The New York Red Bulls are at Home Depot Center tonight to take on the Los Angeles Galaxy in a battle of struggling teams.
The Red Bulls enter the match with just one win, while the Galaxy is still looking for its first win of the season. Three points is crucial for both teams, with a draw not likely to easy early-season fears.
I will be providing commentary throughout the match so please feel free to follow the match here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions on the match in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action.
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FINAL– That's all for tonight. Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. Good night.
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FINAL– Eight matches, five points, five shutouts against, last place in the East. FC Dallas has fewer points but it's hard to not call the Red Bulls the worst team in the league right now.
LA will look to build on this win, but I just don't see a team that will win many games this year, Beckham or not.
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FINAL- Galaxy 1, Red Bulls 0. The Galaxy still look like a bad team. The Red Bulls look worse.
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93rd minute– Rojas helps break up a breakaway. One minute left.
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91st minute– Red Bulls with a corner and it's caught by Ricketts easily. The corner comes after Wolyniec had an appeal for a penalty waived off.
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90th minute– Angel is whistled offside. This one looks like a lost cause for the Red Bulls.
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88th minute– Red Bulls long free kick. And Berhalter wins the header. Another wasted chance.
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86th minute– Can't the Red Bulls string some passes together in central midfield? Nope.
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84th minute– Jovan Kirovski comes on for Edson Buddle. Why is it that watching the Galaxy makes you think you're watching the Seniors Tour?
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83rd minute– Galaxy with a dangerous sequence. Conway has to swat a ball away.
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82nd minute– Anyone else think Donovan Ricketts looks like Quentin "Rampage" Jackson?
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81st minute– LA applying some pressure here and the Red Bulls haven't shown much attack lately.
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79th minute– Will we see the Thriller Dance tonight? Wolyniec did score on Wednesday. He could make it happen.
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78th minute– I haven't seen a thing tonight to make me believe that Carlos Johnson is better than Jeremy Hall.
Kandji with a nice pass but Angel misses it.
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76th minute– Carlos Johnson just got a yellow card for a foul on Todd Dunivant. Not sure if it's a yellow. When Johnson saw the card he said, "I didn't know they came in that color."
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74th minute– Bryan Jordan coming on for Chris Klein.
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71st minute– Looks like Rojas has been deployed on the left flank, so it's a 4-4-2 instead of a 3-5-2.
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70th minute– Conway off his line to clear a dangerous ball away.
The Red Bulls HAVE GOT TO get the ball to Kandji in space so he can run at Berhalter and Gonzalez.
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69th minute– Seth Stammler will have the task of shadowing Landon Donovan.
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68th minute– Red Bulls fans can say it together, "Kandji should have STARTED at forward."
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67th minute– Not a position-for-position switch. You will see Kandji move up top and Borman move to left wing.
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66th minute– Borman comes on for Pacheco, who had another weak game. Goldthwaite should move to left back in a 3-5-2.
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65th minute– Angel wtih a dangerous ball to the front of goal, but then he realized the Red Bulls are playing a 4-5-1 so there wasn't going to be anybody there.
Red Bulls pressing.
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64th minute– Carlos Johnson hasn't shown me much of anything tonight. Apparently the most exciting aspect of his game is his ability to draw red cards.
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63rd minute– When Kandji is dribbling 100 yards from goal something is wrong.
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62nd minute– Celades showing some class already with some nice moves and touches, which are only magnified more by the stagnant look of the rest of the Red Bulls attack.
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61st minute– Berhalter just had a tooth knocked out by Angel. He showed it to him, Angel said "so?" Classic.
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59th minute– Will we see Borman for Mendes? Maybe not yet, but if there isn't an equalizer by the 75th minute Osorio will have to think about it.
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58th minute– Celades comes in for Ubiparipovic, who delivered another weak performance.
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57th minute– Albert Celades is coming into the match. (Hallelujah can be heard from Nevada Smith's)
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56th minute– Someone asked if this game is worse than the Houston 0-0 tie a few weeks back. It's actually not, but only because LA has created a bit more than the Dynamo did that night.
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54th minute– Kandji with another terrible cross attempt. He's just not comfortable on the flank. It should also be noted that he's matched up with Sean Franklin, LA's best defender.
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53rd minute– Donovan wastes a great chance set up by Sean Franklin.
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53rd minute– When Angel is dropping to the midfield stripe to get the ball there's something wrong.
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52nd minute– Has anybody seen Sinisa Ubiparipovic? Oh, there he is, losing the ball.
