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New York Red Bulls vs. FC Barcelona: Matchnight Commentary

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Good evening folks. We’re less than an hour away from the Red Bulls-FC Barcelona friendly and we have a pretty good crowd.

I will be providing running commentary throughout the match so feel free to follow along here. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action:

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FINAL– Barcelona 6, Red Bulls 2. And yes, it was that ugly, although there were a few positive moments for the Red Bulls. On the bright side, nobody got hurt.

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89th minute– Boyens on for Goldthwaite.

And if you’re wondering why on earth Angel and Rojas are still in the game, so am I. Although to be fair, Angel has really only been out for a nice jog since he’s barely touched the ball tonight. Rojas I’d be more worried about.

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84th minute- GOAL BARCELONA. And it’s Pedro with the finish off a Suarez cross. Too easy. Barcelona 6, Red Bulls 2.

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82nd minute– You can really appreciate the quality of Barcelona when you see Puyol, regarded in most European circles as a brutish and uncompromising central defender, moving into a wide midfield role and showing off enough skill to create that goal.

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80th minute- GOAL BARCELONA. Carles Puyol plays the playmaker role, setting up Jeffren Suarez for a classy finish that left Patterson-Sewell hopeless. Barcelona 5, Red Bulls 2.

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76th minute– A Red Bulls fan just won a raffle, not sure if it was a drawing to be the new starting forward for the Red Bulls.

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75th minute– I know Red Bulls fans love killing Chris leitch but he hasn’t been bad tonight.

Ubiparipovic with a wide-open look that he sends wide.

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72nd minute– Ubiparipovic in for Van Den Bergh.

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70th minute– Yes, these are a lot of Barca subs but the Red Bulls are playing well against a good set of Barca players. Considering Barcelona has scored at least five goals in three previous friendlies, I don’t think they’re going to be happy with four.

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68th minute– Tonight’s attendance is 38,152. Embarrassingly slightly less than expected.

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66th minute– And yes, Barcelona just brought a $25 million signing off the bench. That’s what Caceres cost ‘Les Cules’. Slightly more than the Red Bulls are paying for Gabriel Cichero.

Luke Sassano is on for Mendes.

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63rd minute– I’ve been saying that Rojas reminds me of 2000/2001 Clint Mathis and that run was definitely reminiscent of that Mathis.

Martin Caceres and Jeffren Suarez come in for Marquez and Henry.

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60th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. JORGE ROJAS with a beautiful run and finds Jeff Parke (yes, Jeff Parke) who slides it back. Rojas blasts the loose ball into the net) Barcelona 4, Red Bulls 2.

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56th minute– Patterson-Sewell with a couple of pretty good saves. Making a good impression in his first-team debut.

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51st minute– Leitch just back-heeled it to nobody, then ran back and mauled Henry to get the ball back. Surprised not to see a call there, but I think referee Kevin Stott is being nice (for once) to the Red Bulls.

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49th minute– Not a bad test for Cichero’s Red Bulls debut, having to deal with Bojan.

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47th minute– Six new players for Barcelona:

IN– Gerard Pique, Yaya Toure, Sergio Bus, Eider, Bojan Krkic, Pedro

OUT– Alves, Iniesta, Hleb, Xavi, Keyta and Eto’o

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46th minute– Wholesale subs for Barcelona. Bojan Krkic is in the match.

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HALFTIME– Caleb Patterson-Sewell is in for Jon Conway. Look for Cichero to play in central defense and Goldthwaite moving to the left back, with Van Den Bergh moving into midfield.

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HALFTIME– Cichero is coming in for Borman it looks like.

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HALFTIME– We’re about to start the second half and the Red Bulls look to be keeping most of the same squad. I don’t see Borman out there.

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HALFTIME– And then there was that Chivas de Guadalajara match, which finished 5-2 in favor of Barcelona on Sunday. So that’s a total of four exhibitions before tonight and Barcelona outscored its opponents 19-3. Not bad.

