That's right, we got Reamed! One moment of madness from our great US Men's National Team center back and Philly pocketed all three points. I don't know what he was thinking, as Danny Mwanga was just standing there. Ream passed it to him like he was passing to his own teammate. Was he trying to chip it over him to Rafa Marquez, who was on the other side of Mwanga? That said, Timmy had a great game otherwise, and he did apologize to the fans for his massive gaffe.
And if it wasn't for that massive gaffe, the Union would have gotten nothing out of this one. In this same fixture last season, the Union dominated and were quickly up 2-0. The "just traded for DeRo" Danleigh Borman pulled one back for us, but that would be it. Philly deserved that one. This one was a totally different story, as the Red Bulls had something like 80% of possession and played what the great You Suck Corrales termed "Champagne Football".
Our team picked up where they left off in the second half against Houston, however... Where that second half was full of chance after chance that wasn't converted, this whole game was, pretty much, devoid of those. Yes, the passing was sublime and wave after wave of Red Bulls players inundated the Philly box with passes, crosses and corners. But even will all that, there were only two clear scoring chances for the Red Bulls. Juan Agudelo had a half-chance roller that hit the post, then he was one-on-one against Mondragon, but couldn't stick it in.
New man Dwayne De Rosario was totally missing in action. Someone on Twitter stated that DeRo plays better when he DOESN'T practice with our team, and it would be hard to disagree with that statement. He got off the plane from Toronto last Saturday and was superb as a second half sub against Houston. Thierry Henry continues his abysmal form. He likes to get very cute with backheels to no one, seems scared to drive into the box and take a shot, plus is still prone to dropping way back, for ball retrieval duty. With reports now stating that the great Frenchman might have some sort of Achilles problem, I'm wondering if it's too early to start calling him a bust?
RBNY Man of The Match? Without question, it was Teemu Tainio. That isn't even up for an argument. Joel Lindpere didn't have one of his usual blinders, as he kept trying to put crosses THROUGH Philly Union players. The laws of physics say that can't be done, Joel. Luke Rodgers came in late in the second half and, once again, proved ineffective. Agudelo? Yeah, well, he's 18.
Please see the video at top for the pregame show, which started in the parking lot behind The Cathedral of Football. You can click here for half-time, in game and post-game comments. You can click here for my photo album, or here for the slide show. One of my photos from this game was even used for this recap from The Daily Harrison. How cool is that, eh?
Also of very cool proportions: the great Ernesto Motta, the voice of the Red Bulls, gave German, Piero and myself, a few minutes of airtime on the Radio WADO pre-game show. Of course, I filmed it for your viewing pleasure (in Spanish). Ha, ha! A big thanks to Ralph Chupi Garcia for arranging this.
Great traveling support, yet again, from members of the three RBNY Supporters groups (including several of my buddies pictured above). There were a few WTF moments here and there but, overall, it was a good day out. That said, I'm going to give Red Bull NY a little something to contemplate:
I'm not one to complain about anything concerning this great club. I don't care that there are massive lines @RBA concessions, that you can't walk through the concourse with ease, or that the stadium is half full. I did complain once (last season) about the total lack of water fountains in the place, but Uncle Dietrich quickly took care of that for me. I am, however, going to complain about the whole of our team NOT thanking its traveling support.
I can count on one hand (and still have a finger, or two, left over) the number of RBNY players that came over to applaud the 500+ fans in attendance. On the other hand, the whole Philadelphia Union team came out to celebrate with their supporters, as if MLS Cup had just been won. Next time, why not come on over, en masse, and thank the people who took the time out to come support a losing effort? It really would have made the ride back just that little bit better.
Alrighty then! Hope to see you all next Saturday @The Cathedral of Football, Red Bull Arena (built by Makita). Viper Out!
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