If you make your way to Red Bull Arena for today's New York-FC Dallas, you're likely to find it much, much quieter than usual.
The Red Bulls upset many of their fans for their recent treatment of the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals (sending a complete reserve team and not even flying in first-team coaches in an eventual 4-0 loss to the Chicago Fire) and now New York Supporters Groups are ready to let the club know just how upset they are by staging a protest at tonight's match.
The protest is thoroughly justified given the team's embarrassing decision to essentially give up in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals by sending a full reserve team, and flying that short-handed team into Chicago on the day of the match. The Red Bulls were one of seven MLS teams still alive in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, but were the only team not to field a team with more starters than substitutes. In fact, New York didn't field a single player who could be called a regular starter.
That decision was a terrible one, and one made more embarrassing by the fact that a handful of Red Bulls fans actually made the trip from the New York area to Chicago for the match.
What do you think of the decision by New York's Supporters Groups? Think their anger is justified? See the team issuing a formal apology?
Share your thoughts below.
The supporters groups have been there every step of the way and with this organization’s history, they certainly deserve more. I totally support their actions. Best of luck!
I’ll be at the game tonight and am delighted that we are protesting. It was a mockery of the Open Cup and disrespectful to fans who paid to see the game. It is not like the Red Bulls have a case full of trophies. “You Play To Win the Game!!!”
LOL
Just a little farther north, there.
For those saying that this is a stupid thing to protest over, you need to look at the wider picture. This protest is not so much about the Open Cup as it is about a management that is more interested in growing the Red Bull brand and making money than winning soccer games. They have made many questionable decisions over the past season. Some examples:
1. Fired longtime assistant coach Richie Williams and goalkeeping coach Des McAleenan right before the beginning of the season, claiming they behaved improperly. These coaches know more about MLS than this entire organization combined. They have not been heard from since.
2. The DeRosario trade: traded two promising young players in Danleigh Borman and Tony Tchani plus a first round draft pick. A couple months later, DeRo is gone and all we have is Dax McCarty
3. Red Bull announced they had a new trialist who was from Germany and had been having a great career. He turned out to be a Formula One race car champ who drives for Red Bull. It was nothing more than a publicity stunt
4. The US Open Cup game
This protest is more than justified. It is a sad day when the fans are more committed than the management.
No respect for the open cup, especially since they were playing a team with one league victory this season. They might have put a beating on chicago and helped get them over the hump.
The protest is deserved. Heck with the way they have played maybe they should protest their league play too. They could all kiss their sister at kickoff.
But is it really a disrespect to the tournament if the reserves have been used all throughout this tournament up to this round?
Just because the US Open Cup is the oldest doesnt mean its worth anything to mls teams. Its a competition that draws about 2k at RBA, its not on tv, the schedule conflicts with the league schedule.
What percentage of mls fans can name the last 5 winners without looking on the internet?
This protest would have more weight if the first team wasn’t getting clobbered on the road so often. Whose to say the result would have been different? Besides, how many people show up at the Arena for home US Open cup games? Until more than a few hundred fans in the biggest market in the country take the US Open cup seriously, why should management? MLS Cup is far and away the priority.
Maybe you should know what you’re talking about before you post. The supporters sections are full and loud for USOC games. It’s the rest of the stadium that’s empty.
This is the point. Rest some starters? Fine. Fielding a team entirely of reserves (and not even sending the senior coaches to the game) in order to keep them fresh for two meaningless in-season friendlies in England? Completely unacceptable.
Mls needs to change!
To be fair, I think they didn’t charge for admission because they moved the time of the game forward by two hours the day of the game (could’ve been the night before, though. I can’t remember).
My point is they need to communicate with management. Threatening not to renew season tickets is one of their ideas. I did word it poorly but do believe that threatening the team’s bottom line is unfortunately a great way to get noticed.
I was at the FCNY game, BTW.
If the MLS is relying on friendlies to stay solvent then the league probably isn’t going to survive long. Its best to build the league up through meaningful competitions not gimmicks like play Man U every year how long will that be interesting?
What? All 6 or 7 of them? I think Shane was talking about how few people showed up for RBNY’s open cup games they played at home. Although, I bet the supporters groups did show up for those games while the rest of the stadium was probably very empty.
The recent blow out against the Rapids says otherwise.
You can’t merge the MLS cup and open cup one is a league cup the other is the national cup.
