But seriously, with the Red Bulls still licking their wounds after Saturday's 4-0 drubbing out in the Bay Area, there is not a whole lot to report. The players will be back in training tomorrow in preparation for Wednesday's US Open Cup tilt against a New England Revolution team that is reeling from a combination of disappointing league results, injuries and missing players.
Hans Backe appeared as a guest on World Football Daily (subscribers only) this afternoon and did not seem particularly concerned about Saturday's loss because he felt that the players fought hard throughout, unlike the Chivas USA game back in April. Viper already gave Luke Sassano both barrels on Sunday over his boneheaded red card, while various pundits have taken turns piling on Tim Ream. For what it's worth, Ream was unsatisfied with his performance. These kinds of things will happen when you have a rookie in central defense. Hopefully he can just chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.
The next week and a half will tell us a lot about what kind of team the Red Bulls are and how much progress has been made since last season's debacle. After the New England USOC game, Seattle and Columbus - two of the pre-season favorites for MLS Cup - visit Red Bull Arena in the space of six days. If the Red Bulls can emerge from this homestand still at the top of the Eastern Conference, that should set them up nicely as MLS approaches its World Cup break.
Finally, unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know by now that Chelsea wrapped up the English Premier League title on Sunday, trouncing Wigan 8-0. I look back at that game and CFC's record-breaking season in my All Things Footy column this morning. You can also check out my MLS Week 7 predictions from Friday. Other than the Toronto-Chicago result (who saw that coming?), I'm pretty happy with my crystal ball skills.
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