Once A Metro

Chivas USA Will Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse

2012-05-18T03:04:10Z

"To obtain someone of Heath’s pedigree and gain substantial financial considerations, we had to trade Juan – an exciting player with potential.''

For the services of Juan Agudelo, the Red Bulls get defender Heath Pearce, allocation money and a chunk of Agudelo's allocation fee should he (when he) bolt(s) to Europe.

Regardless of your take on the issue, whether you loathe it, or you're taking the Pro Soccer Talk and Dave Martinez route on things, this trade was huge for the Red Bulls. There are a ton of facets through which to view this deal and there are still a ton of questions to be answered about this deal.

So let's take a look at them, because this is a blog, and what do blogs do better than baseless speculation, rumor mongering and over-analysis?

Did Agudelo really want out?

If Erik Soler is to be believed Agudelo wanted this, though, you have to wonder if the 19-year-old is ready for it. If you take Soler at his word and couple that with Martinez's tweet that Agudelo seemed down about the trade, the thought has to occur that Agudelo and his agent were bluffing on wanting to leave. Either that, or Agudelo thought he'd be headed to a higher caliber team than Chivas USA. Or that he'd end up overseas, not on the West Coast.

Will Wilman Conde's arrest be problematic?

Pearce can play anywhere along the backline and Markus Holgersson has been wearing the captain's armband in recent games. Connor Lade has earned praise and Roy Miller seems like one of Backe's boys. At right back Brandon Barklage has been a revelation and Jan Gunnar Solli could see his playing time take a hit, too.

Basically, at full strength, the Red Bulls have a pretty solid back line. So who is going to take a seat? And more pressing, this isn't just a depth move, as Pearce looks to be in the starting XI, so is Conde's arrest over the weekend going to create legal problems for him? Is it possible an overzealous State Department -- see: Luke Rodgers -- will seek to deport the centerback?

Is another deal imminent?

Rafael Marquez, disciplinary issues and all, seemed like he would be a prime target for Chivas, Atlas connections notwithstanding. When the trade rumors first surfaced, it was Pearce for Marquez, not Pearce for Agudelo. And today wasn't the first time that rumor's been kicked around.

And if you believe Martinez's twitter, Marquez's agent was at practice today. And ESPN Deportes has, once again, reported Marquez wants out of New York.

Add to that a glut at left back with Miller, Lade and Pearce (if Pearce is to play left back in New York) and it increasingly looks like a package deal with Miller or Lade and Marquez could be made. Or maybe even two separate deals.

Are the Red Bulls trying to recreate the 2009 and 2010 FC Dallas teams?

Probably not, but it's interesting that in the last year the Red Bulls have acquired Dax McCarty, who played in Dallas in 2009 and 2010, Kenny Cooper who played for FC Dallas from 2006 to 2009 and Pearce who played for the team in 2009 and 2010.

Just where the hell will Pearce play?

Pearce can play as a fullback or a centerback, or, as Soler put it five or six positions.

Soler...

We have a situation with Wilman Conde where he’s been out injured for a long time. We don’t want to push him, so he (Pearce) can play as a left central defender. Roy Miller has an issue with his knee, so he can play there. And of course young Connor Lade had done fantastic. And he’s a left fullback that can also go further up the field, so it gives us another option. Heath Pearce can play right fullback, he can do that well. We think he can certainly play central midfield as a defensive holding guy if we want to put Rafa Marquez somewhere else, or play Dax McCarty higher up the pitch. Defensively I think already we will see how Hans chooses to play Heath Pearce. We will see very quickly that he will help us in that part of our game. And also, he’s a very good guy on the ball, so we also adds to the fact that he tries ot keep the ball and spread it around.

So about that forwards thing...

This touches on the third point about another deal, but Backe's been fond of saying he needs four forwards over the course of a season. Well, the only forwards on the roster who have played 90 minutes in MLS are Thierry Henry and Coooper. Jhonny Arteaga has earned himself a few minutes here and there, but he's mostly been used as a kill-the-clock sub. The same goes for Corey Hertzog, only all his MLS minutes came in 2011.

