NY Red Bulls @ Portland Timbers - 3/3/13 - 7:30 EST - ESPN2

Five days till first kick...

I think its safe to say that we'll roll out with the same 4-3-3 set up that we've had throughout the preseason, although the right wing and each defensive spot other than Olave's seem to be up for grabs. Personally I'm hoping for Sam at RW and a backline of Pearce-Holg-Olave-Barklage. At the very least, everybody is healthy so Petke has plenty of options.

Portland went through quite a bit of turnover themselves and I think their team is stronger this year then last. They have a good mix of skill and grit amongst their midfielders and strikers, and Ryan Johnson especially was a handful for us last year even playing on a dismal Toronto team.

Tough to make any predictions considering nobody has seen either of the two starting lineups play together in a competitive game, but being the blind optimist that I am I'm calling a 2-1 win for the Red Bulls.

Portland is going in with another rookie coach and almost as much turnover to be fair.

Ya, its pretty hard to tell what could happen. Like Iced said, both sides just came off almost identical off-seasons.

I still go with Red Bulls wining this one 2-1 but it will be hard fought. Portland will be eager to please the home crowd and the home crowd will be intimidating.

Hell no, we will go with a 4-4-2 playing Cahill as a front MF (as a CAM) or a delayed FW... The only what I don't image, is where Juninho exactly will play, for me he don't cut as a winger and I don't see him playing instead of Cahill or McCarty.... So we have to wait and see.... But a 4-4-2 is imperative for Petke to start and from there start knowing his players in action and see where they couple each other better, but a conservative 4-4-2 will be in place.....

I think you can safely lock Espindola into that LM spot. RM seems to be up for grabs though.

Looks like another typical RB season. More of the same.

Turnover up the wazoo. Letting up early goals. Fake building looking towards the future.

We lose 2-1... We are the better team, BUT we are on the road and see no reason why all of a sudden we should start playing well away from home. Hope I am wrong.

This sums it up fairly.

New year, same schtick...

No arguments against the high turnover and leaking early goals, but from what Roxburgh, De Bontin, and Petke have said and done all throughout off season you don't trust them that they're taking a more long term approach to building the roster?

Things I have heard on seeing Red Podcast and from the guy that runs MetroFanatic. They (whom I am giving the benefit of the doubt) seem to have the impression that this is being looked at as a 3 year project.

If they are wrong an there was no talk about looking to build a team for the future, then am am off base. I just figure that these guys are plugged in more than i am in the off season.

That said, there is no way this can REALLY be more than a one or 2 year at most project. If we dont win this or next with Henry, this team will be blown to smithereens again.

What about the team makes u think they are looking long term?

Resigning our young American players from last year (Dax, Meara, Lade, Barklage, Ruthven who is rumored to be announced this week), using off season signings on young guys with MLS experience (Espindola, Kimura, Alexander) instead of expensive European players, signing two young academy players, Roxburgh following through on his promise to have a heavy American presence on the coaching staff (Frasier and promoting Woly).

Petke has also talked a lot about how he intends to utilize the back end of the roster way more than the last regime, and Roxburgh has spoken about making sure they build a roster with a largely American presence that can survive over a few seasons. Check out some of Roxburgh's interviews throughout the off season if you haven't yet, unless its all an act the guy really seems to get it.

If the suits back at RB headquarters sees this as a 3 year project, well honestly by MLS standards that's a decent amount of time, even teams known for roster stability have difficulty holding on to their core players for longer than that. The worry, like Thomas rightfully mentioned before, is that Houllier will hit the panic button before the team has a chance to gel and revert right back to the old way of doing things.

Let me just sum it up like this. Last year I made a bunch of new friends from India. Many of them were fans of the Euro leagues and a few Asian leagues like Japan etc.

I tried to get them into MLS as well. However I had a tough time getting them to watch New York and I was forced to use other games. Last season our play was bland and really lackadaisical at times and not something I would show to people I am trying to get into MLS fans.

Hopefully that changes this year. I loved the way we played against New England. Fast, energetic, tactical. It was much better.

At least the season is finally here and we can be subjected to more Metro disappointment.

We have a really tough stretch to start the season. Two west coast games, 5 of the first seven games in a row. If we can escape with some good results, we would look really good with more home games coming at the back end. The last thing this team needs is a bad start with panic all over the organization. The new guys in place need time but a good start to the season will go a long way.

Anyway this is gonna be a tough game. On the road in a difficult environment. Portland is much improved over last year. Especially in the midfield. Johnson and Valeri are great pick ups. Chara is still there. The have a lot of talent on the wings too. I think their weakness is that they are relying on Ryan Johnson to be their top forward, their central defense is still weak (who knows what an ancient Silvestre will bring to the table - will he even suit up this Saturday?), and Ricketts is injury prone and is very inconsistent. Also Porter is a rookie head coach. Who knows how the transition from college will go?

I'm not expecting a pretty performance. We need to go grind out a result. If we go behind early, it can spell disaster for us. In that situation we can see panic setting in and a blowout unfolding. We are not going to be commanding with possession in a game like this. We'll need to frustrate the Timbers and catch something on the break.

Ricketts is so far past it, he's got hands of stone these days. Henry and Cooper picked him apart at home last year, if we can get shots on target you can bet there will be rebounds for the taking.

That will not be a problem...The problem is if we:.....Can score more goals than them, then we will win the game.....Because if we start with 2 goals against in the first 5 minutes, then, no matter who make good centers or thing like that we will not win a shit....

Last year he was terrible especially during his time in Montreal. But if you saw him play with Jamaica against Mexico, you would be shocked at how good he was. Saved a point for Jamaica in Mexico. He is Jekyll and Hyde.

I am so glad that the long National Nightmare known as the Red Bulls Offseason is over. I am very excited to be beginning the long National Nightmare known as the Red Bulls season.

We're going to score more than Portland and walk away one and oh. 3-2 to the good guys.

I don't get how Sam is struggling so much with fitness, he hasn't had any injuries to set him back this preseason... Not that we've heard of at least. I sure hope Bover pans out because it doesn't look like we can rely on Sam to be a consistent starter.