Photo Credit: DailyHarrison.com
Good afternoon! It looks like it will be a rainy and windy one here in Red Bulls Land. Today, our team is back in action @The Cathedral of Football against the San Jose Earthquakes. You may very well remember the Quakes knocking the Red Bull out of last year's playoffs, in an embarrassing 3-1 NY Loss. Calling this a 'revenge match' doesn't really fit the bill, as this is only a very-early-in-the-season League meeting. After the three points dropped by the Red Bulls @PPL Park last week, however, the three points would be oh so nice.
The Quakes come into this one having dropped 4 points at home (two ties, against Seattle & Toronto). With memories of what they accomplished last November 4th, they'll be feeling confident about getting back into the win column today.
The Red Bulls, on the other hand, will just be hoping to put one into the back of the net. While the team has played some very pretty football, with lots of possession, they've been 'embarrassingly mediocre' in the goalscoring department. With all that fancy footwork, the last two games should have been convicing victories. Alas, it wasn't to be - but there's always next game, right? Ok, we'll it's here! Let's get it going Henry, Agudelo, DeRo, Joel & Dane. Let's get that urgency, in the final third, going today and stick it in!
So with all that in mind, let's get to some predictions:
Matt Conroy (aka Who Shot Sam) has this for us:
Its tempting to predict a resounding Red Bulls victory, because with all the possession the Red Bulls have had and the chances they have created, the goals MUST start flying in at some point. Right? Sadly, the reality of our goalscoring record at home and our recent ineptness in the 18-yard box don't have me feeling especially confident. This is a game that the players should be up for in the same way they get up for games against DC and Philadelphia. The Quakes came into Red Bull Arena last fall and pissed all over our playoff hopes. So in a perfect world the players would be extra motivated, but I'm not feeling it. Add to that the fact that we have only managed to score more than two goals a single time at Red Bull Arena (in league play), and I see this being very tight.I'm not feeling too confident myself, but I'm thinking there is no way the Red Bulls lose this one. Then again, I was thinking the same thing last week - and they lost. But this one is a home game and maybe they'll be looking to prove to everyone that they can score goals in bunches. One can only hope that's the case. Anyway, I'm going with a 1-0 RBNY win.
Hate to be THAT GUY it but I'm predicting 1-0 to the Quakes.
Homebrew Tim has this for us:
The previous two weeks, I've predicted resounding victories for our New York Red Bulls. It's becoming difficult to be any more optimistic than to predict a 0-0 draw until we see any evidence that we've solved our scoring woes. But, as I'm forever the optimist, I'm going to do my best to rationalize something better. After DeRo came on against Houston, and we saw the offense barrage the goal, we thought, "Well, tough luck, but now all the pieces are here." Then, after last week's frustrating loss, hopefully the team has finally locked in and finally realized that they aren't doing enough. I don't want to hear one more post-game interview saying, "It was a one-way game, we completely dominated. It's unimaginable that we didn't win."Our man in the UK, Glenn Williams, has this for us:
Maybe the team has found the solution. Maybe the revenge factor against San Jose will provide the spark. Maybe the rain will make for a sloppy game that will shake them out of their game of keep-a-way, force a little improvisation, and get them *feeling the artistry* of the game, rather than merely their excellent technical, possession game. I don't know what it's going to take to shake things up, but for one more week, I am hanging on to hope. I'll say 2-1 Red Bulls. Goals from Joel and... Henry. Yeah, I said it.
Can we really be anything but pessimistic? On a run of three games without a win, we face the team that crushed our MLS Cup hopes last year. The side look disjointed, an star player Thierry Henry is either out of form or injured every week. I'm hoping Backe and the coaching team have done something, anything to sort out the Red Bulls in the past week, and that they come out on Saturday looking lively and dangerous. But unfortunately, I'm not expecting much. 0-2 defeat.Last, but not least, the great You Suck Corrales has this for us:
Sorry. Until we can prove that we can score I am going to have to go with a loss in horrific weather conditions before a crowd of 5,000 fans if that. Wondolowski for the hat trick. Hell maybe Ramiro Corrales can stick one in. It's been that kind of last couple of weeks (hahaha).Alrighty then. I'm a bit sick today, but I'll be braving the cold & rain @The Cathedral of Football, Red Bull Arena (built by Makita). I hope to see you thee. Viper Out!
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