Red Bulls Lacking Passion, Heart?

The NY Red Bulls tied 1-1 in Chicago over the weekend in a game in which they scored first. The equalizing goal Chicago scored is solely on NY keeper Bouna Coundoul. Marco Pappa of Chicago curled shot and Bouna simply put his hands out towards it hoping he would make contact however it went well past him into the back of the net.

While still missing key players due to Copa America play, they did have the likes of Thierry Henry and Joel Linperre to lead the way. Chances were created by both sides but neither could score more than one fortunate goal.

Thierry Henry is a player who transferred just a season ago from the best club in the world, Barcelona. He should be playing a lot better than he has of late. Sure he had eight goals and four assists in 12 games but he needs to get the entire team involved. Just one player is not going to get the win. Soccer consists of 11 players on one team all working together to succeed.

The Red Bulls have simply lost their creative edge. Even with Henry, Marquez, and Linperre, they look as though they are just tired of playing the beautiful game. Henry and Marquez joined from what is arguably the best league in the world, La Liga. To downgrade to Major League Soccer proves that they came here to relax and believed that it’s not worth their full effort. This is simply not right.

Last night, the Red Bulls defeated FC New York of the USL Professional Division. Even with their younger players, they were expected to win big. What did they do? They came back from behind to win it 2-1. This is an unacceptable performance.

Fans around the world don’t even bother to follow our league because it seems as if anyone could play in it. A third division team that just began playing earlier this year gave a hard time to an MLS team that’s been around since 1996. Not trying wasn’t the issue because they missed several chances in front of goal.

18 year old Juan Agudelo who returned from Gold Cup duty simply couldn’t convert to give the Red Bulls a larger lead. Hertzog and superstar Wayne Rooney’s brother John were the heroes for the home side at Red Bull Arena.

Even though their players returned from international duty, they just let go of a player that they literally transferred over only three months ago in Dwayne De Rosario.

The Canadian international was their chosen penalty and free kick specialist and they chose to trade him to DC United for Dax McCarthy. The reason being McCarthy is a more attack minded player and they wanted to free up cap space for future transfers. This may not have been the best of ideas.

De Rosario started every game he was available to play in and always put on a decent performance. He was consistent for the Red Bulls and now they lost a major part of their starting 11. He will succeed at the capital club and the NY side may regret their decision of letting him go.

The Red Bulls now have to rebuild with what they have and pick up their game to the next level. They need to play with clear minds and a passion for the game. If they just see it as a job, they will go nowhere. Most people would do anything to play professionally. These players should keep that in mind the next time they step out onto the field.