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48th minute– The Galaxy come out with much more energy after halftime. The Red Bulls are sleepwalking.
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46th minute– And we're back. No subs.
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HALFTIME– So what about the Galaxy? They have tried to string passes together but I see an old team that is just a step slow. Donovan is a great catalyst, but relying on a midfield of Lewis-Kovalenko-Klein is tough. Has anybody seen Edson Buddle tonight? I heard he was playing. The back-line has been steady, but that has been due partly to the Red Bulls midfield creating zero good chances for Juan Pablo Angel.
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HALFTIME– Galaxy 1, Red Bulls 0.
So what's going on with the Red Bulls? Kandji and Richards just aren't getting it done and I think this might be the match that finally tells Osorio he needs to give up on the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3. Kandji and Richards just aren't getting it done on the flanks. I see the desire for two holding midfielders when on the road, but who in LA's central midfield are you worried about? Kovalenko? Tudela?
Osorio should replace Ubiparipovic and Mendes with Borman and Celades. Yes, Celades is on the bench and this game is crying out for his creativity.
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46th minute– just one minute of stoppage. THANKFULLY.
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45th minute– Red Bulls attack just isn't stringing things together. Osorio needs to strongly consider switching to a 3-5-2 at halftime. A move to a 4-4-2 would help as well, with Borman coming on for Ubiparipovic and Kandji moving up top.
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43rd minute– Red Bulls with a free kick on the right flank.
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40th minute– Was the PK call a far one? It's a fair call because Stammler had his right arm raised. He's got to know that he must keep his arms down in the area.
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39th minute- GOAL GALAXY!!! Donovan slots it into the low right corner and the Galaxy lead. That was the only way a goal was going to happen in this half. Conway's way too slow even though he guessed right. Perfectly-placed penalty.
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39th minute- PENALTY!! Donovan hits a shot and it hits Stammler in the arm. LA gets a PK.
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36th minute– Trying to decide what level of youth soccer this game reminds me of. U-12?, U-9?
Rojas with a chance and nearly catches Ricketts off his line, but the chip goes wide.
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33rd minute– This match is the front-runner for Worst MLS Match of the Day.
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31st minute– SAVE CONWAY. Not the best shot from Klein, but a great pass from Kovalenko to set him up.
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29th minute– Here is the Red Bulls bench, for those wondering: Cepero, Borman, Celades, Petke, Wolyniec, Smith, Sassano.
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28th minute– Okay folks, this game has gotten really flat. Switch your drinks to coffee before we all fall asleep.
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26th minute– Game has gone a bit flat.
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23rd minute– Ricketts with a diving save on a Goldthwaite shot. Great corner kick from Rojas.
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22nd minute– Red Bulls corner goes out of bounds, another Red Bulls corner now.
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20th minute– The Red Bulls are looking a bit wobbly in the back these past few minutes.
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18th minute– Ubiparipovic looks for a through-pass to Kandji that is picked off and leads to an LA counter attack. LA with a corner now.
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16th minute– The kick goes out of bounds but LA had a few players running wide open in the area. The Red Bulls need to do a better job of marking on set pieces. Wasn't that a problem vs. LA last year?
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15th minute– LA with a dangerous free kick after Stammler took out Kovalenko with a crunching challenge.
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14th minute– Pacheco with a decent look at goal but Ricketts handles the shot easily.
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14th minute– Yes, Johnson is wearing red shoes. he's really asking for it.
In all seriousness though, Johnson deserves credit for having a sense of humor. He autographed a red card for a fan after last week's DC match.
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13th minute– The morning line on a Carlos Johnson red card: 3/1. Betting windows are closed.
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12th minute– The free kick hit Dema Kovalenko in the face. I know, what else would you expect?
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10th minute– Red Bulls free kick after Berhalter takes down Richards. Rojas danger zone, but it hits the wall and goes out.
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9th minute– Interesting to see Todd Dunivant starting at left back for the Galaxy. I remember Bruce Arena once telling me he thought Dunivant was one of the top 12 left backs in MLS (there were 12 teams in the league at the time.)
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8th minute– Let's start with a few drinking games. Dema Kovalenko fouls, Bruce Arena waiving his arms at the referee and Juan Carlos Osorio writing notes in his notepad. All three mean drinks for everybody.
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7th minute– In fact, this is as close to the Red Bulls' first-choice starting XI as they've fielded all season. The only projected starter missing right now is Albert Celades, who would start over Sinisa Ubiparipovic if he were healthy.
