Talk about a homecoming for Henry.  Amidst the Red Bulls struggles domestically, the Frenchman lead the first MLS team ever to compete in the annual tournament to a tie against his former club Arsenal in a gritty 1-1 draw.  After Joel Lindpere netted the lone goal in a win against PSG, New York was in position to take home the Emirates Cup trophy with just a tie needed against the English powerhouse.  And despite playing like pure dogshit against MLS competition, the Bulls rose to the occasion against superior opponents, taking it to PSG and Arsenal overseas.

While this tournament win will be seen Theirry’s time, let’s give credit where credit is due.  Not only did this team fly out to London just hours after the conclusion of the All Star game, but many then had to play two straight games without any reprieve.  Jan Gunnar Solli comes to mind as one of those grinders who went out and did his job despite the obvious fatigue that was setting in.  Much respect to those who put in 180 minutes over the two-day tourney.

Now the attention shifts back on the MLS schedule, with RSL on the tap.  When I was listening to the PSG-RBNY match, I heard the announcer say something about the Bulls winning just 12 of their last 88 road matches (correct me if I’m wrong).  Sounds about right, considering we didn’t win a match in all of ’09 away from the friendly confines of Giants Stadium.  New York are desperate for points, and there’s not much time left to do it.  Even with games at hand, New York are looking up in the Eastern standings.

Side note: I’ll be live blogging the match tonight, so stop by tonight about 8:45 and put your two cents in.

***********************************************************************************

Twitter – http://twitter.com/OffsideNYRB

Facebook – http://facebook.com/OffsideNYRB

Who is your MVP of the Emirates Cup?

While MLS and Red Bull Nation was enveloped in the long awaited announcement of Thierry Henry’s acquisition, a noticeable rumbling gathered amongst the flock of reporters and management which seemed to be equally noteworthy; talk of a third designated player.

Could it be Rafa Marquez, who seems to be the name on the lips of every Hispanic reporter in the city? Will it be Freddie Ljungberg, a favorite amongst the Euro crowd? Or is everyone off base in their guess work?

According to a source within the Red Bulls organization, the speculation may end sooner than people expect. Two weeks to be exact. Word is that the top target on the Red Bulls DP list has already agreed “to various important points of contention,” which should open the door for a signature as soon as next week, and an announcement by months end.

And who is this mystery player? For what it’s worth, all I could gather was that he isn’t a current MLS player, a statement echoed by Erik Soler to Kristian Dyer on MLSSoccer this morning.

From the opening of Red Bull Arena, to the signing of Thierry Henry, the excitement that is the 2010 season continues to build.

So let the speculation begin! Who will the mystery player be? Share your thoughts and guesses after the jump.

You read that right. San Jose is lead by a strong youth core, spearheaded by the likes of Ike Opara and Chris Wondolowski, and accented by the dangerous crosses of former USMNT National Team winger Bobby Convey and rock steady Joe Cannon in nets. And don’t think former Metro Bull Chris Leitch isn’t savoring this confrontation . . .

The Red Bulls continue to build on a defense first mentality that has earned the team a 5-1 record, matching their win total of last season.

And I am here to give you the play by play. So join me as we talk Red Bull football on this late night Saturday clash! Follow all the action, after the jump:

- LINEUPS:

RBNY: Coundoul, Miller, Ream, Petke, Sassano, Stammler, Lindpere, Tchani, Richards, Angel, Ibrahim

SJ: Cannon, Corrales, Burling, Hernandez, Leitch, Convey, McDonald, Andre Luiz, Gjertsen, Johnson, Wondolowski

- Tchani has earned his first start after an impressive game against Philly at the US Open Cup. A nice surprise for the youngster. And Luke Sassano sees his first action in place of Jeremy Hall. Sassano may give a bit more physicality at the position, but Richards will need a 45 minute performance like the one he had in the second half to make up for what may be an offensive loss with Halls benching.

- John McEnroe v. Bjorg . . . . meh. Wish I knew what the hell was happening here. Not quite the pregame show I had in mind . . .

- And we are underway! No Shep Messing . . . did Seeing Red! get him fired?! lol. Doubtful.

- Tchani starts a great run of play, ended with a weak shot by Angel that is gobbled by Cannon. Not a bad start.

- Well . . . Wondo gets a beating from Tchani and he picks up his first yellow in the 4th min.

- And a visual black out. Great. Now we can only rely on Cangelosi and Lisi to guide the blind.

- Ah. Visuals.

- Lindpere on the corner sends a beauty into the box, which gets headed over the top. The Bulls have some big guys up top that should be able to victimize San Jose on the heads.

