Injury Time

farewell

2009-03-12T13:56:00.002-04:00

hello injury time readers,

it is with a heavy heart that i write to say farewell. the past several years have seen many changes (players, coaches, team names, even our post-season records), and i've been proud to witness them all and give you my thoughts.

while my blog was never the best resource for red bulls information, it provided my take on each and every game, as well as the changes in the team we all weathered. all in all, i'm happy to say that i think that new york is in as great a place as they have ever been (whether metrostars or red bulls) and that osorio and the team he has begun to put together will accomplish wonderful things moving forward.

however, i'm going to stop writing regularly about the red bulls. it was a hard decision to come to, but a move to another city and the birth of my daughter have all eaten away at the time i have available.

don't fret though, i'm still going to watch as many red bull games as i can and will always remain an avid soccer fan. who knows - i might even find time again to put down my thoughts on how the red bulls are faring. but the weekly, if not more frequent, posts on this blog are done for now.

there are plenty of great places to read about the red bulls, and i happily point you in their direction now:

- Soccer by Ives: http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/
- NY Post Extra Time: http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/soccer/
- Offsides: http://redbulls.theoffside.com/

Adieu and go Red Bulls!

g

changes afoot

2009-02-05T08:18:00.002-05:00

Image by Seo2 | Salvador | Dolores via Flickr

it's been a busy off season for the new york red bulls, with announcements about players coming at a brisk pace.

it's also been a busy off season for yours truly, who had a daughter added to his family and is now moving away from our fair city to another metropolis by the water - philadelphia. don't fret, i'll still be a red bulls fan and watch as many games as i can from afar - i just might not be as prolific as in years past.

but we'll cross those bridges when we get to them. let's take a quick look at some of the highlights of what's transpired over the last few months:

parke is gone
petke is back
dvb is gone
kandji is back
magee is gone
angel is intersted in another season
conway's still a red bull, but will have to serve out his suspension before getting back between the pipes; in the meantime, expect cepero to try and continue his excellent reliever role from late last season
our back line is still in flux, but osorio swears he's got things under control and his eye on a nice left back
we added a few highly-touted prospects from the draft, most notably oduro up front and hall in midfield

overall, here are my impressions:

osorio is making this team over to what he wants. he did well with what he was given last season, but this year is all him.
we've got some young players from the draft with high expectations and in true red bull fashion (i.e., from necessity b/c of a thin bench), don't be surprised to see them get playing time early in the season
the back line still feels wobbly to me. i know we now have petke and goldwaithe, leitch, and boyens are still there, but remember last year?
we must concentrate on the midfield this year, which as everyone knows controls the field and affects the effectiveness of our backline and front players. i hope that osorio can find the right mix and formation that plays to our strengths. can rojas finally become the central guy we need or will ubi step up and send rojas wide?
oduro sounds good and is already practicing with angel, but is he the replacment for jozy? can kandji make the leap and be the consistent playmaker we need?
we have speed in droves this year, which is good - but which will also burn us if that's all we rely on.

i have a good feeling about this year and am excited for the season. i'll continue to post my thoughts as i can, but also pay attention to the news titles i post to the right menu all the time from other sources as well. the red bulls have a lot to build on, and i hope that with an "osorio" team we can make progress.

red bull arena: virtual tour

2009-02-05T08:14:00.003-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

red bulls reader has just posted a video (see below) that has a virtual tour of red bull arena (which was announced in january wouldn't be ready until the 2010 season). still, if it comes out anywhere near what this video shows, it will showcase the beautiful game...well...beautifully.

lose one, win one

2008-12-01T12:43:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipediaon the heels of the new york red bulls losing jeff parke to seattle in the expansion draft comes news that the man parke almost caught on most games played all-time for new york (mike petke) is coming back to new york for the 2009 season.

petke might be the person who most comes to mind to fans of the club when you talk about new york players, the others being cleetus and angel. petke was a stalwart of the early metrostars and has seemingly only gotten better and more experienced as a defender while he's been away.

with a back line that is in dire need of solidification and leadership, petke could be the answer. not only have we lost parke, but cichero was also waived (no surprise there). i don't know what other personnel changes are on the way, but the addition of petke in the back can only be good for the club.

parke no longer a red bull

2008-12-01T09:55:00.001-05:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylifeit was an bad way to go after such a great season, but jeff parke is no longer a new york red bull any more.

this season saw parke move up in more ways than one: he is right at the top in the number of games played for the new york club ever (second all-time), and he became a regular starter and dependable central defender. this after being picked last in the draft 4 years ago.

he scrapped his way into playing time, fought his way into being a starter, and earned his spot and the recognition that came with it. he has become a great central defender.

of course, after all that, he ended his season with a drug suspension and missed our incredible run through the playoffs and into the mls cup.

on wednesday (who in the mls front office thought that the expansion draft should be held the day before thanksgiving?), parke was picked by the seattle sounders.

parke was always one of my favorite red bulls, and his presence in the back will be missed. best of luck jeff.

the heartbreak

2008-11-26T08:14:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipediait took me a few days to write about the mls cup final between the new york red bulls and the columbus crew. let's be honest: for a new york fan, it was a heartbreaker.

after a cinderella-run (on the road) through the playoffs, we were poised to knock off the best team in mls this year. it also seemed scripted (and not just because of the giants parallel i mentioned in last week's post) because we had started our season against columbus, and now we were going to end it against them.

and what better place to watch the final than nevada smith's. i showed up a full 2 hours before kickoff and the place was already buzzing with fans, much less the red bull-attired gangs coming from every direction on the street. the place was hopping and by game time the bar (upstairs and downstairs) was packed to capacity.