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HALFTIME– Barcelona 4, New York Red Bulls 1. An absolute clinic from Barcelona. The Red Bulls just have no answer for Barca’s sharp passing and deadly finishing. To be fair, Barcelona also smashed Scottish clubs Hibernian (6-0) and Dundee United (5-0). Fiorentina faired slightly better in their meeting (3-1) but Barcelona still won handily.

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45th minute– I have to say that Leitch hasn’t done horribly against Eto’o on the left side. The rest of the defense? Not so much.

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44th minute- GOAL BARCELONA. Samuel Eto’o with a beautiful dribble in the area. He collects a Hleb pass, hits two perfect touches before beating Conway. BEAUTIFUL

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42nd minute– Rojas has looked very good today. He’s the most comfortable player on the ball for the Red Bulls, the only one who looks willing to take on a Barcelona defender (Angel would if he actually got the ball).

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40th minute– CONWAY STOPS ETO’O. Nice save and the rebound hits the right post.

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40th minute– Danleigh Borman has not looked good at all today. I know there are plenty of bad performances but he has looked zoned out. Might be rookie nerves.

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39th minute– I’m not sure what Leitch just did to Henry but I’m sure it’s illegal in the south.

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37th minute– Eto’o is back in the match.

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32nd minute– Eto’o is down.

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32nd minute– There are three class players on the field for the Red Bulls: Rojas, Van Den Bergh and Angel. Stammler looked class on that goal, finishing off a nice chance after Valdes spills a Van Den Bergh cross.

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30th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. STAMMLER POUNCES and the ESC is going nuts.

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29th minute– So let’s think of the positives we can draw from this performance?

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27th minute– Wow, Barca comes close again and this is painful to watch. Even Red Bulls must be laughing, although it’s to keep from crying.

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25th minute– The Red Bulls look like traffic cones out there.

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24th minute- GOAL Barcelona. Marquez flicks an Iniesta cross past Conway. 3-0 Barcelona

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22nd minute– This game has a similiar look to the Nash charity game a month ago. Henry’s team dominated then, and it’s dominating now.

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21st minute– Juan Pablo Angel looks thoroughly bored right now. It wouldn’t shock me of he left the match soon. He’s all alone and nobody can get the ball to him. We knew this would be a mismatch but this is ugly so far.

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20th minute– Wow, Barcelona unlocked the Red Bulls defense with ease on the strength of two passes. Barcelona 2, Red Bulls 0.

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18th minute -GOAL ETO’O. Great finish off a great pass from Xavi. Perfect play

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17th minute- GOAL XAVI!!!! Nice header. Dani Alves with the beautiful cross in.

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17th minute– Angel with the sharp centering pass just before he remembered he’s the lone forward.

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16th minute– Rojas with a nice run but loses the ball

Henry has a goal ruled offside. Good call.

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12th minute– Parke with a great play to stop Eto’o on an attempted sharp turn in the box. Play began with Pietravallo losing the ball.

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11th minute– Red Bulls are in a 4-2-3-1 formation right now, not that the five-man midfield is getting much possession.

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9th minute– It is thoroughly impressive to see Barcelona just hit laser after laser pass. Nice work by Mendes to deny Eto’o

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8th minute– Van Den Bergh nearly finds Borman on the back-post. Red Bulls corner.

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7th minute– The Red Bulls actually had possession in the attacking half, until Borman shot/passed it to Barcelona that is.

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6th minute– The ball did cross midfield, but no, the Red Bulls haven’t possed it there yet.

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5th minute– No, the ball hasn’t crossed midfield yet.

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4th minute– The Danleigh Borman as forward experiment is interesting to say the least, seeing it against Barcelona is shocking.

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3rd minute– Leitch does well against Henry.

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2nd minute– Yes, Mendes just won a challenge against Xavi.

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1st minute– And we’re off

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PRE-GAME– We’re about to kickoff.

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PRE-GAME– Here are the benches for the game:

BARCELONA– Jose Manuel Pinto, Martin Caceres, Gerard Pique, Yaya Toure, Marc Crosas, Sergio Busquets, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Bojan Krkic, Pedro, Jeffren Suarez.

