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Richards sidelined four to six weeks

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Red Bulls midfielder Dane Richards will miss four to six weeks after being diagnosed with a hip flexor strain. Richards suffered the injury during the Red Bulls’ 2-2 tie vs. Los Angeles tonight.

Richards missed the first six weeks of the season with a torn meniscus suffered in pre-season, but had been playing well in recent weeks, providing a speedy threat on the right flank.

The news is a big blow for a Red Bulls squad that just added Venezuelan midfielder Jorge Rojas, who made a successful debut in the team’s 2-2 tie vs. LA on Saturday. Now with Richards sidelined, the Red Bulls attack will once again be short-handed.

With Richards sidelined, Hunter Freeman and Luke Sassano will compete for the vacant spot in the starting lineup on the right flank.

In other Red Bulls news, the Red Bulls released forward Ricky Schramm. The move frees up a developmental player slot on the team’s roster.

Comments

  1. Ives,

    During the Saturday game broadcast there was mention that the Red Bulls finalized the deal for Cichero and they were going to announce after the game. But no words or any reports about it.

    Got any insights?

    Cheers

    Reply
  2. If Schramm is getting released, does that imply that Exantus is getting picked up or that someone else is getting moved down from senior roster, like Boyens?

    Reply
  3. Damn. We can tack on at least 2 addl weeks for him to get back in form.

    I’m not convinced that Freeman can play right wing, although if he starts in that role maybe it’ll grow on him. Sassano playing right wing is a horror.

    Osorio should consider using Ubiparipovic, Megaloudis or even Borman there (assuming VDB stays on the right wing). Borman would provide much the same threat as Richards in terms of speed, but he’ll take away some of the width as a left-footed right wing will be inclined to come in torwards the center rather than stay wide. Its a definite possibility though, teams do it often.

    What this incident illustrates though, is that we need depth at the wings.

    Reply
  4. even though he was hurtin’, he still hobbled into the post game pub for some face time with the kidsa and the fans. i have a lot of respect for ths young man.

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  5. its a pitty, he’s one of the few players i liked from RBNJ….. honestly i was pushing for the Conde/Richards trade from the get go…. obviously the Trade would have been not equal, but both served a purpose… we’d be getting rid of someone who didnt want to play for us, and we’d be getting a good winger (a position we sorely needed filled)….

    oh well, hope for a speedy recovery

    Reply
  6. Ouch.

    I used to agree with you Kahlva, but Freeman didn’t do much this weekend. I think he CAN be okay, but just the loss of speed alone here is really disheartening.

    Ugh.

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  7. Freeman is definitely having a down year. He was close to a shoo-in for the Olympics until he was hurt in the final qualifier. He now is struggling to get minutes with the Metro.

    I like the guy, but we need a better offensive option on the right. Luke Sassano is not that threat, either. Maybe Ubi can rekindle some of that magic he had for about three games … maybe.

    Reply
  8. Ooof.

    That said, I actually like Freeman in the midfield role. I’ve always thought he’s one of our better crosses, and he seems to really like running up the sides. Plus he does add more defensive bite.

    Richards is preferable, but Freeman may be a totally acceptable stand-in.

    Reply

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