- 9th – Quakes get their first real shot on which is easily stopped by Bouna. Both teams looking quick in the midfield.

- Richards playing with the type of fire we saw in the second half last week. Can he keep it up?

- 12th – Though Salou was offside, Reams seam pass was a thing of beauty.

- STRAIGHT RED CARD for LUKE SASSANO in the 12th!

- A harsh call, but it was a high, studs up sliding baseball tackle by Sassano. A terrible curse, as the Bulls will now be forced the entire play a man down. Ugly tackle by a man who has been looking for minutes.

- 14 – On the second consecutive corner, Cannon comes out to far, misplays the ball, and Stammler fails to connect a better ball to the net. It sails over, and out.

- This game started off with alot of fire. The past 6 minutes will change the dynamic. Bulls will officially be playing for the tie. But can SJ take advantage?

- With Sassanos red, should the Bulls call on Hall to replace Dane for defensive purposes? Or should they keep the Jamaican international for his obvious dangerous play?

- 20 – San Jose tempting that offside. Wondo smells blood.

22 – and the Bulls are officially playing Bunker Ball. San Jose nearly victimize Tim Ream as Bouna saves yet another point black shot (johnson).

26 – Richards caught off as Convey takes a Johnson feed and earns a corner that gets dangerously knocked about the goal mouth! Again . . . Hall for Richards for defensive purposes? Might not be a bad idea.

29 – Lindpere finds Tchani who nearly buries his chance! Could have done more.

- Visual issues becoming a major annoyance . . .

- Stammler covering the right back side.

34 – Hernandez slips, creating space for a Lindpere shot that nearly finds the back of the net! If the Bulls want a point, they need to close down these chances.

- San Jose struggling to control the ball. They make it to the top third and suddenly lose their way.

- Yellow card aside, I am liking Tchani’s ability to find the clean pass in the attack.

- 40 – Chris Leitch is aching for a goal, and is finding himself open. Problem is, he is shanking more balls than a prison knife. Guarantee he wants that one back.

-GOAL SAN JOSE! Ryan Johnson finally finds the back of the net on a beautiful one time finish. Bouna can’t save em all folks . . .

- Convey played that dangerous ball. Now the Bulls are in real trouble. They are finding chances, and the Earthquakes seem far from impressive, but even a tie at this point may be a miracle.

AND THATS THE HALF! SAN JOSE 1 – RED BULLS 0.

And boy, how a red card changes the face of a game. Expect some defensive changes in the half. It will be interesting to see how the Bulls react now that they are down a man and a goal. They will need to close down their limited chances and victimize the Quakes in the air if they stand to hold on to hope.

What do you think so far? Do they have a shot?

-

NO SUBS IN THE SECOND . . . and we are off!

Bulls playing something resembling a 4-3-2. Angel and Leitch have been going at it all night, with the former Metro getting the upper hand on many occasions. Who woulda thought?

51st minute and all is quiet on the Western front.

52 – Bobby Convey with a beautiful pass to Ryan Johnson who has a bad first touch and ruins what could have been a 2nd SJ goal.

GOAL SAN JOSE! 2-0 Home team! Gjertsen has enjoyed a great game tonight, and earns a well deserved goal.

- Hey. How many times can you expect Coundoul to save the point blank shots? Mark was right . . . it is all catching up to them this week.

- On second look, Coundoul should have absolutely saved that one. UGLY.

57 min – SALOU OUT, HALL AT RB, STAMMLER TO THE MIDFIELD

- Gjertsen is looking like Messi out there. What a shot off the rebound from about 30 yards out.

- There will be no shortage of COWS OF THE WEEK for the 11th episode of Seeing Red! . . . understatement of the season.

- 65th minute . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

- OBSERVATION: Bobby Convey has found his groove again. Looks amazing out there.

68th – BORMAN in, MILLER out

ESTONIANS! SAN JOSE LOVES YOU TOO!

- Outside of the opening lineup, have I even mentioned Angels name? Kudos to Leitch and his crew.

75th – SINISA in, TCHANI out

- Tchani enjoyed a good game, despite his yellow card. Well played game by the heralded rook.

SAN JOSE GOAL – 3-0 – Convey with a great ball to Johnson, who finds Wondo for the tap in. They are exposing the Bulls tonight.

- Again . . . so many cows of the week. Should be a fun show come Monday, that’s for sure.

- 85th minute. Cornell Glen, former Metro, finds his way on the pitch with Scott Sealy for Johnson and Wondolowski.

4-0 SAN JOSE! BIG BURLY BURLING kills Petke in the middle, and heads it home. OUCH!

- This is too ugly. And I stuck my way through it all. Hey, TheOffside.com! I WANT A RAISE FOR THIS!!!!

