The New York Red Bulls acquired Dominic Oduro from FC Dallas with the hope of finding a speedy goal-scoring complement to Juan Pablo Angel.
That didn't quite work out.
The Red Bulls traded Oduro to Houston on Wednesday, sending the Ghanaian striker to the Dynamo for a first-round pick in 2010 and second-round pick in 2011.
Oduro played in three games for the Red Bulls, including one start, and failed to score. He also started in the team's U.S. Open Cup play-in loss to D.C. United last week and looked hopeless up top.
The move frees up a roster spot for the Red Bulls, who are considering signing either midfielder Dilly Duka or forward Johnny Exantus, a pair of Red Bull Academy products.
In other Red Bulls news, the club waived goalkeeper Terry Boss. The move had been expected for weeks, but the Red Bulls couldn't cut him until he was fully recovered from knee surgery. His departure does NOT free up a roster spot because he was on injured reserve.
What's my take on the deal? Oduro had looked awful since arriving from Dallas, as evidenced by his falling to fourth on the forward depth chart. The fact that the Red Bulls actually got two high draft picks out of it is pretty amazing, but Houston has a history of not rating the MLS draft too highly.
So does this trade officially make the Dave Dan Den Bergh trade a bust? It sure looks like it, although the trade did land the Red Bulls Jeremy Hall AND Van Den Bergh hasn't exactly lit it up with FC Dallas (Not that anybody has).
What do you think of the deal? Surprised the Red Bulls got so much for Oduro? Think the Red Bulls should have kept him? Were you convinced he would never score a goal for the Red Bulls?
Share your thoughts below.
This is a horrible trade.
Good move for Houston and NYRB. Houston needs another striker. NY got value for him.
let me get this straight…
Osorio couldn’t get Oduro to score-o so he goes to the Dynamo,
A Goose fires the Boss,
Our D.P – J.P.A. is M.I.A.,
and most painful of all –
our Johnson is injured.
and I thought it was a circus when Lalas was here!
good moves. smith is next out — please!!!
considering van den bergh wanted to be in dallas for his sick son and to be with family i dont consider this a bust. JCO did the right thing ,oduro was the buster not the baller.
Curious to see if the Redbulls go for Ricketts who has fallen out of favor at TFC. hes definitely being shopped around.
“So they gave away another player to draft guys they either won’t sign or will trade for peanuts and watch from afar as they become solid players almost immediately.”
NY draft history has been up and down, surely, but you have to include guys like Jozy, M. Bradley, Jeff Parke, Gaven and others in there that worked out pretty well- at least for a while (some moved due to youth, but, that’s not NY’s fault). Even the vaunted DC front office drafts a Justin Moose now and again.
Houston wins without a lot of draft usage, cool for them. For NY, Oduro was never going to do much. Getting 2 picks for him was a steal. And, if you want to talk about 2 picks for VdB, remember we took a 3rd round supplemental from KC and turned that into VdB which we turned into Jeremy Hall and 2 high(ish) picks. That’s pretty good in these parts.
“Wow, a 1st round pick for that sack of garbage? Dallas are officially the rubes of the MLS. I wonder what they’d give us for Pietravallo….Kenny Cooper?
Posted by: dave | May 27, 2009 at 05:38 PM”
You do know that he was traded to Houston, not Dallas right?
I think the questions that needs to be answered is: How could Oduro do so well in Dallas and failed so miserably with RBNY? Something is missing somewhere. A player does not drop off so quickly, unless this is a systemic problem with RBNY’s system or sytle. I think Oduro’s style of play while good in Dallas and the Western conference, did not mesh with RBNY and the Eastern Conference. Considering RBNY’s present form, maybe it is the a little bit of the system too.
RedBulls effectively got a high 2nd round pick and a middle round 3rd round pick (assuming Houston continues to do well). That’s because you add an expansion team this year and two the next (which moves those picks back). I don’t think Oduro is a terrible player–he’s going to a veteran team that has a good system but lacks speed (other than the outside mid players) and he (Oduro) won’t be counted on to provide service or create. Additionally, Houston has a tremendous record when trading for someone with a couple of years of MLS experience, especially players in their own Conference whom they’ve seen a lot of. So if I’m RBNY, I”m not so sure this is “good riddance.” That said, Oduro isn’t much of a player and basically Houston has given up picks for a role player.
I’m a bit surprised that RBNY got so much but I suspect this is a case where maybe another team was willing to offer something and Houston didn’t want to wait–they’re convinced that Oduro can be a good role-player for them (not a starter but probably their 14th or 15th guy).
Oduro will shine in Houston, it’s the red bulls that mess up players and make them look bad. Like always no matter who comes to RB, they become horrible players it’s a curse. I’m glad for you Dominic!!
Two First Rounders? Wow.
Not bad for a guy who’s played so poorly and only accomplished so much in Dallas.
I dont think it says anything about Akinbiyi, except that the guys is old and has likely never played a game in 90 degree heat with extreme humitidy, I doubt he will often come close to playing a full 90, oduro will be a perfect sub. We can bring in speed after a guy of Ade’s size has worn out the defense a bit.