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6th minute– It should be noted that this is the first time all season Osorio has had what he considers his first-choice back-line of Pacheco-Goldthwaite-Mendes-Johnson starting together.
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5th minute– Red Bulls fans wondering about the lineup and formation should know that Juan Carlos Osorio considers this group more of a 4-3-3 than a 4-5-1. We'll see how far forward Kandji and Richards get.
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3rd minute– Here is the Galaxy's lineup:
————-Donovan——–Buddle————–
Lewis—————-Kovalenko————Klein
————————Tudela——————–
Dunivant—–Berhalter—-Gonzalez—–Franklin
———————–Ricketts———————
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2nd minute– We are under way.
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PRE-GAME– Here is the Red Bulls lineup:
——————–Angel—————-
—-Kandji———————Richards
———————-Rojas—————
————Stammler—-Ubiparipovic-
Pacheco–Goldthwaite–Mendes-Johnson
———————Conway—————-
My question is when. As in WHEN will the Mgmt of RBNY fire JCO? WHEN??
sean you won’t hear me disagree with you, i said your team has a lot of players that play like rocks, bu that doesn’t mean that my team doesn’t have the very same thing, congrats on the win, at least one of thes crappy teams is on the up.
oh my bad guys I forgot hall, i kind of rushed that list.
Osorio has a losing record since joining the team. What else needs to be said?
I’ve always said it’s the players. But man is Osorio an idiot.
galaxy is not a bad team ives. there is a reason why they only have one loss and fight their way back when they r losing. unlike the red bulls…..
Watch Red Bull management punish us further by bringing in Lothar Mattheus once they fire JCO! I know they fired him in Salburg, but at least he did win a championship there so they may feel guilty! He’s leaving Maccabi Netanya at the end of the month.
If that happens, I’ll officially become a fan of the new Philly team.
Lou I got my wish, as I said we would beat you…. all you redbulls fans…..SHHHHH
I have to admit up front that I have not bothered to sit and watch two full hours of any match so far this season except for the Seattle opener, but from what I have seen these matches make the ’99 Bora team look good. Maybe we should just skip every season that ends in a “9”.
Lou @ 9:58
No Hall??
Rojas has the touch of a baby elephant, he is supposed to be this creative technical player but he pushes the ball out in front of him 20 feet and loses it, goldy doesn’t suck what games have you been watching kevin, he occasionially made some mistakes but he is our most solid mid fielder, kandji is young and talented and should be kept he would have more REAL goals if he played up top more, Stammler is a rock in midfield and played extremely well so why would we get rid of him, celadas looked great, pacheco was good
If we had to choose players to keep i would choose
Angel
Kandji
Mendes
Pacheco
Goldy
Borman
Ubi
Stammler
Celadas
That’s about it i think, sad huh.
Hey guys, as I have in written in for the past several years I must say that whether it is Osorio, Arena, Williams or whoever we had for the last several years we will never win with these players that we have or have had in the past! Besides Angel to me everyone SUCKS and would not start on any other team. I like Kandji but does he have any real goals? It is nice to dribble and show skill but we NEED players that can control the midfield and shoot and score and pressure the other team. No coach can win with this group or the previous group of players that we have or have had. We need strong attacking midfielders and not sit back and play defense and hope to win by a goal. Look at Toronto, DC, Seattle. Lets get a couple of good midfielders for JPA and a new goalie and see what happens. DVB we needed despartely, amado we gave to Toronto and look at them. Look at Seattle and how well they are playing. I suggested Aleco Eskandarian to team up with JPA and a midfielder scorer like D. Rosario now with Toronto. Come on now Hahah! Seth Stammler- no scoring ability, Dane Richards- college player at best, he cannot beat anyone and cross the ball in the penalty area, Sinsa and Sassano no offensive skills. Who is going to deliver quality balls in order to score and play with other quality teams? Conway is out of place and showed against DC he is the worst goaie in the league. We need a total revamp of out lineup or we will NEVER be good. It is about scoring and not playing PREVENT DEFENSE which no previous coach has done on the team for years. Pressure the ball and force the other team into turnovers and score two or three goals and knock them out early like we should have against LA and others. We lose heartbreaking stupid games because of stupid minded players that lack concentration. A coach can design a play but the players have to execute. I die hard RB fan who watches and attends everygame lets get players like Montero wit Seattle and wow look who they have in goal K. Keller who leads the team from the backline not some scrub like Conway. I like what KPUGS writes and feel your pain guys but it is not only the coach. Our teams have ALWAYS sucked. Look at ARENA-traded Marvell Wynne and Todd Dunnivant for Kevin GOLDY who flat out sucks! Lets build a nucleus and get a strong midfield. Rojas has shown some signs and has been hustling but cannot do it alone, Richards has disappointed me alot and should have at least five goals by now. Hopefully we can turn next week around!
