New York Red Bulls Travel to Rio Tinto Stadium
by thisredengine on Sep 4, 2010 12:36 AM EDT
3 comments
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the toughest month for the Red Bulls this year. The Red Bulls travel to Salt Lake to take on Real Salt Lake in a match to determine who is the best #2 team in their respected conference. These teams have had similar paths this year. Real Salt Lake are the defending league champions and a win this weekend and a loss by the Galaxy will place both as the #1 in the West. The Red Bulls are perhaps the most improved team in the MLS. With major news worthy signings as well as a goalie not named Conway, the Red Bulls winning tomorrow would put them one point behind the Columbus Crew.
The Red Bulls will be affected by national team call ups with Bouna Coundoul, Rafael Marquez, Dane Richards, and Roy Miller all pulling international duty. Bouna has been an amazing goalie this year as the league leader in clean sheets. The loss of Dane Richards and Rafael Marquez is a shame as the starting lineup was finally clicking and this is a game without our players on the same wavelength. The good news is that Thierry Henry and Juan Pablo Angel are both still in the line up and Macoumba Kandji should start. Kandji had an amazing game against Manchester City but due to slacking off in practice, he fell out of the starting line up. At 6'4", he's almost impossible for a team to cover at the attacking midfield role. The Red Bulls offense should test the RSL defense and as an optimist I'd like to believe the pairing of the DPs up top should be more than enough to put two in net, but Nat Borchers and Jamison Olave have been phenomenal this year and I wouldn't be surprised for the Salt Lake team to keep a clean sheet.
The key match up in my opinion is Robbie Findley, who perhaps was the biggest waste of a roster spot for the National team in South Africa, and the Tim Ream/Carlos Mendes duo. Findley has the speed to cause a ton of problems for a very technical but not high paced Red Bulls defense, but lacks the finishing ability of RSL's leading scorer Alvaro Saborio. If Findley can out pace our defense, it will be a long night in Salt Lake; however, if our defense can mark him, the Red Bulls have a solid chance at coming away with a W. Greg Sutton will be starting in net. He's a smarter goal keeper than Coundoul but not as athletic which is a fear in my eyes.
Final thoughts after the jump
MLS is fixing who wins Goal of the Week. Good to know it's such a fan friendly league.
Dane Richards wins MLS goal of the week. As you can see there is a ton of controversy.
NY Red Bulls: Defender Mike Petke to retire at the end of the 2010 season. Petke is RBNY's all-time leader in minutes played at 14,006.
San Jose at Red Bulls game thread
by thisredengine on Aug 28, 2010 5:49 PM EDT
5 comments
The San Jose Earthquakes travel to Harrison, New Jersey to take on the New York Red Bulls. The first time they met this season, the Earthquakes won by an embarrassing score of 4-0 at home. This was the absolute low point for the New York squad this season after an incredibly strong start. Since this game the teams have moved in opposite directions with the Red Bulls staying undefeated for June and July and settling in as the consensus number two team in the East while San Jose has slipped to fifth in the West with a playoff birth being uncertain.
The standings aren't the only changes these teams have made. The Red Bulls made a splash this summer with the signings of Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez. While neither has been the immediate dominating force we've hoped for, they have played a solidly. Henry is still looking for his first goal but he's become a legitimate assist threat and due to defenders playing tightly on him, has opened up other Red Bull players who haven't been scoring threats this season.
The Earthquakes closed out the transfer window with a massive signing of Geovanni. He's only played 18 minutes so far and won't be starting but he's a very solid international talent who should improve a tired Earthquake midfield.
Game time is 7:30 PM and airs on MSG. I'll be watching the game and then switching over to SBnation's top MMA site Bloodyelbow.com to discuss UFC 118.
