Juan Carlos Osorio didn't help matters in New York. (Getty Images)

Not much was good in 2009 for the New York Red Bulls. Fresh off a trip to the MLS Cup in 2008 many thought this could be a break out season for the club. Instead the season got started with a bang in a bad way by losing to an expansion club on opening day 3-0 in Seattle. The Red Bulls failed to get a win until the middle of April and by the time summer had rolled around the club had already lost seven games out of 12 regular season matches.

The times the Red Bulls did win was at home, all five wins came at home against clubs that had terrible road records on the year like Dallas, Real Salt Lake, San Jose and Toronto. Their only good win of the year came at home against the Columbus Crew on a day that saw the club reach it’s only winning streak of the season.

You could blame a lot of the season on poor coaching by Juan Carlos Osorio early on. Osorio changed the line-ups with this club more than most of us change clothes in a week. It seemed as though every time we turned around there was a different person in the starting lineup for Osorio. Throw that in with the fact that Osorio and Jeff Agoos made terrible calls on player pickups and the Red Bulls got to where they are at today.

When Osorio stepped down Richie Williams stepped in for the interim role. Not much changed but the club did win more games under Williams than Osorio. Still the club never won a road game all season and their winless streak on the road is growing still to this date.

So with the theme that I plan on using with all MLS clubs this year when I review their season I plan on asking a couple questions to sum things up. What went right? What went wrong? And what is next?

What Went Right In 2009?
Not much went right in 2009 but the five games that were won were done in mostly big ways when the offense actually came alive and was mostly healthy. Big results like 5-0 over Toronto on the season finale, 4-1 over San Jose, or even the 2-0 win over RSL. One could say the Red Bulls did draw six games on the year and while that isn’t bad it isn’t great either. Four of their draws did come before the All-Star break and only one was a shutout.

What Went Wrong In 2009?
Just about everything. Moves that were made never panned out to anything. Key players were hurt nearly all season like Juan Pablo Angel. The defense was by far the worst the league has seen in a couple years. You can’t have a -20 goal differential on the season and consider it good. It was certainly a season that Red Bull fans will want to forget and forget quickly.

What’s Next?
For starters finding a coach that actually understands the league setup. New York has had an issue with stability in coaching over the years and that has caused them to be the mess that they are today. Is Richie Williams the right guy for the club? Possibly but I see him going to DC instead. After finding a coach they need to gut this team. If anything this club needs to be a bit more like LA by getting the right mix of young and old on this roster. They’ve signed too many old guys that basically come here and contribute nothing. And they get too many young guys that are overrated and produce nothing. Rebuilding is going to be rough for a club that will want to do a lot for their move to Red Bull Arena. I have no doubt we will see plenty of money spent this winter by this club but it is only a matter of time before we see how well that money was actually spent.

Instead of waiting on the pink slip, Juan Carlos Osorio took it upon himself to pull a Fernando Clavijo and resign from the New York Red Bulls. Not many details are out yet but a conference call is set for a couple hours from now.

Ives, the New York Post and others are all reporting it.

It looks like assistant coach Richie Williams is set to be the interim coach, a move that I said would be a smart one by the Red Bulls if they’d just pull the trigger on Osorio. Those in New York may recall Williams stepping in when Mo Johnston got the boot a few years back. His record as an interim coach was 4-3-2 In all competitions.

Osorio leaves New York with very little. He proved he really couldn’t coach in Major League Soccer after all, going 21-31-21 (including playoffs).

Now for the brass to get rid of Jeff Agoos and really clean up the mess there would be a start. Most are saying Osorio and Agood never saw eye to eye, which would explain a lot of things.

Jeff Agoos and Juan Carlos Osorio have messed up a lot of player picks, thankfully rookie Jermey Hall isn't going to be one of them.

Red Bull fans can celebrate something, the two men responsible for this terrible season will not return in 2010 according to Stefon Bondy of The Bergen Record (NJ). Juan Carlos Osorio and Jeff Agoos will not return with the club next year.

“They know it’s important to make this move, but they know the problem isn’t just about one or two people,” a source told the Record. “With the new stadium opening, the team is approaching one of the most critical points in its history.”

From the sound of things nothing will happen until after this season finishes. It is still weird that the owners would let this terrible season ride out with Agoos and Osorio still kind of weird. Instead of letting assistant coach Richie Williams take over for the remaining part of the season would make sense but nothing has made sense in New York this season.

Who the club will go after in the off season will definitely be a story to follow. Let’s hope for Red Bull fans sake they go after someone who can actually coach and scout in this league.

Juan Pablo Angel and the New York fans deserve better. (Getty Images)

After 17 minutes into the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League play-in stage, the New York Red Bulls who had seen their MLS season go to waste took a 1-0 lead over the visiting Trinidad and Tobago side W Connection. Everything was looking good and looking as if the club could actually have something to play for in the final months of the season. But before the end of the first half the Red Bulls went from being up 3-2 in the series to down 4-3.

In the blink of the eye the season is now officially over.

