With the season 2/3rds over, here are five highs, lows and curious to date. However, let’s be positive and focus on this year’s high points as the Red Bulls strive to make the playoffs!!! What are yours? 5 Highs 1. The progress of team performance under Richie Williams 2. Hiring Bruce Arena as Director of Soccer Ops and Head Coach 3. Acquiring Jean Philippe Peguero 4. Acquiring Todd Dunivant 5. Moments of promising play from some of the young players: Seth Stammler, Marvell Wynne, Danny O’Rourke 5 Lows 1. Djorkaeff skipping town for over a month in the middle of the season and returning way out of shape 2. The fact that Peguero, the best Red Bull player pick up, was traded, especially when the Red Bulls are so thin at forward; 0.7 goals per game without Peguero in the lineup 3. Doing so little with SI slots 4. Peter Canero 5. Seeing how Ante Razov has performed and how little we got in return 5 Curiosities 1. Meola’s record: 1 win, 7 losses, 8 ties; Conway’s record: 4 wins, 0 losses, 2 ties??? 2. Recently playing DC to a tie in a fairly good performance and then turning around to lose to Columbus? 3. When will Edson Buddle’s goal scoring drought end? (I cut him a break with no other real threat upfront) 4. When will Josmer Altidore be ready for “prime time”? 5. Doesn’t Bruce Arena look like the bull in the Bugs Bunny cartoons?
High : 1) Watching Metro finally get a semblance of a backline that could be better than decent for five years or so. 2) I'll go ahead and say it : that DC opener trip was damned cool. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. 3) Mo out. Alexi off to ruin the L.A. Gears 4) um..er...uh...nope - I gots nothing. 5) Oh wait, yes I do - hasn't happened yet, but Sep. 19th in Harrison I day I will both long remember and forget large chunks of - especially the post three o clock portions. Lows (only 5?) 1) Watching DC stomp the shit out of us at home. About as fun as a root canal 2) Taylor Graham, Peter Canero and Chris Henderson : 400k of pure suck. 3) Edson Buddle - biggest waste of god-given talent in MLS. Disgusting. THe Anti-Woly 4) Going to The Swamp - how depressing an experience it is most days. 5) Watching Barcleona thump us in front of all those fans who will never see an MLS game. Breaks my ********ing heart I have no curiosities right now. I know all. I see all. and it aint pretty
I hate to disagree with Fina (I am aware of the possible consequences) but I would make this change to his list.
It's the second part that bothers me so much - there is such potential for a strong 30k/game fanbase that never will seem to be realized - and butt-kickings like Barcelona only reinforce that fact (and yes, I get the feeling Barcelona will be meting out the same treatment to many other Primera Liga teams this year - their performance against Espanyol in the SuperCup over the weekend was kinda scary good.)
Arena has been a sea of excusses since he arrived. a woeful 0-1- 3 since he has arrived in NY. a lone tie with dc and 3 loses to barcelona, dc, and columbus. 8 goals allowed in 4 games. He justifed the lose in the open cup with a cup win won't get his team to the play offs... Well he was just 2 games away from winning the open cup, and a huge effort away from even making the playoffs.... wish I knew what "options" he had after the world cup.... Another "WC" coach giving pee wee soccer excusses/ All I need to hear is "I need 10 games to get the team where I want it to be." so this can be 1997 CAP all over again... But at least CAP had Donadoni!!!!!
No, he's already gone on record saying there are things he needs to fix that he won't be able to until next year. Truth is, he's right. Given the fact that MLS will not bend for Metro the way they did Chivas and given the cap restrictions, there isn't a hell of a lot he can do until Canero Hendo and Graham are off this team.
5 HIGHS Fans actually cheering the Red Bulls goal against Barcelona. Large RB fan turnout for season opener at RFK. Jon Conway’s surprising performance. Wolyniec back on the squad. Alexi Lalas leaves the team. 5 LOWS Thousands of fans leaving the Red Bull season opener after Shakira’s performance was over. Playing a game on a Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in the middle of the summer. Marvell Wynne sitting on the bench when the team was in first place. Guevara watching the game from the stands, while idiot fans ask for his autograph. Changing the team name from “MetroStars” to “Red Bull”.
The highs: 1. Bruce Arena announced as coach. 2. Red Bull trip to DC (yes, it was that good!!) 3. Dominating DC on home turf for Bruce's first official game. 4. Laventure's first goal. 5. Bayern Munich match. 6. Parke and Mendes. 7. No more horns! The lows: 1. Local boy spits after goal. 2. Amado and Youri can't work together. 3. Meola's illness. 4. Never ending Lisi hernia. 5. Buddle's goaless streak. The curiosities: 1. Nobody currently on the team has more than 3 goals. 2. The Ronaldo rumor. 3. Johnny Toro (come on, it had to be said! ) 4. We are only 3 points from second place. 5. Columbus is only 5 points from second place.
I'm an optimist. And as a Red Bull fan one needs to celebrate the simple things. So here's HIGH:2006, a 5 track EP with 2 bonus cuts. Thanks for listening. 1. Marvell Wynne's pure, unadulterated speed. no further explanation needed. 2. John Wolyniec's first home goal in a RBNY strip. OK it has yet to happen... but it will and I'm looking forward to it 3. Stammler's willingness to have a go from 25+. Despite the telegraphic wind-up, ya gotta give the boy credit. Not many in MLS will do it. I hope he keeps it up. 4. Dima's deceptive duck walk. Because, well frankly alliteration is under utilized here at THE BIG BOARD, and I like the thug when he's playing for us. He's kinda the Anti Eddie Gaven; Eddie's pained expression always looked like he should have been going a million miles an hour and he wasn't. Pigeon-toed Dima looks like he's standing still but he's actually quite speedy. Ya know I still love ya Eddie... 5. Red Bull's purchase of the Metrostars. We're better off... no matter how you slice it. Anything that delivered us from Ginger the clown can only be good. And the future looks bright if only for – see 6. below. 6. The Red Bull Park renderings. I am FAR too old to be as excited as I was – and still am – about these. But the Red Bull experiment will have been worth it if they actually build this thing, circumnavigate the AEG mandate of cookie cutter stadia and give us the home we deserve. And following on from that – see 8. below. 7. The sound of the crowd when Youri scored vs. Barca. That was unexpected and music to my ears. Given the scale and design I'll imagine we can replicate that in Harrison often and with ease.
Interesting. I liked Alexi a lot so I wouldn't put his leaving as a high as some of you did. Alexi was here for too short a period to judge him as a GM but he's a great person and promoter of the sport at the grassroots level. That said, Red Bull deserves to pick their leaders and Bruce Arena is a "can't argue" selection.
Last night's game, even if the team was a man down for most of the match, is definitely one of this year's highlights!!!
a high: watching reserve games after the main deal. if only security understood that the people staying were there to really watch the game and not cause trouble. a low: watching meola stand and watch balls roll past his feet. a high: seeing my kid in a lime green ball kid t-shirt. a low: trying to escape the barcelona crowd after the game, and realizing no one was there for the hometown boys; almost no one! all other highs and lows can be copied and printed below.
Mrs. Conway! I thought that was a lime green sub penny Johnny was wearing! (I'm going to hell for that one. The Conways sometimes sit behind me in GS, and they are great people. I love it when John is starting keeper and they are in the stands. BTW - John did NOT inherit his Mom's ball catching skills, thank goodness. )
i'm laughing so hard i can barely type! mrs. conway.... if only! and i don't mean MOM! he's tall, he's cute, he's got a big boot, he's conway.