So unless Backe has decided, rather miraculously, that he trusts young, unproven Americans (hey, maybe those clean sheets did something for him), Soler is going to need to pick up not one, but two forwards to meet Backe's quota.

Did the Red Bulls just build for the future?

Ok, trading a 19-year-old for a 27-year-old doesn't seem like a move for the future, even if you include all the allocation money and a cut of Agudelo's potential transfer fee, but it's no secret Agudelo's ambitions lie in Europe. He spoke rather glowingly of his training stint with Liverpool. And Liverpool made a bid for him, one that the league ultimately denied.

In a way, the Red Bulls got the best of both worlds with this one. They'll a piece of the transfer fee, but they'll also get a pretty good defender and one that's unlikely to bolt across the Atlantic.

What does this mean for the academy?

As of today, neither of the Red Bulls first two academy signings play for the team. Giorgi Chirgadze was called into training camp, but wasn't signed, and Agudelo has been traded.

If you're Wesley Wade, one of the better young prospects in the country, what kind of message does this send?

Done Deal: Agudelo to Chivas for Pearace

2012-05-17T17:51:32Z

Done Deal: Agudelo to Chivas for Pearace

The ink hasn't quite dried on the deal yet, so no one's got a full fledged story on it as of now, but the Red Bulls dealt Juan Agudelo to Chivas USA for Heath Pearce and allocation money.

See how the deal evolved here.

And the Silly Season Continues: Heath Pearce Edition

2012-05-17T17:10:12Z

UPDATED: 1:16 p.m.

Let's watch a pseudo-fact develop and spread through Twitter, shall we?

Earlier today, Heath Pearce, the Chivas USA and USMNT defender tweeted, in the third person, no less, that he had been traded to the Red Bulls. Offending tweet below...

Heath Pearce has officially been traded to the new York red bulls. Thanks Chivas fans for your love during my time here...

A few minutes later we got this...

Excited for the opportunity to join red bull new York. Blessed to have the life and journey I've had so far. Love my life. #blessed

Then, the news exploded all over Twitter...

Well, not quite. It was really just Dave Martinez at Empire of Soccer and Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives jumping all over the story. So thanks to them, here's what we "know" thanks to their Twitter accounts.

-Rafael Marquez wasn't at practice due to a "soft achilles."

-This isn't the first time Marquez-to-Chivas rumors have surfaced. A few weeks ago, a reporter for ESPN Deportes said the deal was happening.

-Marquez is, supposedly, "forcing the trade" and Marquez's agent was at practice today.

-Ives said the deal "is happening."

So are the Red Bulls getting Pearce, who would certainly help the team's defensive woes and injury riddled backline? I guess. But these sorts of deals are fickle things, and when the only "facts" are Twitter banter, the best course of action is to wait before putting Pearce in red and white.

UPDATE: Ives is tweeting that it could be Juan Agudelo headed to Chivas, not Rafael Marquez. What is this I don't even.

Aaaand the Draw Is...

2012-05-17T00:53:52Z

Hans Backe's been talking a big game about the U.S. Open Cup as of late -- you know, that trophy he scuttled despite a near bye to the finals against the Seattle Sounders last year? -- and May 29 it's going to be gut check time ~~at Red Bull Arena~~.

Last night the Premier Development League's Reading Untied A.C. defeated USASA side New York Greek-American Atlas 2-1 in Reading to advance to the next round against USL Pro's Charleston Battery. The winner of the Reading-Charleston match-up will face the Red Bulls.

The full bracket is here.

UPDATE: According to U.S. Soccer, If Reading wins, they'll travel to Red Bull Arena and the game will kickoff at 7. If Charleston wins, the Bulls will head to South Carolina for a 7:30 start. Regardless of who wins, the match will be on May 29.

Hans Backe: Last Name Ever, First Name Greatest

2012-05-16T23:07:21Z

Hans Backe is the best manager in Red Bulls history.

For all his faults, and there are many, the numbers, crunched by Steve Davis over at Pro Soccer Talk, don't lie. Backe's got a winning percentage nearly 50 points higher than his next closest competitor, Mo Johnston. His next win will make him the team's second winningest coach and, being only 9 wins behind, might by the end of the season oust Octavio Zambrano at number 1. If his deal is extended -- it's up at the end of the year -- he'll be the longest-tenured coach the team's ever had.

