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Bye week a good time to take stock
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The Red Bulls are in the middle of their first bye week of the season, and it couldn't have come at a better time. New York is the worst team in Major League Soccer, having lost nine of its last ten games, and desperately needs to reorganize ahead of a make or break run of home matches.
The recent loss to Dallas shows just how much dissaray the club is in. Winless on the road this season, the Bulls took only 15 players – 13 outfielders - for the game in Texas last Saturday. They lost 2-1 in the end, but such decisions make it difficult for the players to support coach Osorio.
"If we weren’t in the situation that we’re in right now, I wouldn’t have played today," injured striker Juan Pablo Angel told Goal.com after starting the game and scoring New York's goal. "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."
A pretty poor transfer record is largely to blame for lack of depth in the Bulls' squad, and that's something that Sporting Director Jeff Agoos, along with coach Osorio, have to take the blame for. Agoos is rumoured to be in Austria for crunch meetings with the club's ownership this week, but told the New York Times of his frustration after the Dallas loss.
"I’ll say this, everyone feels the stress from the front office to players, everyone feels the pressure of what’s going on," he said. "I’m very much a proponent of consistency and stability, but if don’t have the right people it’s going to be difficult to move forward. And I think that with this team, the one constant is change."
In defence of his transfer policy Agoos added that "it is extremely difficult to find players who come here without a transfer fee and fit into the league’s salary budget," and that he is constantly trying to uncover a "diamond in the rough."
The Bulls have failed to do that in recent seasons, but the opening of the MLS transfer window on July 15th will present them with a chance to get some players in. Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Ernst Obster is beleved to be a target, while former La Liga midfielder Veljko Paunovic is on a two week trial. New York has already signed goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul from the Rapids in the past few weeks.
The medium-term goal for the Red Bulls has to be get some points on the board from an upcoming run of six games at Giants Stadium. If they could even get four wins from those home fixtures, they might have an outside shot at a playoff run. Some good performances would at least re-establish pride in the organization.
New York's next outing is also likely to be the biggest crowd of the year so far, with David Beckham expected to make his MLS season debut when the Galaxy come to town on July 16th. Tickets are still availble at NYRedBulls.com, and the game will be live on Fox Soccer Channel at 8 pm ET.
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