RED BULLS– Caleb Patterson-Sewell, Andrew Boyens, Hunter Freeman, John Gilkerson, Diego Jimenez, Gabriel Cichero, David Roth, Luke Sassano, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Gordon Kljestan, Mike Magee, Chris Megaloudis.

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PRE-GAME– The game is being played on grass that was layed especially for this match. Unfortunately, the grass will be gone by the sunday match against D.C. United.

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PRE-GAME– For those who hadn’t heard, FC Barcelona was planning to address the Lionel Messi Olympic situation at a press conference today but it was cancelled after the club failed to get a hold of Messi (word is he was sleeping). No word yet on what the club is planning to do. (I’m willing to bet good money that Messi plays in the entire Olympic Games.)

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PRE-GAME– Eto’o, Henry and Hleb vs. Goldthwaite, Parke and Leitch. Are you ready for that match-up?

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PRE-GAME– FC Barcelona lineup

—Hleb——–Eto’o———-Henry—-

————Xavi—–Iniesta————-

——————Keita——————-

Abidal—–Puyol—–Marquez—-Alves

——————Valdes——————

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PRE-GAME- Red Bulls lineup

————–Borman——–Angel—————

———Rojas——————-Stammler————

————Pietravallo——Mendes——————-

VDB——-Goldthwaite——Parke————–Leitch

————————Conway————————-

Newly-signed defender Gabriel Cichero is in uniform but starting out on the bench.

Comments

  1. Pete, I agree that losing badly in an international friendly is certainly not a major lasting issue, especially given that this a bad MLS franchise (organization as well as team) versus a great La Liga side. Obviously the club championships need to be the first priority. Yes, even a miracle result tonight wouldn’t have necessarily “gained respect” although it certainly would’ve made some people stand up and take notice.

    However, the main issue I’m concerned about from this game is that for many soccer fans in this country and around the world THIS is their main recent exposure to MLS and RBNY did not make the league look that good. It was on a major national cable network and drew in many fans who were there to see Barca who rarely watch any game involving an MLS side. In watching Barca thoroughly dismantle and embarrass the Red Bulls it sends the message that a MLS team in mid-season form still can’t even put on a competitive showing against a quality team’s short staffed roster in their preseason. No, most people won’t care or remember this score very long but many of those who flipped through this and saw the level of domination by FCB and haven’t seen other MLS competition WILL be left with the impression that the quality of play in MLS hasn’t grown and improved, which it has VASTLY in just the past few years.

    By the way, with regards to your NBA comparison that might surprise you. Given how Europe with its stronger currencies is starting to go after NBA talent (I read LeBron James and Kobe Bryant might start looking at their options there) I bet more people WILL be watching Italian league or Greek league basketball when they go up against NBA teams in pre-season exhibitions. That’s especially true now that the US no longer has a monopoly in the Olympics or in international competition in general. The sporting world is becoming more and more internationalized and those who can show that they’re keeping up will get noticed and acclaimed no matter where that is. RBNY and MLS shouldn’t just continue to act like they’re just happy to be there.

    Reply
  2. Kpugs et al

    “That was a fun night. Only complaint is all the sellouts cheering for Barcelona. The real Barca fans were joking around with us, just enjoying the night. The sellouts thought they accomplished something by slaughtering us.”

    Why do the soccer zealots continue to make such remarks?

    Just because most of the people in attendance were on hand to see Barca doesn’t make them sell outs. They’re still fans, maybe not RedBulls but that’s they’re personal problem. I’m a Fire fan and the only reason I watched was because of Barca. Hell, RedBulls may have actually gained a few fans and many of those people you’re knocking will probably show up at the New stadium when it’s finally built in the year 2099 or something like it.

    Reply
  3. This game really did feel like a death march rather than a celebration. Something was very different tonight than in 2006. 06 we had exciting players and attacked and defended valiantly. Tonight, I almost felt sorry for the RB’s. Lets get our stadium just play MLS teams for a while, at least till we are a little more prepared for prime time.

