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Richards to miss up to three months with torn MCL

The bad news is now official. As reported by the Herald News last week, Dane Richards is set to miss up to three months with a torn MCL in his right knee, an injury suffered during the Red Bulls exhibition match against the Red Bulls reserves. Richards injury will not require surgery but he could be out of action until June.

Team doctors made their final diagnosis of the injury on Monday after team sources stated fears that Richards’ injury was worse than first believed.

Richards suffered the injury when Harald Pichler delivered a studs up challenge that caught Richards in the leg and bent his knee inward. The result is the first major injury of Richards’ young career.

What will the Red Bulls do now? Hunter Freeman will likely slide into the starting right midfield role for the Red Bulls, a move that was already a possibility before Richards’ injury.

Share your thoughts on this news below.

Comments

  1. There should be some kind of internal (Red Bull) inquiry, a review of the foul on tape (i’m sure there is some record of the foul), and if it there is enough visual evidence (sorry to use an American football term), then Pichler should be sent packing.

    Players like Pichler only cost a team a great deal of money in the long term.

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  2. I think JCO has burnt some bridges and his recent history of leaving teams that relied upon his integrity is going to impact his ability to recruit players to come in. He brought Conde into Chicago and now Conde’s locked in and can’t follow JCO. I doubt that other players are going to want to risk making a move to follow a coach at this point. JCO needs to figure out that he has to pay his dues in order to get respect. This is too bad for Dane, though. I enjoyed watching him play last year.

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  3. Maybe RBNY just isn’t in any substantial negotiations yet. They still have a month to get more players. There is also the summer transfer window which usually boasts a ton of free agents.

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  4. I hope our draft picks are REALLY good because we haven’t brought anyone else.

    I much fear that we are gonna party like it’s 1999!

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  5. RBNY should go after Gabriel Badilla who the Revs have targeted. Apparently, the Revs offer was not enough, but negotiations continue. I do not know if there are any rules preventing it, but it might be worth while. I am a Revs fan, not an RBNY fan, but Badilla seems like a fit for both teams.

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  6. I think this sucks especially the fact the either JCO or the FO is dragging their feet at signing another player we have plenty of open positions and it feels like nothing is or will be done by April 15th as a Red bulls and it kills me to see that we have a new coach yet he shows no intentions of making any signings and now that Richards is gone it makes an already thin MF look even worse ! how are we gonna have any success this season?

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  7. Hey Ives, where is all the inside scoop on RBNY? We haven’t heard much lately…

    Thanks.

    Posted by: Michael F. | March 11, 2008 at 08:27 AM

    Hahaha, you guys are a hard to please bunch. Dude flies to Austria one week and gives unprecedetned in depth access to RBNY training camp, breaks a few stories and gives player updates, but the next week people demand more.

    Thanks for the coverage, Ives, but…what have you done for me lately?

    Keep up the good work, Ives

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  8. I definitely agree that RBNY needs more depth, but this is also an MLS problem. All teams need more depth. With the open cup, super liga, champions league, there is just not enough players to fill the roles. Increase the cap!

    Also Ives, any word on why the New England game got moved to a weekday?

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  9. I guess it’s good that the Fire didn’t trade for him.

    Posted by: Eric Anderson

    What?? If he was with the Fire he wouldn’t have played the Red Bull Salzburg Junior Thugs. Listen people, this isn’t a career ender.

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  10. One of the few bright spots last year, Richard’s injury definitely hurts. But any pro team needs depth, something RBNY seems to be lacking. Hey Ives, where is all the inside scoop on RBNY? We haven’t heard much lately…

    Thanks.

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  11. We should definitely sign Kassel at this point, if nothing else. This makes me extremely nervous about the positions that still need to be filled on top of RWM. I wish that we could finally hear a quality signing by JCO.

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  12. This is certainly going to force management’s hand in terms of bringing players in. As much as they seem to like Sassano and the other kids, someone with a quality pedigree (at LEAST some MLS experience) needs to help fill out what is a VERY THIN midfield. It seriously lacked depth before this injury. Now an acquisition has to take place before the start of the season.

    Also, does this at all change the approach with the Matt Kassell situation? I know he’s a more central player, but like I said, they lack depth in the midfield and Kassell was apparently impressive. Just a thought.

    Bottom line…it’s time to stop messing around get a player. There’s money to do it and now there’s necessity.

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  13. I’m not even a Red Bull fan and I think that sucks. Richards was one of my favorite players to watch last year. I guess it’s good that the Fire didn’t trade for him.

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  14. MLS transfer window open until April 15th, so anyone can still transfer into MLS. Juan Pablo Angel came mid April last year after we already played a few games. Just thought I’d throw that in there.

    Sucks what happened to Dane, but I feel Hunter Freeman will prove quite valuable on the right, and DvB and Luke Sassano covering the left.

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  15. Charlie N. & KPugs.

    The only transfer windows that matters is ours. European transfer regulations (or anywhere else) don’t have anything to do with and OUTGOING player. The transfer window only matters in the INCOMING league/federation

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  16. kpugs- I mis-spoke, not transfer window. there seems to be alot of players coming in who are from south of the border and beyond. Osorio should have had someone on his radar from scouting trips previously posted on this site. Who on the Red Bulls now can fill the hole left from Richards?? He may have shot like a U12 player but the speed he had was enough to open up the right side many times a game. Freeman came forward a few times, but it was more of an overlap than a run down the line.

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  17. i liked dane, but it seems that regardless of how promising RBNJ may get they always seem to find some way to mess it up… and i laugh hahahahhahahahahaha

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  18. Thus far, this has to go down as the worst offseason in team history. I mean they haven’t brought anyone in worth noting, and they are going to be without Richards and Altidore for the bulk of the season (Olympics /injuries). They have let guys go for nothing and they have nobody to get Angel the ball from midfield. Just the fact that they are contemplating playing Reyna at attacking mid when he couldn’t do it successfully for the last 10 years. A step back is an understatement!

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  19. Great, thanks a lot Salzburg.

    Charlie, what transfer window do you mean? It’s closed until July in Europe.

    Either way if there was anyone out there good enough to play for this team, I’m pretty sure they’d already be ON the team given that the entire offseason is almost over..

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  20. Transfer window is still open. Red Bull is under the cap. Go get somebody!! If not JCO is going to stand for just couldnt orchestrate…..Lets go Red Bulls!

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  21. Anymore hacker teams RBNY can play before the season starts?

    Unless RBNY gets some quality players soon this season is going to be a step backward from last year.

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  22. damn, well that sucks.

    is it feasible for RBNY to ask for some sort of compensation from RB Salzburg? I mean, this seemed like an obvious (not to mention) intentional attempt to injure Dane.

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