SAN JOSE, Calif. On Saturday night, Mehdi Ballouchy made his first commence for the San Jose Earthquakes in his unexampled team's 2-0 romp against Chivas USA. And it looks as though it might not be the Moroccan's last appearance in Frank Yallop's starting lineup. Read More
Midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy is now a member of the San Jose Earthquakes, the club announced on
Monday. San Jose sent a 2013 international spot and a 2013 conditional draft pick to New York for
Ballouchy. "I've admired his play over the seven years he's been in the league," Earthquakes coach
Frank Yallop said.
A bizarre mid-week day game was probably not something the Chicago Fire were too thrilled with
when initially looking at the 2012 MLS Schedule. Still, with twenty minutes to go, it looked as if
the Fire would be able to hang on and steal a point on the road against the New York Red Bulls.
Rejoice! An Early SUB WATCH! Also, Independence Day.What's this? Has hell frozen
over? Is it a sign of the apocalypse? Does wishing on a falling star truly work? Whatever the
cause, there is great rejoicing in RBNY land as Part I of an early, Independence Day edition of SUB
WATCH hits the interwebs before we portage to the Neponset Reservoir for the battle vs.
Why Is This Man Smiling? Fans Sure the Hell Aren't
Somehow the Red Bulls managed to slip in three regular season games since the last SUB WATCH. If
that wasn't disorienting enough, my wallet is fully of weird looking colored bills and there's
something called a "loony" in my pocket.
The high-profile news continues to pour out of Red Bull Arena.
On the heels of Thursday's trade that sent Juan Agudelo to Chivas USA for Heath Pearce, Red
Bulls general manager Erik Soler told reporters Friday that Luke Rodgers may suit up for the New
York Red Bulls this season after all.
The SUB WATCH Periscope Reveals All!What's that haunting sound? Could it be the
cries of the mighty whale, echoing throughout the deep? NO! It is the keening of the multitudes,
forced to go yet another week—a two-game week at that(!)— without their beloved SUB WATCH! Fear
not, loyal readers, for today the authoritative source on Red Bull New York substitutions returns
with not just a recap of the past THREE games, but also a special outlook on the remaining 2/3 of
the MLS 2012 season (give or take).
Although they may have avoided granting another late-game goal, the Revolution's shaky form in
the opening minutes proved to be their undoing in Saturday's 1-0 road loss to the Red Bulls.
While many predicted a high-scoring affair, Thierry Henry's 7th minute goal sealed it as the
Revolution struggled inside the attacking third and became the victim of the Red Bulls' first
defensive shutout of the season.
TORPEDO AWAY! Also away: Agudelo, Conde, Marquez, Miller, TainioDeep beneath
Chesapeake Bay and into the still waters of the Potomac, SUB WATCH makes its way to DC as the New
York Red Bulls take on the hated Scum. The long trip down from New York Harbor was needed as
substitution analysis required overtime this week.
Fun Fact: The Sub In This Ad Shares Many Features With RBNY's Tyler RuthvenBack
safe and sound in the crystal clear waters of the mighty Passaic River, SUB WATCH returns for Week
6 as the New York Red Bulls take on the San Jose Earthquakes' stingy D and their star striker Chris
Wondolowski.
What Will the Numbers Reveal About the Red Bulls?In modern sports, jersey numbers
are used to identify individual players regardless of their position. For a while, the NFL had
certain groups of numbers assigned to positions (e.g. single digits for kickers and QBs, low
eighties for tight ends and receivers, etc.
Five weeks into the MLS season the dynamic New York Red Bulls duo has combined for 13 goals and
has helped New York tear about the team's past three opponents in blowout victories. It was more of
the same last weekend, as the two combined for four goals and an assist in New York's 4-1 humbling
of the Columbus Crew.
What's That Rising from theSchiermeier Olentangy River
Wetlands?
The New York Red Bulls have made their way to Columbus to take on the Crew and their ridiculous
slogan, "Dare to be Massive" (I kid you not), the team's sub situation has gotten even more
intriguing with a plethora of lingering injuries and training knocks.
Though they got off to a shaky start, the New York Red Bulls rallied in the second half to take
the lead and eventual 5-2 victory over the visiting Montreal Impact behind Thierry Henry's first
career MLS hat trick.
No Beatles Here, But There IS a BarklageAs the Red Bulls head into their second
home game, the second SUB WATCH post also goes live—and things have never been livelier for Coach
Hans Backe's bench. Yes, there's been a minor pulling back on the reins, but the subbing is still
more aggressive than any fans thought possible in February.
Crisis? What crisis? The Red Bulls are world-beaters. We're gonna win MLS Cup! No one
can stop us! ...At least that's what the highly emotional RBNY fan base seems to be telling me.Â
After an 0-2 start, we needed to blow the team up and fire Backe, now it seems all is well in the
land of the energy drink.
Looks like Mr. Backe has some decisions to make come opening day in Dallas. With a surplus of
forwards and central midfielders, it'll be interesting to see what formation and personnel makeup
the starting XI. With so many options and possible configurations at his disposal, how will Backe
manage his depth?
