The New York Red Bulls, or NYRB as I call them, are a founding member of MLS, but like the Colorado Rapids, you wouldn’t know it by looking at their empty trophy case. In fact, until they reached the 2008 MLS Cup Final, they had only made it past the quarterfinals once in their 14 year history. They are perpetual underachievers.
The squad was known as the Metrostars until 2006 when the caffeine-dispensing conglomerate gave them wings and made them the Red Bulls. Prior to the rebranding, they fielded some great players, like Tab Ramos, Michael Bradley, Roberto Donadi, Tony Meola, Lothar Matthaus, Eddie Pope, Amado Guevara, and Tim Howard. But none of those gents could help them win it all.
Recap: The Red Bulls didn’t even finish .500 this season (10-11-9), but it was still the most memorable season in team history. Their late surge propelled them into the final, but they could not match CMB, so they had to settle for also-ran status. Overall though, I think they deserve a B- due to their mostly mediocre season.
Offense: The Red Bulls had a balanced attack this year and finished near the middle of the league table in goals scored. Dane Richards finally started to play with some motivation and Angel, as always, was perpetually a threat to score. They started slow, but finished with a flurry, and for that they get a B for the attack.
This is the face of the only coach to ever win the MLS Cup with a team that had not finished better than 6th in the three previous seasons. It’s also the face of the only man to win the Cup with two different teams. Why the Galaxy would have ever let him go is beyond me. Oh yeah, that’s right, it’s more important to entertain and lose (Yay! The Gals lost 4-3 again! Whooopeee) than to play hard-nosed defense and eke out 1-0 wins.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto showed why he was voted the best player in Major League Soccer as his three assist helped the Columbus Crew win their first MLS Cup with a 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls on Sunday.
The performance helped Schelotto be named the MLS Cup Most Valuable Player, becoming only the third player in league history to win league MVP honors as well as in the MLS Cup Final, joining Tony Meola (2000) and Carlos Ruiz (2002).
This game promises to be open and entertaining with two of the best players in the league going head-to-head. New York’s Juan Pablo Angel and Guillermo Barros Schelotto of Columbus, both of them candidates for the league MVP award. Together, these South American stars combined for 21 goals, and thrilled MLS fans with their explosive skills this past season.
Dave van den Bergh got the goal midway through the first half that earned the Red Bulls their first-ever appearance in the MLS Cup but the story of this game was the missed opportunities for Real Salt Lake.
Cheered on by a crowd of 20,008 RS: attacked all game outshooting New York 24-11. Four of those shots hit the woodwork and and Red Bulls goalkeeper Danny Cepero made several brillant saves to deny RSL again and again,
The NY Red Bulls stunned the two-time defending champions Houston Dynamo 3-0 in Houston to win this semi-final contest 4-1 on aggregate. They will now play Real Salt Lake on Sunday at Robertson Stadium for the chance to go to the MLS Cup final.
New York got off to a great start when then Dane Richards put them ahead in the 25th minute. Sinisa Ubiparipovic supplied the pass that set Richards and he beat Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad with a great shot from 20 yards out.
The Houston Dynamo showed why they are defending MLS champions Saturday as a late goal by substitute Kei Kamara earned the defending champs to salvage a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls in the first leg of their Western Conference semifinal at Giants Stadium.
An injury-depleted Red Bulls team has taken the lead early in the second half thanks to a goal from captain Juan Pablo Angel. New York came close to adding to their lead as Dane Richards hit a goalpost and saw another shot cleared off the.
The New York Red Bulls, with 35 points, would secure the first wild card spot if the season ended today. Unfortunately for Angel and his scrappy crew, they need to play three more games before the postseason spots are decided.
New York has as tough a final stretch as anyone too. This Thursday will arguably be their biggest game of the season as they have to travel to Salt Lake to play on ESPN2’s nationally-televised game of the week. Then, on October 18th, they get to return home to play MLS table topper Columbus. Finally, they round out the season on the road, again on ESPN2, against the feared Chicago Fire, who trounced them 5-1 earlier this year.
Forbes.com recently released a report that looked at the economic side of MLS and also put a value on each of the Major League Soccer franchises.
At a macro level, things are looking up for MLS. Seven of the league’s 14 teams play in soccer-specific stadiums, five of which have been built since 2002. Expansion franchises in Seattle and Philadelphia recently agreed to pay $30 million each to join the league, three times what Toronto FC paid to join MLS three years ago. Commissioner Don Garber says the next two expansion teams, to be announced in 2009, will cost $40 million. Some team owners are even floating a $50 million price tag.
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