But if we're being honest in all this, it's a bit like saying Backe is the smartest kid with down syndrome.

It's no secret Backe's come under significant scrutiny during his tenure in Harrison, or Davis' "poison pellets," but when the team has a displayed a near-comical amount of ineptitude over it's 17 years of existence, praising a guy who's got the team in the playoffs two years running is...nice. And deserved. To some degree.

But let's take Backe's success in context, and more importantly, stride.

He does make his "quirky choices," but those "quirky choices" are a little more serious when they lead to U.S. Open Cup exits because the quirk is that he doesn't even go to the match. He seemingly protects "his guys," like Mehdi Ballouchy and Roy Miller, choosing them over possible replacements. And sometimes his "quirky choice" is none at all, since he seldom uses subs.

Couple that with the aforementioned ineptitude and having our best ever coach manning the bench is cold comfort, so you can forgive us for holding out on our affection on our "best ever." It's true there are times and things for which and when he gets unwarranted criticism, but the feeling the bottom is going to fall out of all this at any moment is still prevalent, and Backe does little to inspire confidence it won't.

Juan Pablo Angel to the Union?

2012-05-16T19:27:50Z

The weekend's rumors have turned into fact, and Philadelphia Union fan favorite, captain, and some kind of weird greaser Danny Califf is headed to Chivas USA, pending league approval.

The player going the other way is suspected to be -- hey the initial rumors proved to be true -- Red Bulls all-time leading goal scorer Juan Pablo Angel.

The move would help Philadelphia's offensive out put and would make Angel the first player of any consequence, sorry Chris Konopka and Chris Albright, to make the move down the Jersey Turnpike.

This wouldn't be the first time Angel has been connected with the Union. In August, before Angel switched Home Depot Center dressing rooms, then-Union 'keeper Fayrd Mondragon planted the seed in Philadelphians minds.

Dax McCarty on Rafa Marquez

2012-05-15T23:17:46Z

Dax McCarty and his newfound defensive midfield skills were on Extra Time Radio yesterday. There, he was asked about the embattled Rafael Marquez. He responded thusly...

"I think Rafa gets a bad rap in this league. Obviously the fans only see what goes on on the field and then in his post-game interviews, which if I'm being fair to him, I really do think he was misquoted in the whole fiasco that happened with Tim Ream. He's not that type of guy. As I've gotten to know Rafa better throughout this past year I've been on the team he's just such a nice guy. He's very quite. He doesn't say much, he really doesn't say much even in training. And when he doesn't speak up it's always in a very respectful, almost pleasant manner. He's been such a good player for With him being a very good player on the Mexican national team for so long I think he's an easy target for American fans."

The segment starts around 38 minutes in and McCarty is refreshingly honest, so it's well worth a listen.

Television is All An Elaborate Ruse

2012-05-14T18:54:06Z

For those of you forced to stay home and spend time with your mothers Sunday instead of making the trip to Chester for the Red Bulls' 3-2 win over the Union, you probably watched it on TV. And if you watched it on TV there's a good chance you caught Taylor Twellman making light of Wilman Conde's Saturday morning arrest.

Twellman said something to the effect that maybe Conde got arrested for the questionable barber skills he took to Ryan Meara's head last week during some rookie hazing instead of shoving a Fort Lee police officer.

Here's the thing, though. ESPN set Twellman up for that one.

A lot of the announcers' conversation during a game that is not calling plays is scripted. It's not the producer and cameramen following what the announcers say - the announcers know what the anecdote is and when it's coming.

Here's an example. When Healey and Twellman talked in the 14th minute about Red Bulls defender Wilman Conde's arrest, Alexopoulos had set them up for it a minute earlier.

He and Frattaroli had arranged for the cameras to be trained on New York manager Hans Backe at just that moment. Alexopoulos offered a few reminders of the facts, and seconds later you heard the conversation on air. Cue the camera switch to Backe - albeit blocked by an assistant coach - and it all looked so smooth.

This and other revelations about televised sports -- specifically this weekend's soccer game -- can be found in this piece by Philly.com's Jonathan Tannenwald, which is really worth your time.