Tinker, Tinker, Tinker …….oh my, I’m soooo bored! I don’t even know if I’d go to Red Bull Arena to watch this team.
1. I think Haig is absolutely right with his pithy line about this team being “overcoached.” JCO is smart but probably “too smart” for his own good as a coach. He’s not willing to let guys develop roles, learn to play together and stick with it. Interesting that the only time he did that, the RedBulls made a run and went pretty darn far deep into the playoffs as I recall.
2. If there was any team and situation in the league this year that called for RBNY’s speed lineup, this was it. But matching up Kandji against LAG’s fastest defensive player (Franklin) was effectively neutralizing Kandji. This would have been the game to put Kandji in the middle so guys like Kovalenko, Berhalter, Gonzalez would have had to deal with that speed (and than a Mbuta, Hall–as a midfielder, or Oduro to also see some minutes). As for Richards–good idea but he’s clearly having a stinker of a season isn’t he–not much to write home about.
Finally, I’ves I loved your line about Johnson being stunned cards came in any color besides red.
Asleep at the wheel here,…Red Bull should do JPA and MLS a favor and trade the guy to a team that is a forward away from challenging for MLS Cup. He is completely wasting his time with the bunch of hacks.
What does it matter? The Red Bulls are crap,…the trip to MLS Cup last season was a total fluke (and would have been an embarassment to the league!).
Fire Osorio? So what. You still have this crap team,…a total crap front office.
Two notes:
I wonder if Osorio is getting a piece of contracts for the signed players. I know nothing but then again, this is the oldest trick in the book and often explains why a guy with two left feet is on a team.
The trip the MLS Cup last year was a total fluke and could have been a disaster for the league had Red Bull won. If obviously gave JCO the notion that this team was a couple of players away from winning. As if!
yes, please play hardball with the FO, ives. all due respect, but you kinda owe us for hyping the crap outta JCO 😉
and the sooner he’s gone the better. say somebody new is brought in during may, it’ll take probably til july if not longer to get the new guy and the team on the same page. now if this new guy can have a good to great 2nd half of the season and we string together a few wins, we might be able to finish with a respectable 30-35 points. we probably won’t make the playoffs with that, but it’s still respectable and can leave us with hope for the next season.
OSORIO TIME TO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
FUERA OSORIO………….
Ives, please start asking some hard questions of the RBNY front office. This clown has to go.
im so looking forward to that first overall draft pick
Yeah, Makalele at PSG. He’s pretty much done in professional soccer, and I think he could retire this summer (especially with a coaching offer).
The guy just understands the game like very few people do. I’m pretty confident he could end up being a great coach if he were given a shot. There’s no doubt he knows the game better than Osorio.
Hey Tony, we get to figure it out definitively on Friday! Can’t wait to watch that one.
Hey, I just noticed, the Red and Black are back on top of the conference table, and the Red Bulls are back at the bottom. The economy is in the tank, our wars aren’t going well and we may all die of swine flu, but it’s nice to have some things be right in the world.
Personally, I don’t see how anyone beats the Quakes for the title of worst team in the league…
kpugs, I’m with you. Now, Osorio’s leash is getting shorter, and he’s going to have to show he can learn from some of his mistakes (I know some think there’s no chance of that). I just don’t see the benefits of firing him at this time. I don’t see another coach coming in here and turning things around, and he knows this flawed roster better than anyone, so I’m willing to give him a bit more time to see if he can make things work with the players he brought in. As Ives pointed out, this is the closest the Red Bulls have had to a full team so far this year. But these players he’s brought together have to start showing they can play together consistently, or else he’ll have to be accountable for bringing them in.
Kpugs, when a coach has lost his players, the coach gets fired because you can’t fire players. I really do not want Osorio fired either, but with the season almost a third over, the team hasn’t shown that they’re competitive against the league’s worst. Glad we got to a final, but we are far, far from that level now, and Osorio has HIS players. He needs to go, sorry to say.
ubi played decently i wouldn’t say it was a big mistake, but he played way to far back he is an attacking mid not a d mid so he was pushing up constantly and being caught out of position. So yeah yet another player being played out of position. Kpugs this team didn’t just play in the MLS cup final, they did that last year and with mostly luck, and any wins they got during that playoff run were due to the players hustle not osorio.
