http://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2017/...bulls-etienne-jr-haiti-murillo-panama-called/ INTERNATIONAL DUTY: Etienne, Jr. (Haiti), Murillo (Panama) called in Mar 18, 2017
Not sure one can fault the effort from the match last night, but wow... Zizzo and Bilyeu were simply not what was required. Sounders are good, but they RBNY back line look like swiss cheese. The West will be fun to watch this term.
Guldbransen looked decent in his short starting stint, active. Clearly the team needs to get accustomed to how he moves and vice versa. I have some hope for him. Heaven knows we could use the help up top.
how can it be that the ny cosmos could sell out 80k stadium every week back in the 70s,yet today when soccer is supposedly on a rampage growth curve, MLS teams can't fill a measely 20k stadium week in,week out. for example red bulls,columbus crew etc...except Atlanta united who should rightly shame everyone else !
Great. That will help the attack plenty. Damn. As to the attendance, sold tickets or not, stop lying. Y'all are embarrassing yourselves. Announced crowd of 16k??? Please. What is happening out there?
Attendance is usually at its lowest during the second home game, it'll pick up as the season progresses, always does. Now, whether our offense can say the same, that remains to be seen. So far we've had to rely more on our opposition to score about as much as our own players. BWP and co. aren't even getting chances and what few they do they can't convert. We're kind of lucky things have shook out the way they have so far, 7 points in 4 games isn't a bad start at all, especially when one remembers how LAST year started. But this isn't sustainable.
Gulbrandsen looks the part, is active and smart in his spacing and movement. Royer, also, has been quality. But there is no service right now and 16 has not been helping of late.
He has, I forgot to mention that, he's like the only thing that's giving me some hope right now. Hopefully Gul can get some goals... I hate saying hopefully when it comes to sports... Its a shame they don't play Minnesota any time soon, that could be really relieving, psychologically speaking, to play a pretty bad defense and run up the score.
getting back to real news...sigh NYRB have signed two-time MLS Golden Boot Winner Bradley Wright-Phillips to a contract extension,
16 is a mess right now. Kids like Royer and Adams are out-working most everyone out there not named Robles. It is just not translating. Same old story... No creativity in the final third.
It's hard to hold back the feeling that this team has just plateaued while the rest of the league continues to get better and better. I hope that's not the case, but it looks to me like RBNY needs a transfusion of attacking talent. Some of this is due to the departure of Dax and the transition to a new midfield pairing. And of course the defense is still problematic. The FO screwed the pooch by not actively upgrading the backline in my opinion. But I think the front four is pretty pedestrian at this point, as well, particularly when I watch other teams around MLS. If the high-pressing can create opportunities in the final third we'll be fine, if not I just don't see the individual talent to make things happen.
Not quite the case to me. Yes we need a superstar CB. NO QUESTION. We have talent in attack but it's in the worst possible shape right now. Sasha isn't effective and I believe he and BWP have lost a step. Royer is not putting shots on frame. Grella and Veron are injured and we STILL don't know what we have in Veron. Ettiene is having growing pains but the talent is there we just have to wait and pray he puts it all together. Muyl is at a crossroads. He's either going to improve over his already good talents or this is the player he's always going to be. Again, we need to wait that out. The solution here is either time, or some moves. Or both. We have to get a stud CB. This is so important. We might also have to add a stud winger depending on all of the above. I'm a little more optimistic than that and think at lease ONE of our outside mid options will come good.
My point was that I think we need more than to just fix the defense. I agree Sasha and BWP look a little worse for wear, and that's completely understandable given their age and the miles on their odometers. I just don't see it with Royer. He's a hard worker, he fits the system well in terms of his ability to apply pressure and run all day, but he just doesn't have anything in his toolkit to create goal-scoring opportunities from thin air. Veron has been here long enough to get a good feel for his game. He can create things but he is wildly inconsistent and can't stay on the field. That's a DP bust. When I look at the other Argentines who have entered the league since his arrival - Villalba, Blanco, Asad, Acosta - all those guys are better players than Veron. It's become pretty obvious that was a major mistake in scouting. Muyl is what he is, which is basically a younger version of Royer. There's no shame in that, but he's more of a squad player than a difference maker. Etienne is the guy who could possibly make a leap in the near future and who can unlock a defense, but he was inconsistent at the USL level and is probably a few years away from being a game in, game out stud. Grella is more of a change-of-pace type player for me at this point. He has a bit of trickery, and he's a great squad option. We have a big waitstaff at this point, but we don't really have a chef. Look around the league at some of the attacking corps and it's obvious the talent level of this league continues to rise dramatically. Look at Portland's front four of Adi-Nagbe-Valeri-Blanco. That group is light years beyond anything we can throw out there right now.
Notebook: RBNY’s Verón Returns to the U.S. and to Training Veron may be returning from injury once again just as Marsch has moved away from a tactical formation that would best play to his abilities.
Gotta wonder if he'd beat out Gulbrandsen for the second striker spot anyway. I can't help but feel like Papa Red Bull is twisting March's arm to keep Gulbrandsen on the field.
I still think Veron could be very effective and even solidify a starting spot in the 4-2-3-1, but I don't think he's going to be able to stay healthy. This has got to be his very last chance. If it doesn't work out either due to injury or ineffectiveness I would expect Red Bull to dump him this summer.