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?

A couple weeks ago, I put up the New York Red Bulls roster prior to the beginning of the off-season. Mr. Soler and Mr. Backe have been busy since then, and over at our facebook page, members of the Viper's Nest Editorial Board have been clamoring for an updated post to sum up the salary and roster ramifications of the moves thus far.

With the expansion draft just two weeks away, Red Bulls fans are debating the merits of who to protect and who to expose. Presented below, to assist in the discussion, is the current Red Bulls roster and salaries, according to the MLS Players Union website.

Name

Player Des.

Kemsley and Pinton Broker Their DealI hate Hollywood endings. Like many sports fans, I structure my life with the seasons of my teams, the failure of another trophy-less year the painful reminder of all I hoped to accomplish within the same time span but haven't yet wrapped up. The playoff loss to LA was all the more painful as it seemed to play out to someone else's script.

In the emotionally-charged sequel to last weekend's showdown at Red Bull Area, Mike Magee and Landon Donovan each scored as Los Angeles beat New York 2-1 during the second leg of the Western Conference semis and advanced to the Conference Finals 3-1 on aggregate.

Although Red Bulls' target man Luke Rodgers opened the scoring with a 4th minute strike to immediately level the series at 1-1, Magee, the former Red Bull who had pointed words for his former employers prior to the match, replied before halftime when he took hold of a David Beckham cornerand banged it through to relcaim the L.

After the feistiness of the first leg of the two-game Western Conference playoff series between the Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena on Sunday, the return leg at the Home Depot Center on Thursday night was sure to be entertaining.

The two teams delivered alright. An early New York goal, followed by one player who quickly asserted himself as the Galaxy fans' public enemy No.

The second leg of the Galaxy/Red Bulls series started off with a bang. Luke Rodgers found the back of the net just four minutes in and brought the teams level on aggregate. From there, MLS fans were treated to a fantastic display worthy of the playoffs.
Mike Magee played hero in responding with his second goal of the series.

Galaxy 1 New York Red Bulls 0

The forecast cold front has yet to move into the South Bay here in Carson.

Real Salt Lake awaits the winner of this series that the Galaxy lead from a Mike Magee goal in the 15th minute of last Sunday's game.

If the score is tied at the end of regulation, we'll have 30 minutes of OT, followed by PK's if the score is still tied.

The on-field battles between the Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls include some of MLS' marquee names, but the off-field war of words between Landon Donovan and Luke Rodgers is arguably just as entertaining.

After their regular-season meeting in May, Donovan was criticized by Rodgers for complaining to officials too much and failing to shake Thierry Henry's hand after the game.

The 2011 MLS Playoffs kickoff at 9 pm tonight on Fox Soccer Channel, as the New York Red Bulls head to Texas to take on recently slumping FC Dallas in the first Wild Card round game of the playoffs.

The winner affects the Philadelphia Union's start time on Sunday afternoon, along with the playoff match ups after the Wild Card round.

Richards Celebrates the Lone Goal With Teammates (Photo by Dan Dickinson)An unlikely first half header from Dane Richards that hit a goalpost before ricocheting off Faryd Mongradon's back and into the Philadelphia Union goal was, in the end, all the New York Red Bulls needed on Thursday night to punch their ticket to the 2011 MLS postseason.

Neymar envió la pelota a la red al minuto 60 cuando la defensa costarricense falló al intentar despejar un centro de Dani Alves, lo que fue suficiente para inclinar la balanza en favor de los visitantes.
Victoria apretada de Brasil, que visitó San José por primera vez en 50 años, ante una Costa Rica, que en el debut del colombiano Pinto en el banquillo, jugó un partido serio y con mucho orden.

Nearly three months since the Bulls beat down Toronto at the Cathedral, but it seems like three years ago. Despite winning two from their last three league matches, few supporters can be accused of hubris as we begin the month that will determine whether or not the year's a success or a humiliating failure.

A must-win that our team actually won. Can you believe it? Yes, it's true - the Red Bulls kept their faint playoff hopes alive with a 2-0 victory against the expansion Portland Timbers. A Dane Richards golazo, in the first half, and a Luke Rodgers penalty, in the 2nd, ensured all three points for the desperate Red Bulls.

The Return of Rodgers Has Provided a SparkThe Red Bulls hope to take another positive step toward an MLS playoff berth when they host Real Salt Lake this evening at Red Bull Arena (8PM kickoff on MSG Plus). Coming off a sorely needed away win in Dallas, where they managed without the services of Thierry Henry, Jan Gunnar Solli and Rafa Marquez, RBNY will be hoping toy build positive momentum coming down the home stretch in the Eastern Conference.

Rodgers With Another Huge Goal (Photo by Brandon Wade, Getty Images)The drought is finally over! After going more than two months (73 days to be exact) without a league victory, the Red Bulls pulled their act together on Saturday night and got a massive, massive three points in Frisco against FC Dallas, one of MLS' more formidable home sides.

Man, the past week or so has been quite kind to the Red Bulls. 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. As of now, New York owns the 10th and final playoff spot, sitting behind Columbus, SKC, Houston, and Philly in the East.

Gorgeous night for football this Labor Day weekend in the South Bay where a warm day has given way to a breezy, comfortable night.

Looks like Sam's Army/American Outlaws will save the atmosphere tonight, massed behind Tim Howard's goal and already in full cry given that the stadium is likely to be half full or half empty depending on your point of view.

A review of the rosters for the USA's opponents in the upcoming friendlies against Costa Rica and Belgium reveals a lot of talent as well as some very familiar faces.
For the USA's first friendly against Costa Rica since 1995, interim head coach Ronald Gonzalez has chosen four players from MLS, handing Portland Timbers defender Rodney Wallace his first call-up.

