Ties ’til We Die

Another week, another disappointing performance for RBNY.  Par for the course, I would say (No Backe reference intended).  With the lowly Fire in town, you’d probably expect a win in front of the sell out crowd at RBA… who am I kidding, we were all pretty much expecting the worst the way things have been going lately.  And while the 2-2 draw isn’t worst-case scenario, the clock is ticking on New York’s playoff hopes.

The Red Bulls are fading fast.  Even with games at hand against many of their Eastern Conference rivals, the Bulls find themselves slipping farther and farther down the table.  This is the same team that many were debating to be the best MLS squad ever assembled; yet their playoff legitimacy is seriously in question.  Go figure.

Gotta say, it was great to see RBA sold out and rocking last night.  Despite the team’s struggles, the fans are still behind this team (for the most part) and are getting behind the boys in white in full force.  The match started off with a lot of promise, too.  The possession play seemed to be back and Henry smashed home a class finish from just outside that 18 that beat Sean Johnson to the far post giving the Bulls a 1-0 advantage within 10 minutes.

Despite their strong play, the Fire managed to put away their two first half chances and take a 2-1 lead into halftime.  In all honestly, I think Chicago may have had two or three chances all game… that’s it.  But that’s they way soccer is; take your chances and you’ll have a pretty good chance to win.  The Bulls had loads of chances but didn’t have much to show for it, that is until Dane found a certain Estonian in the box who one touched it beautifully into the side netting.

From then on, the Red Bulls had the lion’s share of possession and created chance after chance.  Yet with each missed scoring opportunity, you could feel the chance for three points slipping away.  Yeah, I’m just as pissed as you guys that the Bulls have managed yet another tie, but there were some encouraging signs from last night.

First of all, Backe made a sub before the 85^th minute and no one was injured.  Yeah, you read that right.  I nearly shit my pants when I saw bench activity so early in the match (by Backe’s standards anyway).  The addition of Agudelo was key as hey worked his ass off, perhaps with some angry energy after Richards started up with Henry in his place.  Surprisingly enough, I was also impressed with the Red Bulls latest pick up Stephane Auvrey as he showed a lot of energy off the bench coming in for McCarty.  He was tough to knock of the ball and won crucial challenges in the midfield.  He even had a few scoring opportunities in the waning moments of the match.   And just in case it hasn’t been said before, Henry and Lindpere are absolutely BEASTS.  It’s clear that the Frenchman is here for much more than just a paycheck and has played as if he has something to prove.  As for Lindpere, he’s proved time and time again why he’s my favorite player.  He refuses to be outworked and doesn’t back down from anyone.  The way he barked at the ref after his goal got me pumped.  He don’t take no shit, and that mohawk is filthy.

What did you think about RBNY’s latest result?  Does this team still have what it takes?  Lemme know down below.

Side Note: Open practice in NYC was awesome, Red Bulls should do this more often.  It’s pretty damn cool to see all the players up close like that.  I got some autographs, pictures, and got interviewed for the team site too… not a bad day if you ask me.  Bee tee dubs, check out the epic voice crack at 3:04, top class.

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Category: CURRENT ROSTER, Dane Richards, FORMER METROS, Joel Lindpere, Juan Agudelo, Mehdi Ballouchy, Red Bulls, Results, Roundup!, Thierry Henry