    Very depressing as a RB/USA/MLS fan.

    Reply
  4. Ummmm…mmmm the Red Bulls only embarrassed themselves, NOT MLS.

    Now had the Fire played Barcelona and with Ditka (da Coach), the Fire would have won 111-0. With Little Ditka it would have been 110-0.

    ;O)

    Reply
  5. That was a fun night. Only complaint is all the sellouts cheering for Barcelona. The real Barca fans were joking around with us, just enjoying the night. The sellouts thought they accomplished something by slaughtering us.

    Can’t wait for Henry to arrive here.

    Reply
  6. And, by the way, anyone who thinks that performances in friendlies or all-star games enhance or hurt the image of this league are out of their damn mind. It’s a freakin friendly, people, one that not many people overseas care about, and no matter what the results are, those who are following this from abroad are only concerned about how their players performed, and whether they got injured or not.

    This fantasy of gaining respect by winning games against European teams in their offseason has to stop. The only way the league will start to get more respect is when our teams start performing in the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana. FACT.

    If the Celtics went over to Germany and killed a German basketball team in the preseason, how many people would notice? If the Wizards went to Italy and lost to an Italian team, how many people would start taking the Italian league seriously?

    Reply
  7. Henry was wincin on the sidelines. Harkes and stone thought it was injury.

    I know it was because NJ sucked so bad he winced at the thought that he actually wanted to play here one day.

    No wonder Angel wants to leave and Henry is backtracking on his coming to NY statements.

    Reply
  8. “Houston, DC, New England or Chicago instead of LA and NY”

    Nostradamus I agree whole heartedly. The league would rather “showcase” those two teams which in reality is showcasing nothing than put forth their best teams.

    What good is having people tune in to see a crap product.

    Reply
  9. Now, Haig, don’t exagerate, the FIRE will be so classy that they’ll pull their All-stars like Logan Pause, Marko Pappa, and John Thorington out at halftime, and won’t even subsititute anyone in for them, and will only triumph 10021-3.

    And, of course, the third goal will be a purposeful own goal, because they’ll feel bad about embarrassing La Liga like that.

    Reply
  10. “that’s cause the Fire are freakin’ awesome! I can’t wait to see them in the Champions League! They’ll beat Chelsea 5114-1 in the semifinal, and Barca 12149-2 in the final, because they’re freakin’ awesome!”

    -Haig

    Yes and thats fielding a team of 11 mini me Ditkas

    Reply
  11. Aside from baiting Haig into a coronary,

    MLS really shouldnt have scheduled NJ. Sorry, right now they are not very good in MLS much lessgood enough playing Barca.They shoulda played an outside team from Europe, Mex, Arg, Brazil, whatever.

    losing 6-2 does nothing for the leagues credibility.

    The Fire beating the 5th best team in the premiership last yr 2-0 did more to enhance the league.

    Reply
  12. NYRB is an embarrassment. The only reason this game was on ESPN is because they are in “New York” or at least in “New Yorks B*tch” jersey. Thanks for an embarrasing performance on national TV. Why doesnt the league showcase good teams and franchises like Houston, DC, New England or Chicago instead of LA and NY, the two biggest jokes in MLS. At least you will have a stadium in 2020

    Reply
  13. That’s cause the Fire are freakin’ awesome! I can’t wait to see them in the Champions League! They’ll beat Chelsea 5114-1 in the semifinal, and Barca 12149-2 in the final, because they’re freakin’ awesome!

    Reply
  14. Your silly Haig the Fire wouldnt have beat Barca 6-0 more like 1-0.

    Since Barca whooped NJ 6-2 and the Fire kicked the sh!t out of NJ 6-1

    than the diference would be 1 goal with the Fire winning on home field advantage.

    Reply
  15. NJ Red Metros,

    Thanks for embarrassing MLS.

    Luckily there were two consolation goals due to horrible keping.

    Who woulda thunk that Barcas third string Goalie was sorse than any MLS goalie.