New York Red Bulls at Toronto F.C. Game Thread
by thisredengine on Aug 21, 2010 1:12 PM EDT
17 comments
In what could be the most important game of the season, the Red Bulls travel up to Toronto to complete the season series. Last time the teams met, the Red Bulls came away with a 1-0 victory at home at Red Bull Arena. BMO field has been a fortress this season with Toronto being undefeated in 14 appearances at home. This game is important as it will also allow the Red Bulls to clinch a playoff spot and be considered the clear #2 in the East. The team was unable to take advantage of the Crew losing to Real Salt Lake last weekend which would have been a 6 point swing if the New York Team could have put away the Galaxy.
This week has been pretty quiet on the Red Bulls front, Thierry Henry is expected to play the full 90 today and Rafael Marquez told the press that the MLS is the most physical league he has played in. I'm hoping that both players can be at full fitness by September which will be perhaps the most difficult month of soccer. Games against the Salt Lake, Colorado, Dallas, and LA means our DPs need to figure out how to adjust to the physicality and synch up with the rest of the team.
Today should be very physical and hopefully New York comes out on top. Just a note, Macoumba Kandji was unable to travel as his paperwork was not in place.
LA Galaxy vs Red Bulls Review: You can't buy wins
by thisredengine on Aug 15, 2010 12:57 PM EDT
10 comments
Last night was the first time all of our brand spanking new Designated Players were on the pitch together at Red Bull Arena. To say hopes were high is complete understatement. Rafael Marquez and Thierry Henry spent years playing with one another in Barcelona and Juan Pablo Angel has been our single saving grace since 2007. The pieces were put together brilliantly, the 1-2 combination of Henry/Angel would run circles around any defense in the MLS and Rafael Marquez was going to tighten up a mediocre midfield that often was unable to push the ball forward to set up the attack. Everyone bought into the hype as an uneducated New York Media (save Brian Lewis from the post, he knows soccer) hyped up this new team.
I personally was excited for this game. I'm in the process of a move and yesterday was my last home game, at least for this year. I will be returning for our games against the D.C. Scum next year since that's a rivalry you need to experience first hand. As cliche as it sounds, "the stage was set" for me to leave on a win. My support group was out with big numbers, there was a good feeling all around that we'd walk away with a win and then walk through Newark shirtless (a tradition when we win).
The game itself was decent. The team was moving the ball well with some opportunities to go ahead 1-0 early on but unfortunately Rickets was playing very well. A Juan Pablo Angel header off the cross bar in the first half as well as his PK from 25 yards out were heart breakers. This is the same old story with the Red Bulls: Missed Chances. The Galaxy didn't make such mistakes as they were able to capitalize a lazy pass from Rafa that hit Enson Buddle square in the chest which allowed him to split the defense and put a ball past now fan favorite Bouna Coundoul. Bouna has been on fire since a very shaky month of May and even in yesterday's loss showed why he's the starter. He needs to work on his on field IQ but he's playing very well and is able to make up for his mental errors with athleticism.
After the jump I will discuss the second half as well as just random thoughts...
Once a Metro Update
by thisredengine on Aug 12, 2010 12:49 PM EDT
1 comment
Hey everyone, just wanted to update as to why there have been no stories for the past two weeks. I've been traveling to Texas to visit family and staying at a hostel with very limited internet access. Unfortunately this meant that I've only had my iPhone to depend on and can't update using that platform.
I fly home tonight and will have previews/reviews for the next games. I apologize for this and thank whoever has continually visited this site during this time.
A few thoughts on last night's game
by ianua ditis on Aug 9, 2010 11:32 AM EDT
9 comments
Living as I do in an area owned by a cable company that refuses to carry MSG, (even though every so often they will play a Knicks game on one of their surplus channels,) I relish the opportunity to watch the Redballs on ESPN. Add to that the debut of Marquez, the first national TV appearance of Henry, and the fact that the match was against Chicago, a team I've grown to dislike heartily over the last few seasons, I was looking forward to last night's matchup all week.
9 comments | 1 recs |
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