team has struggled to deliver this season.

Winless in their last five matches, the New York Red Bulls continue to astound Major League Soccer fans as the league’s most disappointing team.

Barely holding on to a playoff spot in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 6-12-6 record wasn’t what team GM Erik Soler and head coach Hans Backe pictured when assembling a star-studded roster featuring international stars like Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez, along with United States internationals Tim Ream and Juan Agudelo.
Last year, the only team that was close to the Red Bulls points-wise was the Columbus Crew and both teams had a double-digit advantage over third place.

This season, the team has the resilient Philadelphia Union, the recently in-form Sporting KC and the always consistent Crew along with former MLS champions Houston Dynamo in the conference. Things are much tighter.

The team has to do a better job at home where it has dropped a total of 14 points in 11 matches. With only one win on the road, it is crucial that it doesn’t drop any more points at Red Bull Arena.

There are a few weeks left until the trade deadline and Soler has to look for deals to bring in more depth on the roster, especially with the injury to hard-working forward Luke Rodgers. If he can add some role players, it might help in improving overall performance as there will be depth on the squad.