New York Red Bulls at FC Dallas: My Running Commentary

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FINAL- FC Dallas 2, Red Bulls 0. Two mistakes, two goals allowed and the Red Bulls attack sputters without Juan Pablo Angel. That’s pretty much it.

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88th minute- Wow, Magee with a wide-open look and he hits it softly at the goalkeeper.

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87th minute- Reyna with a shot and misses by inches.

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84th minute- Since there’s not much to be happy about here for Red Bulls fans, here is something to consider. Here’s what the lineup will look like when healthy:

——————Angel———–Altidore———–

————————–Reyna———————-

Van Den Bergh——————————Richards

————————Stammler———————-

Goldthwaite——Innes—–Parke———-Freeman

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82nd minute- Wow, Wolyniec almost finds a goal, but just misses wide right. That would have made things interesting. Nice turn and shot by Wolyniec.

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78th minute- I don’t see the Red Bulls finding one goal, let alone two.

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78th minute- Pitchkolan for Toja.

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71st minute- Wolyniec in for Echeverry and Saragosa for Rocha.

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70th minute- This is going to be a long 20 minutes. Look for Wolyniec to come in for Echeverry.

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64th minute- GOAL FC DALLAS. Kenny Cooper torches Chris Leitch and runs onto a perfectly-timed ball.

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63rd minute- Alvarez has been the best player on the field.

Magee for Ubiparipovic. It had to be done. Now we’ll see if the attack picks up.

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60th minute- No, Lider Marmol is not from Peru. He’s from Paraguay. Oh, and the Fire don’t own his rights, they own the first discovery claim on him. There is a difference. Marmol can, and probably will, sign somewhere else in the world.

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55th minute- Not sure what move Osorio can make as far as subs. Magee might help, perhaps for Ubiparipovic.

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53rd minute- Echeverry with an ugly foul and gets a yellow card.

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52nd minute- Considering the players missing for the Red Bulls, it hasn’t been a bad performance. Here is who is missing:

• Juan Pablo Angel
• Dane Richards
• Hunter Freeman
• Jeff Parke

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46th minute- And we’re back.

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HALFTIME- For the Dema Kovalenko fans out there, Kovalenko has assisted on both goals in RSL’s 2-0 lead vs. D.C. United tonight.

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HALFTIME- I know the questions about Leitch over Mendes will arise but that lineup decision boiled down to Osorio believe Leitch was quicker and a better passer than Mendes. Will Osorio go with Mendes at halftime?

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HALFTIME- Other than two ugly defensive lapses by Chris Leitch, the Red Bulls played FC Dallas pretty even and probably had more of the ball. Claudio Reyna has been the best Red Bull on the field and Borman, Echeverry and Van Den Bergh have looked good.

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47th minute- Great corner by Van Den Bergh and Goldthwaite almost gets a head to it.

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46th minute- Red Bulls need to start getting the ball to the feet of Echeverry and Altidore. Too many crosses going high.

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41st minute- I know it isn’t much consolation but after the FC Dallas goal the game has been pretty even.

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39th minute- Borman is doing some good things (when he’s not crossing it to nobody). If the Red Bulls score it will come on a Borman assist.

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37th minute- Echeverry schools Serioux but can’t get his shot on goal. Nice moves though.

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34th minute- Somebody should probably tell the MSG guys that Guppy napalmed all bridges with Juan Carlos Osorio during Osorio’s move to RBNY from Chicago.

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33rd minute- Love the Guppy to New York speculation. WILL NOT HAPPEN.

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32nd minute- Just when I give Borman some props he skies a cross into the stands.

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31st minute- Borman has settled in and is starting to look pretty good.

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26th minute- I like what I’ve seen from Echeverry so far. He’s looked pretty good.

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25th minute- The Red Bulls are getting chances to cross but the crosses are floating and not sharp enough.

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24th minute- I wonder if we see Carlos Mendes as a halftime sub.

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22nd minute- BIG SAVE by Jon Conway, who stops Alvarez on a one-on-one. Chris Leitch is struggling tonight.

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18th minute- Altidore and Duilio Davino are going to have a battle tonight and I see the kid beating the old man at least once.

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16th minute- Red Bulls getting into a good rhythm, with Reyna getting more involved here.

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14th minute- Potential penalty on Altidore not called. Interesting decision. Altidore looks lively tonight.

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13th minute- Juan Toja has been relatively quiet so far.

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10th minute- The Red Bulls are going to need Danleigh Borman to step up tonight.

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9th minute- Sala is a solid goalkeeper, don’t see him letting up any soft ones.

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7th minute- Sorry Shep but that was a giveaway by Stammler. The pass was right to him.

