Gabriel Cichero, We Hardly Knew Ye!

By: Dave Martinez | November 27th, 2008

The Red Bulls announced the release of Sainey Touray, Gorden Klejstan, and Gabriel Cichero. Yes, you read that right; midseason super signing Gabriel Cichero. The guy who would be the future anchor of the Red Bulls franchise. The person who would be the glue to the defensive 3 (or 4), controlling the backline like a young general.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, Cichero debuted on fire, took time away for Nat duties, and never got back in the rhythm. As our reader NLR is very quick to point out, Cichero was always good for a goal a game – against us. Constantly, Cichero would be on the wrong end of the hand of fate (or the poo stick if you will). His mistakes cost us games, points – you name it, he hurt it.

But lets take a step back. Is this the best move for the Red Bulls?

As a whole, Gabe Cichero has quite the resume. He is a young national in one of the worlds toughest regions. This year alone, his play has helped his national team secure much needed points in dire World Cup qualifying. For the Red Bulls, he helped stifle a mid summers rut, before imploding of course. The point? He does have some admirable qualities as a player.

His fault came in his lack of adjustment to the league, and his inability to keep a mental focus on the here and now, not his past mistakes. Could he have gotten past this? Possibly. But Coach Osorio wasn’t convinced.

Now, does a resume, and some early achievement mean that the team made a mistake? No, quite the contrary. Leadership comes from making the hard decisions. Cichero was a tough one, considering the high hopes the team and Osorio had. Even so, he did not perform up to snuff, and an executive decision was made. Cold, direct, to the point. They see the same resume we do, but it won’t cloud their on the field judgment.

Personally? I feel that one more season as a Bull wouldn’t have hurt the team. He still has alot of potential, but with his uncertainty this season, no chances could be taken, and that is the teams decision.

Now, I know alot of you have differing views on this. Did anyone believe in the young Vinotinto anymore, or was I the only one willing to turn the other cheek for one more season?