Dante Vanzeir’s 2024 has been bumpy, to say the least.
The Red Bulls striker went four months without scoring a goal during the middle stretch of the MLS regular season, and when the playoffs came around, it was hard to envision the impact player Vanzeir has turned out to be.
Vanzeir has scored two goals in his past two postseason matches and recorded an assist in the Red Bulls’ conference semifinal win over New York City FC last weekend at Citi Field. Along with Uruguayan international Felipe Carballo, Vanzeir has turned into one of the tips of the spear for the Red Bulls offense.
“I don’t know, it’s a hard question actually to respond to. I think there are a lot of different factors,” Vanzeir told The Post regarding his recent success.
Part of it has been the structure, part of it has been the return of a healthy Emil Forsberg, and there’s been one other factor that Vanzeir pointed to. “Of course, as a striker, also a little bit of luck,” Vanzeir said.
Vanzeir has put up four goals in his past eight games for the Red Bulls, which has been a stark difference from his 18-game stretch from May 11 to Sept. 14, when he couldn’t find the back of the net once. During that same time, the Red Bulls were missing Forsberg due to injury and the team won just six games.
Lewis Morgan hasn’t noticed a change in the way Vanzeir has played, rather the biggest difference he has seen in his teammate’s play has been “the ball is going to the back of the net.”
“It’s not always sunshine,” Vanzeir said about the ups and downs. “You have some hard moments and some moments when it looks like nothing is going your way. But after some hard luck, there’s always a positive outcome. I’m sure about that.”
The Belgian striker kept his head above water by making sure to keep from getting too caught up in the statistics and remembering that there is more than just scoring to think about, he explained.
Vanzeir’s tenure with the Red Bulls has come with some more challenges than others. He’s dealt with injuries last season, a dry stretch this year and he found himself at the center of controversy last year when he was suspended for six games for using racist language in a match against the Earthquake.
Vanzeir took responsibility for the incident and has said that it was not his intent while speaking English, his non-native language.
This season has been significantly more drama-free and the Red Bulls striker felt it has gone better in his second year with the club.
“I didn’t have the feeling that I wasn’t useful for the team,” he said. “I always believe in myself and I never gave up.”
There has also been a sense of closeness inside the Red Bulls locker room, which Vanzeir mentioned and Morgan exemplified when he was discussing his teammate’s success.
“I love playing with Dante. I think me and him have a really good connection. Earlier in the year, I think he was creating a lot of goals, a lot of chances for me. And maybe now it’s vice versa and I’m trying to repay the favor for him.”
In a way, Vanzeir’s 2024 playoff run has mimicked the up-and-down nature of the Red Bulls season this year.
The Red Bull won just three of their final 18 regular season games before facing the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew in the first round of the playoffs. Since then, they have taken two games against the heavily favored Crew and then toppled New York City FC on the road in order to move one win away from their first MLS Cup appearance since 2008 with their upcoming match on Saturday against Orlando City SC.
The results have shocked soccer pundits.
While no one has put a finger on what has led to the postseason run, Morgan opined that part of it came from the confidence they built after the 2-0 win over the Crew in the first game of the playoffs.
“Winning breeds confidence. We took down potentially the best team in the league over two games and once you do that, you think you can beat anyone,” Morgan said.