Juan Carlos Osorio is bucking that trend.

Surviving what seemed to be a none stop second half onslaught, the Red Bulls take a crucial victory on the road against the Beckham/Donovan led Galaxy, earning an important three points, and now going undefeated in their last four games.

Altidore started. Angel started. Richards came back for his first start. And Freeman was outstanding. The point? The team is slowly coming back from its early season injury plagues, not withstanding Reyna and Stammler, and are finally starting to show promise.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Though Juan Pablo Angel did find the net as Osorio predicted, and the play of Sassano was adequet in Reyna and Stammlers absence, it was the marking of Jeff Parke that shut down the leagues most celebrated goal scorer in Landon Donovan. The unsung hero continues to quietly lead this defense. Whether asked to play the central in a 3-5-2 or the destroyer piece in a 4-4-2, Jeff Parke has been as dependable as the team could want. Holding Landon down tonight is definitely an early career highlight for their budding defensive leader.

TURNING POINT OF THE MATCH

Dane Richards coasts the wing . . . Juan Pablo clinically schools Cronin. Game over . . .

WHAT THE?! MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Danleigh Bormans Goal Scoring Celebration - Failed flip. Failed Blanco Pose. Pure Excitement. The best and worst goal celebration ever.

SPECIAL ED PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Steve Cronin, on the other hand, continues to be a huge weakness for the Galaxys defensive end. Lets face facts - Joe Cannon he is not. And as I said before the game, if Angel and Altidore can find a way of beating Vanney, Franklin and friends, Cronin would be the easy part. A very non inspiring game from their keeper.

+ Eric Brunner, our 2nd round pick and first pick in the 2008 draft, has decided to forgo the meager amount of money that befits a developmental player and will begin exploring options in “USL and Europe” according to his agent (SBI has the scoop). Who can blame the kid? When you are promised something, and more than half of it is being taken away from under your feat, what else are you to do?

What I find interesting in this whole ordeal is this - Osorio has already earned quite the reputation as a defensive teacher and implementor. And somehow, he feels that Andrew Boyens would be a much more fruitful endevour than Brunner. What can it be about Brunners play that has made him this expendable? What makes Boyens a better prospect? (besides a few more inches in height).

Its sad to see a draftee go, but he has left the door open for future negotiations.

+ BAS is reporting that Reyna and Stammler will be no goes for the Galaxy game Saturday night. This is a devastating blow to our winning chances. With a sure bet of a 4-5-1 lineup, who will be our midfield destroyers? Ubi and Van Den Bergh? Throw on top of this storm of maladies the fact that Jozy may be sat due to “fatigue” and you have a concoction for disaster. What once looked like a hopefilled game is turning into a nightmare.

+ The Hunter Freeman interview concludes this weekend, with his thoughts on MLS, player salaries, foreign players and some predictions. Thank you all for your kind words. The interview and response has been a blast.

+ And for my preview of this weeks Galaxy game, check out, as always, ASR (first to break the Brunner story!).

This is a cool little spot running on MSG promoting the LA game, featuring Beckovan. Remember, the game is on 10:30pm Saturday, and Running with the Bulls is on at 10. Only on MSG.

Thanks to Iced Media for the hook up.

+ As many know, the Red Bulls have signed Andrew Boyens, a central defender with Lurch like height, formerly of Toronto FC, to shore up some depth for our back three. Now the early clammoring has been “Why Boyens? Where is Innes? Did we do enough to get Marmol? But Conde wants New York!” And as always, I am here to be the calming voice in the midst of all this ruckus.

Bottom line? If Coach Osorio is able to make people like Kevin Goldthwaite and Chris Leitch shine, where so many thought they were useless players just a season ago, he can turn around a young 6′4″ central defending beast. So before everyone takes their frustrations out on the young Kiwi, lets see him on the field first - then judge.

+ To make room for Boyens, Michael Palacio has been placed on the season ending injury list. Mike, we hardly knew you.

+ And there is even more shockwaves from one bench riding central defender! My boys at American Soccer Reader started a little bit of a storm yesterday. Eric Brunner has been asked to take a massive paycut by the Red Bulls organization - taking him from 36k (44k garunteed) to 17k at best - a developmental deal.

Sources reported Brunners (obvious) dissatisfaction with the decision, and AMR was told that our first rounder would be holding out of training, perhaps going back home to Ohio. BigAppleSoccer straightened out the situation - it turns out Brunner is “exploring all options.” Stating that the paycut would make it impossible to live in the area, Brunner continues to train with the team until a deal can be reached. Once he knows his footing, he will decide whether he will leave MLS all together or trudge on and suck it up.

