A Broken Record

I thought about picking 3-0 for last night, but thought that was too harsh on New York, that maybe I was being mean just because I really, really don't like them.

Should have gone with my gut.

In his recap (and in his running commentary last night), Ives said this:

The Red Bulls are buoyed by the knowledge that help is on the way in the coming weeks. Newly-acquired fullbacks Alfredo Pacheco and Carlos Johnson should be eligible to play for the Red Bulls in the next two weeks, as should Spanish midfielder Albert Celades. Throw in left winger Khano Smith, who missed Thursday's match due to suspension, and Seth Stammler, who missed the match recovering from knee surgery, and you have five players who Osorio will be in a hurry to put in his starting lineup after Thursday's thoroughly disappointing display.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find Ives saying the exact same thing last year about Jorge Rojas and Juan Pietravallo, who didn't help much last night, and were not any part of the reason New York made their unlikely run to MLS Cup. I thought it was telling that Osorio left "his guy" Pietravallo in at halftime, and took Sinisa Ubiparapovic out. I don't think Ubiparapovic was markedly worse than Pietravallo, although they both weren't good.

It seems like so much of Osorio's reputation for finding great players hinges on Wilman Conde, and Wilman Conde alone, and as you all know very well, I think Conde is vastly overrated to begin with. And the second guy JCO brought in for Chicago was Paolo Wanchope. I'm not sure if Oliveira and Menezes count against Osorio, because I think they were on trial before he took over, but they didn't help much, either.