Roster mistakes cost Red Bulls in 2009
Backfired personnel gambles got club off to poor start to season
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Dave van den Bergh, arguably the hero of the club's unlikely run to the final, was traded to FC Dallas and the Red Bulls tried to get more athletic, bringing in Dominic Oduro and Khano Smith. Juan Carlos Osorio believed he could get the best out of the two wildly inconsistent players.
New York also revamped the backline, signing Costa Rican right back Carlos Johnson and El Salvadorian left back Alfredo Pacheco and bringing back veteran central defender Mike Petke in the offseason.
Albert Celades' resume included Champions League titles at Barcelona and Real Madrid and the veteran Spaniard was signed to be the consistent playmaker out of the midfield the team hadn't had since Amado Guevara was traded to Chivas USA.
But by midseason, Oduro and Smith were gone, Pacheco's contract was terminated in September and Celades, who was named the club's top newcomer, announced his retirement at the end of the season.
Gone too was Osorio, who resigned in late August and Red Bulls managing director Erik Stover announced the restructuring of the sporting side for the 2010 season, meaning Jeff Agoos would also be out as sporting director.
"You can look at the teams that have been successful in this league and see why they've been successful," Stover said. "They haven't made as many mistakes with player acquisition. Houston and New England are very good examples. They managed the rules and they did it well. Our expectation is that we'll put a team together that will limit the mistakes we may have made in the past."
Where did it all go wrong for the Red Bulls? The season started with a 3-0 drubbing at Qwest Field in the Seattle Sounders FC debut and continued to go downhill.
It would take the Red Bulls nearly a month for their first win, a 2-0 victory against Real Salt Lake at Giants Stadium. New York looked well on its way to a an emotional win against D.C. United on April 26, but conceded a pair of goals inside of a minute late in the second half, a disturbing trend that would continue throughout the season.
The Red Bulls thrashed San Jose, 4-1, but wouldn't win again for nearly four months: a 3-2 victory against FC Dallas snapped a 16-game winless streak.
By the MLS All-Star Game, the Red Bulls were all but mathematically eliminated from MLS Cup Playoffs contention and the focus was on the CONCACAF Champions League to save the season.
The Red Bulls put themselves in a good position to advance to the group stage after a spirited 2-2 draw against W Connection in Marabella, Trinidad. But, after veteran John Wolyniec struck early, New York imploded in the second leg at Giants Stadium, losing 2-1.
The season, at that point, was all but lost.
"I think we were a team that could have been somewhere in the middle of the pack," said Richie Williams, who took over as interim coach for a second time. "I don't think it was that bad, that we were definitely the worst team in the league. For whatever reason, and I won't get into that, we were not playing well and not performing."
Williams had the difficult task of ending a dreadful season on a bright note. The team's goals, which once included MLS Cup Playoffs and a deep CONCACAF Champions League run, now were much simpler.
"The main focus right now is to get the rest of the season right and avoid being the worst team of [MLS] history," Juan Pablo Angel said one day after Osorio resigned.
That modest goal was accomplished and the Red Bulls, who also managed to avoid the worst season in club history, were 3-3-1 down the stretch with Williams at the helm.
And Angel quietly also became the Red Bulls' all-time leading scorer when he struck for his 46th career goal in a 1-1 draw with Chivas USA on Sept. 26.
The goal was also Angel's 10th of the season, marking the third consecutive season the Red Bulls captain has scored in double figures, a personal accomplishment in an otherwise dreary season.
"I still managed to get double figures, which I think for any striker is good and on top of that I managed to break the all-time record, which is phenomenal," Angel said. "I would have taken that if you told me that in the beginning."
The Red Bulls ended their season, and their 14-year run at Giants Stadium with a 5-0 thumping of Eastern Conference rival Toronto FC on Oct. 24. A few days later, the final piece of sod was laid at Red Bull Arena and the club was again anxious to begin the new season.
But will they do it with Williams, who is also considered a candidate for the same position at D.C. United, at the helm?
"I would love to be here, love to be part of the Red Bull organization," Williams said. "Of course, it's such a beautiful stadium, the best stadium in the country, it would be nice to be here on opening day next season."
There is no doubting the 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium in Harrison, N.J. will be a gem. Can the Red Bulls put a team on the field worthy of its majestic new home?
"It's been a very hard year in general for everybody," Angel said. "Nobody wanted to have the year that we had, but sometimes those things have to happen in order for us just to learn from it. ... Sometimes you need these kinds of things to happen in order for you to just regroup, reshape and start to create a solid foundation for the future. Hopefully we don't make the same mistakes we made this year."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