Anyone with Oduro’s speed is always going to have some sort of trade value.
He’s been around too long to still be that raw though, Kinnear has his work cut out. There’s no way they couldn’t get a better player, and possibly as equally develped from the 1st round….but that’s 6 months away and they’re about to lose Ching for most of the summer.
Bigger question – what does it say about Akinbiyi?
From what we have seen the red bulls got a lot for him. But has he had enough of chance? Osorio keeps rotating players like he’s some kind of tactical wiz mixing and matching to better the competition. The problem is he never gets it right, we don’t have the depth to do that (we are not Man U), and our top 11 never get comfortable playing with each other because they play together long enough. Settle on the top 11, Juan. The show them you believe in them. Make the rest fight it out for the bench. Until he shows the leadership neccesary that instills faith in the payers that he knows who his top players are – they will never believe in themselves.
Whoa. Good trade for RB!
watch Oduro light it up now with Houston now that Metro has let him go. whatevs, bring in Duka or Exantus, i’m good with it. set Khano’s lazy butt free next please and thank you!
The Dom knpows what he’s doing. Best coach in the league, by far. Welcome to Houston, you banner will be waiting.
I don’t know, how about trading for someone that can help us now instead of hopes and dreams? One thing is for sure with this move, we’re signing one of the kids for sure.
Is the draft in NY this year or next year? It should help to have extra choices.
The Giants and RBNY seem to have a lot in common. Will these picks be a Phil Simms or an LT?
Draft picks are a crap shoot, but to get two high draft picks for a player who has shown nothing is a good deal. I’m sure Oduro will end up playing better soccer with Houston if given the chance, but he wasn’t going to provide any help to the Red Bulls at all.
Lets just hope that whoever the Red Bulls draft with these picks they can actually sign…
@coffee +1
Wow, a 1st round pick for that sack of garbage? Dallas are officially the rubes of the MLS. I wonder what they’d give us for Pietravallo….Kenny Cooper?
High draft picks are fools gold. In Dom We Trust. Why do people still trade with Houston? Ngwenya/Jaqua/Boswell/Mulrooney/Kamara aren’t evidence enough?
Wow! A trade where NY comes out on top?
Interesting to see how different the opinions on this trade are. My reaction was confusion as to why Houston would give up a first round pick for this guy. I think this is a good trade for NYRB. Even if it was a decent trade for Houston I think the last area they needed help with is the midfield. They have multiple players on the bench who are better than Oduro. I certainly can’t see Oduro as a forward. Then again Houston traded for Kamara and somehow made him seem at least a little useful.
Bubba…..thats because they don’t have Kinnear as a coach. He has a history of taking declining players and turning them into players that work well with our system. It will be interesting to see how DOM can incorporate him into our style of possession soccor.
The H sure gave up a lot for a dude that has barely seen in any action. I understand that we needed depth but a first round draft pick one year and a second round draft pick the year after that is ridiculous… This guy wasn’t even that good in Dallas.
I’m hoping this leads up to the signing of a second DP …. Red Bull more or less admitted they were considering it and god knows we need it!
He doesn’t suck at all, heh. Used in a proper role, he’s an amazing speed boost to the game.
they should have thrown khano smith in with the deal and gotten a third round pick in 2017.
@LittleRockAnt… I thought the same thing about Oduro when we got him from Dallas.. you will soon see he sucks…
MetroStone – ah i forgot you got Hall with the pick originally… dang, now my fun poking has turned utterly pointless 🙁
Finally a decent move for us. woly is better than oduro anyways. woly is better than ronaldo. woly is easily the best player ever in soccer
Jeremy Hall for DVB, sounds good to me – not and even trade, but close enough – now lets get a chance to see Hall in DVB’s position
letting Oduro go was great – don’t give a rat’s ass what we got for him, I would have been happy with just cutting him altogether to open up a roster spot
now sign Exantus, move Johnson to IR and sign Duka – 6-8 weeks from now they can decide who to cut when Johnson is back
Good move by RBNY. Hopefully this means they are going to sign Duka. Or did Osario find another gem in South America?
When i first saw the headlin i was like no way, after reading it i feel happy and hopeful! VIVA LA RED BULL
so in the end, you got something like 1 first round D.pick and a 2nd round D.Pick for DVB??? ouch
Wait, it’s not April 1st.
You need to save this stuff for the proper date (though I know the next April 1st is almost a year away).
DUKAAAAAA!!! DUKAAA. get that boy a contract!!
No Matt, Boss’ cut doesn’t open a roster spot.
They got alot for him…Good for NY…Now that I live in HTown I’m a Dynamo fan and WE needed another forward. Oduro isn’t a bad player, he just didn’t get much of a run out in NY. He’s a bit limited but can be a good piece. Go Go Dynamo!
Gotta love my Red Bulls. So they gave away another player to draft guys they either won’t sign or will trade for peanuts and watch from afar as they become solid players almost immediately.
Well done again boys, you really know how to keep the fans coming back for more punishment.
Oops, just one I guess. Thanks Ives.
wow. highway robbery if you ask me.
Draft Kicks 😉
They also cut Terry Boss, so there are now two open roster spots.