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Red Bulls embarrass themselves in DC
Red Bulls embarrass themselves in DC
The Red Bulls' last meeting with D.C. United was maddening, giving away a game late. But tonight's tilt was humiliating, a flat, listless 5-3 U.S. Open Cup play-in loss to their archrival that had the players calling the performance embarrassing and the coach apologizing to the supporters.
"We didn't have any heart, any passion and we just got what we deserved in the first 25 minutes,'' coach Juan Carlos Osorio said after his team had essentially failed to show up, spotting D.C. a 4-0 lead in the 26th minute.
"It was a big test for some of the guys and some of them failed the test today. First half we were horrible. It was the worst game I ever coached with the Red Bulls. I want to apologize to the fans, especially the fans that came here. I apologize because we lacked character, passion.''
The surely did. Osorio curiously benched every single starter from last Saturday's MLS game, and the backups spit the bit. In their April 26 game against United, they'd squandered three points by allowing a 90th-minute equalizer and 91st-minute winner. Tonight at RFK they were never in it.
"I think we just didn't come out to play,'' said rookie Jeremy Hall. "They came out flying all cylinders. We knew they were going to come out in a 3-5-2; we knew we were going to have to tuck in our outside mids. We just didn't come out. No matter what formation they played, we came out flat and they punished us for not coming out the way we were supposed to.
"It wasn't physical; it was mental. I don't know what it was. I don't know that there are any excuses. There was no movement off the ball, so when we got it there were no options.''
Chris Pontius scored the first of his two goals in just the eighth minute, but it was Thabiso Khumalo's pace and Christian Gomez' passing that shredded the Red Bulls' offside trap. Fred's goal in the 26th put the Red Bulls in a 4-0 hole, and they spent the rest of the night chasing the game.
"I'm not sure I've ever been a part of something like that, professionally. Obviously, it's tough. We came out sleeping, plain and simple,'' said forward John Wolyniec, who had two assists. "You've got to give them credit _ they flew around, moved the ball quick. At least for the first 25 minutes, they wanted it more than us.
"I think we were a little embarrassed by what we did. Sometimes you come out and it just seems like you can't do anything right. It's hard to change that type of feeling on the field. I'm glad we did, but obviously it's way to late. We got screamed at at halftime, and deservedly so.''
Apparently they screamed at each other, as well.
"At halftime everybody went at each other. It was embarrassing what we put out the first 45 minutes,'' Hall said. "We adjusted our formation; I don't know if that helped, but just going at each other helped. We knew it was unacceptable. It was us reserves trying to show coach we deserve to play, and it wasn't good enough. We just dug too deep a hole in the first half.''
Osorio finally pulled glacial centerback Andrew Boyens and ineffective winger Khano Smith, bringing on regular starters Kevin Goldthwaite and Jorge Rojas. I cant understand why he didn't start, since MLS already hit him with an extra game suspension yesterday for his red card on Saturday.
Just like in the teams' April 26 meeting in Giants Stadium, Rojas' insertion at halftime coincided with a switch from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2. And just like that contest, the Red Bulls' play immediately picked up.
Right winger Dane Richards had gotten them on the board in the 44th, and Rojas scored twice in the second half, including a 58th-minute penalty kick to draw them within 5-3. But that's as close as they got, bounced out of the Open Cup in humbling fashion by the reigning champions.
"The team definitely didn't come out playing at the level we did in the last game (Saturday vs. Houston),'' said Rojas, who'll have to sit the next two league tilts for his foolish red card last Saturday. "It was the same formation so it should have been a similar level of play. It's unfortunate that we let them get so many goals so quickly in the first half.''
The Red Bulls' last meeting with D.C. United was maddening, giving away a game late. But tonight's tilt was humiliating, a flat, listless 5-3 U.S. Open Cup play-in loss to their archrival that had the players calling the performance embarrassing and the coach apologizing to the supporters.
"We didn't have any heart, any passion and we just got what we deserved in the first 25 minutes,'' coach Juan Carlos Osorio said after his team had essentially failed to show up, spotting D.C. a 4-0 lead in the 26th minute.
"It was a big test for some of the guys and some of them failed the test today. First half we were horrible. It was the worst game I ever coached with the Red Bulls. I want to apologize to the fans, especially the fans that came here. I apologize because we lacked character, passion.''
The surely did. Osorio curiously benched every single starter from last Saturday's MLS game, and the backups spit the bit. In their April 26 game against United, they'd squandered three points by allowing a 90th-minute equalizer and 91st-minute winner. Tonight at RFK they were never in it.
"I think we just didn't come out to play,'' said rookie Jeremy Hall. "They came out flying all cylinders. We knew they were going to come out in a 3-5-2; we knew we were going to have to tuck in our outside mids. We just didn't come out. No matter what formation they played, we came out flat and they punished us for not coming out the way we were supposed to.
"It wasn't physical; it was mental. I don't know what it was. I don't know that there are any excuses. There was no movement off the ball, so when we got it there were no options.''
Chris Pontius scored the first of his two goals in just the eighth minute, but it was Thabiso Khumalo's pace and Christian Gomez' passing that shredded the Red Bulls' offside trap. Fred's goal in the 26th put the Red Bulls in a 4-0 hole, and they spent the rest of the night chasing the game.
"I'm not sure I've ever been a part of something like that, professionally. Obviously, it's tough. We came out sleeping, plain and simple,'' said forward John Wolyniec, who had two assists. "You've got to give them credit _ they flew around, moved the ball quick. At least for the first 25 minutes, they wanted it more than us.
"I think we were a little embarrassed by what we did. Sometimes you come out and it just seems like you can't do anything right. It's hard to change that type of feeling on the field. I'm glad we did, but obviously it's way to late. We got screamed at at halftime, and deservedly so.''
Apparently they screamed at each other, as well.
"At halftime everybody went at each other. It was embarrassing what we put out the first 45 minutes,'' Hall said. "We adjusted our formation; I don't know if that helped, but just going at each other helped. We knew it was unacceptable. It was us reserves trying to show coach we deserve to play, and it wasn't good enough. We just dug too deep a hole in the first half.''
Osorio finally pulled glacial centerback Andrew Boyens and ineffective winger Khano Smith, bringing on regular starters Kevin Goldthwaite and Jorge Rojas. I cant understand why he didn't start, since MLS already hit him with an extra game suspension yesterday for his red card on Saturday.
Just like in the teams' April 26 meeting in Giants Stadium, Rojas' insertion at halftime coincided with a switch from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2. And just like that contest, the Red Bulls' play immediately picked up.
Right winger Dane Richards had gotten them on the board in the 44th, and Rojas scored twice in the second half, including a 58th-minute penalty kick to draw them within 5-3. But that's as close as they got, bounced out of the Open Cup in humbling fashion by the reigning champions.
"The team definitely didn't come out playing at the level we did in the last game (Saturday vs. Houston),'' said Rojas, who'll have to sit the next two league tilts for his foolish red card last Saturday. "It was the same formation so it should have been a similar level of play. It's unfortunate that we let them get so many goals so quickly in the first half.''
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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