of course, we all know how the game went. the red bulls came out looking aggressive and got the better run of play in the first half. we watched in horror as moreno slotted a nearly horizontal ball to give the crew the lead. we then cheered and pounded on the ceiling when woly put home the equalizer. but that was short-lived as we weren't even done celebrating when columbus went ahead again. and that was really the back-breaker. the third columbus goal didn't help, of course, but that second one really took the wind out of our sails and we never looked the same again.

however, i'm still proud that the red bulls got to the mls cup final after 13 years, and after one of the longest, strangest, and most trying seasons we've had. and credit osorio for sticking with the line-up that got us through the playoffs - which consisted of several players who should be considered rookies.

in the end though, let's face it: columbus played consistently and well for the full 90 minutes. plus, i don't know why we waited until the last 15 minutes to put subs in, we needed fresh legs and attitude a lot earlier than that.

either way, it was a great end-of-season run and it really got the new york fans excited. i can't wait to see how we get ourselves situated over the off-season and get ready for another run next year - a year when we'll see our brand new stadium.

there is a red bull nation

2008-11-17T16:16:00.000-05:00

if you wanted some evidence that the new york red bulls actually had a following in our fair city, check out this video of soccer-bar-extraordinary nevada smith's on saturday night as fans packed the bar to celebrate the victory. about 1:40 in is when the ref calls the game and the place erupts.

wow, i wish i could have been there. but i will be this sunday.

we're going to the cup!

2008-11-16T07:07:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipediamiracle of miracles, we're going to the cup. the new york red bulls have made it to the mls cup final. the new york red bulls have made it to the mls cup final.

i'm still a bit in shock this morning. i was on pins and needles during last night's game, especially when we apparently decided in the 63rd minute to get into a defensive shell. that seemed a tad early to me. but somehow we weathered nearly 20 minutes of attack from real salt lake to emerge with a 1-0 win and claim the western conference championship.

kudos to our backline. they seemed a bit confused in the first half, but they regrouped admirably and ran their asses off to stymie the real attack.
cepero continued to look good and make ridiculous saves.
cepero continued to scare the bejesus out of me and make ridiculous decisions.
the goal post has become our 12th player and best friend. three times? seriously?
angel didn't have much of an attacking presence in this game, but give this awesome player the credit for not pouting too much and working the other side of the ball all night. whether it was backtracking into the midfield or defending in the box, angel showed why he is our captain and quite possibly the best player in the league.
ubi went out with a hamstring injury, and osorio put rojas in. was the time on the bench enough for him to play better? sort of. he got himself involved in a few plays moving forward, but i felt that he got lost through most of the rest of the game.
then osorio's other high-priced boy who's been in detention - pietravallo - was subbed on in the waning minutes to help protect the lead. and he immediatley fouls somone outside our box. seriously? did your time on the bench not teach you that you need to play smarter?
sassano played another spot-on game. you can't ask for more from a 23-year-old who was suddenly thrust into the limelight and told to stand in front of our backline and stop anyone not wearing the same jersey as him.

we are moving on to play in the mls cup final. and let's be honest about last night: we played well, but luck was on our side. and it's about time. for 12 years, our luck has sucked donkeys. it's about time some things started breaking our way (not counting of course, a year which included: the retirement of our central midfielder, the sale of our young striker to europe, the drug suspension of our starting keeper and central defender, the 400+ injuries we've worked our way through, the 300+ hernia operations, and the resulting constantly-changing line-up).

nonetheless, we need to steel ourselves up for this next game. we're going to have to play the columbus crew who, by all accounts, are going to wax the field with us. however, let's rememer a few things going into this game:

we got our first win of the year in our home-opener against them.
they're pretty cocky right now. that plays to our advantage.
and we have recent history on our side. just this past year, a team from new york who was so-so throughout the regular season snuck into the playoffs as a wild card, played all its games on the road, and miracuously made it to the final game, only to face an opponent who could not lose and was the poster child for perfection. and what happened? the new york giants beat the patriots.

let's go take down these gay-bees in their little yellow uniforms.

conference semifinal video

2008-11-10T13:48:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipediahere's a 5 minute video with the highlights from sunday's new york red bulls game against the houston dynamo - now being called the greatest upset in mls playoff history.

btw, it's in spanish, but who really cares? the red bulls look great, and soccer always sounds better when the announcers are speaking spanish. as a matter of fact, maybe our english-language announcers can start getting a bit more excited when they're calling games too.

breaking the curse

2008-11-10T09:35:00.000-05:00

Image by eschipul via Flickrthe unexpected has happened! for the first time in 8 years, the new york red bulls have advanced through the first round and will play in the conference finals this saturday. are our playoff woes finally over? the next game will tell. but let's take a look at sunday's game.

we beat the houston dynamo 3-0 (4-1 aggregate) on the road. and the key was tenacity. they came out strong the first 20 minutes, but we weathered the storm. i know that games have momentum swings, but it was nerve-racking watching us have such a slow start. but once we got through the worst, we seemed to wake up - in a big way.
dane richards was the mvp of the match, being involved in all three goals and giving the dyanmo defense fits all day long. the first goal - a slicing pass that he ran onto between two defenders utilized what dane is best at: running really, really fast. the second goal (a pk) was because of a handball off one of his crosses. and the third was again because of him beating the defense d0wn the wing and getting the ball in to a wide open woly.
our defense looked a bit wobbly at times, and cepero gave me a few heart attacks, but he more than made up for it with his stellar play in the net. how many times did cepero save a shot and keep the red bulls in control of the game? impressive game for this rookie. he showed determination and, most of all, he didn't quit on the ball.
osorio actually started the same exact line-up for two games in a row (a first this season) and it paid dividends. the red bulls looked comfortable and worked together as a team in keeping the game firmly in their grasp.
we didn't stop attacking the whole game. i was so glad to see that osorio didn't pull us back into a defensive shell after the second goal. an entire half was too long to play like that, but stranger things have happened with the red bulls. instead, he kept us pushing forward, which resulted in the final goal which slammed the gate shut on the dynamo.
derosario and ching again came up short against sassano and our back line. they had their chances, but they were shut down time and time again and couldn't make an impact on the game.

