My Take on Reyna's Retirement

In what is now quite old news, I will offer up my view on the retirement of a Red Bull New York disappointment, but nonetheless, an American legend. As you likely know by now if you follow MLS, Claudio Reyna has decided to call it quits on his playing career midway through the MLS season. There has been much speculation as to the circumstances of his departure from the team. I hope I can put some of the rumors to rest in this post.

After 27 appearances with the Red Bulls and zero goals to show for his efforts, many were calling for Reyna to bow out with grace and allow the team to move on. While Reyna was certainly disappointing in his return to The States, we should have been more prepared for his statistics. We may have set the bar too high for a player that has been a career stopper and distributor. He wins the ball and makes the pass that maintains possession, and he did that as a Red Bull. Unfortunately in a designated player spot, he was expected to produce season numbers near 5 goals and 10 assists.

It is a difficult way to end a brilliant career, but I think it is far more important to remember all that we loved about Claudio. He was one of the best Americans to ever play the game, and has never been anything but the consumate professional. Many suspected he was more or less forced to retire. He will stay with the team in a lesser capacity to help with player development, and eventually hopes to be a coach. Staying on board does not sound to me like a player who was told to retire. I think Reyna expected better just as many of us did, and still hoped he could live up to expectations. Ultimately the nagging injuries caught up with him and the curtain fell on the final act of one of the more storied players in US history. Best of luck to Claudio as he moves on to the next stage of his life... GO USA!!!

Rhinos Keep Unbeaten Streak Alive!

With a draw and a win in last weekend's home and home series with Montreal the Rhinos unbeaten streak has soared to 6 in a row. What exactly happened with this team that started off with dismal performance after dismal performance and sank to the league's cellar? As impatient as myself and other fans may be, a big part of it may simply be Tilley's claims that the team was not fully fit and accustomed to playing together early in the year due to the uncertainty surrounding the team prior to this season. Added depth in the defense as players return to health has also been a contributing factor. Most importantly, however, was Tilley's ability to do what the Red Bulls have not, and sign useful players at the right times to lift the team. The signings have brought a new life to a team that was down, and with players returning from injury spirits are high and the team suddenly is in 4th place. What do you make of this change in momentum for the Rhinos? Think they can go on to win it all? The next few matches should be telling, because if the team can maintain consistency in their play they should be right there by season's end.

McBride's Homecoming

I bet the Toronto fans enjoying their chance to host the All-Star game last night didn't know that commissioner Don Garber was sitting only a few hundred feet away helping draw up the details of screwing TFC over in a trade. Brian McBride will reportedly be joining an already dangerous Chicago Fire attack, and Toronto will receive Chad Barrett, a draft pick and an allocation. That's Brian McBride, one of the most impressive forwards the US has ever produced, for Chad "Can't Even Finish His Lunch" Barrett. When will the MLS improve their rulebook and restrain themselves from tampering "for the good of the league"? Where are all my Real Salt Lake fans that are waiting for Garber to help them circumvent the rules to become a power?

While I Was Away...

There have been many developments I have missed since my last post. Again I apologize for my absence and plan to be posting with at least some regularity again. For now I am simply posting a brief summary of events from recent weeks.

Rhinos: The Rhinos have been on excellent form of late, going undefeated over their last five league games including recent road victories in Seattle and Minnesota. They now sit at 6-5-6 heading into tonight's home game againt Montreal. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:00.

Red Bulls: The Red Bulls staggered into the all-star game with a draw against LA when Landon Donovan netted a stoppage time goal to square the game at 2-2. Dane Richards was injured in the game and is expected to miss 6 weeks. Jorge Rojas made his debut and looked excellent, assisting on both Red Bull goals (scored by van den Bergh and Angel). Juan Pietravallo also saw his first action late in the game. Gabriel Cichero is expected to join the team shortly on loan, and Diego Jiminez is also expected to be cleared to play with the team in the near future, so expect a new look from the team over the second half of the season.

MLS: The All-Star team defeated West Ham United 3-2 last night with goals from Gomez, Blanco and De Rosario. Dean Ashton provided both West Ham goals. McBride is also expected to be headed to Chicago as it is reported that Toronto and Chicago have reached and agreement.

Olympics: The US announced their roster and the overage players are to be Michael Parkhurst, Brad Guzan and Brian McBride.

My Apologies...

Sorry to those of you checking back in for the past few days, things have been very busy for me the last several days and will continue to be busy in the near future, but I will do my best to post whenever possible. I thank you for your support and hope to have the office at Soccer the Rochester Way running smoothly ASAP.

Happy 4th of July!!!

As you can tell, this is a vacation for many in the world of soccer blogging (Ives, SF and Metrofanatic are all easing up on my daily reading for the weeked) and I too will not have much opportunity to post. Here is a little something to get your sense of nationalism going for the day however.

Also don't forget, Red Bulls at Colorado on MSG at 9:30 PM EST (Juan Pablo Angel did travel!) and Rhinos host Whitecaps Saturday night at 7:30 EST.

Red Bulls, Rhinos Bow Out in Open Cup Play

Alright, I admit it, I didn't follow the Rhinos vs DC United match and can't say much at the moment other than the fact that Marc Burch scored a second half brace to down the Rhinos 2-0 and eliminate them. I will update if I find out more information.

As for the Red Bulls... well, visit Metrofanatic.com if you want a better summary, but I'll use their favorite word for the result... pathetic! Losing 2-0 to a USL-2 side is nothing short of pathetic, but when you consider they had a man advantage for around 60 minutes it just gets worse. Sure many starters didn't play, but what does that say about the depth of the team. Not to mention, unless NY went into this without a care, why would you not have some of your top players at the very least available on the bench. The Red Bulls treated the game like a pre-season scrimmage and played like it, revealing their lack of talent lower in the depth chart.

Who would I like to see win the US Open Cup now? A better question, why didn't my men's league team attempt to enter if we knew we'd get a chance at Red Bull light...

Share your thoughts on these US Open Cup games or any of the others, including the only MLS side other than the bulls to go down, Chivas USA.