Positive Reinforcements

By: Dave Martinez | April 8th, 2009

In a sea of destitution, in a world that is collapsing before our eyes, who will save the Red Bulls from certain disaster?!

Sound the horns gentlemen! The Reinforcements are arriving!

Carlos Johnson was the first to show his face, in a brief appearance this past weekend. Seth Stammler has taken part in his first workouts, getting him one step closer to manning the pitch. Jon Conway’s bogus suspension is over by the 18th. Now, Alfredo Pacheco has gone through his first training with the squad, as has Albert Celades.

Will it be enough?

Alfredo Pacheco will quickly become one of my favorite players on the team, simply because he speaks his mind, even when the organization would rather he not. In one of his chattier moments, he spoke to elsalvador.com about his arrival in MLS and his goals for success.

“I am very appreciative (of Red Bull). I have great references from my compatriots who have played in MLS; Mauricio Cienfuegos, Diaz Arce and Ronald Cerritos and big names like “El Zarco.” They are players whom have inspired to demonstrate that a country so small like ours can also play football. I hope to reach their heights of success.”

Love that confidence. And by the looks of things, the team needs a shot of it.

Each player can conceivably play a roll come this weekends clash against the Houston Dynamo. And with a bit of shape shifting, the lineup can actually take a more dangerous look on the pitch.

———–Angel—Kandji———–
————–Celades————–
Rojas—Sassano/Pietravallo—Richards
Pacheco—Petke-Mendes—–Johnson
————-Cepero—————–

See what I mean? A more balanced lineup could be the difference between a draw and a win. The Bulls are notorious under the Osorio regime for sitting on a lead. With a lineup of this potential, the game plan may actually work. You put Rojas back in a position of comfort, where pace is less of a necessity, but cheeky play and a good cross can be valued more. Richards pace will draw defenders, leaving Celades room to feed two excellent targets in Angel and Kandji.

But this is all on paper. And paper has been the best looking thing for this squad all season.

What are your thoughts? Excited to see this all finally coming together? Or has this early 0-2-1 hole, with 0 goals to boot, too much to overcome already? Discuss.

Some Related Red Bulls Posts:

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dan

The name of the game is Soccer and a soccer brain is a lot more important than raw food speed. Speed of thought is what matters and both Dane Richards and Khano Smith have a soccer brain rating of 0 to .5 at best. Notice I said .5 at best these guys are a waste on the pitch.
nolayuprule

"nail, meet head"

lol

you sound murderous when you right that! Do you often nail people's heads? wait, now it sounds dirty.

better we leave that behind.

woops, I did it again
Dave Martinez

Basically, he hasnt seen real game atmosphere in some time. Sure, he trained with the team in Argentina, but you cant equate that to a person who has been rigorously practicing for the start of the season. He has been flying all over the place for his VISA, and has just begun to settle. Give him another week for the start. If he does start this week, as I hope, it will be an added bonus.
RobStyles

Dave
Why do you leave Celades out of both of your potential lineups? Just curious if you had any insight on that from within?
dave martinez

He is wearing 16 in practice but who knows about the actual games.
NCerritos

Dave, do you know what jersey number Alfredo Pacheco will be wearing? i saw on wikipidea that it was #16?
Dave Martinez

"9 out of 10 times I would prefer a not-so-fast players with great football instincts." - Definition of Van Den Bergh. And a reason why I feel Rojas should be put back on the left wing side. With Pacheco pushing behind, they could POTENTIALLY be a dangerous combo.

"we’ve seemed incapable of exploiting our speed and skill in the attack and I think a lot of that has to do with needing every body back on defense as the midfield falls apart and our back line chokes."

Nail, meet head. Perfectly put. Add on to that a bit of confusion in CB that forces the mids to do just that, and you have a completely exposed lineup. My hope is these "positive reinforcements" will allow more players, like Rojas, fall into more natural positions.
Pico

nola,

the basic problem is that we have a lot of speed in the team but not enough skill to go with it, therefore the big flaw in the system. Khano is inept to say the least, and Richards has been in a funk since day one. I would be inclined to try Hall in his place.

9 out of 10 times I would prefer a not-so-fast players with great football instincts.

Cheers
nolayuprule

Id love to see a 4-4-2 formation.

Im really hopeful that a solid base on defense will allow us to challenge more for possession in the midfield. A more aggressive midfield will allow Angel, richards and Kandji to run out more and get in scoring position.

we've seemed incapable of exploiting our speed and skill in the attack and I think a lot of that has to do with needing every body back on defense as the midfield falls apart and our back line chokes.

Im also in agreement that Rojas might be better served playing back in a clever but conservative role
Dave Martinez

Pico - lets be honest. They will be on the road, so you KNOW its going to be a 4-5-1 regardless of what is happening. But I HOPE beyond hope that a simple 4-4-2 be executed.

To potential real lineups (and not just your fantasy or mine! lol)

----------Angel----------
Smith-----Rojas-----Kandji
-----Sassano-Pietravallo---
Pacheco - Petke - Mendes - Johnson
Cepero/Conway

OR

Angel - Kandji
Smith - Rojas - Sassano - Richards
Pacheco - Petke - Mendes - Johnson
Cepero/Conway

I agree with Stammler at the 5, but to be honest? I feel that a lack of depth at the centerback position will probably force Stammy to play there at some point this season.
Pico

Dave,

What would be your preferred lineup once we have all players available? I would tweak your 4-3-1-2 to:

Angel - Kandji
Celades
Rojas - Sassano/Stammler - Hall
Pacheco - Petke - Mendes - Johnson
Cepero/Conway

But then we are counting on Sassano/Stammler to provide service between the back line and Celades. I like Seth but he is more of a destroyer '5' and Sassano seems lost when paired with Rojas. You could go to a more traditional 4-4-2

Angel - Kandji
Rojas - Stammler - Celades - Hall
Pacheco - Petke - Mendes - Johnson
Cepero/Conway

Hall will still provide the speed we are used to from Richards, but he has better football sense, and Rojas is not that slow on the other side.

Cheers
Dave Martinez

I actually had to go back and change some stuff after I posted, since I put Osorio at CAM for some reason. Its been a busy morning, but thankfully, no one caught that hahaha.
Dave Martinez

Sorry, I missed alot.

Ok. From what I understand, like Hall, Celades may be looked at to push the ball forward from a mid position, instead of playing his traditional CDM, since we have about 15 of those.

Echeverry was cut the minute Celades was made available. That I also was not able to update.

And I meant to put Johnson instead of Hall. My bad. lol.
nolayuprule

I was under the impression that Celades was a defensive mid or even an center back. You list his potential position as a creating mid. Was I totally off on this? Im sure you are dead on as usual.

whats the story with Johnson? Is he not fit to play yet?

have we dropped Echeverry?