I HATE the 4-5-1, and our Top Ten!

By: Dave Martinez | May 28th, 2008

Before we get off to yet another rant, I present to you the RB OFFSIDE TOP 10!

The Top Ten Excuses for Being Pwnd by the Chicago Fire:

#10 – It was hot out – and everyone knows Red Bulls hate heat
#9 – The field turf in Giants Stadium cooked most of the rubber off our players cleats.
#8 – Jozy Altidore didnt do enough Cheerleading through the initial 60 minutes of play
#7 – Osorio was spotted catching a sun tan with ESC in 101.
#6 – The team didn’t eat their Fruit Loops.
#5 – Borman, Reyna, Sassano, and Richards REALLY missed Van den Bergh. REALLY missed him.
#4 – Hauptman sent Richie Williams a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a simple note – “Dont show up tonite.”
#3 – El Jorobado was able to duck people with his deceptively flexible hunchback.
#2 – Conde and Marmol were working as spies all along . . .
#1 – Fire Burns.

Now back to the topic at hand.

FORMATION: 4-5-1

Ah. 4-5-1. The numbers alone send a memory shock through my system stemming from a less than inspiring USMNT performance from the 2006 World Cup. You remember that cup don’t you? Where our coach decided to use the vaunted “fad” formation to surprise the world?

Yea. Great surprise.

Well, when Juan Carlos Osorio came in, I assumed the 4-5-1 would go the route of Bruce Arena – out the door. At least for home games. Low and behold, the Bulls play one of their biggest rivals (probably THE biggest at the moment) at home, in one of the most widely anticipated and talked about games of the year, and they trot the squad out in a 4-5-1 package.

That should have been the initial warning flair. Are the Bulls, sans Osorio and DVB, really that impotent in their attack that Coach Osorio, familiar with the Chicago Fire strikers, decides to play an all out defensive minded structure for the full 90?

Pre-game, our projected lineup looked like this:

———Angel———Sassano————-
Borman———-Reyna—————Richards
—————–Mendes——————–
Goldthwaite–Parke—-Boyens——–Freeman
—————–Conway——————–

But what I saw on the field more closely resembled this:

——————-Angel————————-
Borman————Reyna—————Richards
———–Sassano——Mendes—————-
Goldthwaite—–Parke—-Boyens——–Freeman
——————–Conway———————

Mendes and Sassano proved to be the worst central pairing we have seen all season. Richards was really trying to be allowed into the attack, but Conde/Soumare and their backline stifled everything (Unlike Boyens who gift wrapped a penalty for Blanco). Hell, Reyna and Angel looked super frustrated all game.

Tactically, Osorio left alot to be desired this game.

Where were the subs?

Which brings me to the change of Richards and Mendes for Altidore and Magee. The idea was probably the best – but the timing? Sure, Altidore scored the lone goal for the match, but perhaps he or Magee should have been taken off the bench to begin the half. Something needed to change – the Bulls only showed life during sporatic periods of attack in the final 10 mintues of the half. Why not make a change?

I understand that the bench options are slim, but they weren’t non-existent.

Jon Conway

The Conway we feared reared his ugly head this game – the one with a lot of heart and fight, but with questionable decision making skills. Those successive goals in the 60th, though not completely his fault, were definitely a smack in the face to many RB fans who had finally put the question mark over the goal in the back of the closet. Now? Its been dusted off, and the squiggly mark will be back over the nets.

No Pun intended, but where was the Bulls FIRE? Where was their passion? This is a rivalry game. They should have been amped by the damn red card Coach Osorio was given the game before! They should have viewed this as a great time for revenge against a team that practically stole two of our best offseason prospects (Conde and Marmol). But there was no heart, no burning in the belly to make the right plays. Two early goals per half was all that was needed for this team to lose their confidence and determination in play.

Horrendous. Our worst loss in nearly 9 years comes at the hands of Hauptman and the Fire. I still feel sick over it.