Too early to fire osorio.
But it’s getting close.
– using players that JUST played on weds? Wasn’t the whole idea of “two deep at every position” to avoid this? Johnson, Ubi starting was a big mistake.
– all together now: “KANDJI IS NOT A WINGER!
– Richards has been crap. Bench him to light a fire under him.
This Guy, ever harken back to the whine-fest Fire fans put on even after they were compensated for Osorio?
Personally I am not about to jump on the “fire him” bandwagon but his flaws are clear. I’m curious to know whether Fire fans regret their temper tantrums at this point.
I can’t defend Osorio’s mistakes, but as a fan I don’t want him fired. This team just played in an MLS cup final and have shown that when the team plays with Kandji & Angel up top they can still be dangerous. I think he can turn it around, and blame the players as much as the manager.
That D.C. game was NOT poorly managed by Osorio. Simply put, this team just sucks right now, and to fire Osorio because of it is just playing the blame game, the biggest clichè in pro sports.
jurgen clinnsmen anyone?
you can build a new stadium around a turd but you still have to watch that turd week in and week out. This team needs an overhaul of some sort i’m tired of a few people denying that fact. Osorio plays players out of position on purpose even though he knows they play better else were, we need to bring in some electric players in the summer *cough cristian castillo cough*.
I’m not ready to fire Osorio, but it’s starting to look like it may become a possibility. It’s too early to give up on this season and not yet time to start worrying about next season. But this is yet another game that he should learn from. If we see the fake 4-3-3 with Kandji on the wing again, and if Mbuta doesn’t start getting more time on the right, I’ll start calling for Osorio’s head too.
We’re absolutely horrendous. I haven’t seen a game like this in a long time where we can’t string two passes together. How long will it take Osorio to understand that Kandji is NOT a winger, and that his true advantage lies in his ability to run at defenders from striker? I like the fact that Khano “I’m a complete joke and should be sitting on a beach sipping a daiquiri while unemployed” was finally dropped, but the fact that we can’t put a goddamn goal in against the Gals makes me want to throw up on myself. They’re a horrendous team, I guess we’re just even worse. Here’s to hoping 2010 will be any better, because I’ve given up on this season.
Wait did someone say Makélélé should be hired as RBNY manager? As in Claude Makélélé? Who is currently employed as a professional midfielder at PSG?
I’m not trying to be mean, I’ve just never heard of another Makélélé, and I fully admit I could have jumped to an incorrect conclusion.
RBNY fans,
I feel for you. That is the first full match I watched this season and it was very painful for me and I’m a Fire supporter. I think the only hope is a skipper change.
After the DCU debacle, I was angry. After this disgrace, I’m embarrassed. LA hadn’t won a friggin’ game, but of course they found a way to outclass NYRB. Did we have any real scoring chances? What a joke.
Yay RBNY! Woohoo! Not too many teams can accumulate 5 losses this quickly, way to go boys!
i know what you mean messiah, i wanted to walk out of the room a few times becuase we played so ugly and so stagnant.
When Eurosnobs come up to you and say MLS is rubbish, most of us argue with them. Then they’ll say, “Didn’t you watch that New York/LA match? That was an insult to pub teams. Aren’t they supposed to be big clubs?” And we’ll have nothing to say back to them.
Osario needs to go. These are his guys that are stinking it up and his bizarro tactics are not helping. There are better coaches available.
It’s starting to be difficult to justify spending two hours of my life watching these matches.
Maybe one of these weeks Osorio can start with all the players on the pitch in their actual positions.
I watch nearly every game. NY is consistently the worst team in the league. Time for accountability. Osorio has to go.
Ricketts does look like Rampage Jackson, good call.
I think it’s time to fire Osorio.
YAY! Dane “I always get stripped” Richards is off!
Woly for Richards… hm, I like it
Celades has been a nice steadying influence, but this game doesn’t need steadying. There’s no energy in this game.
I don’t like Conway’s hair.
celedes has looked decent..with the team mates he has.
Well, it may not be particularly exciting at the moment, but there’s no doubt that the Red Bulls have been controlling the flow of the game for the last 10-15 minutes. Now, as far as creating chances goes…