After tonights debacle I really think that this team is cursed. Some of us have followed this team for 12 bad years but the own goal tonight has to rank as one of the most unbelievable events to happen in the team's history. I know that Red Bull is trying to turn this thing around but I think it is going to take at least 12 more years to get back all of the potential fans this team has lost because of all of the bad soccer we have seen. Too many people have said over the years that the MLS product stinks and is not worth watching. MLS made sure that LA, Chicago, and DC had good teams and did nothing in NY for 10 years. That was a big mistake. They really could have had a good following here if they just would have tried to put a good team on the field. The only good thing is that this team continues to teach my kids how not to play soccer.
"The war's over man. New England dropped the big one." Over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we say it is. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? What the f*** happened to the Metros I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts huh? Ahem Anyway, will you relax? It's a tough loss, yes. But we're still going to make the playoffs. And if we're healthy, we'll be tough to be beat. I sure hope the players aren't moping and feeling sorry for themselves like this.
In the beginning of MLS, the league gave this franchise every break and under the table deal going and we still sucked. So long as their is a salary cap in place and limits on foreign signings the games will be won more from the GM's office then from the field. A couple of bad mistakes on personel and you are screwed in this league.
"As long as I'm breathing, I'll cheer for the Metro! Whether we're winning, or whether we're losing! Dale eh, Dale eh, Dale eh, Dale eh"
And even given that, it will remain a league with teams that range mostly from slightly-less mediocre to mediocre to slightly more mediocre. Occasionally, you might have a team that goes careening right over the edge of Putrid Bluffs (see the Galaxy this year, RSL throughout their short existence.) And that's about it. The "giants" of the league this year, Houston, had to fight back for a draw against a Columbus team that's on the outside looking in. New England, the "class" of the East, couldn't get out of their own way for the past few weeks. Most, if not all teams, bob around the middle line. The way things are set up, there does seem to be more opportunity for a team to be plain BAD. But there is practically no room for a team to ever be great here. Not exactly news, I know, but it bears repeating. Frustration is, or should be, the official emotion of all MLS fans, and the 270 minutes played over the past week just bears that out.
I agree. You could maybe even take it a step further and say often fortune and luck play as much a part in the results as anything. Nobody has any depth so one injury or suspension at the wrong time can be the difference between winning and losing or being in second place as oppossed to fifth.
The Red Bulls are 10-9-3 and are in a playoff berth as of right now. There are 8 games left, with 4 at home and 4 on the road. I think they're going to be just fine. Unless you think a team making the playoffs is somehow bad (as opposed to those teams who don't make them).
I don't care what system exists, in any sport, any league, championships are driven by the combination of play on the field and shrewd front office decision-making. If money was not an issue and there was no cap then you'd still have the question of GMs making the correct moves for their teams. So while your point is valid in that a bad mistake by GM can screw your team, it really doesn't address anything.
In no way am I saying MLS is comparable to say the EPL. Clearly the level of play at the top quarter of the league is superior to that anything MLS provides. But I would take the consistently good MLS teams and let them have their chances against the middle of the pack EPL teams. MLS teams have to contend with a more difficult and hot climate for much of the season not to mention cross country travel and time zone changes. Add to that the fact that some teams have multiple games with hardly a week passing between matches. The Revs just had a brutal stretch of 7 games in about 3 weeks. That's a fault of the league system. But all teams in MLS have to go thru it at some point or another. Ask yourself is Arena keeping the vets fresh and not over practicing them? I don't know. I do know our coach, Steve Nicol, places an emphasis on keeping players fresh despite the rigors of travel and lack of rest between games.
Someone back me up here... Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K92OVFeGgIE This is better than history class.
Yes, but if you have a lot of money to throw around, you can eat those mistakes/make time to atone for them without any problems : See : Irabu, Ikawa, Pavano...
We'd like to think with two DPs and how well we started the year, qualifying for home filed/making the Superliga should have been an attainable goal. Instead, all signs point to a one and out exit yet again
Who's this "we" you speak of? Yes, we support the same team; and I'm going to guess that we want to see the team get past the first round at the least. It's just that I'm not going to give up on hope so easily. OK, maybe it's because you've been following the team a lot longer and maybe you've seen this before. But I would like to make it clear that there is no "we" here when it comes to the pessimism and the moaning and the whinging. A lot can happen between now and mid-October. Even if the Red Bulls crash, beating your breasts about it on a message board won't change a thing.
I hoping our team gets out of the first round, at the very least. I'm not optomistice on the second round, as it would probably be an away game. What are these message boards here for, if not for 'beating your breasts'. I agree that it won't change a thing though.
"Hey, I speak for the unsilent majority!!!" vatn? Trying to get myself into the minds of those who believe we are underacheiving. I think the quick start and 2 DPs has a lot to do with that viewpoint. "We" in this case was a direct response to the "those who believe making the playoffs is a bad thing.". Not the entire fanbase. I would have though that a given and yes, a lot can happen between now and October, but from what I've seen of the first two thirds of the season, I can't see how we make top 4 this year. Which means, DC, Dallas, New England or Houston. Which means, yes, one and out is the most likely course. and I don't need a message board to beat my breast - I can do that at Giants Stadium. Literally. Then I move on to the seats, the railing, the garbage cans...
The point I was trying to make is if a Euro team or MLB team makes a couple of bad signings they can potentially be corrected much easier then in MLS because in those leagues there are much fewer barriers in the way to correct a mistake. Sergio Galvan Rey was the classic example of this. Bradley made a poor decision to give him a guaranteed, big contract and he ended up being a bust that ate a large chunk of cap space for seasons and really limited what player moves the club could make. Thats the classic example.
I'm not giving up hope either, but it's hard not to when you've seen that every possible thing that could go wrong, does go wrong over the years with this team.