this is a milestone win for the red bulls. as i said in my last post, we have the talent to win games, as long as we play together, and keep the pressure on. this line-up did not give up, nor did we become complacent. the late addition of mendes and kandji put fresh legs on the field without forcing us to stop attacking.

next up is real salt lake, whom we played well against this season - a win and a tie late in the season. with the game less than a week away, do the red bulls stay out on the road and make the short trip to utah instead of flying back and forth across the country? i vote that they stay focused. as crash davis said: "a player on a streak has to respect the streak." let's keep ourselves focused for the next game. but let's also not get too cocky.

go red bulls!

fan appreciation video

2008-11-07T11:28:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipediared bulls reader posted the fan appreciation video that was played at the end of the red bulls' last regular season home game against columbus on october 18.

it's great to see the club recognizing its fans, because its their support that makes going to the games so much fun. i can't wait to see what sort of atmosphere we'll be able to generate next year at red bull arena.

looking at sunday's playoff game

2008-11-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipediathe red bulls are heading down texas way this weekend to face the houston dynamo in the second leg of their playoff series. after a heart-breaking late goal tied the game at giants stadium, the red bulls go into houston needing to win outright to advance to the next round. here's what i think they need to do:

play aggressively. the new york red bulls have been a bit schizo all year, playing one game offensively, playing another game defensively. as we saw at the end of last week's game, settling back into a defensive posture is not always the answer, especially when your attack is working and keeping the other team in their end of the field. they can't score on you if they don't get to your half of the field. osorio needs to push his team forward all game. we've got the talent to do this up top, as well as enough good players in the back to save any counterattacks.
play the players that will play. sounds obvious, but it's not. a lot of young players we have are hungry and haven't been used in the stretch run. take advantage of their energy and their desire to make a mark. look at last week - ubi and sassano played excellent game. put kandji in up top. let rojas prove himself and put him where he belongs: smack dab in the middle of the park and pushed forward. put sassano back in. have ubi and mbutu ready on the bench to enter in the second half and give you that needed energy to keep houston on their heels.
don't leave angel alone up top. put kandji up top with him so that defenders don't triple-team angel. give him someone to play off of. and as a bonus, kandji is pretty good at scoring too.
use our wings. we have 2 of the best outside midfielders in the league. dvb has been the unsung hero all year, constantly pushing up that left side and sending in dangerous crosses. richards is fast and likes to take on defenses - which leads to fouls, which leads to set pieces. put the ball wide and stretch the field.
keep the same back line. our back line performed admirably last game. reward them by keeping them in the same line-up and let them stop houston.
keep possession. i like long balls that lead to goals as much as the next guy. but putting up long balls every time we have the ball is just giving the ball away. build up the attack from the back, through the middle, and push houston back and let them make mistakes. also - and i'm just spitballing here - if we keep the ball, houston doesn't have it.

this is it. we win or go home. even though i've given our boys some criticism for how they ended the season, our club is capable of beating houston on the road. it's time for the new york red bulls to stop being a middlng team, and demonstrate to the league that we want to be champions.

a heartbreaking tie

2008-11-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

Image by eschipul via Flickrwell, after wiggling our way into the playoffs one more time, the new york red bulls ended up with a 1-1 tie with the houston dynamo in the first game of the playoff series. and it was a crushing tie.

after a scoreless first half that saw the red bulls playing some rather sloppy soccer (though the defense did keep houston's weapons out of our net), red bull fans were rewarded early in the second half on a gorgeous header from angel. that put us up and positioned us to go into houston with a lead in the goal aggregate.

we played well throughout the second half and looked like we were going to close out the game with a 1-0 win over the defending mls champions. however, in a tactical decision, osorio pulled ubi from up top and replaced him with pietravallo in the back as another defensive midfielder to shut down the houston attack.

unfortunately, all that did was let houston push further into our end - as opposed to the rest of the half where we actually were pressuring houston (it looked like we might actually get another goal) and (wait for it) - didn't have the ball in our half of the field.

well, we all know how this ends as houston got the ball bouncing around in our box and with a little tap, the score was tied LATE in the game and we head to houston absolutely needing to win the game (or in the case of a tie, the penalty shoot-out).

a few thoughts:

danny "i'm still in middle school" cepero rebounded well from his shellacking in chicago (as i thought) and looked confident in goal (more or less). as the game wore on, he played better, and the late goal was not his fault. i'm feeling good with him going into the second game.
osorio benched rojas, pietravallo, and cichero - the three players brought in right before the transfer deadline in july. these were the three international veterans that he had fought for and wanted to play for the red bulls. but after a great start, all three started showing signs of wear and osorio took the unexpected move of benching all of them for the first playoff game. is he saving them for the second? is he not letting houston get a look at them just yet? is he pissed that he brought them in and they're not living up to expectations? is he hoping to inspire them by letting them ride the pine for a game? we'll see.
ubi up front looked good. he still is hit and miss at times, but he looked hungry this game and came up with lots of energy and chased that ball down. great job.
sassano gets a start in the back after a long abscence from the line-up - and he did a sick job keeping derosario in check throughout the game. sure, he got burned a few times, but he filled in admirably for a injured stammler.
dvb and richards looked good, but they didn't get enough looks. we have two great wingers - let's use them to our advantage.