Returning from London where they won the Emirates Cup, you would think that the pre-season tournament would have given New York Red Bulls a lift especially when confronted with a trip to Real Salt Lake.

It wasn't so as the problems plaguing the club have re-appeared and you can sense the frustration on the field.

Two teams that started the season as title contenders met at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night sorely needing victories, but only Real Salt Lake came away with the result they were looking for.

The New York Red Bulls continued their struggling ways, dropping a 3-0 result to a motivated RSL side.

The Red Bulls Hoist Silverware: A Rare SightIt wasn't the prettiest cup victory you'll ever see, but somehow the New York Red Bulls managed a 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Sunday at the Emirates Cup in London. Combined with Saturday's 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain, it was enough to earn RBNY the trophy and allow them to return home with something tangible to show for a grueling 48 hours in London.

By MIKE NASTRI

The New York Red Bulls surprised many supporters and maybe even themselves with a tie against English juggernaut, Arsenal. The draw clinched the Emirates Cup for New York beating out Boca Juniors, Paris Saint-Germain and hosts Arsenal for the European preseason prize.

22,200 fans came to The Cathedral of Football on Saturday night to see what should have been a classic derby match. With the rich history between RBNY and DC United, a 4-0 thrashing by the Bulls at RFK earlier this season, and the midweek 5-0 destruction of Toronto FC, the potential for an entertaining, dynamic 90 minutes was in the air.

While Palo Alto and Stanford Stadium hosted an impressive 4th of July fireworks show, albeit on July 2nd, the match itself also had its share of fireworks. The Quakes came off as a bit more feisty and had the majority of fouls on the night, resulting in Bobby Burling picking up 2 yellows and being forced out of the game.

Watch Bouna Condoul fumble a run of the mill grab of a corner and gift the ball to Ryan Stephenson for San Jose Earthquakes equalizer. Last weekend he was similarly embarrassed when he completely flubbed Marco Pappa's soft shot on goal.

Condoul's horrifically incompetent goalkeeping is a seamless transition from his predecessor Greg Sutton's equally inept performance.

The final match of the New York Red Bulls' long four game road trip finally came to an end in San Jose. After a strong second half by the Baby Bulls in their US Open Cup round three matchup with the USL Pro's FC New York, you would think it would inspire the senior side to do well against the Earthquakes.

The Fire and Red Bulls are coming off of mid week matches while looking at the prospect of playing another match on Tuesday in a hectic stretch for both sides. New York has one less day of recovery and has had to travel from the west coast which could play favorably into Chicago's favor.

A 4-2 loss in Seattle on Thursday night was only a continuance of New York's problems on defense.

Another match in the northwest of the country and another crazy night for the Red Bulls as they traveled to face the Seattle Sounders, who were looking very pleased to get Dane Richards back from Gold Cup duty. But the terrible decisions in the net went to Greg Sutton as he had a major meltdown.

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).

The 11th week of the MLS season brought us some major surprises, and also served to remind the league's 18 teams that there is no such thing as an un-winnable road trip.

Portland's Jeld-Wen Field and Real Salt Lake's Rio Tinto Stadium were both considered impenetrable before last weekend, but both the Timbers and Real Salt Lake suffered shocking home defeats at the hands of D.

Recently it seems that no matter how hard the New York Red Bulls play to get the first goal of the game, something always seems to bite them in the rear end. Even if it was a long cross continent trip to Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada to face the expansion side Whitecaps. Amazing thing about this match was that the Whitecaps haven't won since their season opener against Toronto FC, while the Red Bulls haven't won a game all month long in May.

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.

At the end of the first half of Wednesday's RBNY/Rapids game, I turned to one of my friends and asked: haven't I seen this game before? Shades of that game, against Chivas USA, where Justin Braun single-handedly burned us for two goals in the first half, then scored the winner early in the second.

After pulling off a stunning stoppage time goal to steal a point in Houston, the Red Bulls came home for a mid-week tilt against the defending MLS Cup Champion Colorado Rapids. This was a side that was missing several players due to injury including Jamaican international striker Omar Cummings with a leg injury.

By MIKE NASTRI

The rapid succession of goals between Colorado and New York looked more like a boxing match than a soccer game, as the teams went blow for blow scoring four first half goals in six minutes. The blitz started with a Jeff Larentowicz penalty and concluded with a Luke Rodgers class finish.

Photo Credit: DailyHarrison.com
Good Afternoon! A cloudy, but pleasant one (temperature-wise), here in Red Bulls Land. Before tomorrow's massive home fixture, against Chivas USA, let's get to some RBNY happenings from the past week.
Despite the Red Bulls losing a midweek friendly up @Montreal, Mr.

Canadian international forward Ali Gerba's first-half goal was the difference, as the Montreal Impact held on for a 1-0 result over the New York Red Bulls in their friendly Wednesday night at Saputo Stadium.

Gerba headed home a cross in the 37th minute for the game's only tally.

Apparently, it can buy you damn entertaining 90 minutes of soccer, though. Throughout the week, everyone in MLS was hyping this game to be the greatest game of the year, and while hype is usually unsubstantiated, this game lived up to all the buzz surrounding the league's two marquee franchises.

After a Slow Start, the Goals are Flowing for TH14The most hyped match of the still-young 2011 MLS season mostly lived up to its billing. For a second consecutive year the Red Bulls made the long road trip to the Home Depot Center and gave a good account of themselves. It was the kind of game the league sorely needed after several weeks that have seen the focus more on nasty tackles than quality soccer.