Write On Sports LLC - "Red Bull New York 2006: Running in Mud" by Jeff Bull

Red Bull New York 2006: Running in Mud

2006-12-28 12:44:13 | By: Jeff Bull

On March 9, 2006, the New York MetroStars, once known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, became something else again: Red Bull New York. The change came with the purchase of the club by the famous energy drink company, Red Bull. Unfortunately for “MetroBull” fans, that was about the only meaningful change that would take place in 2006. Otherwise, the past season treated the faithful to painfully familiar sights and sounds: grumbling players, a mini-parade of coaches, and ragged inconsistency on the field. By season’s end, any expectations raised by the change in management flaked away like cheap paint, revealing same sputtering lemon underneath.

New Men

Few teams in Major League Soccer share Red Bull’s history for intra-season roster purges - and 2005-06 featured more of the same. The team parted with, in no particular order, midfielders Michael Bradley and Eddie Gaven, defender Tim Ward, and forwards Thiago Martins and Sergio Galvan Rey; Jean-Philippe Peguero briefly joined Red Bull in exchange for Martins, but he was gone three months after arriving. The arrivals started with midfielders Danny O’Rourke and veteran Chris Henderson and continued with Scottish defender/midfielder Peter Canero, defender Steve Jolley, goalkeeper Jon Conway, and, in a move that seemed particularly significant, forward Edson Buddle. Only Conway and Henderson had decent years, which pointed to the familiar case of much motion and little affect.

The one place where Red Bull hit pay-dirt was a comparatively unusual one: the January Superdraft. While the bulk of drafted players tend to wash out, Red Bull picked up two high-upside rookies. Draft day finagling won them the first pick of the draft, which they used to acquire right-sided defender Marvell Wynne. But the selection now drawing the most notice is their second choice: forward Josmer Altidore, who went as the 17th pick overall. For all these rookies contributed on the field, they provided something more significant in the grand scheme: hope for the future.

The Bad

When discussing “the bad” of Red Bull New York, it’s almost necessary to include a player that also provides much of “the good”: Honduran playmaker Amado Guevara. With age, and not a little indifference, eroding the impact of his rival, Frenchman Youri Djorkaeff - something that became more apparent as the season progressed - Guevara became the clear go-to player in 2006. Unfortunately for Red Bull, Guevara’s considerable talent is surpassed only by his touchy temper; their “go-to player” alternately sulked, hid, and shined throughout the season. Other players - Peguero, Buddle, even Mike Magee - failed to significantly complement or even replace the Honduran; only Peguero came close before moving on to Denmark.

The absence of a consistent (or neurosis-free) on-field leader, not only in midfield, but anywhere on the field, constitutes one of Red Bull’s persistent weaknesses; the only question is how far it goes in contributing to the side’s woes. For instance, does the habit of surrendering backbreaking equalizers - as they did to fatal effect in the second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinal against DC United - grow from it? Is this why the Red Bull’s first win of 2006 - which came after five draws and one loss, the slowest start in the league - ended with a 5-4 scoreline, a trading of blows more reminiscent of amateur boxing than professional soccer? Because the question deals in intangibles, it’s impossible to make a definitive case one way or the other. But something clearly ails this team - and has throughout its existence.

The Good

Red Bull’s coaching parade may seem an odd choice for the “the good” pile. After all, with inconsistency posing so great a problem, what good can come from passing the coaching tracksuit between three different men? The answer comes in the identity and stature of the third coach. After starting the year under two inexperienced coaches - former MLS players Mo Johnston and Richie Williams - Red Bull hired former U.S. Men’s National team coach Bruce Arena, quite possibly the biggest name in U.S. Soccer. The significance of Arena’s hire has less to do with his specific talents - though those are both proven and considerable - than with the reality that his reputation virtually obligates Red Bull to give him time and space to actually build a team.

The actual agreement goes even further: Arena wasn’t hired just as coach, but also as the club’s “sporting director,” a title that gives him say in virtually all aspects of team operations. He manages the day-to-day coaching duties, plays a central role in selecting and signing players to the senior team, while also shaping the reserve, youth and academy teams for Red Bull. In other words, the buck for all team operations stops in the vicinity of Arena. And that’s the good news: for the first time in their (nearly) coach-a-year existence, Red Bull New York will enjoy a degree of stability, perhaps even for several years.

Wrap-Up

The 2006 regular season ended in much the same fashion as their 2005: they squeaked into the playoffs on the final game with the lowest points total of any team (39) and at the expense of the Kansas City Wizards. For all the noise that attended Arena’s hire - who wisely played down expectations by limiting his ambitions for the club to making the playoffs - he didn’t significantly improve the team’s performance; in fact, Red Bull’s highest points-per-game average came under Williams - but even that spell was decidedly mediocre. As implied above, they did reach Arena’s modest goal in that their season ended during the post-season. But it is hardly irrelevant that they ended 2006 as they started it - i.e. by failing to either pad their lead while they dominated, or by failing to protect it when they couldn’t score.

The Future

The $64,000 question is what will happen if Arena’s coaching philosophy doesn’t work? He certainly wouldn’t be the first coach to fail with Red Bull New York - one of the longer lists in MLS’s history books. The off-season also saw the departure of Guevara, who jumped coasts to join Chivas USA. As much as that move may have removed a proverbial “locker room cancer,” the greater significance of that departure comes with what Red Bull got in return: an additional “designated player” slot, a device that allows them to sign high-profile, high-cost players over MLS’s rigidly enforced salary cap. This means Red Bull has two designated player slots: the one they received by trading Guevara and the one automatically awarded to all teams in MLS. This gives Arena one of the biggest legs-up in the history of Red Bull’s annual, intra-season rebuilding projects. Given New York’s history, where players have come and gone with so little changing, it still seems the deciding factor for 2007 will come down to Arena’s coaching.

Editor's Note: This is part of a series wrapping up the 2006 season for each of Major League Soccer's 12 teams. Readers can find other entries in the series by clicking on the author's byline.

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