87 – Cornell Glen nearly makes it 5-0 as he beats Coundoul on a beautiful Convey feed, only to find woodwork.

MERCIFULLY, THIS ONE IS OVER! Bobby Convey DESTROYS the Bulls, and leads the Quakes to a blowout 4-0 victory.

Share your pain below. I know I will.

The teams were mostly comprised of groups with similiar backgrounds or associations. The coaches and management in one team, the Islanders, the Latinos, the (almost entirely) New Yorkers and then, well, the 4 Horsemen. Here were the team names and participants:

Los Tres Jefes - Jeff Agoos, Juan Carlos Osorio and Richie Williams
Preparing: An “osorio” salad with balsamic vinaigrette and a steak course with Colombian black beans

Three New Yorkers and a guy from somewhere near Australia - Petke, Wolyniec, Mendes and Boyens.
Preparing: “a beautifully presented shrimp cocktail, a second shrimp course, this time with sautéed vegetables that Boyens described as “quite divine”, and a surf and turf consisting of steak and salmon. (credit MLSnet.com)”

Undisputed - Luke Sassano, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Danleigh Borman and Dominic Oduro
Preparing: chicken with rice and their steak and potatoes dish. Afterwards, they also tried to delight the judges with some ice cream and brownies . . . nice ploy!

Caballos Viejos (Old Horses) – Jorge Rojas, Juan Pietravallo, Carlos Johnson y Alfredo Pacheco
Preparing: a “Hector” shrimp salad, salmon salad, sweet and sour chicken and steak and rice

Team Stanky Legs (which, as I was told, was a take on the dance kandji does after goals) – Khano Smith, Mac Kandji, Nick Zimmerman and Matt Mbuta
Preparing: “Stanky Leg Sauce” chicken, shrimp salad with a seasonal Bermudan vinaigrette and an Asian stir fry with peanut and black beans.

The Four Horsemen – Seth Stammler, Albert Celades, Jeremy Hall and Danny Cepero
Preparing: a steak salad, salt-baked salmon with broccoli and pasta and chicken stir fry.

I have to say, the boys were actually pretty competitive out there. And by the boys, I also mean Juan Carlos Osorio, who was into the competition as much as the next guy. But in the end, it was Caballos Viejos taking out the Four Horsemen (without Ric Flair of course) for this years title of Red Bull Iron Chef Champions. Undisputed lost its title, falling third out of six, just ahead of Los Tres Jefes and the bottom dwelling “Team Stanky Legs.” It is always a distinct pleasure to watch the guys interact off the field, letting their hair loose, and having a good time. I would highly recommend RB fans out there to join them next year for the event.

Now, a quick heads up – I will also be featuring interviews leading up to the Houston game with Mac Kandji, Albert Celades, Alfredo Pacheco, Mike Petke and Jorge Rojas all this week, so stay tuned.

Here is a video of the winners celebrating (and Mac Kandji playing the clown). I’ll have more videos for you later.

Red Bulls Iron Chef – Jorge Rojas, Pietravallo, Johnson and Alfedo Pacheco from Dave Martinez on Vimeo.

The Winners Celebrate!

Here is some stuff to hype ya’ up for tonites showcase clash, on ESPN 2 @ 10pm:

- Dema Kovalenko is dying to get into tonights game, and he tells the Desert News all about it. He disses on Coach Osorio HARD. I mean REALLY hard. Vintage Dema folks . . . give it a read.

- RSL President Bill Manning is absolutely glowing about this historic event in Utah history. Salt Lake hasn’t partied like this since James Smith . . .

- And the Red Bulls? Well, Osorio is taking on all responsibility for the teams recent play. Matter of fact, he thinks they are pressing too much. So he had them practice defensive drills this week, and kept practice lively. Will that lead to a looser squad tonight? Or a LOSER squad? We shall see . . .

Join me at 10pm tonight for the live blog (which, as always, will take place in the comments section)! And please, RSVP below . . . .

img credit: mlsnet.com

I will be at the game tonite, so don’t expect my usual running commentary. But for those that would like to use this as the games forum, feel free to comment on the action.

While we wait for the game, here is some stuff to look out for tonight:

MATCH UPS TO WATCH:

Amado Guevara v. Juan Pietravallo
Marvell Wynne v. Jorge Rojas

HAPPENINGS

Will Dave Van Den Bergh make a cameo off the bench?
Will Mbuta and Kandji find themselves in the starting 11?
Will the Red Bulls be able to solidify their playoff position?

So, I will rely on y’all to do my job for me! If not, its ok – my reviews are pretty thorough!

Take care everyone. Enjoy the game. I look forward to the commentary.