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6th minute- That sound you just heard was Chris Innes’ phone ringing.

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5th minute- Still waiting for a Red Bulls chance to come.

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3rd minute- Chris Leitch beaten on the goal, which came off a floating cross from Rocha.

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2nd minute- Just 50 seconds in and Alvarez heads home a Rocha cross.

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1st minute- GOAL FC DALLAS. Arturo Alvarez. Wow, that was fast.

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PRE-GAME- MSG just showed this formation:

——————Echeverry———-Altidore—————-

—————————–Reyna—————————-

–Borman—————Stammler———Ubiparipovic—-

Van Den Bergh–Goldthwaite—–Leitch———-Sassano

—————————–Conway—————————

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PRE-GAME- The Drew Moor-Oscar Echeverry match will be an interesting one. As anyone who saw USA-Mexico can tell you, Moor is more a centerback than fullback. Echeverry’s shiftiness and strength on the ball will create problems for Moor.

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PRE-GAME- On a big field like Pizza Hut Park has, using fullbacks who can get forwards along with a three-forward alignment could expose an FC Dallas defense that is pretty slow.

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PRE-GAME- Kenny Cooper is a tough mark, to be sure, but Goldthwaite will be assigned to slowing him down, while Leitch will try to keep tabs on Alvarez. I’m sure that last sentence would have brought Red Bulls fans to tears in pre-season but the fact remains that both players played very well last week and might be poised for turnaround seasons.

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PRE-GAME- So what is the biggest concern for the Red Bulls? Keeping tabs on Alvarez, who floats quite a bit. He will be the key for FC Dallas tonight.

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PRE-GAME- What should be noted about FC Dallas is that while Alvarez is dangerous on the wings he normally floats wide from a forward position. Wagner and McCarty are the Hoops’ wingers and neither is what you call dangerous on the flank. They will have to do some defending tonight because Van Den Bergh and Sassano will be getting forward A LOT.

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PRE-GAME- So why is Borman getting the start after his shaky 45 minutes last week? Osorio has confidence in him being able to create problems for Serioux, who won’t be able to handle his speed. I would also like to point out that I recall seeing Borman struggle in a pre-season game but follow it up with a strong showing, so he’s a rookie who has ups and downs like you’d expect, but when he’s on, think a left-sided speedster with a good cross.

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PRE-GAME- Here is how the teams will lineup against each other:

—————————–Sala——————————

Serioux——————–Davino——————–Moor

Borman——————-Altidore—————-Echeverry

——————-Richetti———–Rocha——————

———Wagner—————————-McCarty———

—————————–Reyna—————————-

—————————–Toja————————–

—————-Stammler———Ubiparipovic————

———————Cooper——-Alvarez——————–

Van Den Bergh–Goldthwaite—–Leitch———-Sassano

—————————–Conway—————————

PRE-GAME- So why no Mendes? I really think Osorio is concerned about Mendes ability to play out of the back.

I also know there are concerns among fans about the Goldthwaite-Leitch tandem in central defense, but what needs to be remembered is that despite how big Kenny Cooper is, he isn’t really good in the air. He plays to feet far more and is quick for his size. Goldthwaite and Leitch give the Red Bulls speed in central defense and the ability to play quickly out of the back.

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PRE-GAME- Here is FC Dallas lineup and likely formation:

—————Cooper——-Alvarez—————-

———————–Toja————————–

Wagner————————————–McCarty

—————-Richetti—Rocha———————

Serioux————-Davino——————–Moor

———————–Sala——————————

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PRE-GAME- So why this formation? If you notice, all four defenders are good with the ball and Van Den Bergh and Sassano can both attack down the flanks. Reyna, Stammler and Ubiparipovic will look to keep the central midfield compact with the plan being to shut down Hoops playmaker Juan Toja.

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PRE-GAME- Here’s the Red Bulls bench: Subs: Paterson-Sewell, mendes, palacio, megaloudis, magee, mesa, wolyniec

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PRE-GAME- Here’s the Red Bulls lineup, and Don’t be surprised to see the Red Bulls formation look more like this:

Borman——————-Altidore—————-Echeverry

—————————–Reyna—————————-

—————–Stammler———Ubiparipovic————

Van Den Bergh–Goldthwaite—–Leitch———-Sassano

—————————–Conway—————————

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PRE-GAME-The lineup isn’t out yet but look for some variation of this:

————–Altidore————Echeverry————–

————————–Reyna—————————-

Magee——————————————–Sassano

————————-Stammler————————-

Van Den Bergh–Goldthwaite—Mendes———-Leitch

————————–Conway—————————

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