After a disastrous start to the 2012 MLS season, the New York Red Bulls are looking to kickstart their campaign against the Colorado Rapids.
Coach Hans Backe has bemoaned the form that his players have shown in their opening two fixtures, which they lost to Dallas and Real Salt Lake.
Backe welcomes back designated player Rafael Marquez for Sunday’s clash at Red Bull Arena, with the former Barcelona man set to make his first appearance of the season after returning from suspension.
“It’s a very important game for us to start well and to show that we are a team that should be almost unbeatable at our stadium,” Backe said.
“We had very decent stats last year at home but we need to be more of a team who dictates the game at home.
“I mean we have to put every team under pressure and that’s just the way it is, after losing the first two games, if we can start winning at home it will of course help a lot.”
Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry echoed the importance placed on picking up victories in front of their home fans.
“We didn’t obviously grab any points away from home, it is never an easy task to go and play (Real) Salt Lake at their place and obviously against Dallas, we went there and played well but we didn’t win this time,” Henry said.
“But I said to you and I said earlier, it’s got to be a team effort especially away from home, a team effort and hopefully this year we can be strong at home.
“It is always the same with Colorado, they are a hard team to beat, they work really hard.
“It’s hard to break them down and with (Quincy) Amarikwa and Cummings up front you always have to make sure that you don’t leave them too much space because they can hurt you at any time.”
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