    Horrible result, Yea Chivas lost 5-2 but they pulled all thier key players at halftime.

    the Fire beat Everton 2-0 and the Fire pulled ALL of their starters at halftime.

    NJ had Angel, Rojas, Carvallo (?)Cichinho, Leitch, Conway and more starters on the field for the final whistle.

    Cichinho sucked and that Carvallo(?) is nothing but a hack.

    had Messi and the second string goalie played it woulda been barca 10-0.

    Reply
  16. Etoo man of the match, but when coming off the field he saw a fan wearing a Chicago Jersey and soiled himself, because the Fire tied Everton in a friendly and are FREAKIN’ AWESOME.

    Reply
  17. But Bakara Soumare would have made that tackle, then dribbled through the entire Barca team TWICE, and ding the ball in with his ass, because the Fire are freakin’ awesome and tied Everton.

    Reply
  18. The Fire are freakin’ awesome. They would have held the first half to a scoreless draw, then Marmol would have had a hat trick in the second half, except because the Fire are so awesome the goals would have counted DOUBLE and Chicago would have beat Barcelona 6-0.

    Reply
  19. Yeah, but if the FIRE were playing, it would be 6-0 FIRE right now! Cause they shut out Everton…and Chivas sucks. And God. And the Bible.

    Reply
  20. what the hell kind of kick upfield corner league ballgame are we playing here, c’mon have some nuts wussies and entertain the crowd. atleast try for god sakes

    Reply
  21. Sewell is going to take this from Conway, because he keeps his back line up to par, he has yelled at them twice to wake up. I think he is great compared to Conway.

    Reply
  22. Now that conway is out, let’s see how many goals they get, i bet less than in the first half. Now all we need to do it get goldthwaite out and we will have some sort of match tonight.

    Reply
  23. “Fire would lose maybe 4-2 or 3-1. NOT 4 by half.

    They shutout Evrton.”

    Everton? I see you are an expert in the sport, comparing Everton to Barca.

    Anyhow, enough with your fantasyland scorelines.

    Reply
  24. I kinda feel bad for Angel…he has no service… There was a moment where he made a great pass and there was noone on the receiving end of it…..Maybe Altidore could have scored….oh well….nothing can be done about that

    Reply
  25. Wow, at least we’re seeing what world-class soccer looks like. Hard to see any other positives coming out of this, though. They’re making the Red Bulls back line look ridiculous because there’s virtually no counter-attack. This is what happens when you have a team that simply can’t pass or maintain possession on the world-class level. It also shows how RBNY and MLS in general needs to get bigger, stronger, faster and just plain old better athletes as well.

    Reply
  26. we have goldie and leitch in the back vs. barcelona.

    im so glad i didnt go to this. all the euro snobs in the stands would piss me off.

    i just wish MLS had a better club representing it

    Reply
  27. Ok halftime time to see Bojan tear up the Red MEtros backline. My guess they take their foot of the pedal

    I think 6-1

    and haig will make excuses

    Reply
  28. Haig,

    Why do you want a mercy rule? You said its great. Sorry, Chivas is not better than any MLS team or tehy woulda won Superliga. Houston NE and Fire are better than Chivas.

    Fire would lose maybe 4-2 or 3-1. NOT 4 by half.

    They shutout Evrton.

    So screw you and stop making excuses for Red Mertos making a mockery of the league.

    Guess you coulda used Marmol or Conde today huh?

    Reply
  29. Uh, genius, they beat Chivas’ third team. And I don’t hate Chicago, I just think that the jackholes who think that their particular hometown mob of chumps wouldn’t be made to look like the Paraplegic XI against Barca are nucking futs.

    Reply
  30. Haig, we know you hate Chicago, but give it a rest. We’re all very sorry your team is losing and their defense is completely pathetic.

    Oh and by the by, RBNY beat Guadalajara, in a friendly, earlier this summer, remember?

    Reply
  31. I am sorry but whoever said that this team is not playing with heart is right….geez they look like they went out with the happy to be here mentality.

    Hey Red Bulls this is a home game. Play hard, hustle, etc

    Reply

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