we're heading to houston next sunday to see if we can pull a major upset:
1) we'd beat the mls defending champions,
2) we'd beat the best team in the west,
3) we'd be a last-place wild card team getting through the first round,
4) we'd be winning on the road (something we've done once this year),
5) we'd get past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in a very, very long time

to do that, we need to remember that we have the talent, we just need to play together. and we need to come out with some fire in our guts. we also need to get that ball to angel's feet (and head) as often as humanly possible.

limping in (like usual)

2008-10-29T16:21:00.001-04:00

well, my friends, i didn't watch the new york red bulls's last game of the season against the chicago fire (i've got a really good excuse), but it sounds like i didn't miss much. a 5-2 drubbing is not a good way to end the season, much less a good way to enter the post-season.

as it happens, our loss left us not in control of our own destiny, and in dc united's hands. fortunately, they flubbed up and we got into the playoffs by default. we drew the last position in the west and will face the houston dynamo in a two-game series.

from what i read, it sounded like the chicago fire had this game well in control by the end of the first half. a few bright spots might be kandji's goal in the second half - proving that he could be the antidote for what ails us up front if he can get the support from the midfield.

another bright spot could be cepero's shellacking (let me explain.) he was coming off a pretty well-touted mls debut, stopping shots and scoring goals. but let's all remember this kid is, well, just a kid. i think a nice spanking might be just right to keep his head screwed on straight as we enter the playoffs and he gets set to face derosario and ching.

but i have to admit i have mixed feelings about us getting in the playoffs this year.

1. i'm a fan, so i'm thrilled that we made the playoffs.

2. on the other hand, the way we backed into the playoffs reeks of the way we've done the same in years past. i love the thrill of the playoff hunt as much as anyone else, and a last minute win to get in is very exciting. but backing in because another team lost and we couldn't step up to the plate seems bittersweet.

we were riding high in august with our new players and seemingly boundless optimism about our play. and then we came crashing back down to earth. players who showed promise began to stagnate. out lively games became tiresome affairs and made fans (like me) wonder if we really had it together or not.

granted, this year has been full of ups and downs. injuries, trades, shifting line-ups, and a new coach take their toll. i hope that osorio is given another season to put the players he has finally gathered (and still will) together into a team. all the components are there, but something is still lacking - teamwork. it appears from time to time, but needs to be a more consistent part of our club.

we also ended the season with the 10-game suspensions of parke and conway. what inopportune timing, and what poor judgement. i believe them that they didn't knowingly buy performance-enhancing drugs, but they should know better anyhow. there are resources available to them through the club and league to double-check over the counter supplements. and we lose them just when they could have served us best.

but maybe they are just a metaphor for a team that doesn't do its homework. we have talented players (maybe the most talented in the league in angel), promising rookies, developing players, and international veterans, but we can't get the pieces to work together.

we'll see if we can get a handle on ourselves against houston in the playoffs, but i'm already looking to an offseason where the team can regroup itself, put the right people in the right positions, and get ready for a 2009 campaign that red bulls fans can be proud of.

let angel lead the way

2008-10-20T09:26:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipediasaturday night was good to the new york red bulls, and like obama, we're keeping hope alive with a 3-1 win over the columbus crew.

of course, much of the accolades goes to our superstar and the man who always seems to be there when we need him: juan pablo angel.

the first half felt directionless, and we felt flat. i think angel touched the ball once, and that was when he was defending a corner kick. it was a bit disappointing as we were technically playing columbus's b-side team as they rested many of their key players for the playoff run. on the other hand, we were also missing a few players - namely rojas, cichero, pietravallo, and richards (at least for the first half) - not to mention parke and conway for their illicit activities. however, i witnessed a miracle: we were passing the ball up from the back and keeping possession. we were developing our attack.

the second half brought the fireworks, and the revved-up crowd at giants stadium finally had something to cheer about. immediately after the half, kandji slotted a ball to a streaking angel who toe-tapped a nutmeg through the columbus keeper's legs for the first score of the night.

the crew evened the score shortly after on a beautiful kick from skeletor that caught his forward's head. credit has to be given to cepero, who in his first start, made a crucial save at the end of the first half, but got caught frozen on the line for this goal.

but it was angel again who gave us the lead by settling and driving home a bouncing ball in the box - and made it look easy. and made club history by tieing guevara for the 3rd most prolific scorer in new york history.

and then cepero gave us the highlight of the week (and apparently mls history) by becoming the first goalie in mls to score a goal (unbelievable, right?) with a blooper that caught columbus off guard.

we were short-handed, and so were columbus. but we needed a win and we found a way. we seemed livelier in the second half when we were playing a 4-4-2 (broken record: angel needs someone to play off up top), and even when we switched to a 3-5-2 toward the end.

of course, the big story of the day was parke and conway being suspsended for 10 games for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. whether they took it without knowing or not, it leaves a huge hole for us in the back to fill. the good news is that we've got defenders to spare, and cepero stepped up in his first game - which was a big game.

we got the win, we got the three points at home, and now we need to win at chicago on thursday night to get ourselves into the playoffs. kansas city managed to get a win too in stoppage time, and we find ourselves tied with them for the last playoff spot. we also find dc 2 points behind us. a win on thursday is absolutely necessary.

hopefully the new york red bulls will find the necessary inspiration to play like a team and do what they've found so hard to do all year: win on the road.

still can't get ourselves into the playoffs

2008-10-17T17:08:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipediagoing into the game against real salt lake (at their new stadium), the new york red bulls were coming off 3 straight losses, and the real possibility that we were going to lose our hold on our wildcard spot. we didn't do much to improve the situation.

the 1-1 tie we ended with left us three points ahead of dc united, which is somewhere we don't want to be. if we had played anything like we had played in august, we'd be two games or more ahead of dc and have a spot cemented in the playoffs.

instead, we go limping into our next game (against columbus) needing a win or we're basically out of the hunt.