The supporters shield winner already gets a CCL spot its definitely already worth something.
stupid profits, arggh. I wish they MLS teams would just put themselves in terrible finical situations…
The US did send a scrub team. When Justin Mapp and Brad Guzan were starting, that is a scrub team.
The bad US team sent to Copa America was one of the worst decision US Soccer has ever made.
RedBull supporters had a very strong showing in Chicago, please try again
(im not a RB fan)
poor RedBull supporters, their FO never brings in big name or talented players. Must really be hard to support them.
oh wait
+1
Did you know that the open cup game in Chicago was so poorly promoted that the Fire were not charging admission? Also, a storm had knocked out power at Toyota Park. It was a recipe for disaster from the beginning.
My fear is that after the New England protest (justifiable), now the Red Bull (not quite sure yet if I find this one justifiable), supporter groups will start protesting everything that comes up that they disagree with. I think that a protest like New England’s should be reserved for MAJOR disputes and slights by the club. If everyone starts protesting things, the protests will become devalued and not hold power that they should
Wow. You are clueless. You DO NOT send a scrub team to Copa America! Why even bother playing any matches? Just play every four years in the world cup. The U.S. lost a valuable invite with that snub.
More and more, MLS supporter are embracing the US Open Cup. Here in Portland, our supporters were furious when John Spencer trotted out a reserve team for our USOC match with San Jose. Even more upset when he didn’t make a sub. I definitely support the Red Bull supporters in their protest and I would hope that the front office would offer to reimburse the supporters who made the trip to Chicago.
The only effective protest is when it undermines profit. Not going to the game is one way. If you must go to the games, then don’t buy concessions especially beer. Perhaps the most dangerous is avoid buying products from companies that sponsor the team. Shouts and chants are mildly annoying, but targeting profits will be much more effective.
The supporters groups shouldn’t be protesting when a lot of them didn’t even show up for the Open Cup games. If they didn’t care enough then, why do they care now? Why are they protesting when the front office pretty much mimicked their level of caring?
So they should always support the team but they should not buy season tickets next year? Interesting.
Hans Backe may be a good tactician or whatever but he clearly does not have that American winning temperament that I think is pretty important in a coach. Last week he said the Supporters Sheild is out of reach. Really it’s still July. Do you think Jason Kries or Bruce Arena would ever say that until it were mathematically impossible? He also declared the MLS cup out of reach last year when they had already cliched a playoff spot. Guy is a loser, he is the Red Bulls weak link right now.
Backe tror du vet inte var sverige ligger.
NYRB management is having a bad patch to put it mildly. They have made some really poor choices recently, from trades, game day selections, to the USOC. If this is just one person making the mistakes, the problem can be fixed quickly. However if this is systemic, NYRB will continue their fall, no matter who they put on the pitch.
This is the Red Bulls/Metros history in a nutshell. You can’t win anything unless you actually try to win something.
A USOC win would’ve led to a CCL berth which could have led to a real match vs Chivas Guadalajara, not just a fake one.
A CCL win wouuld’ve led to a World Club Cup berth which could’ve led to a real match vs Arsenal, not just a fake one.
Winning is a mentality that’s built on successes, not on capitulations-in-advance. But hey, I’m glad the Red Bulls rested their players. The rest really helped them in their trip to Colorado!
Justified? This guy is right. Scrub team to Copa was an insult.
To Nam I would say that this IS a sign of how far the MLS has come. A 2005 crowd composed mostly of the fabled soccer moms and their offspring would never care whether the Red Bulls had fielded a competitive away team for a Cup match.
Management doesn’t care much since the return on the expense of Cup competition is uncertain. But fans who identify strongly with their team are making their voices heard. Part of the slow but certain, league-wide movement from just entertainment consumers to being team supporters.
Who cares about actual competitive tournaments when you have to save your players for meaningless friendlies against big Euro clubs? US soccer’s inferiority complex at its finest.
Why shouldn’t they be angry? I’m angry and I’m not even an NYRB fan. The management should have given Bruce Arena a little longer and they might have finally had some success. There’s something seriously wrong when you have international players like Thierry Henry, Rafael Marquez, Joel Lindpere, Luke Rodgers, Jan Gunnar Solli, Teemu Tainio, and Roy Miller, along with a solid group of US internationals like Dax McCarty, Tim Ream, Chris Albright, and Juan Agudelo, and you still stink!
