Wow, well hopefully you haven't been using the Offside as your sole source for MLS news (as I know many of you do), because I haven't been very diligent in updating you on all things Red Bull New York. With the Bulls facing some adversity (understatement of the year?), the front office has taken action and enlisted the help of German backstop Frank Rost.

Hans Backe - Mr. Mediocre
I've been absent from The Viper's Nest for far too long, weighed under by this, that and the other. But I'm back, and I'm determined to bring you a regular, more consistent British perspective of the Red Bulls.
So, have I missed much?
Yes, but most of it bad.

It took less than 12 minutes for Seattle to launch themselves out 2-0 in the early going. Roger Levesque played hero.
New York was without some of their bigger guns, Thierry Henry and Luke Rodgers were both out of the starting lineup as were Tim Ream and Rafa Marquez. Ream and Marquez were away on national team duty, with both their respective teams in the final.

This one was always going to be difficult. With the Red Bulls missing both starting forwards (Henry and Rodgers), their main striking option off the bench (Agudelo) and the central defensive tandem of Marquez and Ream, getting the full three points in Seattle was a tall order. Factor in an MLS record crowd of 46,505 and relatively short rest after Sunday's wild 3-3 slug fest in Portland and even a draw may have been a lot to ask.

Photo Credit: DailyHarrison.com
Good afternoon! It's a beautiful day here in Red Bulls land. Our team has made it's way out to the Northwest, for a Father's Day encounter against the Portland Timbers. As we await that one, let's get to some Red Bulls news from the past week:
The week started off with a bang, as Vettel-gate drew the anger of many a RBNY fan (including myself).

Greg Time?: Sutton Came Up Huge for the Red BullsThe Red Bulls finally got a badly-needed 2-1 victory over New England Revolution last night at Red Bull Arena, but they sure didn't make it easy on themselves or their 21,000+ supporters in attendance. Wasteful early in the match and then again in the final 20 minutes, RBNY was nearly made to pay for their profligacy when the Revs appeared to have equaled the score 2-2 in the 87th minute.

Can Backe right the ship?

The three-game winning streak of last month seems so distant now, doesn't it? For that matter, so does my last blog post, but that's neither here nor there (but apologies, nonetheless). The Red Bulls now find themselves in a precarious situation. They are no longer getting the results that seemed to come so easily earlier in the season, and the defense has been suspect to say the least.

After all the trade-hype eventually died down, it was time for the Red Bulls to take the field. With Dwayne De Rosario in tow, New York was looking to get off on the right foot. But the Dynamo proved that there is plenty of work still to be done during the long season that lies ahead.

After it was announced that five starters from their first game against Seattle would missing on their trip to Columbus, Hans Backe was forced to put together a makeshift lineup that would severely test New York's depth. Even with all these changes, the Red Bulls still managed to get a result in enemy territory, a sign that perhaps this team has what it takes to be championship caliber.

There was a bit of an uneasy feeling that the Red Bulls would fail to get another quality scoring chance after Thierry Henry squandered a PK chance to put New York up front early on, but rookie sensation Juan Agudelo would have none of it.

After a seemingly endless offseason, the 2011 season got underway with a 1-0 win in favor of the home team, but not without all the drama that usually surrounds a Red Bulls fixture.

Dane's been the man of the moment this preseason.

The hectic preseason continued for New York as they wrapped up their final trip in Arizona this week. The only thing is, did this long preseason leave us with more questions than answers?

Last time we spoke, the Red Bulls just finished up winning against Ft.

Well, at least I know the latter part for sure. Seriously, what the hell was Don Garber thinking? But I'm getting ahead of myself here; we still have two games to break down...

New York got its first taste of MLS competition yesterday when they took on the Chicago Fire in two separate games.