let's take a look at the rsl game first though:

cichero, rojas, and richards were out for international duty.
we missed richards on the right. kandji did an admirable job for his first start, but it took him a while to get involved in the game. but he faded fast in the second.
we missed rojas in the middle, but let's be honest, it's not like we've been playing through our midfield recently.
cichero was replaced in the backline by jiminez, who i like. let's hope cichero's trip helps get his head straightened out and his confidence ready for these last two games.
again, we started off slow and - here comes my broken record - loved the long ball. how about we just keep possession? the 10 or 15 minutes in the middle of the first half when we were pressuring rsl and when we got our goal was because - wait for it - we were pressuring in their end. the play worked its way up through the midfield, we got players forward, and we turned the heat up. there were no long balls 50 yards hoping angel can bring them down surrounded by two players and then take on the rest of the dense with no support. and guess what? rsl couldn't stop us.
angel ended up playing most of the game alone and without touches up front. when are we going to get the clue that he needs other players around him?
stammler and pietravallo were all over this game. probably because we didn't have anyone in front of them that rsl had to go through. but they fought and scrapped the whole game. thanks for the effort boys. sorry about the red card. that's going to hurt against columbus.
glad to have dvb back full time. that hernia surgery they got in germany is ridiculous. get a player back on the field in three weeks and scoring goals? sign me up.
we had like 40 corners this game. on rsl's first they scored. and guess when? in the last five minutes of the half.
good news: just like last week when we held ex-red bull great guevara in check, this week we also managed to stymie ex-red bull great mathis. sorry about the bloody head.
is it me or have our last few games (including this one) be extra physical? i know it's the end of the season and the pressure's there, but it's like every game is a dc united game. how many cards were there - 20?
congrats to the new rsl stadium and their crowd - lots of energy and really made it a great soccer game to watch. i can't wait for red bull arena to open next season. wow, it's going to be great.

i still see us playing inconsistent, choppy, sloppy soccer. i don't know what got into our heads in august when we were playing inspired and were fun to watch. we need that back, because i can't believe that we're going to be able to do anything if we even make it to the playoffs playing the way we are.

the same old story

2008-10-12T07:44:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipediato be honest, we didn't play a bad game (at least in the second half). what we did was let toronto take advantage of three ugly mistakes - and not capitalize on any of our own chances.

we came into this game against the last-ranked team in the east - a team we've already played twice, and beat the last encounter. we also came into this game having lost 2 games in a row after a season-changing august and early september. what had changed? why this sudden slump? could we turn it around after giving up 8 goals in the last two games?

the answer, sadly, turned out to be no. though we looked better than we had the previous two games. we ended up losing 3-1 to toronto fc on a series of botched plays.

the first came on a misplayed header by cichero at the 40 yard line. everyone keeps saying that he shouldn't have headed it back to his keeper so softly from that far out. agreed. however, after watching the replays, i don't think he was intentionally playing the ball backwards. i think he got turned around while running backwards to get to the ball and it came off his head awkwardly. i'm not trying to get him off the hook here - the play still sucked all the way around and he let the defender beat him to the ball and chip it over conway.
cichero (after coming off a very bad week in the colorado loss where he got benched) was involved in the second goal as well, though indirectly. as shep messing pointed out, there was no need for him to be the dummy guy on the free kick - a role that had him on the wrong end of the field when marvell wynne broke free on a counterattack and slotted the ball to a wide-open barrett for the go-ahead goal. god, i wish we wouldn't have traded wynne.
cichero also was involved in the third goal, since he failed to mark his man at the far post and gave him a clean look at a straight-in header.

it might seem like i'm picking on cichero here. i am. the player who came in full of confidence and who created a strong backline is now making mental mistakes, looking outplayed, and has lost his swagger.

and what about the rest of the team? well, we continued to ignore our midfield for most of the game. we've got to start linking up through the middle of the field boys. it wasn't until the middle of the second half where i felt we started possessing the ball regularly, which is what you need to create plays and build-up. we've been giving the ball up too easily, and not playing with the same fire we were in august.

this is the playoff chase right now guys. we seemed to have turned our season around with some great football and inspired play. but apparently we can't keep that consistency up.

we've got three games left - one against real salt lake in their new stadium, one against the league-leading crew, and the final against osorio's former team, the fire. think any of these games are going to be easy, especially since only one of them is at home for us?

the new york red bulls need to play better soccer. i know we've got players in and out for international duty, but that' s life. we need to remember the concept of team play and get everyone involved - especially our midfield - and keep possession of the ball as we move forward. and pay attention - our little mental lapses are burning away our season.

the last five minutes

2008-10-05T08:16:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipediasomehow we played a "pretty much need to win this one" game at home (where we've been nearly 100% this year) and scored 4 goals - and lost. at the end of the night, it was colorado rapids 6, new york red bulls 4. and most of our collapse happened in the last five minutes of each half.

true, the first goals for each side were scored within the first 5 minutes of the game, but things settled down a bit after that and as we approached halftime, we were actually leading 3-2. and then the wheels came off. 2 goals (one a pk) were allowed in the last five minutes of the half to give colorado a 4-3 lead.

and then after we tied it up in the second half (thanks to the inserted kandji & mbuta who brought some bite to our offense) only to watch that precious one point evaporate in the last five minutes of this half with a breakaway goal between two of our defenders.

