Titles, Trades, Turmoil, and Turkey

By: Eric Giacometti | December 7th, 2010

omg

Man oh man, what a few weeks it’s been. Apologies for the brief hiatus but the finals crunch has proved pretty time consuming. So I figured now would be as good a time as any to introduce a new segment called “In case you’ve been living under a rock…” where I’ll run through all the top events that I’ve missed since my last post. Now let’s get to it:

The Colorado Rapids took home the MLS Cup beating FC Dallas 2-1, and who else but former Red Bull Macoumba Kandji proved to be the difference. His late entrance to the game sparked the offense and his shot was deflected in for the own goal winner… open hand, apply to face, shake head, repeat.
Tim Ream and Juan Agudelo made their USMNT debuts in Cape Town as they took on South Africa. Ream got the nod in the starting 11 and played very solidly in his first cap. 17-year-old Agudelo was entered the game on a late substitution, and scored the game’s only goal. Great day for the Red Bulls and US Soccer…
…followed by a miserable day for US Soccer, as Qatar was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup, a head scratcher to say the least. Many have cried foul citing that FIFA is a corrupt organization. While I’m not sure how much truth there is to that claim, it’s pretty certain that this was a deflating day for our nation.
The expansion draft came and went, and NYRB were completely unscathed as both Portland and Vancouver passed up on all New York players.
But that’s not to say New York hasn’t lost any players since the last day of the 2010 season. The Red Bulls are no longer associated with Luke Sassano, Carey Talley, and yes, in case you haven’t heard, this guy named Juan Pablo Angel as they all entered the MLS Re-Entry Draft. The reality of his departure has just recently set in for me. The Red Bulls will be without their most prolific goal scorer and their skipper, leaving the question of “who will wear the armband next season?” (You can read more about my thoughts on JPA here)
Another player no longer in New York is defender/midfielder Jeremy Hall. The Portland Timbers received hall in exchange for a 3^rd round Superdraft pick. As a personal fan of Hall (and fellow Terp) I think this was a pretty poor move by management. Although Hall and an injured plagued 2010 campaign, he showed real promise playing on the flanks as a midfielder. At the very least, New York could have done better than a mere 3^rd round pick for Hall’s talents, a Generation Adidas player.
In other international news, midfielder Dane Richards continued his exceptional form for his national side of Jamaica scoring three goals over a five game span in the 2010 Caribbean Championship. Hopefully, this is an indicator that his form over the latter half of the 2010 MLS season was not just a hot streak, but rather a turn for the better in Richards’ career.

Phew, I think that just about covers everything. Hopefully we won’t be seeing this segment too often in the future, but you never know. If I missed anything that you want me to talk about, let me know in the comments, I love hearing your thoughts. Cheers and Happy Holidays.

P.S. Check out my info page by clicking my name at the beginning of my posts (or right here). Personal and contact info enclosed for anyone interested.

Who Should Be the Red Bulls Captain in 2011?Market Research

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Category: CURRENT ROSTER, Carlos Mendes, Dane Richards, FORMER METROS, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, Misc, NATIONAL NEWS, News, Rafa Marquez, Red Bulls, Results, Team News, Thierry Henry, Transfers

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88fan

A long nawaited well done post. Your separate blog on JPA was so dead on....he is a great captain and the face of the RB's....Henry will neve be JPA...he will get his share of goals but not be the leader, Marquez will need to be more passionate and show more of his edge before his teammates will stand behind him...Juan Pablo was pure class and produced.....I wish he could stay. Hall will be missed but his position can be ably filled by others ...but u r right a 3rd rounder was less than mv. US does get screwed again.....how can we not get the WC!!!??? I wish it was at least in the same time zone...getting up in the middle of the niht or early moring to watch really blows. Good luck on your finals and Keep em coming.
Hans-Backenator

hall will not be missed by many, but my heart bleeds red bull beverages for the loss of juan pablo
LA_RA99

not true at all, speak for yourself about hall, don't put the rest of NYRB fans in that blanket statement
The new JPA

Honestly all Red Bulls Fans should feel like we can do better than Jeremy Hall this year he played about 900 minutes or just about 10 games, he had 1 assist 0 goals. As a right back and even right midfielder we need more production more service, that didnt cut it. In his career as a Red Bull, around 3000 minutes or just about 30 games he has had 2 assists 0 goals... I can't really see how he is going to be missed.
Eric Giacometti

haha thank you tom and jon for ripping into hall cuz he's a terp... but as a right back who didn't get much time how much can you expect from him? he did a serviceable job and i dont think you should look at his lack of goal production as a negative. How many goals did miller, mendes, or albright score?
The new JPA

If you are actually asking, miller and albright each had two assists, and mendes had one (as a CENTER BACK...i don't know how you expect our center back to have that much offensive production) I think your bias towards the turtles has gone a bit too far on the loss (or rather the gain of a third round pick) of your beloved jeremy hall.
MyboyDane@mawwwd.com

I feel that America has and is dominating almost every major sport on the planet and the world/FIFA is afraid to let the US get that much closer to the only sport they have left that they can call their own (for which ever countries are up top). If the US were to host a World Cup young American children would be inspired and start choosing soccer over baseball football ect. Therefore this is a conspiracy and the World Cup needs to come to America because we are the best country ever!
Sad to see you go Jual Pablo. Your 90th minute free kick from 35 yards out to win the game last year made me the fan I am today (along with Dane Richards).
GO AMERICA
HBVA

After looking into why they chose Qatar for the 2022 Wc, I realized that this is similar to the choosing of Rio for the 2016 Summer Olympics. It's new, and that's pretty much all that Qatar has to offer. It will be interesting to see if their government is able to build up their public infrastructure enough to afford the building and revamping of stadiums, but I guess they have some time to get it done. Keep these coming!
The new JPA

Similar... hmmm lets consider this Rio's average summer temp is mid 70's (since its the southern hemisphere's winter during this time) while Qatar's is around 115. Qatar is the size of connecticut and only lets tourists drink alcohol. Rio is normal, Qatar is absurd. the voting was a conspiracy against America. Face the truth. Long Live Backe!