+ In an insightful piece by “Ivesinho” Galarcep, Coach Osorio is basically saying that the travel, wear and tear of nearly a full year of playing football is starting to get to our young star Jozy Altidore. Mind you, not so much the playing, as the non stop traveling that can way a young kid down. They may actually sit him out for the big Galaxy game this Saturday night.

+ The third part of the Hunter Freeman interview will be out later tonite/early tommorrow morning. Sorry for the delay.

+ Finally, lets not forget that, just over the horizon is the two headed beast of BECKOVAN awaiting us in LA this weekend. Will Parke, Goldie and Leitch be able to hold them back? Can’t wait to find out . . .

And yes. There will be a part III.

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We covered a lot of topics, so this will be part 1 of a 2 (or 3) part series.

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Yet, reading the sentiments of the fans from this past game, some have the audacity to point out his play as being “weak” or “soft.” Whether helpful or not, Juanpi is obviously playing hurt, so such critisism should be a moot point. In my opinion, his only job that against Toronto was to be a decoy, freeing up other players to find the net. When the free kick was drawn, which led to the Van Den Bergh goal, who did not think, including the crowd at TFC, that Angel would line up for the blast? Low and behold, its Magee and Van Den Bergh behind the ball.

If that doesn’t scream out PROBLEM, I don’t know what does. No knock on Magee or DVB mind you - its just that this would be an ideal situation for a healthy Angel to produce a cracker, top shelf. But it was not to be.

Before judging Angel, realize he is on the pitch with some type of injury. If there was a bit more transparency in this league with injury reports, maybe people wouldn’t jump to their own, more negative conclusions, and crucify a player for nothing. But since there isn’t, lets have a bit of consideration for a player who is putting himself out there, even if he is not at 100%.

The Bulls take one away from the surging Maple Leafs, with a well earned point on the road. They really did well in keeping possession and putting on pressure - but the finishing was completely ghost.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Seth Stammler impressed me tonite. He was the Dema Kovalenko we all thought was lost. Stammlers presence neutralized the attack, in particular, Amado Guevara. Excellent play tonite.

TURNING POINT OF THE MATCH

Do ties have turning points? To be honest, I can’t name one. I guess its Van Den Berghs excellent set piece tying goal. The game turned from a loss to a tie. Makes sense . . .

WHAT THE?! MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The Starting Line Up takes it tonite. Hunter Freeman starting! Mike Magee at central! Jozy Altidore on the left wing?! For those that thought the 3-5-2 would be snuck in a bit more were mistaken. 4-5-1 ruled, and goal scorer Dave Van Den Bergh even fell back for some LB work. What made things nuttier was seeing Dane Richards getting minutes as well. Who saw any of that coming?

SPECIAL ED PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Greg Sutton played well, but what was he thinking on that Dave Van Den Bergh strike?! I credit DVB for the goal 100%, but Sutton did not do his part in covering the net, period. He gambled more than he should have.

I had a chance to grab some Starbucks coffee with Red Bulls right back Hunter Freeman. We spoke, drank coffee, had a caffeine stroke (well, at least I did) and overall, had a good time. We pretty much covered everything there was to cover - from injuries, to Osorio, training, his time in Colorado and even a little TFC talk.

I am transcribing the interview as i type this - and there is alot to cover. I may even make it a two parter. So stay tuned for that.

Jozy and Rossi in a Yellow Submarine? A Yellow Submarine?!?!? A Yellow Submarine?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!

No joke. Jozy Altidore is a rumored target for Villareal, according to Spains footy publication, AS.com.

So one of my favorite players in the world may be able to team with the most hated former American of all time - Giuseppe “IROC Wanna Be” Rossi. What was supposed to be the future of the USMNT would be on display somewhere other than the US - how fitting.

Of course, Los Submarinos will only be the first (or second if you count Barcas interest) in a line of teams waiting for the MLS season to end for the services of the Bulls 18 year old wunderkind.

But its always nice to see the big boys clammering about MLS developed talent.

I think it would probably break my heart to see Rossi and Jozy (or RossiDore) forming a formidable striking pair for anyone. But to have this opportunity would be the kind of move that would greatly benefit Jozy and our MNT. Go figure.

What are your thoughts? What if RBNY get a huge offer this summer? Do you take it?