so, let's get to it:

poor conway's stats took a huge hit against colorado, and sadly, much of it wasn't his fault. he actually made 4 or 5 good saves, only to watch his defense literally collapse in front of him during the first half and allow colorado to score 4 rather uncontested goals. cichero (normally a rock in the back) looked overmatched and tired. i couldn't believe it when i actually felt relieved when boyens came in to start the second half.
it wasn't until the end of the second half when our backline started linking up with our midfield and we started playing soccer. for most of the game, balls coming from the back would be sent right to the front. i get that breakaways are good (magee scored our first goal on a long ball) and can catch the opponent off guard. but we can't expect to play 50 yard balls to our strikers all the time. they don't have many options once the ball is at their feet (if it gets there) because they're already surrounded by defenders. we need to build up our attack and use our playmakers in the center of the field.
and speaking of the center of the field, i think that rojas is going to have to play in the middle. we can't have him on the left wing - he gets lost over there. and we can't play the ball through stammler in the middle. if anything, pietravallo is becoming a playmaker out of the back, and he would be better suited to play the middle if we're short of personnel.
i always get excited about new players because they represent possibility. kandji and mbuta looked good for their mls debut. they got involved and played aggressively. i'd like to see more of them, and think they could bring a lot to the red bulls. but it was also only one game, and they've got to earn the right to start. but i like what i saw.

look: we were unorganized against colorado. our back line wasn't on the same page, our midfield couldn't get involved, and that left our strikers up top on their own. how we actually scored four goals in the game is a bit of luck i think. how colorado scored five goals against us (and how we allowed three of them in the final five minutes of each half) is a testament to our ridiculously bad backline. i'm not sure how the best feature of our team earlier in the season is now our liability, but we need to figure out what's not working very quickly.

we play toronto fc next and we need these three points to stay in the hunt for the playoffs. we should have come out of this game with three points, if not with at least one, but we failed. and after toronto, we have three games left: two on the road, and all against teams that are playing pretty well right now - including the league-leading columbus crew.

get it together boys. there isn't a lot of time left this season.

shut down in columbus

2008-09-22T11:11:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipediawhat started off with a bit of promise in columbus ended with the wheels seemingly coming off the new york red bulls on thursday night.

the 3-1 loss against the league-leading crew stopped our potential roll up the eastern standings. the only saving grace of the week was that dc united got trounced by the galaxy and we retained our two-point lead for fourth place.

right out of the gates, columbus came attacking, even without the services of skeletor. and while we admirably fought back, we seemed a bit off our game most of the first half. we created several chances, and angel's brilliant set piece gave us an early lead.

but it could not stomp on columbus' spirit, as they scored right before and right after the half. it speaks to our defensive woes that hedjuk was the crew's leading scorer. our crosses were off, our midfield seemed to sag, and our defense never really got themselves in shape.

a late red card on goldthwaite on a stupid stupid kick put the punctuation on the evening. at that point we were down by two goals with just a few minutes remaining. it was a foul of frustration, but he should have known better.

the loss of dvb definitely affected us, but it was the positioning of magee again as the central attacking midfielder that seemed to derail us. he has excelled in the striker spot, but can't seem to generate the necessary fire we need out of the middle.

richards was flummoxed most of the game, and columbus made decisive runs into and through our back line.

we get 10 days before our next tilt at home (thank god) against colorado, and hopefully that will be enough time for us to get ourselves back on track. we're not out of the hunt yet in the least, but we lost a golden opportunity on the road to take a whack at the best team in mls right now.

we love it at home

2008-09-19T13:05:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipediathe new york red bulls love playing at home - even on that awful artificial turf. we love it so much that on saturday night we came from behind and beat real salt lake 2-1.

according to steve and shep in the announcer's booth, we didn't deserve either of the goals we got, but i've got to disagree:

1) that's just soccer sometimes. we've had our share of bad calls, so i'm not feeling it too much for real salt lake.
2) i don't think angel pulled the defender down. they were both chasing the ball and jostling and he fell. too bad. angel finished with a clinical side of the foot.
3) i think dvb was onsides. if you look at the replay, the third defender from him toward the top of the screen has a foot back and that should keep dave onsides. great goal.

now, that being said, let's talk about our defense. i'm all for pressuring the opponent's side of the field with offense, but our formation left us wide open at the back for counterattacks - which is what real salt lake did all night long. apart from catching us with a lot of players forward, i can't say that real mounted all that effective of a coordinated attack. nonetheless, there were some very close goals, and if not for conway's continued impressive performance we could have walked out of there with a loss, if not a tie.

it was only when mendes came on that pietravallo had someone to help out and real's attack sputtered. three in the back and pietravallo as our defense is just not going to cut it in future games. i know stammler was out with a knee injury, but we've got to have that two defensive midfielder positions on the field. and rojas dropping back to help out wasn't helping us out - his bread and butter is higher up on the field.

however, we walk away with a win, which catapaults us over dc united (yes!) into sole possession of fourth place. next us is the league-leading columbus crew at their stadium, which might be one of the biggest games this year for us. this crew is nothing like the one we faced opening night this season. and without dvb (hernia) for a game or two, we're going to lose our best crosser.

lots of energy but no points

2008-09-12T11:14:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia the new york red bulls came to the chicago fire ready to play. this game was end-to-end entertaining soccer for 90 minutes. i can't believe the pace that both teams managed to keep up for the entire match, and i also can't believe we left there with no points and gifted chicago with three more in a tough 1-0 loss.

i thought we looked really good. the return of cichero in the back showed what his presence can do as he was a central rock back there. jiminez continued to impress (of course, despite that one poor clearance, which i think just came off his foot wrong), and park filled in nicely at right back, though i think he's much more effective paired in the center.

the one fault i think i can point to is our lack of service to the boys up front. don't get me wrong: angel, woly, richards, and ubi all had chances in the box (angel had two near misses), but we didn't get them the ball enough. i think the calming presence of rojas in the middle was missed, as the play of magee up front (a staph infection? really?).

it was end-to-end, but that frenetic atmosphere also meant quick loss of possession on nearly every play. i couldn't believe the crisp, accurate passes we were making - and i think it surprised some of the red bulls too since they couldn't seem to handle half of them. but patience, we're learning here.