New York has a lot of talent but little depth, which could be good for them in the expansion
draft. (Getty Images)
It wasn't the year that most had expected out of the New York Red Bulls. A fast started turned
into a long summer drought followed by a late season push into the playoffs. Expectations were high
and the team failed to reach them.
The New York Red Bulls upset FC Dallas last night in Texas, giving them a home playoff game
against the Los Angeles Galaxy on October 30. While the scoreline shows some of the quality play
that the Red Bulls had during the game, but it doesn't speak to what's scary about a New York side
with some confidence behind itself.
Mehdi's Moment of Brilliance Eclipses Brek Shea: Hold the Phone! (Photo by Dan
Dickinson)Here's a head-scratcher: by defeating FC Dallas 2-0 last night in a Wild Card playoff
in Frisco (my full match report on Once a Metro can be found here), the Red Bulls have arguably
ensured themselves of a more "successful" season than they enjoyed in 2010.
Estonian international Joel Lindpere scored from a Mehdi Ballouchy cross Wednesday to send the
10-man Red Bulls through 2-0 in the wild card game against the team that eliminated LA in the
playoffs last year - FC Dallas - to face the Galaxy at noon Sunday in New Jersey (live on ESPN2).
Thierry Henry got the second in second half stoppage time.
The New York Red Bulls may have eked into the playoffs, but they're in a position to shake up
the postseason picture in a big way after their latest performance.
Joel Lindpere finished a cross from substitute Mehdi Ballouchy in the 61st minute, and Thierry
Henry scored an insurance goal in the final seconds of stoppage time to lift the Red Bulls to a 2-0
victory over FC Dallas in a single-elimination wild card match Wednesday night.
Just when you thought all hope was lost, New York goes out and does this. A win, honest to
God, a win. For the first time since the July 6th drubbing of TFC, the Red Bulls claimed all
three points and boy did it feel good. Granted, it got a bit nervy there and it wasn't the pretty
display by any stretch of the imagination, but isn't that what it's all about?
Man, the past week or so has been quite kind to the Red Bulls. Â After Irene washed away any
hopes of the Galaxy match being played, New York saw their playoff position actually improve
despite not playing a single match since August 20th. Â As of now, New York owns the 10th and final
playoff spot, sitting behind Columbus, SKC, Houston, and Philly in the East.
As the soccer world goes bonkers over rumours and speculation while the European Transfer Deadline
goes down to the wire, I'm sure I'm not alone among Red Bulls supporters as I reflect upon the
current state of our squad and the transfers that have played their part in turning a season of
promise to one of frustration and dismay.
Do I even need to bother recapping this game? You might as well just read my last post. It
meets all the requirements: disappointment, 2-2 draw, second half comeback, Ballouchy being
useless... you know, the usual. Just when you think they can't draw against a crappier team, they
do. The Revs, proud owners of the most anemic offense in the league, still managed to take a 2-0
lead against New York and it took a 87th minute equalizer to walk away with a point.
Another week, another disappointing performance for RBNY. Par for the course, I would say (No
Backe reference intended). With the lowly Fire in town, you'd probably expect a win in front of
the sell out crowd at RBA... who am I kidding, we were all pretty much expecting the worst the way
things have been going lately.
The New York Red Bulls secured some sorely needed midfield depth on Friday after acquiring
Guadeloupe defensive midfielder Stephane Auvray from Sporting Kansas City, sources told SBI on
Friday.
The Red Bulls are trading a 2nd-round pick in 2013 as well as an undisclosed amount of
allocation money to Sporting KC for Auvray, who had fallen out of favor with SKC weeks ago and was
no longer in the team's plans.
By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Oct 4, 2012) US Soccer Players -- In Thursday's column, Tony looks at the impact two untimely injuries might have, asks when Chivas USA is going to score again, and salutes two players who more than put in a shift this season. How much does losing Mehdi Ballouchy for the season hurt San Jose's chances in the playoffs?
If the Los Angeles Galaxy are going to finish the remainder of the MLS season with a strong run, they will have to do so without starting defender A.J. DeLaGarza.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday evening that De La Garza will likely miss the remainder of the regular season with a sprained knee ligament in his left knee.
Freddy Adu and John Hackworth on taking Sunday's penalty kick. Union moves up in power rankings.
USA face North Korea today. Colombian Lady banned for punching Abby. Locals receive PDL
All-Conference honors. Man U stock and Chevy. More news.
Almost as rare at Red Bull Arena as a pre-89' substitution.Welcome to the first installment of the
hottest new regular feature of The Viper's Nest: SUB WATCH. Every week I'll be bringing you the
latest and greatest news and stats* on Coach Hans Backe's new found love of substitutions. Will he
be able to keep it up?
Chicago Fire midfielder Logan Pause, New York Red Bull midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy, former
Chivas USA defender Jason Hernandez and current Chivas USA utility man Michael Lahoud with St. Jude
patient Sidney.
Chivas USA will mark Goals for St. Jude Week tonight at its home game against Toronto at Home
Depot Center.