I’ll be brief with this thought about the Red Bulls. It is time to start blowing this club up. It starts with at least two men, Jeff Agoos and Juan Carlos Osorio. While I think the owners of the energy drink may hold off on JCO due to possibly having to buy out his contract. I do believe it is time to get rid of Agoos though who has been just as much to blame on the roster construction as Osorio. I mean in his time with New York, Agoos has turned into the Isaiah Thomas of soccer (without the sexual harassment issues).

Bad signing after bad signing got them here. Poor coaching didn’t help either.

After ridding themselves of those two parts they need to re-do this roster that is full of parts that just don’t work. I think it starts with getting good young American talent into the mix for once and to stop relying on aging talent from abroad that just doesn’t work out in this league. Throw in some veteran players that can contribute and then maybe get a couple foreign parts that fit the league’s style of play.

With a new stadium opening up next spring the owners need to make a serious splash with this club. Give the fans something to be excited to see on the field. The few that are left like those who showed up last night deserve much better than this.

Thing is after JCO and Agoos, what do you do with this club?

Somehow this man still has a job. (Getty Images)

In light of Kansas City dismissing manager Curt Onalfo yesterday evening, I figured it was high time I updated my coaching hot seat look once again. Funny thing was yesterday I was already set to work on this and got caught up in something else, by the time I went back into it last night the news came down about Onalfo.

And yes, if you are wondering he was going to be on the list.

But looking at the rest of the sack race here I figure it is easier to break things up into a couple different groups. See we all figure coaches with clubs near the bottom of the table need sacked but in the case of a couple teams, that just won’t happen, at least not this season. In other cases there are a couple coaches that should feel some heat based on how their clubs are doing and based on pre-season expectations placed on them. Lastly, there is a group that just needs to go and saying that it really could be just a matter of time.

As always if you think I am missing on any coach below or think I need to add another to a certain group, feel free to post below. Continue Reading…

How's the tension between Landon Donovan and David Beckham? (Getty Images)

Let’s just say tonight’s clash in Giant’s Stadium will be an interesting one to tune into if you can. While the Red Bulls are embarking on one of the worst seasons in league history, the LA Galaxy are hoping their chances of reaching the playoffs for the first time in a couple years continue to grow as they get the return of David Beckham.

A lot of hype is going into this game due to the new book out by Grant Wahl (great read if you haven’t picked it up already). Thing is it probably won’t nearly be enough hype to get this game to the level it was two years ago at Giant’s Stadium when 66,000+ were on hand to witness an epic 5-4 clash between the Red Bulls and Galaxy. The Red Bulls won that first Beckham meeting.

This isn’t your 2007 Galaxy, nor is it your 2008 Galaxy. While Beckham has been off in Europe these last couple months the mix of young and old has served Bruce Arena pretty well. Even with only 24 points in the standings, the Galaxy are in playoff contention. That’s something the previous two Galaxy clubs couldn’t say at this point in the season.

I think we can expect a physical game tonight between these two sides. The biggest question will be how Beckham is used on the field for Arena. Currently the Galaxy do well by holding enough possession early to grab a goal and then allow their defense to sit back to get points.

The Red Bulls are faced with their 20th match of the season tonight. They are still a bit banged up with injuries here though several players are slowly starting to get healthy. Which may be good for their CONCACAF Champions League games but it may not mean they will be back for tonight’s game. Defensively the Red Bulls still have too many questions and that may be enough for Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle to do their work in front of the net.

I do see this game being closer than some would imagine with the way the Galaxy have played in recent weeks. The addition of Beckham makes it tougher for Arena I believe. The balance is there for him to step in and just play his game. But the bigger question will be how his teammates respond. I have no doubt the Galaxy will come through with points in this one but the points will most likely be a result of Donovan than Beckham.

New York will make it interesting as long as Juan Pablo Angel is finding space around the penalty box. If he can get just a little bit open I think he could be real dangerous against a fairly young Galaxy defense. In the end though I think LA returns home with a rare three points on an east coast road trip.

WVH Prediction: LA 2, New York 1

We could see the end of Juan Carlos Osorio very soon. (Getty Images)

It’s a rough time to be a New York Red Bull or even be a fan of the Red Bulls. After 19 games the club is in dead last in the league standings and with only 11 games remaining on the season slate many wonder where this club is heading including ownership over in Austria.

Players are questioning many things right now and some like Juan Pablo Angel have gone as far to say as he’s never been in a situation like this ever before.

If we weren’t in the situation that we’re in right now, I wouldn’t have played today,” Angel told Goal.com.

“I’ve never been in this situation in my entire career, especially at this level. We only have 13 field players in the squad and I find that shocking. But I guess that’s the way it is. There’s obviously something we’re doing wrong here — to be at this level and not have sufficient players to fill the bench.”

While owners and players question where the club is going one has to think that Juan Carlos Osorio and maybe even technical director Jeff Agoos could be seeing a pink slip in the very near future. Since the club owns the league’s worst record at 2-13-4 and with only 10 points through nearly two-thirds of their season I question more and more not of whether or not Osorio and company will have jobs soon but if the club has enough in the tank to get even to 20 points on the season when it is all said and done. Continue Reading…