we played good soccer and it was a hard loss. but i think we could have done better. sure, we got shellacked by chicago earlier in the season, and obviously the addition of new players has helped solidify our team. (and i do think that we really seemed to learn a lot from watching fc barcelona run all over us.) but we should have come out of toyota park with a win, if not a tie. a loss is still a loss, and we played a team without blanco or sagares, two of their strongest.

but we've got a game coming up against real salt lake, and we can regroup and should walk away with a win at home. as of right now (with 8 games remaining) we're still going to the playoffs, but we can't let our foot off the gas now.

but it's not a losss

2008-09-02T11:07:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia saturday night saw the new york red bulls take on dc united. to be honest, it was a pretty ugly game on our part. we were lucky to walk out of there with a 0-0 draw.

but then again, a road tie against dc united is never something to scoff at. i think the real tragedy comes when you look at our play compared to our three-game winning streak.

our midfield was nearly non-existent. we tried to play the balls up the wings, we fell back on old habits with a ton of long balls over the top, and our forwards were lucky to get a clean look at the ball.

nonetheless, we created some chances and had several opportunities to win the game. however, so did dc united and a tenacious backline and a goalkeeper on his game kept us with a clean sheet.

what happened saturday night?

osorio didn't start jorge rojas. i get it. he was tired, he hadn't trained with the team the full week, he had just flown in after the visa trouble. but putting him in in the 70th minute? if we've learned anything about rojas over the past month, it's that he takes 15 minutes to warm up. he seems to need to let the game flow about him for a while before he makes sense of it. the last 20 minuts of the game didn't afford him nearly enough time to get into the game.
the long balls. i know that in our recent winning ways we've used the long ball to great effect - but those have mainly been on deep counter-attacks, as opposed to what we did saturday night: boot the ball 60 yards in an attempt to find the feet of a red bull surrounded by 4 defenders. we've got to play smater ball that that. not only did we not find out guy, we just gave the ball right back to dc.
our midfield was a ghost. pietravallo and stammler did their best, but magee is not a central midfielder. i'm sorry if that upsets some people, but he belongs up top. i have no idea why osorio decided to put magee in the one position that he struggled significantly in all season and not up top as a striker where he's looked incredible lately. dane richards at the top might make sense, but it makes more sense to keep him on the wing where his speed is the most dangerous. he inevitably had to drift back downfield anyway to get involved with plays since we didn't have a midfield to get him the ball, which effectively left angel alone at the top again. i think we've learned that doesn't work.
jimenez made a stupid mistake in the 91st minute. it didn't matter, but apart from that mistake, i thought the kid played nasty good football. good lord. put him and cichero in the middle, put pietravallo and stammler in front of them, and watch forwards across the league go into panice. we've got a steel wall in the middle moving forward.
conway looked confident, strong, and on his game. several key stops kept the red bulls in the hunt, and earned him yet another clean sheet and the team a point on the road. and boy was he happy when moreno missed the penalty kick. if there was ever a sign that our luck might be changing, i'd hang my hat on that one.

the real question here is: who gets the atlantic cup? three games were played this year, two ended 4-1, and one ended 0-0. what's the tiebreaker here?

we are still tied with dc united for fourth place after saturday's game, but we didn't lose any ground. we've got a chance to make up some ground this saturday as we travel to the chicago fire and look to steal some points from a team in front of us.

three wins in a row!

2008-08-29T12:46:00.001-04:00

Image by goddam via Flickr ladies and gentlemen, we have a soccer team in new york.

three games at home, three solid wins. a month ago, this would have been thought impossible, but the new york red bulls have become THE team to watch out for as the season begins to draw to a close.

with the 3-0 win over the strong houston dynamo, the red bulls put 9 quick points up on the conference board, and move into a fourth place tie with dc united - who, as it happens, is their next opponent. the good news is that it was against dc united that we started this resurgence, and it will be against dc this labor day weekend that will perhaps be the most pivotal game we've played this year. with a win on saturday we will pull a full 3 points ahead of dc and take charge of third place in the east.

what can this be attributed to? well, first off, our early season woes with injuries seem to be behind us. and osorio's acquisition choices have proved to be the missing pieces to the red bulls puzzle.

but it seems that most importantly, this team believes again. this can be seen in our most recent win when we didn't have two of those new puzzle pieces - rojas and cichero. we also played without our rock in the back (jeff parke) and still looked confident and organized.

the entire team deserves credit for the win against the dynamo, but let's take a quick look at some highlights:

count me in as a believer now. three games, three goals for magee. his move to forward has been a rebirth, and he's beginning to show why he was picked at the head of the draft so many years ago. keep it up young jedi.
angel's recovery from injury continues. another game, another goal. he has become the emotional leader of this team, playing with renewed vigor and hunger. let's give him the trophy he so richly deserves.
our defensive midfield has gelled into one of the best in the league. stammler and pietravallo are absolutely destroying any attack from opponents. with these two bulldogs healthy and playing like they have been, there's no stopping us. their play is also freeing up our attack to get forward and pressure the ball.
dane "i'm healthy again" richards just keeps getting faster. it's probably because he's also playing smarter, but he is absolutely a blur on the right side. with his recent green card acquisition, does this mean he might be eligible to play for the us national team someday? if so, can you imagine him and wynne on the same side of the field? phenomenal.
dvb. what more can i say? if he isn't the best crosser of the ball, i'm not sure who is.

at the end of the day, we're finally playing like a team. we're maintaing posession. we're chasing the ball down. we're solid in the back. we're scoring goals - in bunches. we have the tools we need to bring a new york team to the playoffs that has never looked as good.

this next game against dc united is the one that will tell us who we really are. on the road against our fiercest rival. keep your heads up guys, you've got everyone believing.

two wins in a row!

