Crap NY defense vs. Scum Sun. 3/22 @ 5pm on ESPN2 [R]

I just keeps getting better.

 

http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/redbulls2.php?article_id=40415

suffered a knee sprain and will be out for Sunday's home opener. The injury occurred on Monday when he got his foot caught in the turf.

 

regarding Zubar--what is it with french players and injuries? i think most of the french players we've signed over the years have suffered long stretches of injury... i mean injuries are a part of any soccer player's career but it seems to me that these players in particular are more injury prone? Auvray, Djorkaeff, Henry, Le Toux, Luyindula

 

That's pretty much what Montreal was doing. Gee I wonder why Marsch got the axe after one season?

I do find it troubling that "injured in practice" is becoming a thing with this team.

 

Mike Grella day-to-day with slight hamstring injury

I wasn't worried at all when Dax picked up a knock, wasn't too worried when Miller strained something, but now this is starting to become a trend... We're not even three weeks into the season and already we've seen 3 different training injuries. We absolutely do not have the depth on this roster to pick up injuries like this.

 

That's okay, this is actually a good thing for once.

 

wonder if Marsch is in contact with Backe? Some stuff seems oddly like deja-vu

 

If there was one thing you could count on Backe for, it was cutting any injury absence in half. Not because he had good medics with him or anything, just because he didn't think it was necessary to let anyone heal. The way he ran Teemu Tainio into the ground in 2011 was a big reason why we weren't more successful that year.

 

Didn't help that our backup was Stephen Auvray, who I don't believe is even playing anymore. Really shows the depth we had that year...

 

Ah, good ole Hans. Never made a substitution until the 90th minute. To his defense there was a HUGE drop off from the starting 11 and to the reserves. Our main bench players heading into the season(Robo, Nielson, Albright) were all old and always injured. Our backups consisted of players like Teddy Lassiter, Sacir Hot, John Rooney, etc, who probably aren't footballers anymore. Agudelo was the only worthwhile sub we had..

Backe almost ran Henry to the ground as well. I guess that's why we started the 2011 season high (the hype here was big) and then we just staggnated the whole summer where we tied every match it seemed.

BTW, Tainio was a beast when he was healthy. It looks like he's still an important player for HJK Helsinki and even featured in several EL/CL games this season.

 

Yeah Soler lost the plot that year, he gave away our draft picks like candy and paid no attention whatsoever to the bench.

He just announced his retirement about a month ago! Not sure if his injury problems stayed with him.

 

I wich to be there and make my voice hear and be with Petke all de way:

Eric Rios, who also serves on the Empire Supporters Club Executive Board, added that Petke’s firing highlights the team’s inability to establish continuity and a consistent identity. “The decision to part ways with Mr. Petke goes against everything that this organization has preached for the last three or four years,” Rios stated. “It basically hits the reset button once again and we find ourselves with yet another new coaching staff.”

 

Straight up dominant performance, midfield especially played great.

The good:

• Our central midfield is no joke. Spacing is incredible between them, Dax and Felipe especially did a great job defending as a pair. One would make the tackle, the other would clean up the second ball. Lots of great one touch movement between those two and Kljestan as well.
• Lawrence looks like a very capable backup for Miller
• Sam has really taken to his expanded role and looked dominant in both games.
• BWP did a better job being involved in the run of play instead of just waiting to run in behind like he did against KC. Credit to Marsch for figuring out how to get him more involved.
• Perrinelle looks surprisingly solid so far, even if he's still looks like he's running through mud.

The not as good:

• Not sure how much I like Marsch holding his subs so late in the game, that's dangerous if you're pushing your starters to play high pressure all game every game.
• Without Zubar our center defenders are still way too slow. A better attack than DC may have punished them.

 

I didn't think this game was as ugly as KC, I thought they looked composed and well organized today. Yeah the first goal came off of a hopeful long ball but our guys spent a hell of a lot of the game moving the ball along the ground, which included some great one-touch work in the center. Even Perrinelle was successful passing out of the back along the ground. Kept the majority of possession and did it in DC's half instead of our own.

Definitely still some question marks especially in the back, but if this is the type of performance we can expect at home then I think we'll at least take care of most Eastern Conference teams at RBA.

Red Bulls, and I believe almost every American sports teams, announce tickets sold and not turnstile counts.

 

That first score was one of the luckiest goals I've seen in a while, well taken by Brad but counter to the run of play. I had literally just uttered the words, "this is why I hate the 4-5-1," when the long ball was struck and dropped in to his feet. This team struggles to get effective play from the wings, especially on the left.

Lawrence looks useful. Physically he can handle MLS, but his service when overlapping lacks precision, he'll have to work on that.

Miazga was not horrifying. Clearly he's green still, but learning. I love his ability to step up and win the ball. He's not as good covering one on one. A couple of mistakes early were not punished or repeated and I think the PK was a harsh call. If he's the #3 CB, I'm okay with that. He needs minutes to improve and having a steady role of sub minutes and occasional starts is the best way to get him 1st team experience. I expect him to also have a part time role with the 2nd team, but I doubt that level is any better than the U-20s where he has already demonstrated competence.

Richards looked interesting as a sub. He definitely could have that role of first attacker off the bench. What intrigues me more is how the team played with him on the field. They appeared to shift into more of a 4-3-3, with Richards a slashing winger. He's still ridiculously fast, even faster than Sam or Lawrence.

Felipe should have done better with his golden look at goal in the first half. Sam did much better at going near post when he scored in the second. Who'd have thought he'd be the leading scorer after two games?

All that said, DC was pretty lousy. Rolfe and Pontius clearly are out of form, maybe even past their peak and without Espindola, they don't have any real threat at striker.

 

I agree with some of iced's positive points, but came here to type what koko already did: I'm not sold yet. DC has no attack. Because of that, the pressing game worked well. DC had no release valves, and when they got the ball up, they always lost it. A team with better attackers who can hold up the ball up would have given us more of a challenge. The defending on the first goal was also pretty poor, and Hamid could've done better on the second. I appreciate that it seems like Marsch is not totally abandoning the pass and move tactics of his predecessors, but we have to wait until we play better teams than DC to see how this will really shake out.

 

Totally dominant performance by us.

This was a combination of DC putting in a horrific and lifeless display and our pressure. When you take away talent pressure it is really your only option for success. This will get you somewhere in MLS, most teams are just not skilled enough to unlock it.

Thankfully our D wasn't really tested. DC had 3 chances to score. Robles cleaned up 2 and Pontious took care of the third. DC brought a whole lot of nothing to this match. Its easier to defend a team that on their backfoot all match. It's much different to see how these guys will hold up while under attack.

Like that BWP opened his account. While it was poorly defended, it opens his account releasing pressure on the guys post Henry career.

Lloyd as good as he was last season, he is stepping up even more. 2 great goals. People will kill Hamid for letting that get in but that was a good shot. Powerful and perfectly placed. It just feels like he is taking more of the load onto his shoulders. Its only 2 matches I know. Just a sense I got.

2 games and 2 results. Solid. We will need a 10-12 games to see what we have here though.

 

Attendance numbers are are basically just marketing tools.

A friend of mine that worked in the RB office a while back explained how its done. Its more of an art than any sort of tickets sold or turnstyle counts.

Basically, the goal is to juice them up without being over-the-top blatant about it. This way the league and the teams can claim these numbers when trying to sell ad's, bring on sponsors and for public perception.