Here is Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs catching a bat. The marsupial kind, not the baseball one . . .

Dieter, Dietmar . . . close enough.

Dietmar Beiersdorfer, the new sporting director for worldwide Red Bull soccer operations, has descended upon New York and has brought with him a cloud of speculation. Is he here to hire a new GM? Perhaps weigh in on the coaching situation? Or is this just a big excuse to go eat at Peter Lugers steakhouse?

Let’s find out! Here are a few quotes of interest from MLSnet:

On The Clubs Offseason Direction:

“We have to decide as soon as possible because we have to plan the new season,” he said. “We talked also about the roster, I talked with Jeff [Agoos] and Richie [Williams] because they are in charge at the moment and with Chris da Silva, the head of scouting, and we go on from there. If anybody, and I think that it will be soon, goes with us this path and this way we are glad and I think it will help.”

On European Coaching Options:

“This is the gap to close because if you hire one who has not at least the ability to get used to the system, at least the intelligence to accept what the rules are, that will cause problems,” he said. “Therefore we have to take decisions which will last at least for a good development of the structure of the club.”

On Richie Williams:

“He’s a guy who has so much passion for this club and he knows the MLS and yeah, I think he made a real good impression,” he said.

On DP’s and Future Signings:

“I think [it is] important for sure that we bring our quality up on the team, that we play a real good season in the MLS,” Beiersdorfer said. “If we have a chance to bring in a player who is well known and can give us a big impact on the player side, inside, to make the other players better, but also on the communications side, media side, we will try and get a player signed who … first of all be a very good football player and be for sure also a Red Bull testimonial.”

Three lessons I learned from this read?

1 – He values Richie Williams work, and recognizes what he has accomplished. He also realizes that other teams would snatch him up in a second.

2 – He recognizes that not anyone can come into MLS and be successful, especially when looking into the intricate nature of managing in a league chock full of . . . ahem . . . “unique” rules and regulations.

3 – He isn’t telling anyone whether or not he will hire a sporting director or a coach first, regardless of the dangerous predicament the club is in with Williams able to move as he pleases.

What do you think of Dietmar’s responses? Surprised? Disappointed? Is Sprockets your thing, or am I losing you with the age gap (I am the oldest 29 year old ever, ever.)? Let us know what you think!

Hopefully, they don’t get the Dane Richards treatment.

By the way, it is nice to see the ownership do a little something to keep the local boys fit and inspired during the off season (that is, if they are footing the bill!). Though this is by no means a trial for them, they may impress enough to warrant a look. Who knows!

Anyhow, share your thoughts on the trio’s trip.

DC United have just announced the formal resignation of head coach Tom Soehn from the organization. Soehn accumulated a respectable 36-30-24 MLS record, with a total of 55-48-31 in all competitions. So what cost him? Disappointing results in the face of high expectations. The team went a mediocre 9-8-13 and once again missed the playoffs.

Why is this relevant? Well, if you follow the pulse of the DC United supporters, it is clear that their wish list can be condensed to two potential candidates; Preki and Richie Williams. Williams, a beloved figure for DC in his own right, is now well in sight for this unique opportunity.

This will no doubt push Red Bulls hand in the teams reorganization, and may in fact clue everyone in on just how highly the team ranks Richie Williams in it’s future. Should they be slow to pull the trigger on hiring Richie, it will make it that much more difficult to keep him out of the jaws of United.

What should Red Bull do?

It is in this vane that I have compiled a list of 12 stand outs of the decade, and a fill in the box for people to add their own write in vote. These are the players that did the most to positively contribute to the teams overall successes, and it will be up to you to vote and decide who the face of the decade will be.

I will be randomly reposting this poll for the next 7+ days or so (depending on response) and will make an announcement of the winner shortly there after.

Pass this poll along to all Metro Bull fans who want to throw in their two cents!
I really would like a consensus ranging from the hardcore to the casual fan.

Let your voice be heard! Who is your Metro Bull Player of the Decade?

Who Is The Red Bulls/Metrostars Player Of The Decade?(trends)

Asked if Altidore had put the twit in Twitter, an unimpressed Brown replied: “I’d have put an ‘a’ in it.”

Now that is the kind of comment Maradona would be proud of!

But the Prem is a different beast all together, and when your squad is in desperate need for goals, even a prolonged punishment to your young star striker may be a lesson the team can not afford to dish out. Jozy found some pitch time in the 58th minute, subbing in for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in hopes of igniting some sort of spark to the attack. Burnley’s Graham Alexander had other plans, as he netted a brace that proved to be too much for the Tiger’s to handle.

This seems to conclude the first public issue of Jozy Altidores young Prem career. And from the looks of it, he won’t be relegated to the bosses dog house. Let’s just hope Hull City follows suit and stays away from relegation as well.

For those who care, I am doing weekend duties on the main Offside page. Started last week, and I will be sharing the load with a combo of theoffsides finest – Rob, Jan and of course, Laurie. So check these installments out, shoot on by, and give your opinions outside of the Red Bulls sphere.

Enjoy – and thanks for the support:

Rafa Benitez: Liverpools fortunes his fault?
Beckham in MLS Playoffs for First Time
Maradona: Foul Mouthed Conspiracy Theorist

Now, here is The Offside MVP John Wolyniec doing “THRILLER!”

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

It’s Erik Stover.

Is this another automated call to buy season tickets? Not this time.

You are offered the position of teams Sporting Director. And you jump at the chance.

But now what? Well, I turn it over to you -

What would you do to turn around this franchise ahead of the 2010 season?

Here is an example from yours truly:

1 – Aggressively pursue Thierry Henry till the bitter end. The way he is heralded in New York as compared to the way he is riding the bench at Barcelona may make the move that much more enticing NOW (and take advantage of the man’s midlife crisis if he is having one. Worked with Beckham!)

2 – If Henry is unavailable by the start of the season, look towards a name player to fill in the gaps until he is here. Figo would be a nice one year fix for the team, and would ingratiate Red Bull to the Harrison community.

3 – Make signing a CAM the teams top priority.

4 – Draft focus: defense.

5 – Embrace your heritage. There is no reason for the team to diminish Metrostars when the battle has already been won. By putting up classic pics like Clint Mathis in his I Love NY moment on the Arena walls, you will finally highlight the richness of the clubs history, and would extend a much needed olive branch to the teams hardcore supporters.

6 – Along the same lines, continue using past players for outreach purposes. Tony Meola, Claudio Reyna, Gio Savarese, Tab Ramos and the like, whether in management or marketing positions, would be able to command local respect.

7 – Marketing should be aggressively pursued in the Harrison market through grass roots efforts. Local soccer clinics, signings, taking part in community events, hell even open tryouts and the like will enable Harrison to embrace the team as its own. Similarly, RB will have the opportunity to attract the New York audience as well, with a PATH train just a hop, skip and jump away.

8 – Cut down the CDM’s on this team. What are there, like 6 of them now? Time to chop the dead weight.

9 – Emphasis an attacking minded approach to the teams overall philosophy. Let’s face it; 25,000+ fans won’t happen everyday. So it is up to the team to show a quality and exciting team that people will want to revisit time and again (think NHL post “trap” era).

10 – Hire a coach who won’t have to start their MLS education on year one (in other words, Richie Williams).

11 – Create the proper grounds for the teams supporters groups to flourish, as has been done in Seattle. It adds greatly to the in game experience.

See? Easy huh? Well, take a stab at it. What would you do? Am I way off base? Let me know in the comments section. See ya there . . . (and don’t worry about being as long winded as me!)