2008-08-18T09:55:00.000-04:00

Image by goddam via Flickr well, if a fan needed any more proof that the new york red bulls have started to turn things around this season, yesterday's game was exactly what we wanted to see.

sure, we had a rough start to the first half, looking a bit disorganized, but that quickly faded, and we became a SOCCER team. we passed the ball, we kept possession, we stymied the toronto fc attack. and then we did what would have been deemed impossible only a few games ago - we played creative, dynamic soccer for 45 minutes A MAN DOWN and looked completely at ease - while scoring a goal.

what has happened to the red bulls of late? quite simply, we've got our mojo back. we're playing with confidence.

during yesterday's game, shep messing said that osorio said the fc barcelona game was a great thing, because he told the players to remember how la barca played and to emulate them. i'm not putting us on par with la barca, but in yesterday's game you could see the beginning of the vision: ball possession, no more over the top balls every play, triangle passing, open options, creating space, and thinking ahead. it was astounding to watch after the season we've had.

big props go to the three men down the center that recently arrived: rojas (4 games, 4 assists), pietravallo, and cichero. they really have raised the level of play and are keeping the rest of the team focused.

mike magee found the back of the net again on a gorgeous breakaway. the best part of that play was that you could see exactly when he made the decision to chase that ball down. it was that split second that he decided to go for it that is a symbol for this team - all of the sudden we're making the decision to PLAY. mike also was very involved in the run of play and got a lot of touches. he seemed a lot more at ease this game. i'm not totally sold on him yet (though 2 goals in 2 games helps), but i'm beginning to warm up again. just don't break my heart mike.
dane richards came back. i don't know what he does to heal, but he's like wolverine. whatever the expected time is for him to rehab, he's back running at full speed in half the time. it's amazing. his introduction late in the second half helped keep the focus in the midfield and toronto's end, as opposed to ours. his speed opened up that right side, and after multiple attempts he got the pass he needed and made the perfect pass across an open goal at the exact right time (to keep the defender and goalie focused on him) to angel, who calmly put the ball home. glad to have you back dane.
angel looks happy. do you see the bounce in his step? he's still tracking back some, and the services aren't always perfect, but he's smiling now - and scoring goals. thank you for your patience and leadership angel. now go get drunk on goal scoring.
cichero. oh cichero. i can't decide if he was being malicious or not, but his elbow was out. as a red bull fan, i don't think a red was warranted, but the officials have an eye out for that sort of foul. what a horrible loss, especially with houston coming in next week. cichero has been an incredible pick-up and has become the rock in that back line overnight.
parke went out with an ankle injury. i only trust that it was just a minor issue and he'll be back. with cichero out next week, we'll need park to bolster us in the middle. also, he's only 9 games from becoming the all-time leader in starts for the new york team. i'd hate for him to have to wait until next year for that.
stammler. i haven't given him any love in a while, because i've just gotten used to him being so incredible week in and out. i think he's played every position on the field this year except goalie. and again yesterday he proved his commitment and versatility by moving to the back line after the red card. thank you for your talent.

now, we're still looking for a striker to accompany angel up front, but for now, we've got a midfield (thank you) and a renewed sense of optimism that's leading to goals, wins (can you believe this is the first time this year we've had two wins in a row?), and a higher level of play.

next up is houston, and we're back in the thick of the eastern conference. let's keep up the good times!

welcome home boys

2008-08-11T09:47:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipediawell, yesterday's game was a cause for celebration in many ways for the new york red bulls:

1. we won a game. we actually won a game.

2. we beat dc united, our most hated rival.

3. we beat an eastern conference foe for the first time since the first game of the season. i know, hard to believe, but look it up.

4. jeff "i was picked with the last draft pick" parke played his 125th game for new york. he's tied for second place all-time (with tony meola). next game he takes 2nd over all to himself and starts to get closer to petke, who is only 9 games further along.

5. we scored more than 2 goals in a game. amazing.

6. we avoided serious injuries for any of our players.

now, some thoughts on our 4-1 win over dc united:

angel's first goal was ridiculous. you just don't take a free kick any better than that. period. holy sh*t. and you could see it in his face when he was lining up for the shot. he wanted it very, very badly.
angel's second goal was just pure grit and determination. any other player would have given up on the ball, but he fought, pushed, and stretched out to the last possible millimeter to get his foot on that ball.
angel's play was involved, engaged, and active. he came back to the top of the midfield often and aggressively. if anyone had any question as to why he was team captain, or if anyone had a doubt that he's among the top 5 players in the entire league, they should just shut up and watch yesterday's game. angel carried the team until they started believing in themselves.
i was worried when dc scored their first goal. our play in the beginning had been a bit rocky and uneven, and who knew how this was going to affect the team. it took a few minutes, but we gathered ourselves up and let angel put some confidence back into us. then we just started clicking.
magee finally scored. he seemed more involved in yesterday's game than i'd seen him in a long time. but i still hope we can locate a freakin' striker before the transfer window closes on friday. we need some firepower going into september.
the new spinal column looked pretty good. cichero and pietravallo are viscious. i loved that they came out swinging at dc and knocked them off their game. rojas got better as the game went on (again), but still seemed that he was drifting wide A LOT. he needs to stay more central and let the ball work through him. nonetheless, it's amazing what a little bit of experience and skill will do for a team as witnessed by how the rest of the team responded to three new starters in the middle of the field.
imagine how we'll look when richards comes back on that right side. mmmm.

this win and three points jumps us up into the mix for 4th place in the eastern conference and out of the basement. we've still got a long way to go, but if we can take on the guevara-less toronto team next sunday and get another win, we'll be putting ourselves in a great position for the final 10 games.

a little momentum can give us the emotional boost we need, unstick us from this mediocre rut we've been in, and carry us a long way toward salvaging this season. go red bulls!