Juan Pablo Angel will lead the Red Bulls again, who else will step up? (Getty Images)

Its been a little while since we did a preseason look in on a MLS club. We hammered out about half of the league already but with the on-going CBA issue things like this had to take a backseat for a little while. Well today we’re back on the horse and continue on our preseason coverage here.

Today we have the New York Red Bulls. A lot of talk always surrounds this club each year and 2010 will be no different as the club has a new arena (finally) and a new direction in terms of management (yet again). Hans Backe is now the manager with Eric Solar leading the charge in the front office when it comes to player moves. No longer is it Juan Carlos Osorio making ill-advised moves with Jeff Agoos.

The thing is will it actually matter? Will the Solar/Backe move actually pay off and New York shines in their first season in the mecca that will be Red Bull Arena? Time will tell but we can say that anything should be an improvement on last year’s product.

So let’s see where New York is with each part of their roster and what further moves are needed to be made before the season kicks off.

Continue Reading…

Its about that time of the month again to update the rookie watch list. Since our last update a couple rookies have emerged a little more, while some are still taking a back seat as the summer months roll on.

I think now that we are halfway through the season we can have a better understanding of who is in this race and who is not. Some guys have floated on that bubble, while others are starting to place themselves in the true discussion for this award. A lot has to do with playing time, how their clubs are doing and what impact they are actually making on the field.

Still no true order to this list though, that will still come later on. Feel free as always to post your short list or discuss mine. Continue Reading…

I realize it’s been well over a month since I last updated this watch list. For good reason too, there was no need early on to update this kind of a list from week to week. That will come more in handy once we hit late August and September here. But since summer is starting up its a good time to revisit this list and give it a swift update.

A few more rookies are really starting to make an impact on their clubs here as we move forward and approach that half-way line of the season (believe it or not we are only a couple weeks from that). More rookies are starting to get playing time as the US Open Cup rolls around and even more so in league play. They are either earning their spots in practice or are filling in for injured veterans. Either way, some are starting to make the most of their chances here.

Again, this is a watch list, so for now there isn’t a real order here on the players. Though before long expect the order to be one of a ranking-style, but that won’t come until later this summer I would assume. I know I said before I would need a few weeks to truly get a top five, well it looks like I need more time on that. Mainly I want more time on that.

Here we go… Continue Reading…

A very interesting week in Major League Soccer. While the goal of the week was easy to figure out after reviewing the week’s 19 goals, the player of the week winner is a little tougher to decide.

A few guys had quality a quality game over the weekend or Thursday night for some Rapids fans. But shifting through the mess were a couple guys. Edson Buddle’s hat trick was nice but was it really good enough for player of the week? Both David Beckham and Landon Donovan had good afternoons in Dallas. Both Greg Sutton and William Hesmer recorded a shutout in the 0-0 draw in Toronto, but both were also helped by solid defense and their goal-posts. I thought Christian Gomez and Sasha Kljestan both had solid games in week eight.

But in the end I am going old school here. It took 80 minutes for New York to finally get by him and his defense but in the end this player and his club walked out of New York with a solid 1-1 tie. Yes, that man I am talking about is Kansas City Wizard goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

I know I’ve been rough on Hartman over the last year or so for showing his age and all but Saturday I got a glimpse of the past out of him. His defense cleared a couple off the line for him but shot after shot Hartman answered the call. Seven saves on the evening, all were big for the most part. Sure the one goal let in cost his club two points on the road, but I really doubt many keepers in the league would have stopped that rocket of a shot from New York’s Danleigh Boreman.

Like I said, old school. Probably Hartman’s best effort in a couple years. For me it was his best so far in his time in KC. Congrats, Hartman, I’m probably the only one talking about you outside of KC this week for this honor. Continue Reading…