It seems to me Hans needs to go Backe to Austria!
as a red bull fan, i think it was right for backe to send the reseves, given the schedule they had and related travel.
if mls wants teams to take the us open cup seriously they CANT schedule a xcountry road trip in for a team with a us open cup match in the middle. stupid. protest that, ny supporters.
besides, with mls cup, the us open cup is minor to begin with. merge the two and make the supporters shield worth something.
“That being said, I think the supporter’s beef is with management and I don’t agree with the form of the protest.”
Of course the beef is with management.
Management made the decision to send in a weak line-up and travel on game day. Who travels on game day?
And apparently management listened to advice from Mike Petke. Real smart…take advice from a guy who’s only in his 1st season in a coaching role (whatever his position is).
Not to mention the disrespect it shows towards the tournament itself.
16 Years……. NO CUPS!!!!
As a Union supporter, I do feel for the NYRB supporters groups. I get that some teams choose to use the US Open Cup to get their reserves some action. That being said, NYRB has a very empty trophy cabinet and they capitulated just two wins away from a cup final. If I were a member of the ESC, I would be upset by the team’s decision. The Red Bulls Powers That Be showed total disregard for their supporters and the competition.
Yeah, not the same. The US was totally justified in sending a scrub team to Copa America. It’s really stupid that people still even bring this up.
Yeah, especially since RBNY / Metrostars have so much hardware in their trophy cabinet!
Er, well, nevermind…
Don’t be so selfish.
Especially when the team is dire need of a win.
I think this protest is somewhat justified, that being said with so many injuries on the team right now and Hans Backe’s reticence in using available substitutions I think that caution in regards to injuries and exhaustion is somewhat reasonable. Now if Backe used more of the supporting cast he might be building a little more experience into the team and increasing the value of lesser players. Looking at the results after the USOC game it seems to me that it was all for naught.
Sorry to go off topic, but there is another thing that is making me crazy right now – having to miss viewing games due to tv rights.
Someone also needs to protest MLS’s TV deals with Univision. They have had multiple games on Galavision (one of Unvision’s networks) that are not available in many areas… because they are on Galavision they end up not being available on MLS Direct Kick according to the rights agreement. I relocated from NYC to Cincinnati OH late last year and Time Warner Cable here does not carry Galavision -in addition Univision isn’t streaming the game so this is one I will have to miss. We were season ticket holders before we moved and missing games is devestating. I have talked to others about this and there are many markets where this is true. This hurts individual teams and the league.
What is the point in paying for DirectKick if 4 or 5 games are on Galavision? If Univision made all of them available via live stream I wouldn’t complain, but come on. You want me to pay for an MLS Direct Kick subscription, an MLSSoccer.com live stream subscription, and my normal cable bill including the premiums for FSC?
Wow, these so called supporters need to stop acting like babies and man up. The Open Cup is hardly something to get upset about, it’s not like they’ve ever won it before. Big whoop, a slot in the group stages of the CCL at stake, that’s what the MLS cup final is for.
I was going to show this game to my dad on TV today to see how far MLS has come but now they’re going to ruin it over a stupid tournament. What’s done is done, protesting isn’t going to magically replay the game or win any new fans.
NYRB were supposedly the super team that was going to run over everyone. A super team with not many American players on it. I would be pretty upset if I were one if their fans. This like when the US sent a scrub team to Copa America last time. It is embarrassing and the NYRB fans deserve better.
I agree that Red Bulls management showed no respect for the competition. The team had a lots of fixtures around this, but Backe’s reliance only only 12 to 15 players has run the team into the ground, particularly with the Gold Cup and injuries. Better use of the squad depth (such as it is) would have enabled RB to field a competitive team for all of their games.
That being said, I think the supporter’s beef is with management and I don’t agree with the form of the protest. I am a season ticket holder (not a member of any of the supporter’s groups, however) and I think fans need to support the players through thick and thin. The singing and chanting gives the squad real support and they are going to need that against a strong Dallas tonight.
The supporters should find a better way to express their extreme displeasure to management. A suggestion that they will not renew season tickets certainly hits the organization where they will really take notice — their bottom line and that isa good start.
Go Red Bulls!
Shouldn’t they protest outside of the game? Aren’t supporters supposed to support the team throughout the 90 minutes?
Proper respect from East Los Angeles!
Black Army 1850 supports supporters that don’t take sh*t!
It’s more than the Open Cup. It’s the inability to beat teams this season. Way too many draws and late goals against. The match against Colorado was also ridiculously embarrassing. They traded away De Rosario which was a bad move as well. I don’t particularly think protesting like this helps… but they need to wake up.